I’d like your ‘life coaching’ articles
I’m looking for good articles on ‘life coaching’ or ‘business coaching’to add to our network of sites.
In fact, I’m going for 100! Have some? Want to write some?
REQUIREMENTS
- Minimum of 300 words (no maximum).
- must be on the topic of coaching. (see below for a list of suggested key words or titles)
- you must own the copyright
- include your full name and contact information (note once your contact information is provided, it cannot be updated later on, so please double check)
IF YOU HAVE ARTICLES THAT QUALIFY:
Please post them here (they can all be in the one post if you like).
TO WRITE AN ARTICLE(S):
Just pick one line below in the ‘List of Keywords/Topics’, and make sure the words on that line appear frequently in the article. Then post them here.
Go on - you can dash one off in 10 minutes using what you already know. (I just stopped to write a short one in 5).
WHAT WE’LL DO:
If we choose your articles (and many, many will be chosen), we’ll post it on our site(s), with brief, summarized contact information. We will list your web site.
Note that ACTIVE links back to your site will be limited to one active link per five articles submitted.
By submitting your articles, you’re agreeing we may tweak or edit the content to suit our purposes, and may publish it forever, so long as we maintain attribution to you. You may still publish your article anywhere else you like.
SUGGESTED LIST OF KEYWORDS/TOPICS
life coaching, life coach, life coaches
business coaching, business coach
david wood
executive coaching, executive coach
corporate coaching, corporate coach
coaching, coach
life coach training, life coaching training, coach training
dr. phil, dr phil, doctor phil
tony robbins, anthony robbins
Certified life coach, Certified life coach training
Life coach certification, Life coaching certification
Life coach accreditation
Life coaching schools
Wayne dyer [Art: mention him as a coach, how he coaches/trains people]
Steven covey [Art: mention him as a coach, how he coaches/trains people]
sales coach
coach training institute, coaches training institute
coach university, coachu, coach u
counseling career [Art: whether to choose a career in counseling or coaching]
therapy career [Art: whether to choose a career in therapy or coaching]
SUBMIT YOUR ARTICLES!
Post one. Write one. Post several. Write several.
The earlier they come in, the more chance they have of being chosen.
Click here to post your articles, or any comments or suggestions.
Happy writing!
David
June 30th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Life Coaching to annihilation
by Lydia Proschinger
“TIME … times and …
Annihilation. . .the term rings with terror and destruction and usually after it happened only devastation is left over and time will reduce the remains to a mere historical fact or legend because there might not even be verifiable proof that an event really happened nor any survivors to tell the tale.
The probability of only signs hewn in stone being document of times, time and time again recalls partial knowledge of deeper things that might have been but of which today nobody can give the complete picture.
If you can’t really have a complete picture, if you can’t change it because it is already history, if it is time that allows you to be a diligent searcher of the past you can actually stop here for a second: do you want to be an archaeologist of your self and dig up stones and bones of your past just to put them together in a museum of self-display? I mean, what good does it serve to revisit moments of distress, anger, frustration, humiliation, jealousy…etc.?
All the “could-have-beens”, every regret and lost opportunity, why would you want to purposefully hurt yourself and people around you when you repeat the experience in your mind and recall the feeling you have had then.
Life coaching and the respective methods applied help your to replace these limiting thoughts that are in your way to complete and utter happiness. Judgments you make or twisted views you hold about yourself or others, which all come with feelings that are the direct opposite of what you want to feel like, you can learn to master.
If you thought today “I can’t ever …” replace it with “I will soon be able to…” or “I can succeed every time”. When you participate in an Anthony Robbins seminar, you are introduced to the power of your own mind and how you can let go of old limiting thoughts and feelings but wait a minute: In the moment you feel a limiting thought, can you actually stop and think that very moment or do you need someone who can train and make you aware of negative thinking patterns?
To your great relief, would you not be happy to use your mind to full capacity and not scramble your happy self image with such things of the past, times and times again?
Well, life coaching helps you to chase those thoughts away and the best thing is, forever.
According to Stephen Hawking in his book “A brief history of time”, he gives you the counsel to not shake hands if you ever meet your anti-self. It could annihilate you. The truth is, all thoughts that limit us hold some of this anti-self in us and we are beginning the annihilation of what otherwise would be creation.
Do you wish to be alive, growing and developing yourself with the vibrant colors of today? To find bits and pieces about yourself is important. During the life coaching process you learn from the past but you turn negatives into positives. Do you really have to dust off every shelf of your mind and read every letter you ever have written or received in order to really understand who you are TODAY?
Better yet, isn’t it more important to be more of yourself today so that you can start over and get all out of your greater self for the future, with all lessons learned and having fully forgiven past mistakes?
It is worth your while to think about who are you today, and perhaps put one or the other piece of your mind just now together and analyze it if it is your real self, or if it is your anti-self, that partially annihilates you. If you discover this method, you can start to reconstruct what makes you YOU today.
Instead of thinking “what could have been”, you ought to think “what will be” and in this lies the secret of creation, which is far more than mere reconstruction.
From now on, think about annihilation in a positive way:
Annihilate your anti-self, and accept it as a liberating process.
Think about all the false beliefs that have kept you limited and this for a long time?
Looking at it from the point of quantum physics, matter that meets its corresponding antiparticle in an annihilating collision, what is happening in fact is a liberating of energy. So, every limiting thought, replace it with its direct counter part. You’ll annihilate the enemies of your own development.
You will be that survivor who will be telling the tale of how you were before and how you are after you had annihilated your own enemies, i.e. negative thoughts and actions.
Your life coach wishes you “happy annihilation” and wants you to “eliminate” your anti-self so that it cannot hurt you time and times and many more times over again.
June 30th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Why coach? by Nigel Griffiths
Every organisation has its own approach to performance management and coaching, but more often or not coaching is something a line manager or supervisor DOES to a more junior member of staff.
At the Enfys Acumen (www.enfysacumen.com) we view coaching as an interactive process. Our approach to coaching helps individuals grow as professionals and contribute fully to the success of an organisation or business. Done well, it can turn performance management into a collaborative process that benefits everyone.
In today’s environment of rapidly changing technology and evolving organisations, coaching can have a strategic impact. It ensures continuous learning and develops people to meet current and future needs. Coaching is an investment that you make in developing your key resource, people, for the long-term benefit of the organisation.
About 6 out of 10 (59%) organisations currently offer coaching to their managers and executives, according to a survey of more than 300 companies by Manchester, a human capital consulting firm. Another 20% of organisations said they plan to offer such coaching within the next year.
Here’s why
Most organisations need to improve productivity to fuel growth and profitability. Productivity doesn’t happen when people are only focusing on the financial or technical issues. They also must build the capacity of managers to help their employees with the intangible elements of human interaction - because the work gets done through personal relationships. The key to ROI is developing and sustaining individual and group behaviours through personal relationships to achieve the desired business results. Executive coaching encourages the organisational development to get this done.
The Enfys Acumen is leading the way with executive coaching and can work with all kinds of organisations and businesses to develop the capability of their staff. Ask us how we can support you to introduce coaching into your workplace.
June 30th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Coaching the Adolescent Child: A Guide for Today’s Parent
By Steven Bush, MSW
CEO Family Compass, Inc
“Wow, that’s great,” followed by the universal facial grimace and head nod is the common response I receive when I tell people what I do. “I am a life coach for adolescent children and their families”, is my answer to their question, and then I am told a story about their child, their friend’s child, their coworker’s child, or their neighbor’s child. They look at me with sympathy as if I have been given a life sentence having to work with a population that most parents fear and many people choose not to become parents because of.
“How do you do it?” is typically the next question I am asked. The answer to this question is simple and complicated at the same time. The simple answer is I assess each individual client and family for strengths and areas that need improvement and then together we create a plan for success. My expectations for an adolescent client and myself as his or her coach, is no different than my expectations for any other adult client.
The complicated answer is that I thoroughly enjoy the adolescent population and I approach each client with: Honesty, Humility, the Willingness to Admit my Mistakes, A Memory of my Childhood, and Respect. Each of these is critical in order to build rapport with an adolescent child as a Life Coach or as a parent.
Honesty is a tricky subject when it comes to parents and their adolescent child. Many parents fear telling their children the truth because they want to maintain balance in their home and giving an adolescent “bad news” (i.e. consequences or saying “no”) is like detonating a hand grenade in the middle of the living room. The mistake many of us make when we are involved with adolescent children is we surprise them with the truth. The truth should never be a surprise.
The way I use Honesty with adolescent children is that when I have a concern I share it, I do not wait for the adolescent to make my worst fear come true and then tell them I knew they were headed down the wrong path. My job is to identify potential problem areas and “preact.” I want to put a plan in place to prevent this problem area from becoming a problem (preacting). There is also a second reason why I like to share my concerns with the adolescent. If I am unable to prevent the adolescent from going down a path that we have agreed is the wrong path for him or her to go down, I am also establishing an agreed upon consequence for the behavior. I will develop a contract, sometimes verbal and sometimes written, stating that we have agreed that if this behavior takes place then this is the consequence that will be earned by the child.
When you take the surprise out of your expectations and consequences there is very little left to argue about. This approach worked with: my adolescent son, adolescents I worked with as a Social Worker, and works with my adolescent clients today. Take the surprise out and be honest with your child. It will be difficult at first but you will reap the rewards of less conflict and a better relationship.
Humility is also very important when working with adolescent children. Many parents and adults believe they must shove the truth down their adolescent’s throat until the child acknowledges the parent is right. Let me take you back to the most significant learning experiences of your life. Did you learn because someone made you learn or did you learn because you experienced it and then had the support of a friend or loved one that helped you through it.
Many of us as parents and adults tell our children if you do that behavior I will be disappointed, mad, take away your car for a month etc… What we need to instill in our children is when you make a mistake I will be here to support you. I expect most adolescent children will do things they should not do, the same things we did when we were adolescents. We all know forbidding an adolescent child from doing something is like throwing out the gauntlet, a challenge most adolescent children cannot and will not pass up.
