Day 116: Scott Asai
“I can live with something not working out, but I always push myself to try new things, and I’m not concerned about whether it’s going to succeed or fail. I actually think that a lot of success is based on how you fail forward or how you’re able to handle certain obstacles that are in your way.”
.
.
.
Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Scott, for agreeing to be part of the Project today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?
Scott Asai: Sure, my name is Scott Asai. I own a company called Growing Forward, and I do leadership coaching and leadership development, and I’ve been doing this since about 2007.
Toni: Okay, well thank you. Scott, when you think of the word inspiration, who do you think you inspire and how might you go about that?
Scott: I guess the first people I think of is family, friends, and clients which is basically anyone who’s in front of me. I think I try to do a couple of things. One is I try to point out their successes in life, things that they’ve already done that they can kind of look back on.
Also, I think it’s really neat to see how people are unique, to make sure that you can point out how they are different than other people and what makes them stand out.
I think the last thing is I look to the future. I look at where they can be versus where they are, and I really believe that in life growing and learning really has no finish line, so I really look at people as unfinished products in terms of there’s always room to improve.
Toni: Okay. That’s interesting. So when you’re working with someone or you’re talking or you’re in front of them that way, how do you think that that helps them to explore their potential, or are there other things that you do to help explore the potential in others?
Scott: I think a person that comes in my mind … I’m very visual, so the thing I think of is the image of a building and actually not a building that’s built up but actually one that’s kind of crashed down. The reason why I get that image is because I always think of people as, like I said, something I can improve upon. I can make them better. Sometimes I tell my clients a lot that my job is to build a better you.
I try to start from the foundation and figure out the things that, like I said, they are strong at or are their strengths or natural talents, and then from there I really try to build them up. I try to build their confidence up. I try to see things that they’ve done in the past that may have patterns in the future. That image of a building was really strong to me when I’m speaking to someone in front of me.
Toni: And so by working with them and having that visual, to you it’s almost building them, the brick and mortar and building that foundation within them; is that what I’m hearing?
Scott: Yeah, pretty much. It’s just kind of forgetting about what has happened a lot in the past. Maybe there are some limitations or doubts that they’ve had before. I don’t try to dig too deep into that. As a coach, we’re all about results and moving forward. I don’t ask a lot of why questions. I ask a lot of how questions.
Toni: Okay. Can you give me an example?
Scott: Sure. I think a lot of times when someone comes to me and we’ll be talking about some type of goal or obstacle that’s in their way, I try to have them explain the situation. But I don’t let them go too in depth about it because I really feel that if they are trying to overcome something or trying to accomplish something, all I need to know is where they want to go, and I can help them get there.
We don’t focus too much on the counseling or therapy aspect of figuring out why, but I try to figure out “Okay, what is the goal that you’re looking for, and how can I help you get there? So let’s talk about and brainstorm steps that we can take.”
Toni: And you spoke earlier about pointing out someone’s uniqueness. Do you find it easy to do that with people? Do you find it easy for people to do that about themselves?
Scott: You know, actually I do. I’m a big firm believer in this assessment called The Strength Finder, and that’s actually something that I use with all my clients. And what it does is it’s an assessment that points out someone’s top five talents or strengths. Actually, ironically one of my strengths is called individualization, and that’s the ability to see unqiue talents in others. For me it comes pretty easy after just kind of asking a lot of questions and observing and getting a feel for the context of what they’re working in. And then from there, I just try to build on that.
Toni: I see. Okay. Now, what do you need to be inspired?
Scott: I think a couple things. One of the things is just concepts or ideas, and those come really easily. I think they come through books. They come on the internet. They come through hearing people’s stories.
For example, once a month I actually go to Barnes and Noble and just kind of sit there for a couple hours and pick out a bunch of books that kind of stand out to me, and I just kind of read them, take some notes, and from there usually I get a lot of ideas of things to try. That’s one way.
The other way I’d say is a clear vision. I really believe in the statement “without vision, people perish.” And so when I think of a great leader — which I try to be when I’m coaching people — I really think of giving them hope or direction and getting their trust. Those two things, I think, really stand out to me about being inspired.
Toni: When you are working or even in your personal life and you know you’ve reached that point where you’re running a little low on the inspiration yourself — because you need to stay strong and stay inspired to help others — what other things do you reach for? What other things do you find yourself going to to help you stay inspired?
Scott: I think a lot of it is … As a business owner and entrepreneur, a lot of times I think we find ourselves in isolation in terms of we’re always doing work by ourselves. And unless we seek out other people through the phone or through a social network or meeting them in person, I think a lot of times I really believe that there’s not a lot of original ideas out there. I think a lot of the times it’s just an improvement on an idea that’s already existing.
For myself, I notice when I kind of go dry in terms of inspiration, I kind of have to reach out and see what other people are doing, hear other stories, and from there I think it kind of gets my juices flowing again.
Toni: How do you continue to explore your own potential?
Scott: This one I really feel like it’s opportunities and experiences. Opportunities, because I think it’s the chance to be able to test your abilities and experience because I think, for myself, I would consider myself a kinesthetic learner, also visual too, but I learn through trial and error. In order to improve, I really have to explore first. Really through opportunities and experience would be the main two things I think I need to explore my own potential.
Toni: And are you doing that purposefully in order to continuously explore your potential? Are you looking for those opportunities? Do you find yourself testing your abilities often?
Scott: Yeah, I think so. I think a good story to kind of sum things up is I really feel like everyone since they were a child has certain dreams, and they had dreams about what they want to be when they grow up. I think the only difference is that some people decide along the way that they’re going to pursue it, and some people along the way decide that they’re going to set it aside and not maybe visit it for a while. Usually what happens is that time passes, and we never get to really even try to see if we were able to make those dreams a reality.
So for myself, I like to coin the term “failure” a lot, even though it can be a negative word. In my mind, failure is when you don’t try. I can’t live with not trying something. I can live with something not working out, but I always push myself to try new things, and I’m not concerned about whether it’s going to succeed or fail. I actually think that a lot of success is based on how you fail forward or how you’re able to handle certain obstacles that are in your way.
Toni: Is that the same mentality and spirit that you approach your personal life with and interactions as well as professionally?
Scott: Yeah, I think so. I think part of being a coach is being authentic, whether you’re in a working situation or a personal situation. I really feel like when I coach I don’t do it because I feel like it’s my job, I do it because I love it, and I really feel like that’s who I am. So when I feel like I have a client in front of me and I’m talking to them, or even if it’s a friend and it’s completely not in a work environment, I just try to be myself. And hopefully my experiences and/or things that I’ve learned in the past can help that person grow, and that’s always my goal to make people around me better.
Toni: Well thank you for that, Scott, and thank you for being part of the Get Inspired! Project today. We appreciate you being yourself and showing up to the Project in a way that’s very authentic and helpful. Thank you very much for that.
Scott: Sure, no problem.
Toni: It was nice to talk to you and hopefully we will connect soon.
Scott: Thanks again.
___________________________________________________________
For more information about Scott Asai: www.growingforward.net
.
Post Comment