Have you ever wondered how to become an executive coach? When it comes to coaching, many coaches look longingly at the niche of Executive Coaching and wish they could find a way to break into that market. After all, executives need coaching, are easy to locate and most of all, have the money and desire for coaching. Executive coaching is a desirable and attractive niche but many coaches believe that they are not qualified to be an executive coach. After all they say, the highest I ever rose in an organization is mid-level management, so the potential clients won’t relate to me. Or they’ll say, I’ve never even worked in a big company so I don’t know anything about coaching executives.
There are more excuses, but you get the idea.
The first flaw in this argument is that Executive Coaching
is not a niche. Executive Coaching is a
specialty and a very broad specialty at that.
It’s actually far removed from a niche.
In simple terms a niche is where the “who” you serve intersects with the
“what” you help them with.
Misunderstanding the concept of Executive Coaching as a niche is the
first of several mistakes that new coaches make and therefore rule out a
potentially very lucrative niche.
Can you be an executive coach?
To answer that question let’s start with the basics of why
people, including executives hire a coach, or more correctly what coaching
brings to a client.
Anyone who hires a coach has certain expectations of that coach. One major item on their list is a safe environment that will allow them to say what they are really thinking without having to filter their thoughts. They don’t want to have to measure their words. They want to say what they are thinking without having to use a “corporate filter”.
An executive coach allows them to do that.
They also want honest feedback. Too often they find themselves surrounded by
people who can’t or won’t tell them the truth.
Their latest idea may have some major flaws in it but those around them
won’t point out the truth. They need
someone who will speak their mind and ask questions and challenge their ideas.
An executive coach will do that for them.
Sometimes they want the opportunity to think through their
ideas out loud. To talk about an idea
of situation freely without worrying about the end result because they know
that verbally processing their thoughts can lead to new thoughts, new ideas and
help uncover holes in their thinking.
And they don’t want to be judged while doing it. They want a sounding board to hear and
reflect their thoughts so they can hear them themselves.
An executive coach won’t judge them.
And sometimes a client wants to talk through a technical or
complex business issue. This is one
area where the client may want to tap into a coach’s background and
expertise. But this is not the most
common reason for executive coaching.
When executives need to work through complex business issues they tend
to hire a consultant with expertise in this area.
There are more reasons of course, but you get the idea.
There are a lot of reasons why an executive might hire a coach and many of them have absolutely nothing to do with the coach’s business acumen.
When people wonder about how to become an executive coach, they often think that you must have an in-depth knowledge of business, understand profit and loss statements, corporate strategy or mission and vision statements. The concepts of sales strategies, market penetration, and complex Human Resource issues need to be second nature to you. They assume that executives and executive coaching are only focused around complex business issues that can only be solved by a coach who has been there themselves. Coaching can help address many of the challenges an organizations faces, but it not because the executive coach has an abundance of expertise or knowledge to share.
Reality is quite different than this. There are any number of reasons why an executive might hire a coach and many of those reasons have nothing to do with executive or business experience at all. Contrary to popular belief, executives are people too and have all the same problems that everyone else has. Sometimes they spend too much time at work, sacrificing their personal lives in the process. Or they have grown tired of the constant travel and pressure of their executive position and want something with less stress. Maybe they are looking to change their lifestyle and do something entirely different. Or maybe they are simply trying to figure out what is next for them in life.
Executive coaching will grow in the future. Taking the Executive Coaching specialty, you can break it down into even more specialties before you even get to a formal niche.
Common specialties in the Executive Coaching space:
New Leader
Coaching: This specialty is
designed for those not yet in high level leadership positions in their
organization. It tends to mix coaching
with consulting and training to prepare people for future leadership
roles. It is sometimes paid for by the
organization, often as part of a training grounds for future leaders, but is
sometimes paid for by the individuals themselves who want to get a leg up on
their competition. This type of
coaching and training is often done by coaches with a leadership or training
background themselves. But most of these
coaches were not high level executives but trainers or mid-level managers in
their pre-coaching lives,
Life Balance
Coaching: It’s not surprising
that executives have a problem balancing their work with their personal
lives. In order to get ahead at work
many executives begin sacrificing their personal lives when they reach middle
management. They put in a lot of hours,
sacrifice their health, their family and in many cases their futures. The smart ones figure this out before their
divorce, before their health issues, and before their children are grown. This coaching provides focus on the client’s
real priorities and helps them set healthy boundaries. No prior executive or management experience
is required.
Behavioral
Coaching/Emotional Intelligence: One common thread in the executive suite is
the highly intelligent executive who is able to see and solve complex
issues. They may even have tremendous
forward vision into the business that has served them well in the past. But these executives may not play well with
others. The phrase that is sometimes
used is “Too much college and not enough kindergarten”. Helping executives identify their blind
spots and build action plans to overcome behavioral issues does not involve
business expertise. It’s about human
beings and being able to build bridges.
Retirement
Coaching: Some executives are
workaholics and will work until they are kicked out the door. Others have a desire to move on and enjoy the
fruits of their labor. But what’s
next? How do they go from being an
executive where every utterance may result in 1000 people moving into action to
a retiree with no real authority or responsibility? How do they go from their highly structured
life to an unstructured one? What are
they going to do with their time? What
is their purpose? These are all
questions that executives need to find answers to and they don’t involve any
prior business experience.
Nutritional
Coaching: Executives often work long hours and find
themselves on the road eating in restaurants or ordering room service. This leads to unhealthy eating habits, high
cholesterol, high blood pressure and more.
How can they put together some type of nutritional plan that won’t make
them feel like they are limiting every choice they make but still allow them to
eat healthy? And how will they handle
the guilt when the inevitable slips happen.
These are just a few examples or possibilities. As you can see, there are lots of things
that executives want and need that have nothing to do with business knowledge
or executive experience.
Before you rule out executives as part of your target market, think about your special skills and talents and how you can really help them become more complete and more effective as an executive. If you are serious about learning how to become an executive coach, consider taking a Coach Training Program to develop your ability to help clients move towards the future they see for themselves.
About the author: DAVID R. MEYER, is a CTA Certified Coach (CTACC), Mentor Coach, and Certified Behavioral Consultant. As a coach Dave has many tools at his disposal. He is a Wiley authorized partner in the use of DISC and has been certified in Social and Emotional Intelligence through the Institute for Social and Emotional Intelligence (ISEI). Dave is a full time coach, trainer, and speaker who specializes in leaders and leadership teams. His mantra is “Great Teams Are Built On The Foundation Of Great Leadership. Great Leadership Is Built On The Foundation Of Great Trust.” He is the author of the Amazon best seller “The Engaged Manager” and also co-authored the DiSC Coaching Catalyst for training coaches in the use of DiSC with their clients. Dave has also had numerous articles appearing in publications across the US. Dave is a graduate of the CTA Certified Coach program in 2002and has been coaching ever since. He is very active in his local community giving back through his church and through his affiliation with Kiwanis International.
