New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/six-ways-to-get-smart-and-stay-smart/

Six Ways to Get Smart and Stay Smart

People who want to influence the world in intelligent and meaningful ways need to continually keep their knowledge up-to-date. You will rarely find someone who successfully leads organizations and people who does not also do a lot to consistently to drive their own learning.

Several colleagues have asked me recently where I get knowledge on such a wide variety of topics, so here are six things that I do in order to get smart and stay smart…as well as some of the struggles I’ve had in keeping it that way.

1. Read Books I have a love-hate relationship with books. There is no better way to keep one’s knowledge current than by reading a good book, especially one that relates to your work and by an author that has really done their homework on the topic. You get the in-depth coverage in a book that you’ll never get in a magazine, newspaper article, or podcast. And yet, I struggle with getting what I consider to be “enough” books read.

Like many things in life, there just seems to always be something more urgent than making time to sit down and read a book…laundry piling up, the toilet that needs to be fixed (still haven’t done that), and email to answer. Reading books takes time and many of us have many demands on our time. That said, I have every intention and desire to read more books than the 8 books I completed last year.

Here’s a few ways that I’ve upped my book reading this year. First, I set a specific goal of reading 20 books in 2011 so I can more easily track my progress. I track my reading on Shelfari.com so that I know what I’m currently reading, have read already, and plan to read in the near future. I’m a bit behind my goal at the moment (I’ve finished 5 books in 2011) but substantially ahead of last year’s pace. You can see what I’m reading at:

http://www.shelfari.com/DaveStachowiak/shelf

Second, I listen to audiobooks as often as I can. I’ll search iTunes for the book I want and, if available by audio, consider listening to it that way. Then, I can make great use of driving time or exercise time in filling my mind with new information. I know audiobooks don’t work for everyone, but for me it’s a great way to learn.

Bonni and I also joined a book club this year, which has helped me get a head start on reading more in 2011. For me, it’s a big incentive to finish a book in a timely way when I know that I’m going to be meeting people to discuss it in detail. It’s also been a good way for me to challenge myself with books that I wouldn’t normally have picked up on my own.

Finally, I record notes of what I’m reading that’s significant in Evernote so that I can come back to points later that I know I’ll want for future reference. See more on Evernote below.

2. Listen to Podcasts Podcasts are essentially on-demand internet radio, and most of them are free. In addition, other than an occasional sponsor announcement, they are generally commercial-free. The easiest way for most people to access podcasts is via iTunes, where you can click on the Podcasts tab to see what’s available. Once you subscribe to one, it will sync with your iPod or other music device so you can listen at your convenience.

There’s literally a podcast for everything and, like everything on the internet, there are awful podcasts right along with some of the most amazing podcasts and learning that you can find anywhere. Most of them are in the 20-60 minute range and many reputable organizations publish great content as podcasts. More often than not, I’m listening to a podcast in the car instead of the radio. Here are a few of my favorites that keep me up on what’s going on in the world:

HBR IdeaCast

Marketplace from American Public Media

NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me

Business Tech Weekly

I also subscribe to our church’s podcast so I can catch all the sermons when we’re gone for the weekend. I’ve even recently partnered with my friend Sandie Morgan at the Global Center for Women and Justice at Vanguard University to produce the Ending Human Trafficking podcast.

You can’t get everything from podcasts, but you’ll be amazed at how much expertise is out there in the world that is completely available for free. Check it out on iTunes and give a few a try.

3. Increase Your Vocabulary Most people only work on their vocabulary when they are studying for a standardized test like the SAT or GMAT. However, building your vocabulary over a lifetime will help you greatly increase your ability to learn about the world.

You don’t improve your vocabulary in order to impress people…you do it so that you understand the words you see in print and learn from those who are respected in your field. While it’s admittedly been a bit since I did this formally, I have at a number of points in my life completed vocabulary lessons and refreshers that have helped me to learn and communicate with a lot more confidence.

I’ve used the Princeton Review Word Smart a number of times over the years to refresh some of the best words to be able to grasp in professional conversations and reading. The audio versions in particular helped me to really get lots of words down. Some people think the stories they use to teach the words are a bit cheesy, but I personally loved them since I think it’s a great way to remember new words.

These days, you can also find tons of vocabulary builders for devices like your iPhone and iPad. I haven’t used any of these yet, but I see that Princeton Review now has Apps as well for vocabulary building. Just search for Princeton Review on the App store and you’ll find lots of other options too.