Remember, it is not about you. It’s not about what you want or what you believe. It is about your child, what he or she wants and what he or she believes. Do not personalize what your child is doing but allow them to experience their life and be there, with humility, to support them through it. If every time you did something wrong your friend said, “I told you so” how long would you keep talking to this friend.
As parents and adults we are supposed to know everything and never be wrong. This is the thinking that gets many of us into trouble with our adolescent child. When a child is wrong, we expect the child to acknowledge he or she was wrong and take responsibility for his or her actions. Who is role modeling this behavior for them. If it is not the adults in their life then many times it is not being role modeled at all. When we make a mistake we must admit to the adolescent child we were wrong, apologize, and revoke any consequences that were given. This is critical in building a strong relationship with an adolescent child. The message we want to instill in our children is that we are all human, we all make mistakes, and when you do make a mistake this is how you should deal with it.
Another very useful tool we have at our disposal is remembering what it was like for us when we were adolescent children. Do not make the mistake of expecting your child to be like you were when your were their age, because this will just create frustration in your life. The goal is to remember how much expectation your parents, teachers, and other adults put on you, the pressure you felt to act a certain way by your peers, the changes you were going through physically, and how every crisis seemed like it was the end of the world. Remember these difficult times, how painful some of these experiences were, and how difficult it was to always communicate with your parents about how you were truly feeling. When you can remember your own difficult experiences you will have more patience in dealing with your adolescent child when they are being disrespectful, swearing at you, yelling at you, and telling you, “You are the worst parent in the history of the world.”
Finally, remember that even though they may look like you, sometimes act like you, and have the same last name, They Are Not YOU! Our adolescent children are real people that need to be respected for their opinions, ideas, feelings and passions to take on the world. We live in a very diverse world with varying opinions on religion, politics, family values, work ethic etc… Most of us have friends that we disagree with and we accept them for who they are. When we do this with our adolescent children, respect their differences and not try to force them to be like us, we will see in front of us, not an adolescent child who is ignorant and foolish, but a young adult who is preparing for independence and the ability to take on the world with accountability and passion.
These are the tools I live by in both my personal and professional life. My adolescent clients and their families have responded well to these tools and I do believe today’s parents can develop a stronger relationship with their adolescent child if they consistently used these techniques in their everyday life.
If you have any questions, feedback, or would like to find out more about my life coaching services please access my website at http://www.FamilyCompassInc.com.
June 30th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
A FREE CHAPTER FROM THE BOOK EXPLORING COACHING
SUCCESS COACHING by Irene Becker, Chief Success Officer, Just Coach It, http://www.justcoachit.com
History teaches us that the secret to success is a passion and purpose that transcends difficulty and obstacles. Literature gives us mythical heroes who have painted vivid pictures of success journeys that are fraught with purpose, obstacles and challenge. What can we learn about success from history, from life experience and from myth?
We can learn that success lies in our ability to access our personal talent, energy and to attain satisfaction and happiness. Success requires the courage and the honesty to unleash the awesome power of our natural talents and to illuminate the purpose that we were meant to fulfill. If you want to attain true success, you need, in Joseph Campbell’s words “to follow your bliss”.
While the orthodox definitions of success have changed as our society has evolved from agrarian, to industrial, to knowledge based, the heart of true success is a sense of personal satisfaction and accomplishment that is nourished and grows with purpose, vision and action.
What is Success Coaching Like?
Success coaching is a courageous adventure, a magical synergy between client and coach. It is a labor of love and acceptance that takes coach and client into a special place of purpose, passion and action. Excellent success coaching is far more than moving a client along a path of personal and professional strategies and accomplishment of goals. It is a co-collaboration of client and coach, an ongoing dialogue of non-judgment, acceptance and freedom which illuminates the client’s true brilliance and true purpose.
Success coaching is engaging, passionate purposeful work that allows you to see clients grow and gain in many different areas of their lives and careers. It touches all aspects of work and existence. It is a journey of courage, excitement and challenge that is full of twists and turns, of known and unknown. It is a reflection and expression of all that our client truly wants and needs to be.
As clients begin to flex their success muscles, to stretch out of the comfort zone, they move into a place that speaks loudly to who they truly are and what they truly want… magic happens. The magic starts when they begin to speak to translating their knowledge and truth into passion, vision and action. It requires that each part of our life, each dimension of our value system work in combination to great a successful, satisfactory whole.
What you need to be a Success Coach?
Excellent success coaching requires the right combination of education and life experience that has given the success coach a broad experience with personal success and also failure. You need to have achieved success and to have experienced failure in order to help a client reach his/her apex of personal and professional excellence and satisfaction. It requires individuals who are not only trained in coaching, but work with mind and heart aligned to excavate the true seedbed of a client’s success through a journey of trial, error and accomplishment.
Excellent success coaching requires that the coach remove his or her perspective of success in order to truly understand the perspective of the client. The success coach has to totally let go of his/her personal understanding of success in order to understand what success truly means to the client. It is only through honest, confidential, safe communication that we can move clients to a place of illumination, personal growth and potential that will allow them to fulfill their destiny of choice. To do so, coaches must understand that there is a special place where we let go of intellect and fuse with the special purpose of our client, to illuminate their personal and professional best, their success path. It is a dance of appreciation; a tango of acceptance and service that necessitates being able to change the tune, change the steps to meet the best purpose and passion of the client.
Success for our clients and for ourselves as success coaches is based on honestly accessing what gives and has meaning, relevance, passion and purpose for the client and in so doing to work hand in had to develop a greater personal understanding of purpose and passion and ways to translate them into effective, ongoing action and motivation.
Success coaching requires a particular ability to facilitate the client’s courage for self awareness, and his/her willingness to move past the intellectual in order to combine mind, body and soul in a path of positive transformation. Sometimes a client’s personal definition of success changes through coaching, other times clients may find that success was clearer and nearer to what they were doing than they anticipated. Some coaching sessions bring great revelation, others acceptance of the realization of patterns and actions that sabotage success.
Success coaching sessions are always alive with new possibilities and can evoke the best and the worst in clients as they move past their self imposed limitations and the expectations of others to a place of true passion, purpose and action. It requires the courage, commitment, confidentiality and mutual respect to move out of the comfort zone of the known in order to explore values, vision and mission.
It is the juncture of honest communication, awareness, passion and purpose. It is a place where the success coach can reach beyond the intellectual and the tangible to excavate and access the client’s power and purpose in order to develop new strategies and perspectives of full engagement, satisfaction and success.
The Market for Success Coaching
Success coaching is an investment in personal awareness and accomplishment that a client must have the financial latitude and the personal commitment to engage in. The market for success coaching is enormous, and will continue to expand as we face the reality of a rapidly changing work and personal world.
I have little doubt that in due course success coaching will in turn spawn off specific niches of success coaching that recognize different areas of focus.
Reality tells us that we will all continue to grapple with personal, professional and societal change, and that the forward motion, the velocity of change will challenge our ability to truly reach an honest point of self awareness in order to determine what we need want and must do to attain success can best be accomplished by the co-collaborative, co-creative energy that success coaching brings to the table.
The greatest most important business that any of us have is the business of our life, the realization of personal success and satisfaction.
July 1st, 2007 at 1:56 am
Hi
to what email address do I sendmy life coahcing article?
thnaks
July 1st, 2007 at 4:56 am
“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for life”
This ancient Chinese proverb is my mantra for my Business Coaching practice.
Before I became a coach I was working at senior management level in corporates and hated most of the time I was doing it. It was stressful as it felt like that we spent all our time trying to bang square pegs in to round holes.
So when I became a coach and started to think about my niche I eventually decided on business coaching but very specifically I only coach Business Owners and M.D.’s as to be successful it must start at the top.
I teach them tools and techniques that develop them and also gives them the ability to coach rather than manage their staff i.e. teach them to fish.
When you first go in to business coaching there is a tendency to assume that the MD is only interested in increasing sales and increasing profit, nothing wrong with that, but in reality their issues are normally derived from the fact that they need support overcoming staff issues, with new projects, their own life balance or in many cases they got in to the business because they were passionate about the subject but at a later date realise that they don’t have the business experience to get them to the next level.
It is incredibly satisfying to me when the work you do with them allows them to enjoy business and personal life far more because the weight is lifting form their shoulders, I have been there and I know how tough it can be.
Also MD’s and Business Owners can lead lonely lives at the top because they feel that they can’t confide in any one and as a business coach you fill that void.
As I coach I am lucky to have done a lot of serious development work on myself supported by some of the best mentors that you could wish for and when I start teaching my clients about goal setting, human needs, values, life purpose and limiting self beliefs you can really see the lights coming on as this way of thinking is totally new to them.
So if there are any Business Owners or Managing Directors out there who fancy coming on a fishing trip with me I would love to hear from you.
July 1st, 2007 at 7:36 am
Simply speaking, Business Coach Do You Resent Your Competitor & Does that Cost You Sales? by Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S.
Simply speaking, business coaching along with executive coaching and corporate coaching is a high demand and growing business. With the influx of all these coaches, some coaches are potentially resenting or fearing this increased competition. However, this could be bad for sales, please let me explain.
No one can be everything to everyone unless you are a Mom or a Dad. Business coaches may have certain expertise or a combination of expertise in the some of the following areas:
Assessments (individual and organizational
Business building
Change management
Communication
Customer service
Diversity
Goal setting
Executive leadership development
Leadership
Management
Marketing
Organizational development
Quality programs
Sales
Supervision
Strategic planning
Time management
This experience can be demonstrated within some of the following industries:
Agriculture
Automotive
Education
Government
Healthcare
Manufacturing
Not for profits
Pharmceuticals
Printing
Publishing such as newspapers and journals
Radio and television
Technology
No one coach can effectively address all of these issues within all of these industries because he or she will be perceived as a master of none. However, by partnering with another coach, the ability to expand experiences to bridge more issues and industries can be accomplished.