One of the very first things I learned as a brand-new Air Force Academy cadet on day 1 was that in basic training, I was expected to spend more time listening than talking. I couldn’t talk to my fellow basic cadets at all unless we happened to be in one of a handful of places in which talking was specifically allowed. When addressing a member of the cadet cadre, unless otherwise asked or directed, I was to use one of the seven basic responses:
1. Yes, sir! (or Ma’am, of course)
2. No, sir!
3. Sir, may I ask a question!?
4. Sir, may I make a statement!?
5. Sir, I do not know!
6. Sir, I do not understand!
7. No excuse, sir!
Out of all of the basic responses, “No excuse, sir” presented the most opportunities for failure. The other six were completely straightforward. If someone asked me a question to which I didn’t know the answer, I said “sir, I do not know.” If someone asked me a question and I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, I said “sir, I do not understand.” And so on.
“No excuse, sir,” on the other hand, was reserved only to be used as a reply to a question that began with the word “why.” It was tough to remember to use it because the natural inclination when someone asks a question is to provide an answer.
A typical exchange might sound like this:
Cadre: Orr, why do your boots look as though you polished them with a chocolate bar?
Me: Sir, I didn’t have time to…
Cadre: [cutting off my reply] I SAID WHY!
Me: NO EXCUSE, SIR!
The cadre may not have cared about the shine on my boots at that moment, and I might even have had a perfectly valid reason for them to look the way they did. The “why” of his question was never about getting to the root cause of the situation. It was about getting me to understand that in the military, excuses wouldn’t be tolerated. If I were going to assimilate into this culture, I had to find a way to unemotionally deal with a no-win situation in which someone was going to yell at me for not being able to fit a 10-minute task into the 5 minutes I had available to me. It wasn’t about teaching me to shine boots. It was about testing my resilience.
The cadre’s “why” was really a stipulation, not a question. My boots looked awful and that I was solely to blame regardless of the conditions leading up to that moment. “No excuse, sir” represented acceptance of my sub-standard performance and a willingness to press on in the face of impossible time constraints.
When you preface a question to one of the people on your team with the word “why” you’re probably making a similar stipulation. “Why isn’t this task finished?” isn’t so much a question as an accusation. You probably don’t even want to know the actual reason it’s not done. What you really want to hear is “No excuse, sir!” followed by actions to rectify the situation.
Here’s the problem; unless you’re testing this person’s ability to suck it up and soldier on like in basic training, you really do care about his impediments to success. If he truly has 5 minutes to do a 10-minute task, you need to do one of three things: remove 5 minutes of task, add 5 minutes of time or teach him how to be more efficient.
Starting with an accusatory tone through the use of the word “why” torpedoes this process from the beginning because it puts him on the defensive and makes him more likely to create lame excuses in an attempt to make the pain go away. Lame excuses make you angrier which in turn makes him more defensive which in turn creates more lame excuses, ad infinitum.
Step one for you as the leader is to get him to talk about the task unemotionally. The way to do that is to ask open-ended questions to get to the “what” and “how” of the situation.
“How goes the progress on your task?”
“What’s your plan for completing this task on time?”
The bonus is that “what” and “how” put you in a mindset in which you’re more open to receiving the information that comes back. It starts a conversation in which you’re genuinely receptive to finding a solution versus a one-way “conversation” in which you’ve already made up your mind and now you’re simply issuing punishment in the form of accusatory language.
Unless you want to hear “No excuse, sir!” –and maybe you have a perfectly understandable reason to do just that–leave “why” behind and start the conversation with “what” and “how.” You’re more likely to find solutions to the problems that are besetting your people, and they’ll be more open in their communications with you.
Author Jeff Orr is a highly-respected CTA Graduate and a Certified Human Capital Coach who helps organizations achieve their peak performance by blending business coaching skills with 24 years experience as a USAF fighter pilot. Jeff has trained over 300 F-16 pilots from 5 continents. He also currently works as a pilot for a major commercial airline. Learn more about Jeff at www.JeffOrr.com
For many of us, our ultimate goal is to become a masterful coach so that when we are working with our clients (employees, colleagues, team members), we feel capable, confident and connected not just to the person we are coaching but to our intuition. So, what are the 5 habits that create that confidence? And how can you start bringing those 5 habits into your practice?
#1 ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR VALUE.
Number one is to acknowledge your value. It doesn’t come naturally to recognize your worth, but it is something that you can grow into, consciously. When I first started coaching, I used coaching to help individuals figure out how they were going to get a project done or better manage their time. Initially, I used coaching as just another tool in my tool kit to help people figure out how to solve a particular challenge. While I thought it was great that I could help my clients come up with their own solutions, I didn’t fully understand the impact it had. But as I started to experience coaching more (as a client and a coach), I discovered there was more value in these coaching sessions than I realized.
Fast forward to today…..
I absolutely stand by the value of coaching and my value as a coach. We serve to hold space for others, to allow them to become fully thinking and emotional human beings, to bring what is lurking in the subconscious forward and once it’s there, we support our clients to take action. I have witnessed the personal and professional growth that has come about because of coaching sessions. Finding solutions, solving challenges and creating opportunities is great; but to me, the biggest value is the personal development that happens. Coaching helps human beings develop their capability and trained coaches help people grow. So, to be a confident coach, know your value and know the value of your coaching sessions.
#2 TRUST YOUR EXPERTISE.
Number two, trust your expertise. Like many new coaches, when I first started coaching my team, I would come away from my coaching conversations feeling disappointed that I didn’t come up with the absolute best question to ask or perhaps wondering if I missed some clue during the session that might have held the opportunity for a mind-shifting Ah-ha moment. While the people I coached would let me know how helpful each session was, I knew that the sessions were not as good as they could be. At times, I even doubted if I was good enough.
During this initial phase of self-doubt, I was so focused on the skills and capabilities I lacked that I lost sight of my own unique expertise that I could bring to my sessions. How could I fully show up for my client when I was internally focused on my own short comings? Eventually, I realized that there’s something special and unique about each and every one of us and that we are at our best when we draw upon those strengths and talents. Some coaches like to integrate their background in psychology or behavior sciences. I like to integrate what I know about business and career transitions. I also love drawing upon my experience in sports and using symbolism and analogies as I communicate. I show up with an enthusiastic and optimistic energy. I bring all of that into my coaching sessions, and those are my natural talents.
