Week 6 Coaching Assignment: Mastering the practice of suspension

With the deliberation in the mind to practice the “Suspension of thoughts”, I called my cousin brother in India. We are of same age group, we both had done engineering. Also, we had started the job almost at the same time. But my cousin brother is very entrepreneurial minded. He neither like working for any employer nor want to do something common. He has a completely different mindset altogether. He takes risk and then calculates the risk and its consequences. I serious hate him for doing such a silly act. I used to differ 180 degrees from his thoughts for doing all these experiments with job and career. We sometimes get involved in the hot discussions. We started the conversation with discussing better opportunities in doing our own business, rather than slogging and devoting so much time, efforts and energy working with traditional employers. I was not in touch with him for long, since the time I moved to Canada.

So I decided he is the right person to talk and practice suspension of thoughts. I have decided that I will not go to start the call with any preconceived thoughts. I tried my level best to listen and provide him a very inviting atmosphere and explore what actually he wants from his life? So this is a high time to practice and master my knowledge of suspension of thoughts rather than projecting my assumptions and biases, histories and habitual way of the issues. I called him in the morning; he was busy leaving for some important meeting. So he suggested me to talk to him in the evening after his office hours. I again called him in the evening, he was very happy that I called him and he started discussing recent acquisition of a new company. I was shocked that he had recently started his company and he reached to such a great level that he acquires other companies. He told me in detail that how is had made connections in the company. Later, he mastered their line of business and asked them to give control to him. He is very confident about his capabilities that he will take his business to new heights.

I congratulated him for his hard work and dedication. I was observing my thoughts and experience about him before and after situations. I tried not to download any thoughts from the past. I wanted to judge him from his present situation. After sometime he only started discussing, how we used to discuss and debate of opening a new venture. He told me that he was not at all practicable in his approach, whereas I was too much practical in my decisions. So we both are at the extremes of the situations. We both had a very different approach towards life. However, he told me whenever he used to take any decision he keeps a check on him about what I used to tell him. Do not be too bullish, take calculated risks. Keep your safety belt on.

I didn’t jump into any conclusion about – what his approach was and whether he is stable. What are his future plans? How he is going to manage the workforce and overall business? I had a thought in my mind to slow down my judgment process and to learn more about him and ourselves. I was curiously listening his stories, how he took the business, and what all difficulties he had faced. I was simply lost in the way he was narrating the whole episode. After he finished, I thought I was also done for the first part of suspension process. Afterwards, it’s time to move on to the outward part of the suspension process.

I started the outwards part of the suspension process (I-I). I told him that you have done well till date. But now it’s time to bring sustainability in your business. Not only bring sustainability in your business but also brings stability in you; have you had to change your mind-set. I from my side noticed my reaction, impulse and feeling of what I had said, also at the same moment my thoughts are clearly conveyed to him. In the same suspension on the lighter note we started laughing. And I said – buddy “Miles to go before I sleep, miles to go before I sleep”. We both started laughing and acknowledged that we have to do much more than what we have thought off.

Later, we both started discussing the sustainability factors of the global companies. How companies perform the merger and acquisitions. How much both the parties are benefited from the “Win-Win” situations etc; we came to the conclusion that – to run business we need to bring sustainability. And sustainability comes when leadership of the organisation became matured. After that we discussed about other family members and how they are doing. And then we had finished the conversation.

Thanks & Regards,

Abhinav Shrivastava