There is an old story that one horse can pull a 1,000 pounds of corn and the second horse can pull 1,000 pounds of corn. But when the two horses are hitched together, they can collectively pull 2,400 pounds of corn.
Using that same approach, one business coach can earn $50,000 and another can earn $50,000. Yet, if they partner together they may earn an additional $10,000 to $100,000 depending upon the project.
The lesson learned is to get to where you want to go demands that you do what you have never done before. Get out of your own way. Find another business coach who shares your same core values and delivers the same high quality results that you are known for. What are you waiting for?
If you like what you read, consider subscribing to Power Choices a unique monthly newsletter at http://www.processspecialist.com/power-choices.htm
July 1st, 2007 at 7:39 am
Exceptional Business Coaches Turn Cold, Luke Warm to Very Warm Clients into Very Hot Performers
by Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S.
Are you considering hiring a business coach or executive coach? If so, congratulations provided you find the right one.
Simply speaking, exceptional business coaches open up the potential faucet. Years ago when Einstein was in his 70’s, he was asked how much of his potential he had used? Given that he had already developed the Theory of Relativity along with his other contributions to mathematics and physics, he replied “10%.”
Today, through the corporate coaching research provided by Fortune 500 to the testimonials from small business owners, the results that business coaches and executive coaches deliver continue to speak for themselves. For example, through the Manchester Consulting year long study from 2002 determined that coaching increased:
Productivity - 53%
Quality - 48%
Customer Service - 39%
Teamwork - 67%
Job Satisfaction – 61%
Working relationships with direct reports - 77%
So how can you find a business coach or executive coach that can deliver to you similar if not better results?
First, ask what type of process does the coach use? Can he or she simply explain the process to you and why it works? Exceptional coaches use a process that takes the inch by inch where progress is actively measured. If the coach can’t answer this question, stop and find another coach.
Then, interview several coaches. Ask for referrals. Then call the referrals.
Next, ask, if not one is offered, for a complimentary coaching session.
Also, you should check out the website for additional information.
Another action is to do a Google search on their name. Then click on the various links to read more.
Finally, learn if the business coach or executive coach offers some sort of guarantee.
Remember, the coach will determine where you are now and where you want to be. Through a proven process, an exceptional business coach or exceptional coach can take your cold to lukewarm current performance of 33 to 80 degrees and raise it to 180 to 211 degrees. Then with just a little more effort, you may even hit 212 degrees.
And we all know that the difference between very hot and boiling is just one degree. That one degree transforms boiling water into steam and steam powers engines.
July 1st, 2007 at 11:21 am
Business Coaching for Comunication: The Hidden Messages You Send
By Katie Schwartz, CCC-SLP
Have you ever heard someone say, “It’s fine!” but with an angry tone that belies the words? Or maybe someone screamed at you, “I am NOT angry!” You instinctively ignored the words and believed the rest of the cues.
Communication is only 7% verbal, and 93% non-verbal. The verbal part is WHAT you say, or the words you choose. The non-verbal part is everything else: your tone of voice, gestures, posture, facial expressions, rate of speech, accent, general diction, organization of your message, and timing of it. As a business coach, you need to be alert to both levels of communication – at the same time.
Let’s give some examples. Tom is to give a business presentation to older Baby Boomers. A Generation X member, he starts his sentences with “So” and includes phrases such as “you guys” The presentation is received very poorly, with the comment, “His company is not competent to do what we need accomplished.” Whether the company was competent technically was not the issue; Tom did not use the formal communication skills needed in this situation.
Marisa went to a networking event representing her company. An engineer, she hated these “meet and greet” situations. Marisa did not know how to make targeted small talk that could quickly ascertain whether the person she was speaking to was possibly right for her company. In addition, she used body language that indicated she wanted to be out of the situation: frequently looking elsewhere as the other person spoke, pointing her feet toward the door. The other people got the message, and Marisa’s company ended up with a poor image in the minds of those who spoke with her.
Pat had an idea of a new, cost-cutting process for his manager. He was very eager to tell the manager, but misread his manager’s reaction when Pat went into his office. The manager was scowling when Pat came in, sighed, and said, “Pat, can this wait until tomorrow?” Pat replied, “It will just take a second.” Then he proceeded to tell the manager in great detail about his plan.
Terri was a salesperson for a high-end product. Her manager told Terri to speak faster to potential customers, so they would stay and listen to the whole message. The manager was sure that when they heard the entire sales talk, the customers would buy. Terri worked hard to speak faster – but did not get a better response from her customers.
In fact, when Terri got professional coaching to learn to speak at a slower rate than she used initially, her sales rate jumped considerably. Now she had time to “read” her customers, and they had time to process what she was saying.
Verbal skills are important. Make sure you and your clients know the level of formality needed for a given presentation. For older Baby Boomers or Veterans, use correct grammar and clear pronunciation. For formal presentations to all age groups, do not use slang or wording such as “so” and “kinda”. Plan all sales presentations out in advance, and actually practice them. You only get one chance to make a first impression.
Learn the art of small talk. Open-ended questions such as “What brought you to this event or company?” encourage others to talk. Closed-ended questions such as “Are you from Division A or B?” exert control and reduce talkativeness. Closed-ended questions are best for starting a conversation with someone who is apt to be shy, or for talking with someone who chatters endlessly if allowed.
Consider your non-verbal skills as well. If there something about your body language, the distance you stand from others, your timing or tone of voice that is making ytour communication less effective?
To assess your own skills, visit http://www.businessspeechimprovement.com/sample.htm
for a free screening form.
Think about it: without clear communication of some type, there is no business. Your and your clients’ communication skills are crucial to success!
Bio:
Katie Schwartz, CCC-SLP, is director of Business Speech Improvement in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A certified speech pathologist, she has special expertise and experience in improving communication skills. Katie offers individual and group coaching, as well as e-books at her website, http://www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com. She can be reached at info@BusinessSpeechImprovement.com.
July 1st, 2007 at 1:04 pm
how do you get the articles onto the solution box - re email, submit life caoching articles
July 1st, 2007 at 1:17 pm
1. article one - Career Transition: Expatriation: Self coaching
A journey of 100 miles…by Claire Dickson
Sitting in the room at the IWAP (international women’s association, Prague) meeting and hearing the Chairwomen comment about there being so many women with extraordinary resources, experience and impact sat together in the same room, really struck a chord. Indeed it was Nelson Mandela who challenged that people playing “small” robs us and others of what we are truly capable of. Call it synchronicity but on the way home I saw an advert, saying “every day women change the world”.
When you move to a new country as the accompanying spouse, (most often the woman) you have so many roles to play – be it wife, mother, career women, sister, or daughter. All these roles are easily impacted by the move. Interestingly, The Global relocation trend survey (2002) reports that 50% of accompanying spouses were employed before moving abroad and during the assignment the number dropped to 14%. That’s a lot of people making a transition to not just to a new place and new cultures but also probably to taking up a new life role. I know myself that after 20 years in the corporate world, moving to Prague without a job, inheriting a dog and taking on my new role as the family glue, I was both an excited and less than intrepid explorer in the new space I found myself in.
Like many transitions in life – from childhood to adulthood or from being single to getting married, from womanhood to menopause it’s a chance to reassess where you are heading and to ask oneself, “who am I”? The difference being that at these stages of our lives we often look to family and close friends for the support we need to help us through. Within your previously known culture and local environment such support might have been easier to find.
Moving to a new country is a double transition! It can challenge our basic values, assumptions, life balances and the way we think about ourselves and others. Not only do we have all the normal transitions which life throws at us, but we have to make a transition to a new country and all that it involves. We need to be constantly flexible, if necessary, re-inventing ourselves, according to life stage and the location. Both you and the new people you meet are asking “who are you?” I found myself not being able to say anymore “I am a job title”, which had been so convenient for the last 20 years. Instead I became a dog walker - whatever the weather, a net worker - now that I had all this time, searching for what I wanted to do and hopefully a better mum. (The better wife bit was a step too far!). Luckily for me when I went on my voyage of discovery I had a lot of the tools as my previous job roles had involved helping others make transitions in the corporate world.
All that time walking the dog, got me thinking. What if you wanted this challenge of coming to a new country to enable you to explore a new side of ‘you’? What if you had been in a country a long time or had moved repeatedly and wanted to take time out to think about “what else?” Who would be there to help you figure this out and think about the impact?
Sometimes our lives are so filled with domesticity, routines and other clutter that it can be hard to listen to what our hearts desire. Sometimes it seems impossible to even find 10 seconds to make the commitment needed to set about any change, let alone the life change you want. The good news is that it’s never too late to think about living the life you really want, whichever country you may be in or whatever stage you are at.
So, let me share with you about some of the other lands I took the chance to explore as a result of our move to Prague. Exploring these lands helped me start to realise my full potential here and I am still journeying in my own way and revisiting these lands from time to time. Sometimes navigating my way there, the water is warm and welcoming; sometimes it’s freezing cold! As the Chinese proverb states – “a journey of a 100 miles, starts with one small step!”
The land of Positive Realisation – navigating our way there means having to look at what’s important to us? We can start by thinking about what we are good at, what we really enjoy doing and what comes easy to us. Essentially, it’s about identifying those situations where we feel good and at our best, wherever life’s journey takes us!
The land of Discovery – navigating your way here requires us to look forward not backward. Often we don’t get what we want because we are not clear. This land focuses on identifying realistic, clear and freeing goals to achieve what we really want to do, whether this is a career, a hobby, a study course, making a contribution to society or making new friends. It’s about what do I want, why do I want to do it and by when?
The land of Confrontation – navigating your way there means confronting what is stopping us from doing something and being honest about what area of our life plan has fallen off course? What is being tolerated? What needs to be present and what needs to be absent from our life? What will recharge our batteries?
The land of Opportunity - navigating your way there means being able to recognise opportunities and being able to decide whether to take them or not. However, just being clear on what we want is not enough, we need to be motivated, believe it is possible and have a plan! Here, we look at what are we willing to do today to move things forward? ” Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away”!