Now, you might be someone who easily distinguishes speech patterns, pitch or cadence. You might be someone who is really good at picking up on shifting energy, so your natural talent is seizing the coachable moment around those shifting emotions. Or maybe your natural talent is that you create short powerful questions that help your clients gain crystal clarity.
So, to be a confident coach, you need to know and trust your own expertise. Don’t think, “I’m not good enough because I’m not great at reflecting back to the client,” or “I’m not intuitive enough.” Know that your talents are enough and draw upon them naturally. Doing this will allow you to show up fully for your client. Confident coaches focus on what they are great at and what makes a coaching session with “them” special and unique. Number two is trust your expertise.
#3 GET CENTERED.
Now, I’m going to be honest with you. Not all confident coaches meditate. But the third habit of a confident coach is honing their ability to clear the mind, tune into their client and be fully present. In order for you to really connect with your clients every time you coach and respond intuitively, it’s incredibly important that you know how to turn shut down your brain-chatter and hold space for your client. For some, this comes naturally. Others may find they need a bit of practice. Getting centered is a tried-and-true way that coaches can show up blank to a client session. For me, I like to do a few cycles of square breathing (inhale 4 counts, hold 4 counts, exhale 4 counts and hold the exhale 4 counts, repeating the cycle 2 or 3 times). This simple exercise helps me quiet my mind and set my focus. You may prefer to stare at a photo, gaze at a candle or simply close your eyes and let your thoughts move through your mind like a smooth flowing river. Regardless of what method you choose, create a daily practice of clearing the mind. If you begin a coaching session with background noise in your mind (email, reports, judgements, your own ideas, to do list) and you haven’t taken the time to pause and clear out first, then your coaching session is not going to be as good as it could be. Employ the practice of getting centered each day, however that works best for you, so that skill comes to you easily when you’re about to do a coaching session. Habit #3: get centered.
#4 GET RID OF THE TIP SHEET.
I know, it’s ironic that one of the items on the tip sheet is ‘Get rid of the Tip Sheet’. When I was first starting out, I kept a list of Powerful Questions right next to me during every coaching sessions. If I wasn’t sure what to ask, I would look down at my list and pick one that seemed most appropriate. Looking back, I can see how these questions were a bit like training wheels giving me a sense of security and providing the opportunity to try out a few variations until I found my own voice. In some ways they helped me get started and in other ways they held me back.
It’s a wonderful thing if you can ditch the tips/tools during the coaching session and learn to trust your intuition. Even though you might build a clumsy version of a question, what you gain is the ability to connect much more deeply with your client. You will see it come out in your coaching sessions in really beautiful ways. You will also learn to improvise and respond intuitively which will make your sessions more powerful and develop your skills more quickly. Not quite ready to fly without a net? If you still use tips and cheat sheets during your coaching session, be willing to coach without relying on them for one or two sessions. You will quickly realize you have the skills to do it on your own. You might also quickly realize any gaps in your training. Have you forgotten a specific technique? Is there a skill you need to polish? When you refer back to your training materials, try and do what confident coaches do and reference these tips outside of the coaching session. The only exception to this rule would be using a coaching model (at Coach Training Alliance we use The Simple Coaching Model). The coaching model provides a framework for your coaching conversations; we use the same model with every single coaching session. Having the Simple Coaching Model front and center is a great way to ensure your coaching conversations are productive and stay on track. So, the next time you have a coaching conversation- ditch the Tip Sheet, show up authentically and respond intuitively to your client.
#5 BE CURIOUS.
The final habit of a confident coach is being curious. We have people coming into our Coach Training Programs – some of them have been coaching informally for 10-15 years-and they bring with them a learning mindset where they are open to new possibilities, willing to explore new perspectives and are able to go even deeper in their training. As coaches, we can always go deeper in our training and integrate this new capability or perspective in our coaching sessions. However, lifelong learning isn’t only about acquiring knowledge, skills or polishing techniques (although those will certainly help you become a more capable coach), we are constantly presented with informal learning opportunities. For me it is both enlightening and rewarding to ask, “What did you find most valuable today?” I love this question because it serves to reinforce for the client what they got out of the session and helps me gain a better understanding of how the session (and which parts) impacted my client the most. More to the point, confident coaches are curious. They continually learn about themselves, learn about their value, appreciate the wisdom of their clients and because of this are able to sponge up an abundance of thoughts, perspectives, ideas, and discoveries as they co-create and collaborate. Learning is about being genuinely interested, curious, and willing to explore something new. “How would this training make me a better coach?” “What would happen if I tried this approach?” “Where does this client really want to go?” Being curious opens the possibility for coaches to develop through the many formal and informal learning opportunities around them.
So, number 5: Be Curious.
WRAP-UP
In summary, those are the 5 habits of Confident Coaches. Hopefully these habits will serve you well as you forge ahead helping your clients:
- Acknowledge your value.
- Trust your expertise.
- Get centered.
- Get rid of the Tip Sheet.
- Be Curious.
Do those 5 things, and you will quickly become a confident coach. Amazing things will happen for you because you’ll be putting yourself out there in such a powerful way and helping and serving so many people while trusting your intuition and giving value.
About the Author: Holly Hutchinson is a Certified Human Capital Coach and Wellness Coach who has been practicing since 2008. Holly’s passion is positive growth and lifelong learning. Her experience includes international trade and marketing as well as system sales into the Fortune 500. Holly’s focus at CTA is the growth of emerging programs for trade associations, organizational coaching deployment and CTA’s yoga programs. In addition to her work at CTA, Holly is a competitive athlete and serves on several non-profit boards. Holly is married with 2 children and is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.
Excerpt from “Why Employee Performance Reviews Are Getting Sacked” By Jill Martin, BBC Business reporter
What have you done this year to justify your salary?
The employee quakes and mumbles something, hoping at best to boost their pay, at worst to avoid getting sacked.
It’s the annual appraisal.
What were his strengths? “Accounts”. Weaknesses? “Eczema”. And the training he received to use his computer? He didn’t know.
Perhaps none too soon, this clumsy method of evaluation, which ranks, grades and irritates employees across the world, is being re-appraised – and found wanting, by some firms, at least.
Re-posted from BBC. Full article can be found here – https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33984961
Excerpt from “The Coach in the Operating Room” by Atul Gawande, a surgeon and public-health researcher, and a New Yorker staff writer since 1998.
“I’ve been a surgeon for eight years. For the past couple of them, my performance in the operating room has reached a plateau. I’d like to think it’s a good thing—I’ve arrived at my professional peak. But mainly it seems as if I’ve just stopped getting better.”
