A project in practice.

I met Elena (name changed) in a peer coaching circle at a university where I was working on my own degree. She was nearing the end of a doctoral program in English literature and had only a few months left to write and defend her dissertation.

It was already February. The deadline to graduate with the spring class was approaching quickly, and she still needed to finish writing, defend the dissertation, and secure a teaching position for the fall. She seemed resigned to failure.

We began by defining the project clearly: complete the dissertation, defend it successfully, graduate with the Ph.D., and obtain a teaching position within a specified geographic area. It was an ambitious project with very little time remaining.

Then the coaching turned to a deeper question: who are you in this project?

The words began to flow: "I am a student of English literature who ..." As Elena spoke, what I kept hearing beneath her words was fear. The language, and especially the voice, of the conversation carried the being of a student who believed she was going to fail.

The coaching reflected what was heard and prompted her to create who she wanted to be in relation to the project. Eventually the words appeared: “I am a professor of English literature.” But at first the being behind those words was still the being of a student expecting failure.

Gradually something shifted. The same words appeared again, but this time the voice behind them was different.

“I am a professor.”

This time I heard a professor speaking. The essence had changed.

A being was created.

The person became a professor, regardless of their current standing as a student. That was who they wanted — and needed — to be.

In a sense, this was her true graduation. The rest was detail — and, of course, action.

From that place the milestones became clear: finish the dissertation, prepare for the defense, graduate, and secure a position. Over the next few months the coaching supported and reinforced the being, and the being of the professor drove the execution of the activities.

The dissertation was completed and defended. She graduated with the spring class and secured a teaching position that fall.

That was more than forty years ago. Today Elena is still a professor of English literature at a major university.

The project succeeded not because someone solved the dissertation problem, but because the person doing the project became someone different.