I have always been motivated in my “old” and “new” life to helping people get out of life what they really want, to build their confidence and share the life-changing skills that can be used wherever the next adventure takes you. Sometimes getting to visit these new lands is difficult or maybe we don’t even know how to start the journey or find the time.
So let’s come full circle to that room in the Intercontinental Hotel, full of talented women each on their own journey. We are all changing the world each day. We are more effective at this, whatever it is we are doing, if we feel it’s what we want to be doing. I’d be delighted to share my insights, setbacks and humorous anecdotes on my exploration of these new lands and also some great walks to do with dogs! Happy exploring……..!!!
Claire Dickson is an executive and career transition coach and leadership trainer; she also runs self development workshops as part of her business, HR Solutions a Prague based consultancy. If you are interested in finding out more, contact her on info@hrsolutions.cz (www.hrsolutions.cz) . Reprinted with Permission
2. article 2 - coaching, as a tool for performance..by Claire Dickson
I have been running a lot of leadership development programmes recently. I always start with discussing the external business context for leadership, to help people understand what change is likely and how to start anticipating and preparing for these changes. Businesses today are experiencing massive, relentless change in ever increasingly competitive markets. Can you think of a European product that does not have an American or Asian competitor?
Analysts think that despite this,that the future will challenge businesses to go beyond both current and predictable levels of performance and productivity. To meet this challenge, if an organization is to survive and thrive, it must learn to change and adapt with the market. Change and growth are not achieved by strategies, but by people who make strategy happen. This means there is going to be constant demand for people to adapt and to learn new things, often speedily.
As part of these leadership programmes which i run, we talk a lot about using coaching for developing performance. We know that nowadays, leaders do not have the time or capacity to control everything and everyone anymore, especially those working in matrix organizations. Many Leaders realise that to be successful, the additional skills needed are to be able to delegate, to create a culture of responsibility and self-generated actions. This is where the interest in coaching starts. Coaching is now recognized as a tool to help facilitate organizational change and support learning and development initiatives. In a recent UK survey by the Institute of Personnel and Development, nearly nine out 10 firms expect their managers to deliver coaching as part of their day-to-day work. This trend is mirrored in other countries. Unfortunately, just because there is an expectation for coaching, it doesn’t mean we’ve developed the new skills required to “coach” successfully. Talk to the people working in many of today’s organisations to get their feedback!
Coaching is about working with people to show them new possibilities, help them see options and take actions previously not obvious to them. Coaching is the capability to alter or shift thinking and confidence and re look at the context within which people normally operate. What we do know is that good coaching skills can make the difference between getting performance and getting excellence out of ourselves and our team. There are now numerous pieces of research that can demonstrate a return on investment. Just try searching for this on Google!
But, what are the real basics we need to know and do?
1. Clear outcomes! Knowing the outcomes for the session or end result, gives a clear goal. Often people talk about wanting to improve their influencing skills. A good coach will help narrow down what is the root cause of the problem and help the individual figure out how to move forward. Vague goals like influencing, mean we rarely arrive at the right end point. Often when I start working with a client, this part takes time. People often clarify their thinking as apart of the discussion.
2. Good Listening and Good questions! Don’t think for the individual but with them. Listen and question for the head (facts, content), the heart(emotions, body language) and the feet (motivation).
3. Assess the current reality. Many recent studies have shown that “Technical Skills” (e.g. knowledge and functional skills built over time) only represent 20% of the input into our performance. The remaining 80% which affects our performance comes from our “Personal Skills” (e.g. Behavioural aspects, such as Decisiveness, Assertiveness, Emotional stability, Enthusiasm, Open-mindedness, Self-confidence or Drive etc).
Few of us understand just how deep rooted our own behaviour patterns are, let alone how to positively change them in other people. A start in the right direction are the key skills to observe, challenge and determine the performer’s needs in these behavioural areas: knowledge of what to do, how to put into practice, willingness and confidence to overcome any barriers limiting performance, all need to be looked at.
We coach to build skills, challenge assumptions, share ideas and share tools to drive performance.
4. Measure and evaluate the result, based on the original goal. There needs to be follow up to encourage continuous improvement and also try to end every interaction with a “win”. Coaching at the end of the day is about action, building belief and skills and regular review. To retain the brightest and the best we need to build the ability to develop people, evoke performance excellence and create a culture of continuous learning.
Finally, a concluding thought according to the NASA agency : -
“In every field of human endeavour where performance is key, coaching is integral to helping shift an individual’s mindset, approach, and behaviours to ensure more effective action and greater business success. It’s all about the company and employee strengthening and growing.”
Claire Dickson is an executive and career transition coach and leadership trainer; she also runs self development workshops as part of her business HR Solutions, a Prague based consultancy. If you are interested in finding out more, contact her on info@hrsolutions.cz (www.hrsolutions.cz) . Reprinted with Permission
July 2nd, 2007 at 2:18 am
The case for investing in a ‘Guerrilla’ Business Coach
This article is for you if you have not yet invested in a business coach but have a healthy curiosity about the subject and would like to know more. It covers the business and personal reasons why individuals and organisations invest in coaching, some common myths, why people resist investing in a coach, what Guerrilla Coaching is, why it is different and how it works, what to look for when hiring an external agency to deliver one-to-one coaching and finally the answer to ‘what’s in it for you?’ if you decide to invest in a Guerrilla Coach.
Why coaching?
It is clear that professional coaching has and will continue to become a vital part of corporate life. All the major corporations we know have already used, or are investigating the use of, coaching as a pivotal ingredient of their approach to performance management.
You are in good company; 3M, Barclays, Boots, British Telecommunications, Dupont, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Eversheds, HBOS, Kellogg’s, Kodak, Shoosmiths, St James’s Place, Tenon, PWC and Unilever amongst countless other micro, SME and blue-chip organisations are training their managers to coach and/or investing in external coaches for some or all of their senior people.
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These are the most common reasons:
• A rapidly evolving business environment
• Wanting people to take individual responsibility for their development
• The financial cost of poor performance
• A popular development mechanism
• A popular feature of a modern organisation
• Coaching supports other learning and development activities
• Employees are demanding different delivery mechanisms
• The need for lifelong development
• Improve decision making by senior executives
• Targeted ‘just-in-time’ development
• Short, timely and focused coaching discussions
In an extensive survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in 2005 the following statistics were revealed:
Reasons why firms invest in coaching (in descending order of importance):
1. Improving individual performance (78%)
2. Dealing with under-performance (30%)
3. Improving productivity (28%)
4. Career planning/personal development (27%)
5. Growing future senior staff (26%)
6. Fostering a climate of continuous learning (<25%)
7. Motivating staff (<25%)
8. Accelerating organisational change (<25%)
9. Demonstrating the organisation’s commitment to staff (<25%)
10. Improving staff retention (<25%)
11. Reducing the cost of sending staff on external courses (<25%)
12. Helping foster a better home/work balance (<25%)
13. Satisfying a demand for coaching from employees (<25%)
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The survey also stated the following:
· 84% of respondents reported that coaching by line managers was either effective or very effective.
· 92% of respondents reported that coaching by external practitioners was either effective or very effective.
· 74% of respondents reported that there will be an increase in coaching by managers in the next few years (25% said it will stay the same).
· 36% of respondents reported that there will be an increase in coaching by external practitioners in the next few years (51% said it will stay the same).
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In another survey by the International Personnel Management Association (IPMA) they reported a 22% improvement in productivity through training. This rose to 88% when the training was combined with structured coaching.
These are the business reasons for investing in coaching but what about you? Coaching is often an intimate and very personal affair.
It is a natural instinct to want as much as you can from this precious thing called life. All of us are natural dream machines full of hopes and aspirations for the future. Yet many of us are afraid to reach out and take the action necessary to bring these dreams into reality. Often we become constrained and held back by our fears, unhelpful emotions, self-doubts, limiting beliefs and a lack of a clear focus on what we want. Many of us have an extremely busy life yet we feel unfulfilled, frustrated and dissatisfied. Living a life that is out of balance causes, what many call, stress.
Most of us are brought up to believe that it is right to tackle difficult situations on our own; it is part of being ‘grown up.’ Yet for many there is a price to be paid. We can often lead a seemingly successful life without finding the time to truly enjoy the fruits of our labour. Struggling along alone unchecked for long periods can lead to many forms of physical, mental and relationship difficulties.
Our observations from countless coaching discussions with our own clients also reveal that many people have one or more ‘blind spots.’ These are unhelpful habits, traits or emotions apparent to their colleagues but not to the individual.
Sometimes people unconsciously live in a state of denial, which over time, if left unchecked, can have unwanted potential career-limiting consequences. Unfortunately denial often sends unhelpful messages to colleagues; e.g. “It’s everyone else that has the problem and not me.”
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‘When you are part of an organisation, your primary objective and focus should be on helping all the people who work for you to get out of this business, or this game, or this life, what they desire. To me, that’s essential. You have to take the focus off yourself.’
Pat Riley – Basketball Coach
Some comments from some of our clients that prompted them to work with us illustrate their frustrations:
“I’m too busy being busy.”
“I used to be a very high earner but somewhere along the way I lost it.”
“I’m being told that there is something about me that I need to change but, to be honest, I can’t see what the fuss is all about or why my changing would make any difference.”
“I work hard, I work long hours, I easily earn enough yet there is something missing.”
“I know what I want to do but there is something holding me back.”
“I give so much to my work but I know my relationships with the important people in my life are suffering.”
“My time at work vs home is unhealthy.”
“My success has opened many doors for me that others suggest I should walk through, however I sometimes think I should take greater control over my destiny.”
“I enjoy a challenge but sometimes I feel overwhelmed and quite honestly I would feel very uncomfortable telling anyone I know especially at this office.”
“I am under enormous pressure to perform but I am struggling to juggle my priorities.”