No matter how well trained people are, few can sustain their best performance on their own. That’s where coaching comes in.
“Get them to think. It’s the only way people learn.” – Robert Osteen, retired general surgeon
Re-posted from The New Yorker magazine. Full article can be found here – https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/10/03/personal-best
It’s inevitable. It’s part of the human experience. It arouses strong emotions. We’re talking about conflict coaching, of course. As coaches we are good at managing and coaching our clients through conflict (aren’t we??).
There are many ways of dealing with conflict, of course, and we all have our preferences. Some tend to avoid it at all costs, often at their own expense. Others become quite aggressive and can damage relationships in the process. Still others tend to roll over and accommodate, failing to get their own needs met in life. It is important that you understand where your clients are coming from so you can give them the proper conflict coaching that suits their needs.
First, conflict is not bad. It is a natural occurrence. As noted earlier, it is part of the human experience. It’s how it’s managed that makes the difference.
When it comes to conflict coaching, selecting the best approach to managing conflict depends on the situation, and the capabilities and awareness of the individual. There are times when it is best temporarily avoided, at least until emotions calm down. Other times we need to step up to an aggressive approach. And sometimes it’s best to compromise (give a little, get a little), or accommodate (if we know we are wrong or it really doesn’t matter much). And then, of course, there’s the win-win, Getting-to-Yes, collaborative approach to resolving conflict.
The best among us flex, stretch themselves out of their comfort zone, and adapt the approach to the unique circumstances of the situation. Conflict is addressed effectively, in a healthy balanced manner without damaging relationships and without giving up on our own needs.
Handling the inevitable issues that arise in life is a topic that frequently surfaces in conflict coaching. Proactively and consciously identifying a path to managing conflict is a powerful first step, an authentic one. Supporting our clients as they sift through the various ways of dealing with conflict themselves is just one of the key coaching skills so worthy of exploration and growth in your coaching journey. Think you have what it takes to be a conflict coach? Take the quiz here.
Dr. Laura Belsten, is Dean of the Graduate School of Coaching, a Master Certified Coach (MCC), and a national leader in the field of Emotional Intelligence. Personal Power is one of the twenty-four key competencies of the Social + Emotional Intelligence Profile ™.
It’s time to put the biggest obstacle to coaching your team to rest. During a study to determine how — or even IF — managers matter, Google’s people analytics team identified eight key behaviors demonstrated by the company’s most effective managers. Can you guess which leadership skill is right at the top of the list?
“A good manager is a good COACH.” (Project Oxygen)
(See “An Open Letter to All Leaders” for the rest of the eight key behaviors)
In fact, many more businesses are getting the message that coaching skills can boost both a manager’s effectiveness and their employees’ engagement, and are including ‘coaching’ in managerial and supervisory job descriptions.
That’s a giant step in the right direction because coaching is a unique set of communication skills that, when mastered, deliver a double benefit: these powerful skills both build positive, respectful relationships AND empower teams to get the work done. When employees are coached well, and then feel valued and inspired, they’re much more likely to show up every day willing to do their best work.
If you oversee the work of others, you’re probably already familiar with coaching as a powerful relationship management skill. And if you’re a busy leader, careening from deadlines to crises and back again, you’re probably thinking one of the most common Yeah, buts:
Yeah, that’s all well and good, but I don’t have time to coach my team members!
It’s a general misconception that coaching a direct report has to be a scheduled, sit-down, lengthy, in-depth meeting. If that were the only way you could coach an employee, of course it would be difficult to work that into your already packed schedule every time an employee had an issue, question, or needed clarification.
The good news is that coaching your team members to be more engaged, self-sufficient, and responsible doesn’t have to take any more time than you spend with them right now — if you do it right.
Here are just a few of the many ways you can get more done in less time — and save your company money — when you integrate powerful coaching skills into the regular conversations you have with your team members every day:
- You can eliminate a lot of the back-story, the emotions, and the “noise” that typically clutters and sidetracks effective communication at work
- They will feel more inspired to collaborate with you and the team when they feel heard and valued
- You can “cut to the chase” and get to the heart of an issue or goal faster, so you can get to the solution and the action sooner
- They will listen to you more openly and be less resistant to your guidance when you share your own thoughts and expectations respectfully
- You can reduce costly delays and mistakes caused by miscommunication, personal agendas, and assumptions
- You can leverage “corridor coaching” to build deeper connection, rapport, and trust with your team members
- You can stop micro-managing your team and start focusing on your own work more when they feel empowered to be more self-sufficient
When you model respectful and professional communication skills, your team can bond more quickly as a drama-free, cohesive, co-creative, and collaborative unit.
If you truly want a high performance team that gets along and gets the work done, you don’t have time NOT to coach them!
Author LAURIE CAMERON, founder of WakeUp! Enterprises, is lovingly dedicated to spreading massive amounts of respect, kindness, and compassion as far and wide as she can. Her path to accomplish this is to teach the power of coaching to as many people as possible because it’s a unique communication tool that both builds positive, co-creative relationships AND gets stuff done. http://wakeupenterprises.com/
In her 18+ years of coaching hundreds of clients and training over 1000 professional coaches, she firmly believes that everyone can benefit from learning and mastering coaching skills. She is available for individual and small group coaching skills training, and mentor coaching for leaders who coach their teams.
Laurie is a senior faculty member at Coach Training Alliance, and is a Certified CTA Coach. She is also a Master Certified Opposite Strengths® Executive Coach, a Master Certified Relationship Coach with Relationship Coaching Institute, and a Certified Master Mind Facilitator.
She currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors for Mentor Me, a youth mentoring organization in Northern California, and treasures the time she spends with her 15-year-old mentee. Laurie is very active in the Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce, regularly volunteers her time at numerous non-profit organizations in the community, and she loves living in the Petaluma Gap.
Writing the Next Chapter of Your Success Story
by David Krueger, MD
Professional Coaching Vignette
Leslie consulted me because she wanted to expand her clinical practice but felt stuck. She said she wanted either a Money Coach or a CEO Coach. An acknowledged expert in a niche area, she supervises the clinical practice of some therapists who work for her. Although she has a busy practice, she had income far below her recognized expertise.
We focused on her goals, and what she did uniquely well her primary passions. She completed my Needs, Ideals, and Concessions assessment tool to select the three needs and three ideals that best represented her core self. We immediately recognized a dicotomy between her wish to be taken care of, her need for autonomy and self-enhancement, and her ideals of mastery, creativity, and teaching others. Her needs and ideals conflicted, and were not in synchrony with her goals. She couldn’t get there from here, because all of her wasn’t going in the same direction.
