On the Wednesday May 13th Inner Strength Coffee Chat, Mary-Ellen Hynd led a conversation on what it means to be a human being versus a human doing.

Although Coffee Chats are not recorded, so that attendees have a safe space to drive connection and conversation, we wanted to share some highlights:

We focus too much on the doing

When we're asked to introduce ourselves, do you notice that we often talk about what we do versus who we are. With this pause of our ‘normal’ lives, it may be time to reflect on the purpose and shift to an identity that creates balance between our heads and our hearts. As Mary-Ellen says, “we never worry about not doing anything but you couldn’t imagine not being anything.” Here’s a challenge: The next time you are asked to introduce yourself, don’t talk about your job, title, organization, or what you do; answer instead based on who you are. Be creative. 

Understand your personal values 

Have you ever asked yourself about your personal values? How do you make the connection between who you are and what you do? Are the values of the organization you work for or with aligned to your personal beliefs? Let’s be honest, values alignment creates pride and productivity while a disconnect is disengaging and demotivating. Mary-Ellen often takes her coaching clients through an exercise to be curious and identify their values. Do you know what your values are?

Focus on progress not perfection 

Staying on top of tasks can be a struggle when we work with uncertainty.  That’s why it’s important to focus on the present. Keep things simple. Give yourself permission to trust and believe that everything is moving at the right speed and in the right direction. Let’s have the courage to move forward one step at a time and appreciate exactly where we are right now we we reflect on what we are learning about ourselves through the process. 

Compassion is everything

In Mary-Ellen’s coaching sessions through the crisis, one word seemed to appear again and again. The word was compassion. Whether talking about compassion for others and what they are going through; compassion needed to stay home in order to protect others and flatten the curve; compassion of healthcare professionals and front-line workers to put themselves in harm’s way; or the compassion of leaders who are communicating regularly to provide guidance. When our first instinct is to be judgmental, let’s try instead to understand another’s point of view.  There are a lot of changes that will require compassion as we recover from this crisis.

Through the pandemic, Mary-Ellen has focused on her four C’s:

• Find the creativity to escape
• Build the curiosity to understand
• Have the courage to make progress
• Show compassion to drive action 

By focusing on human being versus human doing, we have the potential to emerge from this crisis with empathy, strength and kindness. 

Looking to join the conversation? Right now, we have two Coffee Chats a week featuring special guests on a variety of topics. 

For Wednesday 9AM ET Coffee Chats in May, register here.

• May 20: Martha Muzychka: Creativity in Business Development 
• May 27: Puja Misra: Building your Personal Brand

For Thursday Noon ET Coffee Chats in May, register here. 

• May 28: Bonnie Caver: Accelerating your Brand during Recovery