If you prefer books, 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary is another classic that I’ve read before and found extremely helpful. It’s not quite as fun as the above options, but the content is invaluable.

4. Listen to NPR Don’t listen to commercial radio. Almost half of any hour of commercial radio is filled with advertisements that generally are a waste of your time. When you want to listen to music, grab your iPod or try satellite radio if feasible. When you want to learn about the world and you’re not listening to an audiobook or podcast, listen to NPR.

NPR, like public television, is funded primarily by the public and not by advertisers. That means that they have more editorial independence than most news organizations since they are not beholden to what advertisers want them to air. Also, no commercials either (unless you count the twice a year they ask you to support the station during the pledge drives – and yes, Bonni and I are members).

Great shows like Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Marketplace (a daily business show) will keep you up-to-date on what’s going on in the world. I get tons of information that I constantly use in interactions with clients by listening regularly to NPR. Plus, NPR publishes lots of podcasts (see above) that are a great way to keep up when you miss a live show.

What I like best about NPR? They actually recognize that you are an intelligent human being and don’t tell you what to think. They generally present each side fairly and let you come to your own conclusions. Personally, I want to hear both sides of a story or issue – because I need to be able to understand the perspective of clients (and others) who view the world differently than I do.

5. Read Industry Publications Decide what’s important to learn and seek out the publications that the leaders in your industry are reading. If you don’t know what those are, then keep you ears open at conferences and professional conversations for the publications that people cite and refer to. Even better, ask the people you respect in your field about what they are reading. In my industry, these are the ones that I feel are most critical and see referenced a lot:

Harvard Business Review

Chief Learning Officer

Talent Management Magazine

Leader to Leader Journal

Wall Street Journal

Fast Company

So, I subscribe to all of the above either physically or electronically and make time to incorporate them into my reading…and what works best for me right now is not letting myself take them off my desk at home until I’ve at least skimmed each issue. I don’t read every article, but I do at least look at every article so I know what conversations are going on. When I do read an article and I believe it has something of value for me, I either scan or save it into Evernote, my personal knowledge center for articles and blogs.

Evernote allows you to scan in PDFs (and many other formats) and then categorize articles/notes into folders and tag them according to content. This way, I can search for tags like “employee engagement” and “studies” when I’m looking for ideas on engagement that have research backing when designing content for a client or writing a blog. Plus, you can save audio and picture notes as well. I like to save notes on dry-erase boards from client engagements into Evernote so I can reference them later.

I use the paid version of Evernote, but you can it for free as well and it syncs to many mobile devices. If you really want to know more about how to use it in detail, check out Michael Hyatt’s excellent blog post on Evernote.

6. Read Blogs Yes, it’s true that there is a lot of junk on the internet. It is also true that there is amazing content out there on well-respected blogs that you can’t get anywhere else. In fact, in some industries, well-established bloggers have already set a new standard for industry news and discussion.

If you haven’t already, you’ll want to start using a newsreader in order to grab good blogs and content on websites you want to keep up with (again, ask around and observe in your industry if you don’t already know what blogs to be reading). A news reader will pull new content via RSS (real simple syndication) technology from websites automatically so that you don’t need to go visiting sites all the time to see if there are new posts. To learn more about RSS, check out Bonni’s brief video below.

I use the free Google Reader which then links to an app called NewsRack on my iPhone and iPad. Use whatever you like, but subscribe to blogs via RSS so that you save time and get all the content you want. Be smart about what you subscribe to as well. For example, if I find that a blog isn’t valuable or that I can’t keep up, I unsubscribe from it. I don’t want to be overwhelmed with content…so I try to only subscribe to things that I read regularly.

Regardless of what combination of the above six methods you use, you need to make a time commitment to get smart. For me, I budget at least an hour a day (more if I can) to do some combination of the above activities. That’s just barely enough for me to keep up, so schedule more time if you can and make it a priority – which is hard to do since the benefits to getting smart are rarely immediate – but can be profound over your career and lifetime.

Have other suggestions on getting/staying smart that I didn’t mention? Be sure to leave a comment below and add to this list.

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/leading-your-team-to-success-top-tips-2/

Leading Your Team To Success: Top Tips

Strong leadership skills are paramount to creating an effective team and leading an organization to greatness. If you are looking to develop your own skills in order to become such a strong leader, keep reading. Here, we will provide you with a bevy of information that can enhance your leadership capabilities and help to lead you to new heights in the business world.

