Harry* visited my clinic and requested for an anti-anxiety prescription. It was our first meeting. He was dressed bit shabbily and looked tired. I had a relatively busy day in clinic with scheduled visiting times.

I asked few questions with his permission. He was under severe stress.

The time for paying his home rent was approaching and he was nearly broke. His family with two young kids faced eviction. He had lent some money to a friend who recently died in an accident. The situation was really challenging.

We decided to focus on the main issue. I took a paper and noted down the options of securing a loan at agreeable terms. Harry provided the inputs. We agreed to contact after couple of days to check the progress. I called him and it gave an immense satisfaction to know that he had received the required funds.

We met again few months later. Harry and his family were doing well.

John*, an entrepreneur in his early sixties checked into my office for a scheduled coaching session. He was walking bit uncomfortably. I started by asking about his health. He described having some atypical stomach pains lately.

I requested him to undergo an ultrasound examination. The radiologist detected a large swelling of aorta. It had to be operated upon urgently. The procedure went well and we renewed our coaching sessions in few weeks.

The listed skills are crucial to use perspectives from diverse fields

– Empathy

– Intention to serve

– Ability to listen actively

– Knowledge of fundamentals

– Awareness of own know-hows and limitations

– Ethical professionalism

It helps to keep a tab on our thought process and decision making biases. The complex scenarios we face in practice usually require amalgamation of multiple perspectives and competencies.
The main principle is to keep the client’s interest at the core and be transparently professional about your ideas.

These skills are learnable and the worth to a client could be immense and sometimes a life changing experience.

There would be interesting challenges while charting the course. If the intent is good, more often great value will be created for all stakeholders.

* Names changed to protect identities.