The interesting observation from these comments is that they are not just confined to certain types of people, we hear them all the time from the front line to the board. We all have challenges and go through periods of uncertainty and overload where the opportunity to talk things through in a rational, confidential and sensitive manner is necessary not just to maintain and increase performance but also to keep healthy and sane!
What is Guerrilla Coaching?
Quite simply it is a one-to-one confidential relationship between a coach and ‘coachee’ who liaise regularly either face-to-face, on the phone or in writing (often via e-mail). The sole purpose of these conversations is to enable/cause the coachee to do whatever is necessary to get the business results that (s)he wants and the business demands in as short a timescale as possible.
‘Guerrilla Coaching’ is the term used by Bozeat Coaching to describe our unique approach. The coaching profession has yet to mature and there are literally thousands of people who profess to be coaches. Life coaching, holistic coaching, career coaching, executive coaching, therapeutic coaching are just some of the many terms used. Some coaches are excellent but many delude themselves that because they have read a book, or attended a one-day training course on the subject, they are suddenly an expert coach!
The approach taken by our Guerrilla Coaches is straightforward and based on the following principles:
· Coaching little and often: as an example sometimes we coach just a few minutes on the phone each morning before work starts and again at the end of the day
· Focus on the objectives that will deliver the greatest outcome (20/80)
· Maintain a business and commercial focus
· Work with an individual’s behaviours and mindset (values and beliefs)
· Quickly cut through personal interference to address any issues preventing action
· Work at pace to create the motivation and momentum for sustained change
· Being empathic and challenging
· Using, whenever necessary, unorthodox techniques to achieve a desired outcome
· Being flexible and doing whatever is necessary to achieve the result
· Delivering sustainable solutions
· Knowing that successful coaches themselves receive intense coaching
· Having fun!
“A Guerrilla Coach is someone who has an ongoing, committed partnership with a player or performer and does whatever it takes to inspire that person, or team, to empower themselves and shine. The consequence is a dramatic and sustainable improvement in levels of play or performance.”
Simon Bozeat
Lead business Guerrilla Coach – Bozeat Consulting
Why invest in a Guerrilla Business Coach?
Because everyone in the business world who has risen to the top has had many of them! Nobody achieves success without surrounding themselves with a support network of talented and inspirational people. A business coach becomes part of that support network and indeed often helps the coachee create their own if they have not built one already. In this way coachees become secure in the knowledge that they have the right combination of people that will inspire, support and challenge them to do whatever is necessary to continually step out of their comfort zones and achieve success.
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Here are just some of the reasons our clients make the decision to invest in a coach, they:
· derive little or no value from training courses or they enjoy attending training courses but fail to follow through and turn the skills learned into habits
· know they should be following through on taking action that will stretch them but have convinced themselves that there are other ‘more important’ ways to spend their time. In other words they need a ‘gentle yet firm push’
· are very busy people who need regular short injections of inspiration and techniques
· need to rediscover the skills and habits that helped them succeed in the past
· have some significant business goals to achieve in the future that will require a significant departure from the known
· are uncharacteristically performing at a level below the norm and either don’t know why or do know why but cannot find a way through their ‘personal interference’ i.e. negative thoughts that prevent action
· are a peak performer and want the right techniques presented to them at the right time to give them the extra edge
· are curious to know what makes them and the people around them tick
· know they have character habits, traits and emotions that, at times, support them in achieving their goals and others that prevent them. Although they may know what the inhibitors and self-sabotaging habits are, they do not know what to do about them.
What Guerrilla Coaching isn’t
Over the many years we have worked with countless executives and professionals we have heard all manner of beliefs about the profession and methods of coaching. Some are true; others are plainly unhelpful.
Here are five of the most common myths:
1. “Coaching is just another perk”
This can be a dangerously subjective judgment. Coaching will not work unless the participant is 100% committed to their own growth. It is not uncommon for ambitious and driven people to push themselves too far. Whilst with a coach you have to be honest with yourself. To be able to raise your own potential you must put your whole self back into your work and personal life. This for many will be a tremendous challenge but the payoffs can be extraordinary.
2. “Coaching is easy/a jolly”
Great coaches help people to become the best they can be and that involves the coachee stretching themselves which requires effort, dedication and above all, persistence. A simple analogy for spending time with a Guerrilla Coach is becoming a master musician.
Here is what you would probably do if you chose to learn an instrument (if you haven’t done so already):
· You would find the best teacher available in the area and would start taking lessons.
· You would practise like mad! - all the time - as many hours per day as your life would allow.
· You would join a band or group so you could play with your peers.
· You would read anything you could get your hands on about techniques and stories about great masters.
· You would go to as many concerts as you could to observe and listen to players practising the craft.
· You would take your fellow player friends along so you could talk together about what you heard.
· As soon as you were good enough you would play for friends, family and colleagues.
· Finally, you would play in recitals and concerts and get feedback on your playing from educated players.
This is how a Guerrilla Coach will operate with you to ensure you master whatever it is you need to get the results you want and your business demands.
3. “The best coaches are those who have been to the top”
Not necessarily but it can obviously help with credibility. There are countless people who have risen to the top but never made it as a great coach. The world of business and sport is littered with failed managers and leaders. The difference is this, when becoming a top player the focus is on yourself, the focus of a top-performing coach is on the coachee. When a Bozeat Consulting Guerrilla Coach looks into the eye of a client our mindset is simply this: “I know there is a vast reservoir of untapped potential in you. It is my job to search for it and do whatever it takes to cause you to unleash it.”
4. “Coaching is just having someone listen to you”
Yes a Guerrilla Coach will give you a ‘damn good listening to!’ but there is so much more to it than that. There are a host of techniques that are deployed in a timely and sensitive way to inspire you to do whatever needs to be done. All our coaches are trained in NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), psychometric and 360 degree assessment tools. These techniques, many of which have been popularised by the likes of Darren Brown and Paul McKenna, are proven to deliver extraordinary results in a fraction of the time traditional methods take.
5. “Coaching discussions are just pink and fluffy”
We used to hear this all the time but have yet to understand exactly what people mean by it. People use expressions like ‘pink and fluffy,’ ‘hugging trees’ and ‘soft skills’ to dismiss coaching and personal skills training as if it is either mumbo jumbo or not worth bothering with.
This is a terribly damaging belief and thankfully now confined to the minority of people who have either no idea of what coaching entails, have heard some negative comments about coaching from their colleagues or down the pub or may have had a bad previous experience with an inexperienced/poor coach.
Anyone who has worked with a great coach will tell you that they are exactly the opposite. Guerrilla coaching discussions are focused, challenging, timely and first and foremost about delivering results.
The most common reasons why people resist working with a professional coach
It can be a combination of many factors illustrated by the following comments:
‘I have to do this on my own’
This is not an uncommon belief that people share. The internal dialogue of ‘I have to prove myself’ is common but in the majority of cases particularly unhelpful, especially if the ‘Lone Ranger’ method continues not to deliver results. Consider why it is that the largest and most successful corporations hire consultants. Should Tiger Woods or any other sports star be able to do it on their own?
‘I can’t afford it’
Hiring a coach is a significant step to take for many people and the case for investing in one must be made. It is only worthwhile if it produces solid results. There is only one way to know whether it is right for you and that is to give it a go! People only truly believe in something when they have had direct experience of it. Consider having a trial period of just 30 days. You will know then if it is right for you.
‘My weaknesses will be exposed’
Inevitably a confidential conversation with a Guerrilla Coach will uncover what you want, what you have now that will help you and what it is that is preventing you from reaching your goals. Sometimes the conversations are uncomfortable and so they should be! If facing up to ‘blind spots’ and doing something about them is something that you fear, then that is an even bigger reason why you should invest in a Guerrilla Coach!
‘I don’t know if I will get on with my coach’
Absolutely right, the chemistry must be right as a professional coaching relationship is
often intense and intimate. It is worthwhile checking out a coach’s credibility and results through people who have used him before. At the end of the day a trial period of 30 days will be the only true test to see if the relationship will deliver what you want.
How Guerrilla Coaching works
Having made the decision to accelerate the fulfilment of your aspirations you will meet your designated coach. After an initial exploration of your current situation, challenges and priorities a series of short-term goals will be agreed along with an initial plan of how they are to be attained. This first meeting may well include your manager who will no doubt have a clear idea of what business-related goals he wishes you to achieve and where your strengths and areas for development lie.
The coach uses searching questions to draw out your aspirations, goals and any existing or potential real and perceived barriers to success.
The coach will also use a combination of techniques to allow you to form your own plan of action whilst testing both your levels of self-belief and motivation plus if what you are setting out to achieve is congruent with who you are as person. This is essential to ensure the agreed actions are followed through.
Towards the conclusion of the initial meeting you and the coach will agree the frequency and duration of future meetings/contact (face-to-face, telephone and written). A typical coaching relationship will last between 3 months and a year.
The following diagram illustrates a typical coaching programme:
What will be the nature of the discussion with my coach?
Whatever you want and is needed to deliver results. All of our coaches are skilled and have a wealth of experience in specific subjects:
· Increasing sales and profits
· Opening more doors to potential clients i.e. turning cold calls warm
· Creating a network of powerful and influential people
· Customer service
· Leading a sales team
· Building a work team
· Developing business strategy
· Overcoming personal interference and ‘creating a success mindset’
· Influencing and persuading colleagues, suppliers and customers
· Understanding self and others
· Significantly accelerating the pace of change
· Leading a change project/organisation transformation
· Improving career prospects e.g. preparing for interviews, writing CVs etc
· Preparing for an important speech or presentation
· Creating a balanced and healthy work/home life.
5 qualities to look for when hiring an external business coach
Credibility
Ensure they have a track record both in achieving results themselves and coaching others to succeed. Ensure they walk-the-talk and have their own coaches. Beware over-relying on the coach having industry/sector experience; coaching is easily transferable as many of the challenges people face are how they relate to themselves and the people around them.
Rigour and flexibility
Good coaches will have a proven approach which they know will deliver results. They must be also willing to adapt their approach to suit the needs of your business and the individual without compromising the integrity of the coaching process.