In order to be an effective leader, you must work closely with your team. Listen to them when they talk, encourage individuality and innovation, and let each member of your team enjoy their individual and group successes. Above all, don’t ask a member of your team to do anything that you would not be willing to do yourself.

When trying to be a good leader, it is important to listen to what other people have to say. Your opinions or ideas aren’t guaranteed to be great just because you’re a leader. If you listen to other ideas or opinions, you may find that the people around also may have great ideas that could work well with yours.

Good leaders should be honest people. Do what you can to tell the truth. Remain authentic. When you tell the truth, do so kindly. Be open about any mistakes that have occurred. Mistakes will happen, so you need to accept them. It is those mistakes that you can use to find a new solution. They can provide you with nearly limitless opportunities.

If you make a mistake, admit it. Nothing will kill the confidence workers have for you faster than insistence that you’re right when you are clearly not. However, if you can admit that you are wrong, you will gain the respect of your underlings. The respect of those around you is imperative.

If you’re trying to improve your leadership skills, avoid acting like you know everything. You might have good ideas and think you’re perfect, but others may wish to add something, too. They can add to your plan with their own great ideas.

As you’re trying to be a good business leader, you’ll need to be able to make difficult decisions. When making a difficult decision, you should understand the consequences and outcome of your decision. When making a decision, you should always consider what is going to be best for your business, not just for certain people or yourself.

Continue to learn new leadership techniques and innovative methods for conducting business. Continuing your education will give you a better understanding of how your younger employees think. A new perspective will help you improve your leadership style, while also giving you the tools to be competitive in an ever-changing market.

Work hard at being approachable. Being so intimidating that people are afraid to talk to you is a bad idea. However, this is not a good approach to take and will lose your respect. Be sure to let coworkers understand that you’re always there to talk to.

Promotions, bonuses and raises should always be fairly distributed and based on performance. Don’t simply promote the person who has been working with you the longest or hand out the biggest raise to a family member. Your employees will be more motivated when they know that they can earn tangible rewards for working hard.

A great idea for anyone in a leadership role to try is to periodically write an “open letter” to the team members, or workforce. In this letter, you can acknowledge good work, overall performance and show your appreciation for all they do. There is nothing like a little praise to boost morale.

Integrity and leadership go hand in hand. The two best ways to pragmatically practice integrity are to always speak the truth and do what is right, especially when you think no one’s watching you. People find it difficult to trust people with no integrity. Leading with integrity generates trust, loyalty and respect in your underlings.

Always remember that there is an inverse relationship between what’s on your mind and your personal productivity right now. If something is on your mind, write it down. When you need to, work on it now. If it can wait or can’t be helped right this minute, set the paper to the side and get to work on something you can do right now.

Rehearse the behaviors and attitudes you wish to display as an effective leader in your mind. Try to create the most realistic vision you can. When the time comes, focus on putting the behaviors you practiced into action. This method is often used by athletes before a big competition or race.

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/research-paper-the-importance-of-purpose/

Research Paper: The Importance of Purpose

Research Paper By Mark Bishop (Executive Coach, UNITED STATES)

Introduction

As I developed both my coaching model and power tool for the certified coaching program at ICA, I spent a good deal of time considering the importance of purpose in life and leadership.  In my experience, many people go through jobs, companies, and careers based merely on what opportunities; roles, companies, or assignments; come available and without sufficient consideration of what makes them happy.

I’ve seen many colleagues pursue opportunities because they felt it might be a good career move, without regard to what they enjoy doing and how they want to contribute.   We spend an inordinate amount of time in our working environment; it amounts to more than 13 years of the total lifespan for most adults.  With that much significance on our working environment, it pays to focus on what makes us happy at work and try to maximize that feeling as much as we can over those 13 years!

With this thought in mind, I set about to research the importance of having a purpose or understanding one’s purpose.  My thinking initially was that we each have one singular purpose in our lives.  My research led me to understand that our purpose can, and often does, change over the course of our life.  Circumstances in our lives, in our careers, or in the world, influence our purpose.  A world pandemic, for example, could certainly impact our thoughts on purpose.  My research is centered on the importance of purpose applied to the professional world as I develop my skills as a leadership coach.  Of course, much of the research can easily be applied to other aspects of our lives.

What is the purpose?

