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After being eliminated in his position as a station manager for 18 months, Steve Laswell felt he was pushed out of the nest and sat numb in the passenger’s seat driving nowhere. But that moment forced him out of his comfort zone. He began to seek out what might be in his future. He reflected on his life’s journey, talked to his wife, family, and others he respected, and prayed. He embraced his passion: the development of people. So after completing an executive coaching certification program, Next Level Executive Coaching,LLC was launched, his very own company. Steve Laswell believed that there are clues and touches in our story that if we pay attention to it the story will instruct us and connect us and lead us right into the future, just as what happened to his life.
“Each person is responsible for writing the story that they want to tell.” – Steve Laswell
Steve Laswell shared that the centerpiece for his coaching process is found in his five stories. Everybody has their own story of wins and losses, successes and failures, pride and shame. Some days are calm and ordinary days, but there are days as if we have written a volume of our life in one day. We can have an impact or influence on somebody’s story just by showing up authentically, just by being sensitive to the spirit, just by watching our words and behavior. There are stories too that if we are not careful, we may make assumptions and jump to conclusions and we pass judgment without knowing the real story. We are responsible to write the story that we want to tell by the grace of the Lord, by the call of God, and by being in connection with Him through Jesus Christ.
“It’s all about the process of engaging and change in order to expand my influence in the world – and that to me is the essence of leadership development.” – Steve Laswell
We have to engage in the process of change to have breakthroughs in our behavior, our unproductive behavior, in order to expand our influence with people. The beautiful part of being a human is that we are not stuck. We don’t have to be stuck. The limit is not on us, that it is in other parts of creation that operates as the way it is designed in the animal kingdom and even in the plant kingdom. As human beings, we can be transformed by the renewing of our mind how we think, but if we don’t create space to think then we do the unthinkable.
For most of us, it is our desire to change, not our ability to change. It’s our ability and willingness to learn so we are also a follower as well as a leader to learn and change. We are willing to let go of unproductive behavior in favor of something that is more effective that is different and can influence other people. It is when we spend time in the pursuit of truth that moves us from here to there. One of the means of grace that God has given us in His pursuit of us is truth in the story, so that we hunger for the truth as we write our own story.
If you want to find out more about Steve Laswell you can visit his website at https://www.nextlevelexecutivecoaching.com/ and you can also read his book about Leaders Create Space: Transform Disruption into Clarity for Life and Work.
In this article you will learn about:
- How to narrow down your vision from the ambiguity and disruption in life
- How to write responsibly our own story
- What to do to rule out things that we have already written in our life to become an authentic story in partnership with God
- How to move out of the comfort zone and move into the growth and change zone
- What is the best predictor of future success
About the Guest:
I started Next Level Executive Coaching on a Friday afternoon, August 31st, 2007. My position as station manager had been eliminated from the 2008 budget.
I’d gone from setting rookie sales records to general manager in 18 months. I’d earned rewards, raises and promotions over ten years of climbing the corporate ladder. Now I sat numb, in the passenger’s seat driving nowhere.
This desire to develop as a leader has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My dad, Jim Laswell, delivered the message to me as a teenager that if I developed my “people skills,” I’d do well in life. Maybe he just wanted to make sure he wouldn’t have to drive me around on paper routes or drop me off at yards to mow. I got the message.
Leading a volunteer, non-profit organization will teach you a lot about yourself, trust, and resolving a conflict. For almost 20 years, it was my life, and a valuable time.
In January 1997, I transitioned into the radio business, selling advertising on a Christian radio AM/FM combo in Oklahoma City. After six months, with a family of five to provide for, I embraced a new, money-making opportunity: news talk radio. Then came that fateful meeting with my VP/Market Manager. It only took a minute to realize the agenda had changed. My severance started the next day, September 1. The “fast track” dumped me out on the curb. What a ride!
Once I got over the shock, I started making plans for my new business adventure. During a conversation with Steve Marx, the president of the Center for Sales Strategy, one of Cox’s consulting firms, he asked me a defining moment question: “have you thought about executive coaching?”
Five years later Next Level continues to grow. I’ve refined my 1-on-1 Executive Coaching into an 8-month executive leadership engagement designed to help you become a more active, self-managed leader. I’ve launched a team-based coaching program to unite 5-7 high-potential employees into a self-managed team.
Everyone I coach brings new lessons and opportunities for growth. To make them available to a wider audience, I’ve published two books, The Journey and The People Project.