Money resonated with emotional issues throughout most of Leslie’s life. She still held the hope that she would be nurtured in ways she felt she missed in childhood. For Leslie’s busy professional parents, money served as proxy for love and availability tangible evidence that they cared for her. To make substantial money now meant she would give up her wish of being taken care of by someone else: the ghost of the old story, still hungry. Success and money accumulation would mean Leslie was taking care of herself, which she wanted. But then the fantasy dies. The impossible had become accessible, though now by her own efforts.
We examined four arenas of her practice: what she wanted to change, exclude, avoid, and enhance. She refined her vision, established SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. She fashioned three initiatives for each goal. Our collaboration focused on specific strategies to navigate change.
One result of our work was that Leslie happily expanded what she did uniquely well consulting with individuals and families. We also found a way to strategically leverage her time and income by licensing people in her program; she franchised a component of her business to a national group for significant royalty income.
The Scope and Roles of Professional Coaching
Healthcare professionals or executives encounter issues that require awareness of emotional intelligence, motivation, behavior, and how people succeed. Their navigation of these matters influences many people inside and outside a system.
Certain human needs are universal, and remain present throughout life: emotional connection, effectiveness, and intellectual stimulation. These needs have even more valence with increased demands, at times of change, and with stressful challenges. Professional Coaching addresses these needs with a new delivery system for mentorship, accountability, partnership, and co-creative work.
As a Professional Coach, I help people write the next chapters in their business stories: what’s next, how to get there, and how to succeed at what happens after what happens next. My clients develop their success skills by learning more about themselves, human dynamics, and systems.
At various times with each client I am guide, strategist, empathic listener, Dutch uncle, teacher, and collaborator. And we do many things together: engage visible obstacles to visualize possibilities, align vision with needs and ideals, reframe concerns into possibilities, move fears into intentions, and co-create options.
This confidential collaboration, usually done by weekly telephone appointments, addresses core aspects of growth. Our work usually centers on common themes:
- Maximize performance and emotional rewards
- Enhance financial return
- Expand a career or business story
- Articulate a powerful personal vision that will inspire others
- Navigate major transitions
- Catalyze necessary change and reinvention
- Expand emotional intelligence of people and systems
In a Harvard study begun in the mid-1950’s, 10-15% of the Harvard Business School graduates fashioned a specific vision for their life in business. Five decades later, those 10-15% had 90% of the assets of the entire group.
The Lore Institute found that about 80% of large companies use Executive Coaches to develop leadership, enhance emotional intelligence, and ensure success at times of significant transition. Three recent business impact studies demonstrated an average of a six-fold return on investment for money spent on Executive Coaching.
How Do You Co-Create a New Story?
Stories are how we understand and how and how we remember. Our plot–our core beliefs and assumptions—informs what we notice and how we process experience. We then create narratives according to that plot. A story holds together facts, and relates information.
We ignore facts that contradict what we believe. We see only what fits a recognizable pattern on our personal radar. We believe not as much what we want to believe but what we expect to believe. Our brains and emotions are both programmed this way. We believe according to our self-image. Our views are self- statements of our perception. We also use logic and reason after the fact to rationalize emotion-based experiences. Although we see ourselves as principled, logical and objective in sorting through the facts, research demonstrates that we make decisions based on emotion, colored by bias and belief.
We see what we believe.
People see what they look for, and want to make sense of what they see. And what they look for—what appears on the radar screen—is determined by belief and assumption. For example, the most common reason people don’t earn more money and accumulate wealth is that they don’t see themselves capable of it. Once someone genuinely sees himself or herself as capable of doing it, all sorts of thing begin to happen.
The seminar room was packed with marketing executives who came to hear coaching on how to create their hottest market tool: their own book. I stepped to the podium and asked, “Have any of you seen a yellow jeep in the last month?” They registered disbelief, and finally puzzlement as they realized I was waiting for a response to a legitimate question. Finally one person tentatively raised his hand, as though he were still questioning either my seriousness or his memory.
I told them they could see a yellow jeep, now, if they wanted to. I asked them to close their eyes and visualize a yellow jeep, the specific detail of how it looked from different angles, how it felt when they touched it, how the interior smelled.
I asked them to open their eyes, and to call or email me if they happened to spot a yellow jeep. Almost everyone contacted me to report their first sighting in the following week– most in the first two days.
The number of yellow jeeps—or wealth—existing in the world doesn’t change, you just code your radar for possibility. You become what you think and feel. Beliefs become reality.
A farmer and an anthropologist pass through the same terrain of undeveloped land. The farmer sees the soil and envisions growing crops. The anthropologist sees signs of an ancient civilization and reconstructs its history. Both are right. The data viewed validates each individual’s story.
Using beliefs and assumptions, you create your own personal story and the themes of that story. The plot that you create defines and orients you in the present and guides you toward the future. The stories you tell about your life becomes your life.
Similarly, internal beliefs determine perceptions, including how you select, register and process everything you encounter.
Scientists went to a lot of trouble to discover what mothers have always known about banishing closet monsters that a placebo generates the effect of the accompanying story. The inert pill is really a story of expectation, taking the form of a medicine to work its magic. The patient is also prescribed some expectations, and in the majority of cases, they manifest. The effect validates the power of story. The story generates a truth so powerful that it can even reverse the pharmacological effect of a real medicine. The placebo is a white lie, a fiction that creates a truth. This effect shows that someone can create an experience by anticipating it.
Your experiences are always consistent with your assumptions.
Change begins with the recognition that you are the author of your own story. People perceive and remember what fits into their personal plot–an internal model of oneself and the world. Beliefs and assumptions dictate what you look for, and attribute meaning. You always find or create that which validates those beliefs, and ignore, mistrust, disbelieve–or more likely don’t notice–anything that doesn’t fit into that pattern.
The best way to escape an ongoing problem is not to create it.
Recognizing constraint and limitation, coupled with the desire to change, may give rise to the question, “How do I get out of the story?” The question assumes the story is there, a given in the universe. The story (the proverbial “box” of the familiar and accepted) becomes the obstacle, yet it is not there until created. To recognize yourself as the author–the creator of the story–challenges an assumed model, usually your own. The question may then become “How do I create something else instead?”
Creating a plan and plotting a course allows you to stay on track, recognize and avoid detours and tangents, and move more effectively toward goals. Without a plan, you can’t know where you are, and cannot strategize to get to where you want to go. If you don’t know where you want to go (a goal), you can’t figure out how to get there.
People are always free to change their minds, always free to change beliefs and core assumptions.