Merriam-Webster defines the word purpose as:

to propose as an aim to oneself

a subject under discussion or an action in course of execution

to propose as an aim to oneself

It includes the following synonyms:

Intention, resolution, determination, ambition, aspiration, dream, goal, objective

It is worth noting that missing from these definitions and synonyms are words like an opportunity, circumstance, good fortune, coincidence, or fate.  This implies that purpose is decided, directed, and intentional.  At Berkley’s, Greater Good Magazine, they remind us that “to psychologists, the purpose is an abiding intention to achieve a long-term goal that is both personally meaningful and makes a positive mark on the world.” Having a purpose is something that is meaningful to us and has a positive impact on others.  It is the accumulation of a series of actions and events that occur over time, an expedition across time with a point on the horizon as our compass.  For those with an identified purpose, that journey is in a specific direction and less subject to circumstance.

Why is purpose important?

Research suggests that having a sense of purpose, having a mission in life, having a reason behind your decisions and actions can actually lead to a longer, healthier life.

“Having a purpose in life has been cited consistently as an indicator of healthy aging for several reasons, including its potential for reducing mortality risk. In the current study, we sought to extend previous findings by examining whether purpose in life promotes longevity across the adult years, using data from the longitudinal Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) sample. Proportional-hazards models demonstrated that purposeful individuals lived longer than their counterparts did during the 14 years after the baseline assessment, even when controlling for other markers of psychological and affective well-being.

Moreover, these longevity benefits did not appear to be conditional on the participants’ age, how long they lived during the follow-up period, or whether they had retired from the workforce. In other words, having a purpose in life appears to widely buffer against mortality risk across the adult years.” (Hill &Turiano, 2014)

In addition to living longer, there is evidence to suggest that people with a high level of purpose are physically healthier, more likely to take care of themselves, and have lower stress levels than people without a strong sense of purpose.  (Berkley.edu)

If being healthier and living longer isn’t reason enough to seek out a clearer understanding of our purpose, there is evidence to suggest that knowing one’s purpose can lead to better financial success and decision making.

“This sense of purpose was also found to translate into greater financial success.  The study found that people with this clear sense of purpose in life were much more likely to make financial decisions that support these longer-term, downstream goals rather than squandering their resources on short-term and impulsive decisions.” (Krapivin, 2019)

If living longer, being healthier, and being more financially sound still fails to motivate us, maybe having a greater impact on our work environment will push us over the edge to pursue an understanding of our purpose.

“This is where purpose comes in. Simply put, having a sense of purpose in your job means that you feel that your work makes positive contributions to the world, beyond earning yourself a paycheck or improving your company’s bottom line—you feel a commitment to something bigger than yourself.” (Wolfe, 2015)

The significance of managers who have a sense of purpose goes beyond the manager and extends to the employees who work for them.

“The report quite clearly shows that employees tend to be both happier at work and more productive when they are being led by managers who have this clear sense of purpose, with those fortunate employees more likely to put in an extra effort and less likely to quit their jobs.” (Krapivin, 2019)

Having a sense of purpose makes us better leaders. Authentic leaders have a sense of purpose, knowing what they are about and where they are headed. “Purpose manifests itself as passion. Passionate people are interested in what they are doing, are inspired and intrinsically motivated, and care about the work they are doing.” (Northouse, 2017).

Understand their leadership purpose so they can align people around a common purpose. Purpose defines the unique gifts people bring to leadership challenges, through which they can align others with their purposes to create a positive impact. This is far more important than focusing entirely on achieving success in metrics like money, fame, and power, yet ultimately produces sustained success in those metrics as well. (George, 2011)

Burning Platform vs. Burning Ambition

So many of the people I have worked alongside over my career are running from one crisis to the next.  They are constantly putting out fires and fixing problems.  This behavior is all too often rewarded in the corporate world. These people are seen as heroes, as ‘go-getters,’ as problem solvers.  While the notion of a burning platform will tend to get people motivated to act, it is not a healthy or sustainable motivator.  Reacting to an emergency stimulates adrenalin and anxiety, neither of which are conducive to clear, rational, creative thinking.

