In Transformational Presence work, we talk a lot about the distinction between transformational and transactional approaches to leadership and coaching. In a transactional approach, the focus from the start is to get a result, and usually to get that result as quickly and efficiently as possible. Sometimes just getting the job done is sufficient. Yet in today’s complex and rapidly changing world, it’s often no longer enough.
In a transformational approach, while we still want to get a result, that’s not where we begin. Our initial focus is on a shift in perception that can bring new insights and understanding about what is happening. We look beyond the surface to discover the greatest potential or future that is waiting to unfold. And then we let that potential or future lead us forward into action toward a lasting and effective result. It’s an intuitive as well as intellectual process. We recognize that some shift must happen at a fundamental level of thinking, perception, and/or belief in order for the best possible result to be sustainable.
Over the summer, I realized that there was another step we needed to take in Transformational Presence work in order to meet the needs of our time – a step beyond transactional or transformational. We have always taught partnership between “being” and “doing,” soul and ego, reflection and action, intuition and intellect, yet that is no longer enough.
Everything is moving faster, the challenges are enormous, and they keep changing. Which also means that there is huge potential waiting to be tapped. And sometimes the windows of opportunity are small. The potential of today is vibrating at a higher and more intense frequency than ever before. And so we have to step up our game. We need both the insight, understanding, and fundamental energy shifts that happen through a transformational process coupled with the speed and rapid-fire response that can come with a well-honed transactional process. We can no longer be transactional or transformational. These times are asking us to be transformactional.
Transformaction brings together intuitive understanding of whatever is going on with immediate appropriate action. It means having an intuitive insight or understanding and immediately putting that new learning or insight into action. Transformaction is the ability to perceive what is happening on an energetic level; recognize the potential that is buried within the circumstance; tap into that potential to intuit what wants to shift; make those shifts on an energetic level; and instantly move forward in action. It’s really five skills coming into play all at once. It’s one gesture – one instantaneous process. Transformaction.
While there certainly are those among us who are born with this ability, for most of us, transformaction is a learned and practiced way of living and working. It’s an art that lives where being and action meet. It brings together intuitive perception with the skills necessary for taking immediate and effective action.
What could be possible if you learned the art of transformaction? What if transformaction was your approach to everything: grasping what is happening on many levels of awareness and responding immediately with forward action towards the greatest potential waiting to unfold? What if this was just how you lived?
This is what we practice at the Center for Transformational Presence. This is what people learn in the Transformational Presence Leadership and Coaching (TPLC) program. If the idea intrigues you – if you want to experience the synergy that can occur when you combine the best of transactional and transformational work, join us. The world is waiting for what you have to offer.
P.S. If you would like support in developing these skills, a good place to start might be my latest book, Create A World That Works: Tools for Personal and Global Transformation. It is available in our website store, in bookstores everywhere, or in digital format for Kindle, iBooks, Nook, and other e-readers.
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