Change references the past. Transformation creates a new present and future. To stop doing something is not complete change–a new story incorporates new behavior and beliefs. New theory does not supplant old story. You have to embody–actually live–the story you want. Abstaining from an old story–such as symptomatic eating–is a beginning.
You have to have a new story to be in before you can give up an old story.
To become a hero of your own story, to become your own authority, requires establishing an internal ideal and living up to it. Plot is what your hero does; bad writing is making your hero do things to fit into the plot; ghostwriting is fitting into someone else’s plot.
Reprinted from the NeuroMentor® Blog Series by David Krueger, MD at www.MentorPath.com
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Complete this sentence: If you want better answers, you have to…
I imagine your answer is the same as every leader in my coaching skills leadership development programs:
…ask better questions!
That’s close.
After the last 16+ years training professional coaches, and now training leaders to integrate coaching skills into their everyday work conversations, I’ve realized that this statement needs to be modified to:
If you want better answers, you have to CRAFT better questions.
We all know how to ask questions. We’ve been asking questions since we started talking. But too often the questions that pop into our heads and come out of our mouths are not all that great, and might ultimately be counterproductive or even outright destructive. And these random, poorly thought out questions waste a lot of everyone’s time, money, and energy.
It’s important for leaders, managers, and supervisors to know how to intentionally and strategically craft powerful questions that both build positive relationships with their team members and focus on tangible results. This is the heart of facilitating efficient and productiveCoaching Conversations*. Lucky for you, knowing how to put words together in a specific and deliberate way to get the desired outcome is a learnable skill that can be practiced and mastered over time.
(* The dual intent of a Coaching Conversation is to (1) create a positive, collaborative connection, and (2) efficiently move the conversation through a concise and focused exploration that leads to a specific plan of action and accountability.)
A great place to begin this new learning process is to add some basic coaching-style questions to your leadership toolbox that you can pull out as needed and tailor to different situations. Here are ten of my favorite “toolbox” coaching questions, along with what makes them so powerful. Not all of them will be appropriate in all situations, and you will likely adjust the wording a bit to fit your own communication style or team’s culture. But this is a solid place to begin.
(To customize the question, fill in the “…” with the specifics of the particular situation.)
1. If you could design the perfect outcome for …, what would that look like?
This is a “begin with the end in mind” (Stephen Covey) question and gives your team member permission to let their creativity come out and explore. It also tells them you value their opinion, perspective, and expertise. The results may look different in the end, but it gives you both a place to start the exploration and move towards a resolution.
2. How will you know when you’re successful with …?
I love this toolbox question because it asks your team member to project forward to the point of success and start creating evaluative parameters up front so they can track their progress. This is a lot better than staying stuck in re-hashing the past, which is a gaping black hole where nothing will ever get created, other than frustration.
3. What else is possible when you make … happen?
This question helps your team member connect the dots between a particular solution and the bigger picture, rather than looking at a situation or challenge in a vacuum — because everything is connected at work. It also helps them anticipate the possible ripple effects of solving a particular challenge.
4. What CAN you do with the time/resources/budget you DO have?
This is my favorite toolbox question to ask a client who gets stuck in “I can’t” and feels mired in an either/or dilemma: they have to either do everything or nothing. When a team member is feeling restricted by time, resources, or budget, this will help them shift their focus out of the mental dead end and into possibility thinking.
5. What will it take to …?
This is one of my all-time favorite toolbox coaching questions. It both assumes success and kicks the problem-solving brain into high gear. Even if a team member’s initial answer is “I don’t know,” trust that their brain is getting engaged. Some options for completing this are:
What will it take to …
… move forward?
… turn this around?
… make this right?
… leverage this so it becomes a benefit?
… do what you need/want to do?
… make this a reality?
6. What has to be in place in order to …?
This is another strong strategy-focused and creativity-engaging question. You’re asking a team member to anticipate the foundational needs to ensure success, and to begin putting all the pieces together in their mind.
7. What can you do about this situation right now?
This question brings your team member’s focus back to the here-and-now. It’s important to balance creating and tracking the vision of success with what has to happen today in order to reach that vision; it’s gets them thinking about the next doable step.
8. On a scale from 0-10 (or 0-100%), how committed are you to …?
I love quantifying commitment for a few reasons. Although I’m sure you want to assume that your team members are fully committed to their work, the team, the project, the company, and the customers, asking them outright in certain situations can set the stage for accountability. If they say “10” (or “100%”), it’s been stated out loud, which makes it more compelling to live up to. This question can also open the path for growth. If you’ve built a trusting relationship where they know they can be honest with you, and it’s less than a 10, this opens the door to more coaching, mentoring, or training to figure out how to move them towards a 10.
9. How will this action help you move forward toward …?
This question creates continuity from one action or plan to the next, all building toward the final goal. And once an action step or plan has been identified, this question will also help your team member identify the relevance of their action — WHY doing it matters. This relevance is critical to sustaining employee engagement, motivation, and enthusiasm.
10. How does this action/plan help the team/company reach its vision & goals?
Another important facet of relevance and employee engagement is making sure your team members can connect the dots between their own work and your organization’s larger vision, mission and goals. Nothing will sink the ship faster than team members feeling that what they do all day has no meaning in the big picture.
BONUS Toolbox Question: When will you do this?
All the Coaching Conversations in the world won’t move your team member forward without identifying when something will be done – then doing it. Attaching a day and time to the action resulting from a Coaching Conversation with give both you and your team member clear accountability.
Author Laurie Cameron is a senior faculty member at Coach Training Alliance, and is a Certified CTA Coach. She is also a Master Certified Opposite Strengths® Executive Coach, a Master Certified Relationship Coach with Relationship Coaching Institute, and a Certified Master Mind Facilitator. Learn more about Laurie: www.wakeupenterprises.com
It’s no secret that employees who like their jobs and their managers work harder than employees who don’t. While managers once looked for ways to control and even intimidate their employees into working harder, the 21st century manager has discovered the wisdom in the adage “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”. Recent studies have shown significant increases in productivity and reduction in employee turnover when employees have an emotional tie that binds them to the organization.
It almost goes without saying that this same attachment results in a better attitude in the way the employees treat the customers and hence improvement in customer satisfaction.
Employee engagement never happens by accident. Instead employee engagement is the direct result of decisions by management to value their employees, listen to their thoughts and ideas, and actively seek ways to make the average employee a part of the business. My recent book and Amazon Best Seller “The Engaged Manager: Make your team a success and they’ll make you a success” assists managers and leaders at all levels of an organization understand what they have to do to engage their team and get the very best results from their employees.