“In the world of burning platforms, there are way too many pyromaniacs.” (Fuda, 2018)

Burning ambitions provide greater, more sustainable motivation.  If you are running away from something, you aren’t looking at a map.  If you are running towards something on the horizon, you are much more likely to use a map to guide your way. Jim Collins, in his book, Good to Great (2001), calls the ‘burning platform’ a myth of current management practice and further claims they are destructive behaviors, often leading to a pattern of failure he calls the doom loop. “Aspiration is a far more important motivator; sustainable change requires the fire of a burning ambition.” (Fuda, 2018)

Reflections

In leadership coaching, we are not only focused on the leader as an individual but on their effectiveness in leading others to successful outcomes.  Research shows that employees are happier and more productive when they are led by managers who have a clear sense of purpose. This research also reveals that only 20% of managers consider themselves purposeful leaders. (Krapivin, 2019)

In many organizations, there is a strong priority placed on positions of authority and influence.  These are often measured by the team’s size, the budget managed, and other visible gauges. The status of a leader is often incorrectly measured by these criteria.  The larger the group, budget, or office, the greater the leader is thought to be.  These are inaccurate measures of effective leadership.  It is this perception that often drives individuals to seek these positions, even though attaining these roles may not bring fulfillment.

I have seen this many times in my years in Human Resources; the desire for a job title, an office, or to manage more people, drives decisions and actions that are not necessarily consistent with the client’s purpose.  This tension begins to create dissatisfaction and discontent, which often leads to poor performance or disengagement.  As a coach, do not underestimate the drive for these trappings and how much this can influence the client’s decisions.  I have worked with many leaders that do not feel joy or excitement in dealing with large teams, yet they hold onto these teams with a fierce grip.

Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic and current professor at Harvard Business School, says

“Before anyone takes on a leadership role, they should ask themselves, ‘Why do I want to lead?’ and ‘What’s the purpose of my leadership?’”According to George, if the answer to those questions lies in power, prestige, and position, there is a risk that internal desires and purpose may go unsatisfied.  He believes that while these are not inherently wrong with these objectives so long as they are tied back to the individual’s inner purpose.  (George, 2011)

A helpful activity is to work with the client to define a purpose statement.  This is a brief written description of the client’s purpose that can be used for periodic reflection, for guiding decisions, and for grounding the client’s ambitions.  Keeping this nearby, your client can refer to this when making decisions.  It can also be revisited when circumstances change, or life events occur that might influence the client’s outlook on their purpose.  Explore with the client the meaningful moments in their lives that continue to inspire them, that fulfill them, that give them delight.

Getting to understand purpose can be done on a micro basis – exploring activities, accomplishments, and behaviors that the client enjoys and finds rewarding, then reflecting on why these activities bring joy and how to translate that into purpose.

It can also be done on a macro basis – exploring seminal moments in the client’s life that define who they are and what they enjoy.  Similarly, this can be translated into defining the client’s purpose.

The desire for a certain position in an organization can be a false trail to professional happiness and engagement.  However, for most clients, it can be a highly rewarding outcome to discover and define the client’s purpose to guide career ambitions.  The client may have the same career ambitions after clarifying their purpose; however, the basis for them becomes clearer.  In some cases, the client may recognize their ambitions have been misplaced.  In either case, knowing their purpose enables the client to begin translating it into excelling in their position.

While our purpose may evolve and change over time, having a clear understating of our purpose is likely to lead to a healthier, longer, more financially successful life where we are more satisfied with the work we do, and we make better leaders.

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how to live. Friedrich Nietzsche

References

Bill George, June 2011. “Why Leaders Lose Their Way”. Harvard Business Review.

Bill George, July 2016. “The Truth About Authentic Leaders.”Harvard Business Review.

Pavel Krapivin, January 2019. “The Financial Value Of Having A Purpose In Your Life”. Forbes

Brad Wolfe, March 2015. “Can Higher Purpose Help Your Team Survive and Thrive? A conversation with Twitter’s Niki Lustig about how the social media giant fosters a sense of purpose among their employees.” Midful.org

Neil Si-Jia Zhang, August 2014. “Can Purpose Keep You Alive?” Greater Good Magazine, Greatergood.berckley.edu

Patrick L. Hill, Nicholas A. Turiano, May 2014. “Purpose in Life as a Predictor of Mortality Across Adulthood.”Psychological Science.

Peter Northhouse, 2016. “Leadership: Theory and Practice.” Sage Publications.

Dr. Peter Fuda, 2018. “From Burning Platform to Burning Ambition.”www.peterfuda.com

Jon M. Jachimowicz, October 2019.”3 Reasons it’s So Hard to Follow Your Passion”. Harvard Business Review

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/your-truth-model/

Your TRUTH Model

A Coaching Model By Audrey Bolo, Career Coach, KENYA

Your TRUTH Model, Opening the Door to Coaching Conversations

This model can support coaching conversations for clients navigating transitions in both their personal and professional lives. Whether they are considering a new job, a promotion, or starting a business. Moving to a new country, starting a new relationship, or planning a marriage.