5 qualities to look for… continued:
Personal chemistry
If possible arrange an informal meeting with the people who will be participating in the coaching and the coach(es) to ensure they ‘connect.’
Exceptional at listening and deploying proven coaching techniques
Listening is a core skill of any successful coach, test this out when you first meet them and also examine how they would approach specific coaching related challenges. Beware coaches who simply want to lecture you how to do things just because it worked for them.
Being ‘off the wall’ and having a sense of fun!
The best coaches are engaging and willing to do whatever it takes to cause their coachees to take action. Look for people who regularly go the extra mile and who are not afraid of doing something different. The best coaches openly express their enjoyment at doing what they love to do with a smile on their face!
What if you invest in a Guerrilla Coach?
Congratulations, a great step forward! If you have been involved with an executive coach before then you will know what to expect. If not then prepare for an inspirational, challenging and fun ride. We make only one promise.
‘If you are ready to take yourself to the next level of performance and success we will help you get there faster than if you make the journey on your own.’
What if you don’t invest in a Guerrilla Coach?
Nothing will happen other than you will continue to ‘do what you’ve always done and get what you always got’ and operating as a Lone Ranger with the support of your manager and colleagues might be just right for you, or it might not….
Next Steps
For further details and a confidential, no-obligation discussion please contact us now.
Simon Bozeat
Lead Business ‘Guerrilla’ Coach
Office: 01530 271272
Fax: 0870 9124326
Mobile: 07989 673095
E-mail: info@bozeatconsulting.co.uk
Web: http://www.bozeatconsulting.co.uk
P.S. It may be of interest to you to know what differentiates Bozeat Consulting from our competitors:
Here are three reasons:
· We guarantee you business results
· We deliver results faster than the majority of people believe is possible
· All our consultants ‘walk-the-walk’ whereas many of our competitors talk other people’s walk
However when you get to know us you will realise it is our systematic and rigorous approach that sets us apart from the competition. On the following page I have summarised our 4 ‘LITE’ steps to success.
The 4 LITE steps to business success through people
When we have the privilege to work with an individual, team or entire organisation we follow these 4 steps. We have proved that this is the only way to deliver sustained business success through the development of people.
Step Which means…
Listen Understanding at a deep and fundamental level the heritage, frustrations and aspirations of people. Many of our competitors dive straight into an approach which is something like – ‘here’s a programme, it will be good for you’. We know from experience that 80% of development programmes simply don’t deliver. To really engage people we take an appropriate length of time to give everyone a ‘damn good listening to!’
Inspire People learn best when they are genuinely excited and have a hunger for the subject. Sometimes simply listening is enough to inspire people but it may be that the Guerrilla Coach will need to demonstrate, in a powerful way, the value the development journey will deliver and the opportunity they will miss if they choose not to accept the invitation to be taken to a higher level of performance.
Training in techniques Once people are inspired, excited and ready to learn then their thirst for new skills and knowledge is quenched via a deliver a dynamic, timely and relevant training and coaching experience. We only train our clients to use techniques that we use ourselves, ones proven to consistently deliver outstanding performance and results.
Embed I have lost count of the number of people who reply, when asked; ‘so what value have you derived from ‘x’ training programme?’ with ‘it’s too soon to tell’ or ‘i’m too busy doing real work’ or worse still ‘there is no point training me it’s my boss (or colleagues) that need this’. Where we differ is not leaving learning to chance. Processes and systems are introduced in parallel with the development experience to ensure people’s great intentions are realised and skills that were once new swiftly become powerful habits.
July 2nd, 2007 at 7:53 am
I am writing this because I am interested in speaking with you about what I’ve learned for sure in life.
Being a counsellor & therapist I have found out that the fastest way to healing is through awareness and action. Life is meant to be fun. It’s not supposed to be an uphill survival exercise. What we bring to the table i.e. our perspectives, baggage etc, colours how we view life situations and people. What would it be like to approach every situation from an open and light perspective? No more barely getting through or defensively trying to protect what’s yours.
Our perspectives, our thinking make life a dream or a living hell. That’s one of the biggest secrets I’ve learned. How you treat yourself and allow others to treat you is pretty much determined by your self worth. Self worth is a choice.
We are constantly talking to ourselves internally. The tape is always on Go and Record. Do you notice how we repeat the same thoughts time and again. Since we are telling ourselves stories about everything little thing and every big thing, we might as well tell ourselves something that is empowering rather than harmful.
So, do you know how to be happy and how to get what you really want out of life. Well, try this formula on for size.
(1) Define your goals. What do you really really want?
(2) Take action. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. Be prepared to take new action.
(3) Celebrate. Clarity is power. When you know what you want and how to get there you’re half way there already.
Here’s how you do it.
Defining your goals
Ask yourself these questions and write down the first answer you come up with.
(1) If you could wave a magic wand and be everything you ever wanted and have everything you’ve ever wanted, what would your life look like?
(2) What could you do to achieve that if you knew for sure you would not fail?
(3) What’s the one thing you’d love to do before you die?
(4) For your life to be perfect, what would have to change?
(5) Name one change you could make to your lifestyle that would give you more peace.
(6) What would be the biggest benefit from achieving your goal(s)?
Take action
Taking one goal at a time
(1) What’s the first/next step you can take.
(2) What can you do to find out more about what you want and need to do. (Who’s already doing it)
(3) What three actions could you take this week that would make sense this week?
(4) What will happen (what is the cost) of you NOT doing anything about this
Final piece of the puzzle Celebrate!!!!
It takes courage to do things differently in your life. How would you know you were giving yourself a clap on the back.
(1) Eg. A big night out, pampering, shopping, a day out golfing, fishing etc. However you celebrate in your life.
(2) Tell someone what you did, what it took for you to do it and how you feel now. Do it, celebrate and more of what you want will come in. The bigger you do this the bigger your achievements will become.
(3) Remember, life is about fun. Be creative.
When you do this from a place of empowerment, magic happens. My definition of empowerment is “aligning ones inner essence with informed action, through choice, with universal energy”. What this means is that when you are connected to your real self, and align this with strategies (informed action) and universal help (energy) you cannot fail. You are operating from a powerful space and it is from this place that living an inspired and full life is possible
You can Email me at activeempowerment.com. I would love to hear how you got on and what actions you are now taking towards your dream life.
Kind regards
Yvette
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:40 am
WHY I BECAME A LIFE COACH or WHAT MOTIVATES A MOTIVATOR?
`Life Coach`, `Lifestyle Guru`. Almost every time you open a newsaper, glossy magazine or watch a reality TV show this phrase always seems to come up, but what is a life coach and what motivates them to motivate us? As a professional Life Coach I am frequently asked why did I decide to become a Life Coach and what prompted me to specialise in working with clients with impaired vision?
Perhaps three years ago, or thereabout, I realised that through my working life to date there was a thread, a link of working with people, from retail management and running my own customer based business, advanced driving tuition, recruitment and training positions with National Companies to property sales. All of these situations involved meeting and working with a wide range of individuals, which I enjoy. What I also realised however was that within these various roles the element that I found most satisfaction from was training, being involved in the development of an individual from a new recruit to a point where they are contributing to the success of their company. As an added bonus I also noticed, during follow up sessions, that people I had worked with had become more confident as they had acquired new skills within their company.
Some years earlier I had suddenly, and without warning, become partially sighted. My wife and I have always been positive people and, over the next couple of years we gradually overcame most of the challenges and restrictions that this new situation presented. This was also an interesting period of exploring my inner resources, deciding who I was in my changed world and what I was going to make of it. It was during the reflective period that I first heard about Life Coaching and felt as if a light had been turned on. This could be the ideal culmination of my working life as it involved working with people but on a more individual, personal level. After qualifying as a coach I practiced generally for a while before deciding to specialise in working with newly partially sighted or blind individuals. Having observed the effects of this potentially traumatic event myself it seemed logical to combine this experience and my earlier working life with my coaching skills.
What I have had first hand experience of, and have certainly noticed in other visually impaired people is a `stillness` or inner calm which is absent from the majority of the fully sighted population. If all of the faculties are available then they are generally taken for granted and, in most cases are underused. If you don’t hear a car pass by because you are talking to someone you will still realise its existence because you will see it. Reduce or remove a faculty however and you learn to compensate for the loss by tuning the other senses more effectively. I think it was the author Conan Doyle who had Sherlock Holmes say something to the effect that
”People look, but they do not see.” You only realise how true this is when you can no longer see. A similar phrase could be “we hear but do not listen” which is particularly relevant in life coaching and vital when working with visual loss. A coach needs to develop what many people would describe as intuition but what in reality is a deeper understanding of what the client is feeling, or what may lie behind the sentiments expressed even if they themselves cannot articulate it immediately, to `not see the wood for the trees`.
A coach offers a clearing station for stifling processes, a sounding board for ideas and ambitions and unqualified support during change (if the client decides that change is required). Life in general, the workplace or even friends and relatives frequently encourage us to conform or to `fit in`, this can dull our sense of who we are and what we could possibly achieve, after all they often have their own agenda and views about what they think you are capable of whereas a coach does not.
This `intuition` is arrived at by effective listening, by not overlaying the coach’s own thoughts or emotions onto the client`s and must be done without putting words into the client’s mouth. Understanding such as this develops over a period with the client and there is a great deal of satisfaction in watching people grow as individuals and realise that they can change their lives if they wish to do so.
It has been my experience that loss of sight, partial or otherwise, engenders intense emotions probably not previously felt, or at least not to the same degree. These emotions can range from self-pity to envy of fully sighted people (or `viewers` as I call them) and from great pent up anger at the feelings of being useless to a wonderful spirit of determination to overcome the situation. Through all of these emotions however seems to be differing levels of fear, depending upon which emotion is being experienced. Fear is often considered to be negative but can also be positive. I have become an advocate of fear as a positive emotion to generate movement away from a limiting belief or situation as discussed in Susan Jeffers book `Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway`.