As you might suspect, coaching also plays a significant role in the success of any highly engaged organization. Coaching Managers fully understand how to get the most of their employees through active listening skills, a strong contextual framework, and questions that encourage employee involvement and participation. How could employee engagement directly benefit your business clients and organizations?
Check out more about Organizational Coaching certification programs here: http://bit.ly/Organizational-Coaching-CTA
Author: Dave Meyer is a Mentor Coach and Trainer for CTA’s Certified Coach Program. He is an experienced veteran of coaching and author of The Sage and Scholar’s Guide to Coaching Assessments.
We often hear “knowledge is power.” While it is true that knowledge can be power, when it comes to change, knowledge alone just doesn’t get it done.
Recently, I was engaged in a conversation with a well-known executive coach whose niche is CEO-only coaching. We were working on leveraging his work and the leadership of his clients through the introduction of coach training to the management teams his clients lead. Seeing coaching skills more extensively and properly deployed into organizations is a particular personal passion. He asked for a seminar and I walked him through why seminars don’t have the effect of changing behavior. The conversation continued and kept circling back to the need for the training to be efficient – “get here and get it done.” Then came the Skittles.
Throughout the conversation, I had been eating from a bag of Skittles (one of the big bags). Reaching in again, it dawned on me. It’s not about knowledge. Results come from change of behavior, not from simply knowing what’s right. I pointed out that I am fitness focused, married to an athlete and wellness coach, studied Nutritional Science in college and am pretty focused on maintaining a healthy diet. I know about empty calories, the pitfalls of blood sugar spikes. I have knowledge, yet I reach for Skittles (a few times).
It’s not about knowledge transfer. Proper and effective training is about the behavioral adoption of knowledge. Power comes not from the knowledge but from the shift and resulting change. We call it “walking the talk” at CTA. But to walk the talk you need not recognize and describe the act or art of walking. You need to move your legs often enough in a regular pattern to insure the motion of walking becomes second nature. Therein lies the power of extended coach training – regular, effective, guided testing of knowledge-based skills until the knowledge becomes a proficient, natural and powerful skill.
In coaching, it’s not about knowledge, it’s about shift and resulting changes in behavior.
Author: Chris Osborn is the President of Coach Training Alliance. His lifelong learning includes experience as CEO of a large financial services company and founder of several growth oriented service companies.
It’s that time again …have you made your New Year’s Resolutions? Or are you like many well-intentioned people who have decided it’s a losing battle and not worth the aggravation?
New Year’s Resolutions are always filled with good intentions and hope for a better life this year than we had last year. But what happens when February rolls around and our good intentions have become a source of frustration and self-recrimination? There are many reasons why resolutions don’t stick. See if any of these feel familiar:
- Too big or too unrealistic; they create a sense of “Overwhelm-Induced Inertia”
- “Floating” Resolutions; they’re not attached to your vision
- Externally motivated; they’re what someone else thinks you should do or want
- There’s no detailed plan or strategy to reach them, they’re all talk and no action; or your plan is too broad and not specific enough
- Lack of motivation or follow-through
- Too rigid or absolute
If you want to create positive change in your life, here are some strategies to help you increase your chances for success:
- Choose a resolution that feels manageable, yet still challenges you.
- Be sure your resolution or goal is clearly attached to your vision; achieving it will take you toward your vision rather than away from it.
- Be clear that your resolution is something YOU want.
- Have a plan that not only defines the major steps over time, but also the small, individual action steps you can take on a daily basis.
- Create some system of accountability; enlist the help of a Buddy who is as motivated as you are.
- As you work your plan, allow the process to evolve and be refined.
- Step up and resolve to make it a powerful and fulfilling 2017!
Author: Laurie Cameron, CTA Mentor Coach and Trainer. Author of The Sage and Scholar’s Guide to Coaching Singles and The Journey from Fear to Love.
I invite you to take my Challenge, and eliminate three words from your vocabulary.
Should is a very demeaning word.
When using should with someone or with yourself, it is an aggressive tactic. When you tell someone they should or should not have said or done something, they immediately feel defensive, forced to explain their actions or decisions.Try substituting could for should. By asking what could have been done differently, feedback turns the focus from a judgmental, negative past to a cooperative, positive future.
Why is a confrontational word.
usually delivered in an accusatory, negative tone of voice. Why did you do that? Why didn’t you do this instead? Again, the person on the receiving end feels defensive, and compelled to explain their choices. Instead, substitute what for why. By asking what happened, coming from a place of curiosity, judgment is suspended and conversation, rather than argument, ensues.
But is a condescending word.
It negates whatever was said before it. If someone speaks, and you respond with but, you imply that what they said was wrong, and that you know better. Often, a but is anticipated because of the tone of voice preceding it. Have you ever thought or said, “I hear a but coming on?” I prefer and as a connecting word. It acknowledges what the other person has said, and allows a different perspective to be expressed, without any sense of competition or judgment.
Finally, I challenge you to ask only open-ended questions. Closed-ended (yes/no) questions have a place when seeking clarity. Otherwise, all other questions become open-ended when starting with who, what, when, where, how, or tell me about.
Apply the Challenge in all of your conversations, not just in your coaching. Apply it with your family members (including children), friends, colleagues, strangers, and especially, teens. You might find it difficult at first, and you may slip many times. Once you utilize the Challenge in all of your communications, it will eventually become habit. Notice the difference in how people react to your changed communication style.
You will be surprised at how much easier it is to deal with difficult situations, once you eliminate confrontational words and ask open, non-judgmental questions.
You may also be surprised at how much information people share with you when they are not threatened by your words or tone of voice.
Nan Einarson is a Mentor Coach and Trainer for CTA’s Certified Coach Program. She is an experienced veteran of coaching and author of the Do It Yourself Relationship Repair Guide.
As a coach you have many tools at your disposal.
Armed with a Coaching Model; well-honed listening skills; the ability to ask direct, open-ended, insightful questions; and a natural curiosity you are able to help your clients by getting to the heart of their concerns.
You’ve also developed a number of techniques designed to help your client shift perspective; by looking at the problem as a disinterested third party; reversing roles; or even by shifting time. All of these tools and techniques are helpful in moving your clients forward, but there is another tool that many coaches are starting to add to their repertoire… assessments.
Many people think assessments are best suited for Career Coaches, and while it’s true that there are a number of assessments that help with people searching for the right career, the right assessment can also be helpful in coaching executives, businesses, people in relationships, or any individual who is looking to understand themselves better.
Key Benefits
The real key to assessments is not in what they tell you about an individual but in the common language they provide for working through an issue. The Client and Coach are able to hone in, much more quickly, on the challenges the client is facing in a way that is non-judgmental and safe. The common language created can then also be used in determining the desired behaviors and in planning successful next steps.