Change: an external event that occurs.

Transition: an inner psychological process to come to terms with change.

All change that a client needs to navigate feels personal, and how they navigate the transition should ideally be guided by their truth.

Essential Meaning Of Truth

The real facts about something: the things that are true are you telling (me) the truth? At some point, you have to face the simple/hard/honest/plain/naked truth that we failed.

The quality or state of being true there’s no truth in anything he says. [=nothing he says is true] I doubt the truth of their accusations. [=I doubt that their accusations are true] Her story contains a grain/kernel of truth, but also lots of exaggeration.

A statement or idea that is true or accepted as true

This model is described from the perspective of a client.

Trust Yourself

Trust that you have all that you need to decide what’s best for you. You are creative, whole, and capable of making decisions that will serve you.

Questions for a coach to consider:

“What good decisions have you made recently?”

“How did that make you feel?”

“What do those good decisions tell you about yourself?”

“What have you learned from past transitions?”

“How can you use those lessons in this transition?”

Reflect on Your Current Situation

Reflect on what the situation is and what you want from it.

Questions for a coach to consider:

“What outcome do you want in this situation?

“What makes this situation important right now?”

“What would success look like in this situation?”

“How does this situation make you feel?”

“What do these feelings tell you about your situation?”

Unpack What Is Important

Understand who you are, what you value, what your beliefs and perspectives are in this situation. Unpack the factors that might impact you and what is important to you.

Questions for a coach to consider:

What do these feelings tell you about yourself?

What values are showing up in this situation?

What impact is the change having on you?

What is the connection between this change and your beliefs?

How is your current situation impacting your decisions?

Tackle How You Will Move Forward

Decide what you need to address first and what action you want to tackle.

Questions for a coach to consider:

“What do you need to resolve first to achieve your goal?”

“How do you want to move forward?”

“What is the first step you can take?”

“How does that step make you feel?”

“How can you support that step?”

Honor Your Process

Commit to and honor whatever actions, perspectives, or feelings you have reflected on. Commit to how you want to move forward. Understand that managing transition is a process, and you are charting your way forward, so you need to give yourself time and space to navigate through it.

Questions for a coach to consider:

“What can keep you accountable?”

“What might get in your way?”

‘What are you learning about yourself?”

“How can you use this lesson in the future?”

“How can you honor your progress?”

Learn How to Create Your Own Coaching Model

Your Coaching Model reflects your values, philosophies and beliefs and must communicate who you will coach and the problems you will solve. Read more about creating your coaching model

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/your-truth-model/

Your TRUTH Model

A Coaching Model By Audrey Bolo, Career Coach, KENYA

Your TRUTH Model, Opening the Door to Coaching Conversations

This model can support coaching conversations for clients navigating transitions in both their personal and professional lives. Whether they are considering a new job, a promotion, or starting a business. Moving to a new country, starting a new relationship, or planning a marriage.

Change: an external event that occurs.

Transition: an inner psychological process to come to terms with change.

All change that a client needs to navigate feels personal, and how they navigate the transition should ideally be guided by their truth.

Essential Meaning Of Truth

The real facts about something: the things that are true are you telling (me) the truth? At some point, you have to face the simple/hard/honest/plain/naked truth that we failed.

The quality or state of being true there’s no truth in anything he says. [=nothing he says is true] I doubt the truth of their accusations. [=I doubt that their accusations are true] Her story contains a grain/kernel of truth, but also lots of exaggeration.

A statement or idea that is true or accepted as true

This model is described from the perspective of a client.

Trust Yourself

Trust that you have all that you need to decide what’s best for you. You are creative, whole, and capable of making decisions that will serve you.

Questions for a coach to consider:

“What good decisions have you made recently?”

“How did that make you feel?”

“What do those good decisions tell you about yourself?”

“What have you learned from past transitions?”

“How can you use those lessons in this transition?”

Reflect on Your Current Situation

Reflect on what the situation is and what you want from it.

Questions for a coach to consider:

“What outcome do you want in this situation?

“What makes this situation important right now?”

“What would success look like in this situation?”

“How does this situation make you feel?”

“What do these feelings tell you about your situation?”

Unpack What Is Important

Understand who you are, what you value, what your beliefs and perspectives are in this situation. Unpack the factors that might impact you and what is important to you.

Questions for a coach to consider:

What do these feelings tell you about yourself?

