In today’s blog post, David duChemin reflected on the difference between a sighting and a scene.

In his terms, a sighting is the moment one sees something that makes us aware of an opportunity to make a photograph. Whereas a scene is the moment the photograph can make itself. A sighting is a possibility that the ingredients of a good photograph may come together. A scene is the moment in time when most of the ingredients for a good photograph are present.

The excellence of a photographer is his ability to see that a sighting can transform itself into a scene and to wait until it does. What he does while waiting is imagine the photograph in terms of these ingredients and adjust his camera to it. The photograph he makes will still be a surprise. That’s because the ingredients for a good photograph don’t indicate what it is the photograph will look like. These ingredients are “the right light, the right stuff in the right part of the frame, and the right moment” as duChemin describes them.

Now, that is as true for leadership as it is for coaching. However, one needs to find out for oneself how to translate it into leadership and coaching. To me, it is the right atmosphere, the right understanding of each other’s contributions, and the right moment.

Given those, it pays to let things unfold and observe how they do until one steps into action. In coaching and leadership, it is the space and time needed to trust one another and use one’s autonomy to develop that trust. It’s a space of freedom and curiosity.

Until then, there is work to be done to either find these ingredients or develop ways to combine them. Much of this will be learned through trial, error, and reflection.