Hearing what clients are saying, or perhaps not saying, as opposed to just listening to the voice will reveal what is really being felt and therefore holding the client back. Concise questioning will encourage the client to recognise the fears for themselves and act accordingly. Loss of vision, after a period of adjustment, often means that we realise that the car is there, to use my earlier example, before the `viewers` do. With this example in mind people with sight loss will often be more effective than `viewers` in positions where listening is essential because there are no visual distractions on the other side of the office or out of the window. There is a rich resource being lost to employers because of either a lack of imagination or the perceived difficulties caused by the presence of someone who cannot see in an office environment.
As a group there are probably more blind or visually impaired people in the UK than other `disabled` (a phrase that I dislike as it is limiting in the mind of the user and has become patronising due to overuse) sections of society. As a group we are also open to discrimination or are challenged in many ways that viewers are not. Low lighting in hotels or the workplace, street furniture, advertising boards and vehicles carelessly parked on pavements are but a few examples. This discrimination can be deliberate, unconscious or simply caused by lack of thought.
In an attempt to highlight the challenges faced by loss of sight I am researching a book about the position of visually impaired people in today’s society. If you are blind or partially sighted, or know someone who is and are willing for your comments to be quoted I would love to hear from you. I’m keen to discuss the following areas.
How did you lose your vision e.g. through illness or accident?
How do you feel about losing your sight e.g angry, resigned, depressed?
How have you been received or treated by society?
Do you feel that you have been treated unfairly by employers, the service industry or in any other area?
If you could change just one thing in any of these situations what would it be and how would you change it?
To preserve anonymity any replies that are directly quoted will be abbreviated e.g. DS from Kent. If you wish to contribute
and someone is able to type for you then please forward replies by e-mail marked `Lawrence Nelson book research` to lawrenceateye2eye@telco4u.net. I am investigating alternative ways to make contact for those unable to write or type. It will be assumed that any item submitted is available for publishing without recompense or any restriction. When the book is published the proceeds will be used to offer subsidised coaching to newly blind or visually-impaired clients. Thank you in advance for any contributions.
If you live outside of the UK and are reading this or hear about it I would still be interested in your views as the challenges that we face are universal.
For further information about life coaching by telephone, e-mail or seminar please contact Lawrence by e-mail as above
or on (UK) 016974 75448.
July 2nd, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Being a Coach
Who you are BEING as a coach is one of the greatest assets that you bring to your clients through the coaching relationship. You bring the true spirit of who you are: the essential, authentic, and unique aspects of you.
As a coach, you have the wonderful opportunity to share in another person’s life. Consider for a moment all of your coaching skills - the concepts, ideas and strategies that you have in your coaching toolkit. The integration of all of these is vitally important. Who you are as a coach, however, is what brings your work alive and allows you to be yourself and be with your clients in a way that is fulfilling for both of you. It is the difference between doing coaching vs. being a coach. When being is in place, then doing can occur in a more meaningful way. It’s more a question of:
• Who am I being while I am doing coaching?
As a coach, being with yourself and with another person involves being in the present moment: in the now. When you are in the now, your compassion, intuition, curiosity and imagination are more accessible to you. It brings you to your essence. Being in the now quiets your mind to be with all that is happening in the moment.
Few people have the experience of truly being heard. Fully listening to your coaching clients is a wonderful gift that you can offer them. As listening is a complex activity which involves paying attention at many levels at the same time, skillful listening takes practice. Being self-aware is the foundation for fully listening to another person.
Your way of being as a listener directly impacts your coaching clients and has the power to impact them positively or negatively. Your clients’ feeling of safety, their trust of self, their esteem and their potential for personal growth can be significantly affected by your level of good will, awareness and expertise as a listener.
Empowered listening is a way of being, a way of being fully present - body, mind and spirit. Empowered listening is being curious and paying attention to our clients without anything else interfering in the process. With empowered listening we will hear the essence of what is being said and find ourself whole-heartedly open to our intuition and creativity. We will be more present and receptive and be more natural, appropriate and creative with our responses.
The impact of empowered listening on our coaching clients is that they have the rare and cherished experience of being heard; they feel understood and accepted. It is clear that we care about them and this opens space for considerably more depth in their conversations. The person begins to speak from their past experiences, from their present moment experience and from their dreams for the future. They may begin to speak in more depth about things of which they were not previously aware. As they keep speaking they may become even more powerful in our presence and come to believe and trust that they indeed have their own answers.
Clients will feel safe when they realize that we can be trusted to respect them and see them as whole. Their trust in the connection with us allows for a deepening and strengthening of the coaching alliance. They will begin to connect more and more with their inner strength and resources. They will connect with the source of their inspiration, creativity and personal success. This experience can open the door into some insights of their offering to the world: their calling.
Marlena Field, PCC, CPCC
http://www.BodyMindSpiritCoaching.com
*author of “Body-Centered Coaching: using the body as a resource for change”
*creator of 3 CDs - 215 minutes of live coaching demonstrations
250-851-0145
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Life Coaching - is it a renovation for the soul? by Linda Anderson, ACC, CPC
Coaches often use the metaphor with clients of ‘peeling back the layers of an onion’ to represent the process of coaching. Coaching starts at the outside of the onion and step-by-step removes a layer until the core is reached.
I would like to offer up a new metaphor - ‘Coaching is like renovating a kitchen floor’ - truly!!
My husband and I recently became the owners of our new house … actually the house is very old … we are simply the new owners. The previous owner lived there for 55 years so there is a lot of history in this house. We bought this house knowing that the kitchen floor may need some work.
“Some work” is defined as anything between replacing a few floorboards to replacing the entire floor!
We pulled up 4 layers of linoleum before we reached the wooden floor underneath. We discovered that some parts of the floor had totally rotted away and would need replacing and some parts of the floor were still in good condition. The most important thing is that we discovered what was truly there so that we could develop our plan to move forward.
So here is how my metaphor relates …
In coaching you work one layer at a time to reach what lies at the base (just like removing layers of linoleum). Quite often you don’t know what you will find until you get there. You may not always like what you find, however, the most important thing is that you do the work to remove the layers because only once you know what is really there can you create what you really want. Once you know the true state of your base you have a point to plan for … the potential is then enormous.
Linda Anderson is a Certified Professional Coach dedicated to helping people live bold and rewarding lives. Linda has an energetic and direct style of coaching which suits people who like to be challenged. She currently works with clients in Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Japan and USA. Linda writes a free weekly e-newsletter called ‘a2a Inspirations’. Find out more about Linda: http://www.a2acoaching.com
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:50 pm
COACHING FEES – what are you worth?
by Linda Anderson, ACC, PCC
It fascinates that many new coaches struggle with the concept of charging real fees for their coaching. When I say “real” I mean fees that reflect what you offer your clients, the value that coaching has to them, and fees that support your position as a professional.
Naturally we charge fees that are in line with our relative experience but in my opinion most new coaches do not charge enough for their coaching.
In conversations with other coaches I hear things like “I’m not comfortable charging for something I do naturally”, “I just want to help people, the money is not important”, “I am still a student so I can’t charge people” …. and so on.
Do any of these sound familiar? I have certainly thought things like this.
Why have you become a coach? Yep – I know all the warm fuzzy reasons about helping people but what role do you want coaching to have in your life? Do you want coaching as a hobby or a career? Do you need an income from coaching or can you afford to run a charity?
Most new coaches I talk to want to be running profitable coaching businesses as their primary source of income. If this is the case then all the above thoughts about fees work against your desire to run a profitable business.
Earlier this year the world gave me slap on the face so I would open my eyes and change perspective around my own coaching fees.
I got married in March and in the lead up I engaged all sorts of people to deliver various services related to the wedding. The slap on the face came when I was looking for a DJ to play at our reception. I requested quotes from a number of companies and received a diverse range of prices. I received a quote from a DJ offering me a very personalized service and a per hour fee that was more than I charged for my coaching! Now, I am sure he is a great DJ and the service he provides would be worth every cent but the thought that crossed my mind was “this guy charges more to play CD’s at a party than I charge to help people change their lives!!!!!!”
My next thought was “Linda, get over yourself. No more shrinking violet attitudes about coaching fees! Be proud of what you have to offer and stand tall when you discuss fees. You are worth it! If a DJ can charge those fees you sure as hell can.”
Coaching is not all about money but running a profitable business sure has a lot to do with money. Believe in yourself, believe in the impact you have in your clients’ life and believe in your own worth.
Linda Anderson is a Certified Professional Coach dedicated to helping people live bold and rewarding lives. Linda has an energetic and direct style of coaching which suits people who like to be challenged. She currently works with clients in Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Japan and USA. Linda writes a free weekly e-newsletter called ‘a2a Inspirations’. Find out more about Linda: http://www.a2acoaching.com
July 3rd, 2007 at 4:41 am
Lady Macbeth and a bit of sugar
To say he’s clever is, of course, a ridiculous underestimation. Sir Alan Sugar breathes focus, intelligence, drive and charisma. He is a terrific model for a wise, very wise man.
Yet he also demonstrates something quite rare in today’s society. Something few want to do. Something people prefer to offload.
What?
Taking responsibility for their actions!
Watch him every week during the fascinating “Apprentice” programmes: he could teach many of us a vast range of skills to be acquired. For one look what he’s achieved from the most unprivileged of backgrounds. His rise has been truly meteoric… He took responsibility – rather than petulantly hurling blame and cursing misfortune – got off his backside and DID things!
But watch him in the boardroom: sales people could learn an armoury of skills. They might be dumbfounded at this statement as SAS isn’t sitting on the ‘selling’ side of the huge glass table. Read on…
But what would be one of the greatest skills you might learning from watching him? … The Art of Listening… this is a vital component in all business and personal dealings. Observe how he says little, but observe how he listens and observes every word, every single movement, each and every twitch of an eyebrow that happens on the opposite side of the table. Nothing escapes his notice.
But back to responsibility and taking responsibility for your – sorry his! – (slip of the fingers) actions.