What values are showing up in this situation?

What impact is the change having on you?

What is the connection between this change and your beliefs?

How is your current situation impacting your decisions?

Tackle How You Will Move Forward

Decide what you need to address first and what action you want to tackle.

Questions for a coach to consider:

“What do you need to resolve first to achieve your goal?”

“How do you want to move forward?”

“What is the first step you can take?”

“How does that step make you feel?”

“How can you support that step?”

Honor Your Process

Commit to and honor whatever actions, perspectives, or feelings you have reflected on. Commit to how you want to move forward. Understand that managing transition is a process, and you are charting your way forward, so you need to give yourself time and space to navigate through it.

Questions for a coach to consider:

“What can keep you accountable?”

“What might get in your way?”

‘What are you learning about yourself?”

“How can you use this lesson in the future?”

“How can you honor your progress?”

Learn How to Create Your Own Coaching Model

Your Coaching Model reflects your values, philosophies and beliefs and must communicate who you will coach and the problems you will solve. Read more about creating your coaching model

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/how-to-avoid-this-common-error-in-convincing-others/

How To Avoid This Common Error In Convincing Others

That well known phrase, “Just the facts, ma’am” has long been attributed to Joe Friday from the hit series Dragnet. It’s become such a popular quote that people who don’t even know who Joe Friday is, but they know the phrase.

Except that he never said it.

He did say something similar, “All we want are the facts, ma’am” and sometimes, “All we know are the facts, ma’am” but not the exact phrase he’s known for.

While it may be ironic that many people have their facts wrong about a popular phrase about facts, it’s a pretty common occurrence. Virtually everyone I’ve worked with (myself included) sometimes confuses facts and opinions.

I bring up this point with many corporate training programs that I’ve facilitated over the years. Whenever I teach a communication or presentation class, I’ll often use the following example:

I’ll say, “Your company, ABC, Inc., produces the best product/service in your industry.” Then, I’ll ask everyone in the room if it’s a fact or opinion. Typically, about half the group says fact and half the group says opinion.

I’ll often ask those who believed the statement to be factual to say why they think that. Most people will say something like, “Well, everyone just knows that,” or, “Clearly we do the best job…you can just tell in our products that there is no competition.”

I’ll then ask if their competitors across the street would consider their statement to be factual.

Silence.

The problem for most of us is that the things we consider to be facts are typically just strongly held opinions. It’s only factual if 1) the statement can be independently verified and 2) almost every reasonable person would agree with it.

As much as you might wish that your organization’s product or service was the best in the industry, I can find thousands of people at your competitors that would argue the point. Anything that can be argued by a reasonable person is likely an opinion.

I observe people trying to convince others of something by simply citing opinions over and over. When pressed, they then come up with non-specific evidence such as, “Studies show that…” or, “I got an email about it…” or, “I think I read an article awhile back…” or, my personal favourite, “I found it on a Google search.”

If the standard for factual evidence is finding something on the internet, then everyone is right about everything.

Opinions are credible when they are supported by actual facts. Actual facts from an independent source sound more like this: “J.D. Power & Associates reported this year that we are #1 in customer satisfaction.” Or, perhaps, “We’ve just released our annual report showing that we shipped 43% more units this past year than any of our competitors in this product category.”

The above claims are verified by an independent party and are hard to dispute.

Once you know you have a fact, then you can follow it up with an opinion. Here’s what it sounds like, “J.D. Power & Associates reported this year that we are #1 in customer satisfaction. We’ve just released our annual report, showing that we shipped 43% more units this past year than any of our competitors in this product category. Therefore, we have the best product in this market.” (The last sentence is the opinion…now a lot more credible).

You might still disagree with the opinion, but you’d have a hard time arguing the facts leading up to it.

How are you using facts right now in convincing others? Leave a comment below.

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/how-to-avoid-this-common-error-in-convincing-others/

How To Avoid This Common Error In Convincing Others

That well known phrase, “Just the facts, ma’am” has long been attributed to Joe Friday from the hit series Dragnet. It’s become such a popular quote that people who don’t even know who Joe Friday is, but they know the phrase.

Except that he never said it.

He did say something similar, “All we want are the facts, ma’am” and sometimes, “All we know are the facts, ma’am” but not the exact phrase he’s known for.

While it may be ironic that many people have their facts wrong about a popular phrase about facts, it’s a pretty common occurrence. Virtually everyone I’ve worked with (myself included) sometimes confuses facts and opinions.