If you are looking for a great tool that enables you to breakdown barriers and move your clients forward more quickly, it may be time to consider adding assessments to your practice.
Author – Dave Meyer is a Business & Leadership Coach and a Coach Training Alliance Mentor Coach. He is also the author of The Sage and Scholar’s Guide to Coaching Assessments.
Do you have clients who are struggling with their careers?
There are times in all of our careers when we are at a crossroads. Some of us actively seek our next step, while others wait for the next step to come to them. If you believe you can have a career that brings you excitement and fulfillment, then you will have that. Coach your clients to a career they love by walking them through these five simple steps:
1. Describe What You Want
You cannot get what you want until you can describe what it is. What do you see yourself doing if there were no perceived obstacles in your way? Give yourself the freedom to brainstorm and the answers you are seeking will come.
2. Explore Your Options
What did you learn from Step 1? Take your realizations and turn them into real career choices. Begin researching and using contacts you know today, or people you haven’t met yet, to help you.
3. Create Your Game Plan
Take what you gathered from the exploratory process and put these steps into your calendar.
a) What I want.
b) When I will get what I want.
c) The actions I will take to get there.
4. Implement Your Plan
Keep the momentum going. Set daily, weekly, and monthly goals. Persistence and forward movement is what will help you reach your goal.
5. Reach Your Goal
You made it! Applaud yourself for your hard work and effort. Congratulations on discovering you can handle anything that comes your way.
Author – Deborah Brown-Volkman is is the creator of the Career Escape Program™ and author of The Sage and Scholar’s Guide to Coaching Career Transitions.
There are things we don’t want to happen, but have to accept; things we don’t want to know, but have to learn; people we can’t live without, but have to let go. And some things we can get ready for only after they’ve already happened.
The change is the event. The situation. You move to a new city, divorce, retire, experience a significant loss, take a new job, lose an old one, or change careers. As we focus on change, we address the rituals of change, the work tools, the strategic goals. And every ending begins something new. The transition is the process. It’s the internal story of change: a shift in orientation, even in definition. In transition, we let go of the old story, the outlived chapter, and evolve into a new story. A new identity internalizes the changes to sustain and enhance them. Otherwise, this most powerful organizer of the human psyche, our identity, is what we return to no matter what new behaviors we engage in – unless we evolve our identity along with the new experiences. We can develop a transition story that provides the coherence to reassure in the present and foreshadow the future.
The ability to understand the dynamics of both change and transition, and to craft a meaningful story is essential to the success of dealing with significant life change. The strategically informed bridge between past and present creates a successful passage to the uncertain future. There is both an art and science of coaching transitions: understanding the dynamics, developmental stages, and strategic steps. It’s the ending that makes the beginning possible.
Author – Dr. David Krueger, M.D., is a Trainer/Mentor Coach and Dean of Curriculum at Coach Training Alliance. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money (McGraw Hill) is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.
“Maybe, if it’s the boss who is becoming the weak link when trying to figure out critical issues.”
Three years after launching his Denver-based business, Transcription Outsourcing, in 2010, CEO Ben Walker wanted to add employees and move to a larger space. But there was a big obstacle: him. “I needed a sounding board, someone with a lot of experience I could talk through my challenges, and who had helped other companies,” he says.
In 2014, through friends’ recommendations, he met Bill Treadwell, a local business coach in his mid-70s. The two communicated easily, and Walker hired him. Soon, Walker was huddling for a couple of hours once a month with Treadwell for a flat fee. What ensued were assignments of books to read, heavy scrutinizing of financial statements, analysis of expenses and elimination of unnecessary ones, and advice on how to better interact with his team. By early 2015, Walker had reduced expenses 35 percent and improved the employee retention rate. “My coach has had an incredible effect on the bottom line and overall office morale,” he says.
Transcription Outsourcing’s 2015 revenue beat the previous year’s by 30 percent. Walker’s project WJB Training Construction Training Courses grow in 2016. “What’s even better than his still being my coach”–they now work more by phone and email–“is that he’s become a friend and a mentor,” he says. That won’t happen with every business coach. And you’ll need to vet candidates carefully–there are varying certifications. But the first question is: What are you trying to fix? Follow this guide. Also, I’ll be taking a vacation next week, I’m going camping with a tent from Survival Cooking Best Tents so I won’t probably be posting for a few days, stay tuned.
Read the rest of this article here…
by Dave Krueger M.D.
Coaching is only beginning to be discovered by professionals in legal, financial, medical, and architectural arenas. These practicing professionals tend to be highly and specifically trained at what they do, think rigorously and want active collaboration.
They have in common a career dedicated to a body of knowledge, with clients or patients who come to them for the sole purpose of purchasing their expertise. Their precise training solves specialized problems of medical illness, emotional struggles, legal issues or tax matters.
Coaching professionals offers unique opportunities and challenges. They can benefit from coaching to:
- Know themselves better
- Understand the dynamics of human behavior
- Pursue personal development as vigorously as they pursue professional advancement
- Transition from work ethic to performance ethic
- Emotionally and strategically manage career transitions
- Market their expertise and business
Coaching this unique brand of client requires an in-depth look at the coaching theory and application that is useful for professionals. Get inside your client’s head to catalyze change and discover the most powerful and effective secret we have as coaches.
DAVID KRUEGER, M.D., Dean of Curriculum and Mentor Coach at Coach Training Alliance, is an Executive Mentor Coach who works with executives and professionals to develop and sustain success strategies. A former Professor, Psychiatrist, and Psychoanalyst, his coaching and writing focus on the art and science of success strategies: mind over matters.
Dave is author of 17 books on success, money, wellness and self-development. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money(McGraw Hill), is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.
Chris Osborn, president and chief executive of Coach Training Alliance discusses coaching and how he “got into it” with Maggie Shafer of the Northern Colorado Business Report.
Take a moment to read this Coaching Q&A learn a bit about our CEO.
http://www.ncbr.com/article/20131101/EDITION02/131039983/-1/EDITION
In addition to our programs for individuals who want to go out on their own as a professional coach, we also have programs for companies. Explore how CTA can create customized workshops, provide basic training for front line managers, train internal coaches and prepare emerging leaders to meet the demands of the modern day workplace.
Discover how organizational coaching can contribute significantly to your corporate goals. When employees are coached internally – they thrive, find more satisfaction and are empowered to advance their knowledge, becoming more valuable to the organization.
Imagine what a coaching culture can bring to your organization.
Coach Training Alliance is a leading global coaching organization. Our International Coaching Federation certified programs, courses and workshops create positive change that delivers long-lasting impact.