Watch how he gleans information each week from his trusted advisors, who sit either side of him – rather like the ornate legs of a beautiful antique chair supporting the seat: they advice and furnish him with the information. He then disappears and digests it alone. And he makes a decision. He doesn’t ask them to join that process: he alone takes responsibility.
High-powered managers and success wizards among you reading this will – of course – immediately point out that this IS what CEO’s do. Of course it is! But… as with many things in life… everyday things can teach us numerous spiritual lessons.
Back to SAS… did you see the penultimate show? I sat on the edge of my sofa. Could he really chose ‘the one from Exeter’? However clever she undoubtedly is, she is hardly of any appealing disposition… SAS’s colleague Nick said it very politely – “she’s a game player”. She might appear missile of ambition… to be kind about it. She’s openly admitted she’d trample over anyone to get what they want. Ruthless. And proud to be so! And her insistence of things like her 90k a year and the silly Gold Card: many people earn more, much more. Many, many others earn much, much less. But who would you want her in your life, your office, your business more??? You don’t have to be a monster to be successful. (and did she term herself… “A Lady” ?!?! …)
Re SAS - I couldn’t believe he didn’t fire her. But he did flush her out. And brilliantly.
I’m sure he knew exactly what he was doing. And I’ve rarely seen anything so clever. Ever heard the expression “give them the rope…” … I’m sure he did know exactly what he set up. And what a lesson he taught the chosen one. Her loathsome arrogance and maniupulation of everyone crumbled, let alone her presumption she would be the one.
(Still, I’m sure now she’s free that she could do an amazing Lady Macbeth somewhere…)
He listened to all his advisors said… (aside I loved their interviews by the way – thank the gods for some serious cutting down to size of vacuous egos!…) but ultimately HE took responsibility for HIS actions. An amazing man in many ways. (And no! I am not in love with him but I do wish I’d had a mentor like that!)
So … responsibility. Not a very favoured word in today’s society is it. Everyone blames someone else – and I imagine the blood in a few reading this may even be soaring towards boiling point rather fast! Fantastic! Read on!
If it’s not because you came from a deprived, miserable background – it’s because you didn’t. If it’s not because you went to a third-rate university, it’s because you DID go to one of the best!
Get over it! Many of us are pretty sick of barrages of excuses being made for just about everything. Take responsibility for your life, for your actions… and move on. Achieve something worthwhile. Thank your circumstances for the things you’ve learned as a result. Education is never wasted – and it doesn’t just happen in the classroom. It happens in every day life!
Many people have succeeded against enormous odds. They’ve got on with it, taken responsibility and made a difference. Look at people who’ve struggled to overcome dreadful, depressing beginnings – look at those who remain in them and yet transform some grotty estate into a place of beauty, or start a wonderful youth club so the lost, unfocused kids have a sense of belonging, of somewhere to join in. Amazing.
And Life Coaching is about taking responsibility too.
It is not about prancing off to someone and getting them to create and effect the changes!
Quite the opposite! The coach supports, encourages, inspires, challenges… confronts even… the coach laughs (with - and even at…), the coach gets you moving and directing.
But ultimately it is YOU, and you ONLY, who can get your plane of the ground. You are the pilot.
Empowerment is a wonderful thing isn’t it? You don’t do anything but help people to unearth, encourage and polish the skills they’ve already got inside them – but just aren’t using. Simple.
See it another way. Think of a beautiful tarnished silver ornament. The tarnish, built up progressively, clouds the object – just as we layer on layer after layer of acquired mental thought processes (read ‘muck’) that do nothing but hide our true potential. But back to the silver… so armed with polish and a good cloth, we begin to polish the object. Before long the true beauty of the silver and the beauty the object dazzle us: that is fun!
And real Life Coaching is not much different: you just help people to show their true potential and their real worth.
It’s a synch! And it’s actually a privilege too to help other effect great change.
Take responsibility! Don’t offload your life to someone else. Grasp it and cherish it: it’s totally yours!
Enjoy it!
July 3rd, 2007 at 4:51 am
I’m suffocating… HELP!!!!
The boiler died a few weeks ago. Thankfully, however, not during the depths of a cold spell or the winter. Anyway, during the interim period before the heating-system can be replaced, it’s the Immersion heater to the rescue. The trouble is that He seems to have developed a problem – a rather vital problem – his thermostat seems to have died… The Sympathy of Machines?
You may wonder – incorrectly, as it happens – as to whether I live in some dilapidated old garret. Good point… except I don’t… but I do freely admit some of the stuff may not be state-of-the-art. But there again, I’d always prefer to have some beautiful objects around and near me - another bit of beautiful glass maybe, perhaps another beautiful bit of china - than status symbol mod cons. They simply don’t interest or motivate me much! Beauty does.
As I was saying… so, at the end of those days when you’ve worked really hard and concentrated at 4580 degrees, I, like many of us, love to languish in a hot bath full of whatever cocktail of aromatherapy oils I’ve been inclined to mix to suit my mood that day.
It’s wonderful, great cast iron bath, so I always draw a depth of hot water alone to heat it a bit before I fill it up: I’m not very keen on slithering in only to find my backside parked on against a stone cold base of iron!
So… hot tap on! Hmmmmmm! The clouds of steam that quickly belched out of the hot tap appeared more as though spurting from a volcanic geezer! Within seconds, the bathroom looked more like an exotic spa steam room… I myself, engulfed in a sea of boiling mist, more like a figure in a shipwrecking tragedy than someone trying to relax! Unable almost to see the door, window or other point of egress, it hit me! No! Not the door… but an idea!
HELP!!!
It hit me… that I’d felt this feeling twice today already……. On the Internet! (And no! my system isn’t so old as to have been steam-powered…) … Mentally I’d felt suffocated whilst viewing a few websites… of certain peers and colleagues in the world of Life Coaching.
Being endlessly fascinated by people, I love to see others’ sites and see what they’re doing, what they’re offering, and learn of new ideas, take on challenging ideas… even see what I might be doing wrong. I am but human…
But some of these Life Coaches’ sites are just like an Internet hypermarket… What EXACTLY are they offering? I’ve no idea…
The idea of giving out free offers seems to have wreaked havoc with many! Tabs for DVDs, navigation points for audio, books. A shop… is there homemade jam. A pie or two even?! One might only delve further into all the offers assaulting you the senses.
There are so many offers – for downloads, for audio products, DVDs, seminars… then free this, free that… plus more reports available for purchase than a provincial library, even a college library, might have space for. There are offers promising links to yet more offers. Once there you’re whisked off to a more distant page, even another site… Suffering from cyber jetlag and inundated with promises of world shaking authority, free reports for life, downloads to ferry you well into the next life… and keep you amused when there.
I love some of the truly great offers that people give: they can be wonderful. But speaking as an insider, I can say how many people are actively seeking to bombarde the viewer (or prospect) with these offers… to get them to pull out their credit card and get buying… BUY! BUY! BUY! And you’re saved! Order now, and be saved before the bill comes in! Buy NOW!
Order this… save your life… etc… etc. Stuff the coaching - Just get buying! You’ll be saved… your dilemmas met! (Or is it coaches who may be saved, having generated a decent stream of income… forget the coaching… they don’t really DO that anyway!)
In a word… B—-cks!
I’ve felt so dizzy, overwhelmed and stunned by some sites of so-called world leading gurus that I’ve hit exit, unable to endure my heart’s palpitations, trembling at the literal deluge of information that might (that WILL!) assault my room should I accidentally be terrorised enough to hit the “download” key in error - or by intimidation – and give the printer the OK to get churning out endless pages! (At least I could wallpaper the loo with something to keep people reading I suppose…)
But what is it they are offering? ……. Coaching…? Great advice? A wish to HELP me?
Or can it really be just a sneaky way to get money… to hook me and line in a stream of money. Who knows………….. Sssssssssssssh!
And where IS the coaching bit?
I’ve got to say I’ve been to sites and been almost UNABLE to find out anything about the services they offer that are really to do with coaching and helping people address and get on top of their life changes. But, of course, I can’t say who they are… I don’t want to be sued. But isn’t doing coaching what coaches are supposed to do?!
My point is that some of us – with albeit massively less vibrant and gyrating websites – are genuinely out there wanting and trying to offer people decent, excellent help and service. We can do it - and we can do it brilliantly. We can’t do magic websites though…! But do we really want to?
Another ever growing bête-noire of mine?
Newsletters…
All coaches are doing them now. I would if I could get my web designer to do me the necessary technology… and I’ve asked!
I’ve no problem with newsletters per se. I receive a varied selection of them from colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic. A couple are just great! Short, pithy and delivering a big injection of enthusiasm, motivation and energy! Like a morning shot of espresso. Delicious and a tonic.
But… heavens!!! Some of them….. run into pages and pages of “stuff” … I can’t advise as to the quality therein – I’ve never read them: I’ve simply never even bothered! Why would I… I feel swamped and buried in glue the second my eyes confront an endless scrolling down of paragraph after paragraph of stuff! STUFF by the page load!
And some of them are so dull looking too! Unbelievable with all the technology, creative possibilities, fonts and colours at our fingertips on computers… Don’t even mention typos, poor grammar or muffs…
Does anyone wade his or her way through these epistles of self-glorification? Some of these coaches seem to have given themselves such elevated status I feel them convinced they are The Messiah of modern times. The Guru of Life… or should they just get a mirror and talk to themselves.
We all love a good bit of stimulation, and I’m sure there are many great points in many of these tomes of “wisdom” (which is often subjective anyway…) … but what’s happened to the “service” they’re supposed to be offering… LIFE COACHING?
Hmmmmmmmmm… I’m ranting… and the pages are filling up!
But smile! I’m on your side… I want to help people do their thing better and with ever greater ease and facility. I definitely don’t want to be stuck writing a load of waffle all day long!
Think about it!
But not too much… go and have some fun! Much more important… and it’ll be much more beneficial.
My best,
D’Arcy