I bring up this point with many corporate training programs that I’ve facilitated over the years. Whenever I teach a communication or presentation class, I’ll often use the following example:

I’ll say, “Your company, ABC, Inc., produces the best product/service in your industry.” Then, I’ll ask everyone in the room if it’s a fact or opinion. Typically, about half the group says fact and half the group says opinion.

I’ll often ask those who believed the statement to be factual to say why they think that. Most people will say something like, “Well, everyone just knows that,” or, “Clearly we do the best job…you can just tell in our products that there is no competition.”

I’ll then ask if their competitors across the street would consider their statement to be factual.

Silence.

The problem for most of us is that the things we consider to be facts are typically just strongly held opinions. It’s only factual if 1) the statement can be independently verified and 2) almost every reasonable person would agree with it.

As much as you might wish that your organization’s product or service was the best in the industry, I can find thousands of people at your competitors that would argue the point. Anything that can be argued by a reasonable person is likely an opinion.

I observe people trying to convince others of something by simply citing opinions over and over. When pressed, they then come up with non-specific evidence such as, “Studies show that…” or, “I got an email about it…” or, “I think I read an article awhile back…” or, my personal favourite, “I found it on a Google search.”

If the standard for factual evidence is finding something on the internet, then everyone is right about everything.

Opinions are credible when they are supported by actual facts. Actual facts from an independent source sound more like this: “J.D. Power & Associates reported this year that we are #1 in customer satisfaction.” Or, perhaps, “We’ve just released our annual report showing that we shipped 43% more units this past year than any of our competitors in this product category.”

The above claims are verified by an independent party and are hard to dispute.

Once you know you have a fact, then you can follow it up with an opinion. Here’s what it sounds like, “J.D. Power & Associates reported this year that we are #1 in customer satisfaction. We’ve just released our annual report, showing that we shipped 43% more units this past year than any of our competitors in this product category. Therefore, we have the best product in this market.” (The last sentence is the opinion…now a lot more credible).

You might still disagree with the opinion, but you’d have a hard time arguing the facts leading up to it.

How are you using facts right now in convincing others? Leave a comment below.

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/4-ways-to-prepare-your-team-to-see-the-future/

4 Ways to Prepare Your Team to See The Future

I’m leading a new team right now that is serving a client organization we’ve been working with for many years. Now that the team is assembled, it’s time for us to set some new goals for ourselves on how we’ll measure success with our client. In the past, I’ve served the client myself, so I haven’t had to communicate much with anyone else except the client.

As I started doing goal setting, I did what I’ve pretty much always done before – got into a room by myself and planned it all out. Work done. Onto the next thing.

Lots of problems with this approach, of course. First, it’s hard to innovate with new ideas when you are just relying on your own perspective and what’s worked before. The far bigger issue though? Will others ever get excited and motivated about moving forward on a goal if they haven’t been involved in its creation?

This is a huge issue for leaders (and me, obviously – even though I teach these skills and should know better) because lots of us get caught up in old habits and past organizational paradigms. Many of us have been taught that management is about setting goals and telling people what to do. That’s not an ideal model, but it doesn’t stop us from falling into old mindsets.

Thankfully, one of my mentors had the good sense to catch me going down this path and gently reminded me that it might make sense to involve other people in the goal-setting process. Grateful for the reminder, I’m now moving forward on the plan that I coach leaders on and should have laid out in the first place:

Appreciate the past: Before deciding what should happen in the future, take some time to consider what’s already occurred. One great way to do this is to ask every member of the team to record and share some of their recent, past accomplishments. This has the benefit of both reminding people of their strengths and laying the groundwork for how those strengths may be best utilized again.

Understand the present: What important initiatives is each team member working on already? What are the biggest opportunities and obstacles up ahead? Asking people to consider current reality helps frame future goals around what is both challenging and realistic going forward.

Picture the future: Where does each person see their own department or team in 3-5 years? What professional goals do they have in that time frame? I also challenge leaders to have people consider their personal goals as well.

Identify passions: What gets each member of the team out of bed in the morning? What are they excited about? What do they want to be doing with their time?

Getting clarity on the above won’t ensure that you do effective goal setting – there are many more steps after this. However, it will lay the foundation that considers everyone’s strengths, resources, and motivations for success. Ideally, a framework of the future starts to emerge that will honor much of what people communicate.

What obstacles have you run into when trying to help others see the future? Share your thoughts with our community in the comments section below.