Building Capacity: The key to unlocking potential

Over the course of our careers in executive coaching, training and transition management, we have heard the frustrations and needs both from individuals and corporations.

• I don’t really know what I want to do with my life.
• I can’t get my team to work together.
• I am overwhelmed, stressed, lost….
• I can’t get these people to change, do more with less…
• The list goes on.

Our experience tells us that contrary to what we also have come to understand clearly two truths.

• People want to be successful and happy and organizations built by and with these very people want to be profitable and produce quality goods.

Science tells us that at any given point we are using an average of 10% of our human potential. With all this potential and desire where is the disconnect? What we have come to realize is that push, pull, coerce, or train, people cannot give you what they do not have to give. It does not matter what my potential is as an employee, leader, parent, team member, if I cannot access it.

Did you know?

• Most Americans enjoy a steadily rising standard of living with an increased average income but we are deeper in debt.
• Research indicates that with all of our conveniences we are not happier than we were 25 years ago
• Healthcare costs are increasing 5 times the rate of inflation. Increased stress is targeted as a major contributor.
• 10% of us will experience major depression in our lifetime.

We have potential, a desire to be happy and successful, all the conveniences. We are more educated and have more income. We are less happy, more stressed, depressed. Welfare rolls are growing. Organizations are telling us that people are increasingly difficult to manage.

What is wrong with this picture?

We looked at the other side- those who are achieving, finding balance in the midst of chaos, always seeming to have more to give. You know them. They are the people you want on your team at work, or the person you want on your committee.

What we have come to see very clearly is that it is not about our potential. It is about our capacity.

We at Multiple Choice have identified five essential areas that must exist in order for an individual and an organization to have high capacity.

The Five Essential Areas

• Sense of Purpose
• Skills and Knowledge
• Energy
• Spirit
• Support System

Capacity is built internally but an organization can create the conditions for others to increase their capacity. Capacity Building is the process that increases the capability of the individual to produce or perform.

We believe that we are uniquely created with enormous potential to be successful, happy, and productive- to live abundant, full lives that enable us to restore our energy with peaceful rest at the end of the day. When we have the capacity to access that potential the world around us miraculously cooperates. Opportunities are suddenly present; children cooperate. When that capacity is low, regardless of potential, simple chores can be overwhelming. There is a sense that we are running in place, surviving the day.

We have all heard it- “I’m running on empty.” “I am so tired all of the time.” “I just don’t have it.” In all of our service areas we at Multiple Choice apply the principles of Capacity to create the conditions for the high probability of success and sustained results.