I Watched a McKinsey-Endorsed Executive Coaching Webinar So You Don't Have To

Here's what I learned.

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The frozen river.

One panelist explained that obstacles in your career are like a frozen river. People either climb over it or dissolve it. It's about fluidity.

I'll give you a moment with that.

A frozen river. That you either climb over. Or dissolve. Because fluidity.

I've spent decades sitting across from executives, entrepreneurs, and high-performing professionals whose thinking was being quietly compromised by something specific and identifiable. Not one of them needed a frozen river metaphor. Not one of them left my office having dissolved anything.

They left having cleared something. Which is different. And considerably more useful.

The permission slip.

Another panelist advised the audience to give themselves — and others — permission to dream.

I understand this is meant to be liberating. But I want to ask a genuine question:

Did Steve Jobs need permission to dream?

Did any person who ever built something remarkable sit down one Tuesday and think — "I would pursue this vision, but I haven't yet given myself permission to dream"?

The limitation was never a missing permission slip. The limitation is something specific — a misread, a way of processing information that was installed before the person had any say in it — that quietly narrows thinking, constrains decisions, and compromises presence.  Or an exaggerated inward rumination that can show up as fear or “stuckness.”

That's not fixed via permission. That's fixed by identifying exactly where it forms and clearing it.

One session. Not a permission slip.

The beliefs.

Throughout the two hours, the panelists shared what they believe.

"I do believe that people have the capacity for growth."
"I do believe in the power of authentic connection."
"I do believe your uniqueness is your superpower."

I have a question about this too:

Why should their beliefs hold sway over yours?

Nobody needs the surgeon's beliefs. They need the tumor removed.

My beliefs are irrelevant to what happens in my office. What matters is what's actually generating the problem — identified precisely, cleared completely. No belief system required. No agreement necessary.

Just results.

The appreciation loop.

"I love that."
"I've been thinking about your work. And Laura's work."
"I really appreciate how you model humility as you reference a perspective shift."
"I love the natural confluence and synergy we all share."

Two hours of panelists appreciating each other's appreciation of each other's work.

Meanwhile — in offices, boardrooms, and relationships everywhere — the actual limitations remain completely unaddressed. The misread keeps firing. The argument keeps happening. The decision keeps getting avoided. The anxiety keeps running.

Because nobody dissolved the frozen river.

The high water mark.

At the end of two hours, the highest praise anyone could offer was this:

"I've never been part of a panel where the panelists listened to each other as much as this one."

That was the victory lap. That was the closing note of a McKinsey-endorsed, Forbes-credentialed two-hour summit on executive development.

They listened to each other.

Here's my high water mark:

"How did you know what to do so quickly when nobody else has been able to tell me for 35 years?"

That came from a client. After one conversation.

Not because I gave them permission to dream. Not because I modeled humility about perspective shifts. Not because I dissolved a frozen river with fluidity.

Because I identified exactly what was generating the limitation — and cleared it.

The executive coaching industry is largely a closed loop. Brilliant, articulate, authentic people congratulating each other on the performance of wisdom while the audience learns nothing actionable and changes nothing real.

Nobody needs the surgeon's beliefs.
They need the tumor removed.

In my office — that's a Tuesday.

Randel Porter, LPC provides specialized private therapy, couples counseling, and advanced executive coaching for high-performing professionals in San Antonio, Plano, and throughout the State of Texas via secure video. 

If something is subtly limiting your best thinking, your executive decisions, or your presence — a brief, complimentary 20-minute consultation is the best place to start.
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