Leadership Coaching Tip

How many times have you had a situation at work, or at home, where you felt ‘knocked off-kilter’, ‘thrown for a loop’ or ‘disgruntled’?

Probably not often (wink). But for you who have experienced something like this, think about a particular situation. Did it come from a meeting, conversation or project that didn't go so well, some harsh feedback, a flub as a public speaker or something that you just didn't expect? It often feels like "failure."

It happens to us all, and as painful as it is, this is a place where there lies an abundance of opportunity for growth in effective leadership.

Looking back at your "event," what brought you back to center? Got you back on track? Helped you move forward? My guess is that you "recovered" - it may have been a quick or long and painful process – but you did it.

The act of "recovery" is a gift. It's an art - and it's much like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. Recovery is the ability to "get back" or "regain activity." And for effective leadership, recovery is essential.

At a deeper level, the act of "recovery" also requires heart. Heart for yourself and heart for others. Compassion. Think about a time you goofed. What was necessary to "forgive" yourself? When someone else falls down, it's essential to engage the heart and truly give them the space, courage and compassion to get up and come back stronger.

I believe heart, and the desire to create a positive impact, is at the center of recovery.

We all have our special processes for recovery. We all have our ways of engaging the heart. What are yours? Here are three common examples I see in personal coaching work with others.

Leadership Coaching Scenario One: You're giving a big presentation and you make a mistake in the data. You feel yourself shuffle, perhaps flush, and so begins your inner dialogue: "I just totally messed up; oh, they're never going to ask me in again; I’m going to lose this account!" So notice, where is your attention? It's definitely not on the group. By now you've probably REALLY lost them.

Instead: Make your mistake, notice that you made it in the moment, correct it if necessary, and move on. Continue to be a fully engaged public speaker. Keep your attention on the presentation and the people in your audience.

Leadership Coaching Scenario Two: You've just completed a project that you think is really great. You send it out to your team and the feedback is scathing. (Maybe not "scathing", but disappointing.) Here's your chance: option one - you "shut down", start to focus on how you've failed, how no one gets you, how you shouldn't even be in this line of work, how YOU are a failure.

Instead: Get your feedback, put it all in your feedback "basket", try to remember it's not "personal" - it's about the "thing". Quickly remember that feedback is just feedback. What can you take from "this" feedback and use to move you forward? What systems might you put in place so this doesn't happen again? For example, you might design in a structure for feedback before completion. Finally, make any necessary shifts, put this incident in your "future learning resource file" and move on.

Leadership Coaching Scenario Three: You've been exercising and eating clean for one month! Things are moving along, energy is up, inches are disappearing. This whole self-care thing rocks! And zing! It's the holidays - parties, family, meals, and vacation all hit at once. Here's your chance: option one - let go of all that good work; it's a moot point anyway, why try? You've failed, so while you're at it, you beat yourself up a bit.

Instead: Give yourself a break! Enough with the self-bullying. Do what you can: move your workouts to the morning, substitute the gym for brisk walks with family, continue to eat clean AND give yourself permission to enjoy some celebratory cheer. Make it fun.

For the rest of the month, notice when you need to recover and exercise those "muscles"! These things are bound to happen and they can be really challenging when they do. And with a bit of recovery, you'll be right back on track moving forward to make the impact you want!

Why Could You Possibly Need a Coach?

When I was setting myself up as a coach after a great deal of training, one of my fellow gym members said “a coach, you mean like a rugby or rowing coach?”

Why is it acceptable to have coaches in sport to improve an athlete’s performance yet individuals and some companies find it difficult to accept a little coaching support can make a big difference to their lives or their businesses?

How many of you have set New Year resolutions? How many of these have already fallen by the wayside? Were they goals you did not really want to achieve or was it that the action plans you set were not clearly laid out?

There is no real difference between sports and business coaching. It is all to do with improving performance. With what is often called life coaching, instead of ‘performance’ substitute the word ‘enjoyment’. Often we do not have time to enjoy ourselves! How many of us plough through life accepting that this is our lot until something traumatic happens putting life into perspective?

It does not have to be like that!

I have used my coach to support me in a wide range of activities including:

• How to work better with my boss
• Setting a contingency plan for future work
• How to spend more quality time with my family
• Building a career plan that works for me in my fifties
• Removing the worrying barrier of reaching age 60!

Having come from a sales background originally, I like coaching because it is action centred and results orientated. Coaching does not have to be fluffy! As long as you are open to change it is most powerful. It is no good a spouse or a parent suggesting it for somebody else. The desire for change needs to come from the person themselves.

Coaching does not have to be for extended periods of time. It is normally for three months with specific challenges to tackle. A coach will ask you the questions you would not normally ask of yourself. They will engage the 97% of your brain (the unconscious mind - where you often have good ideas from in the shower in the morning!) you often do not normally access.

Coaching is all about looking ahead and going forward. If there are historical issues holding you back, a coach who is trained in NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) or something similar can help you to remove these limiting beliefs that may have been ingrained since childhood. It is important to assess a coach and ensure that person is going to fit you and be able to help you with your specific issue.

Coaching is not therapy, counselling or even mentoring. It is a skilled person who supports you in building your goals and helps put you on the path to achieve these. The process is totally confidential and as long as you build rapport with your coach it will be most thought provoking. More importantly it will enable action planned change.

“If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got”. It is not a sign of weakness in macho-Britain to have a coach, it is a sign that you want to move your life forward.

Could you possibly need a coach?

Based Life-Coaching

Occupational Therapy Based Life-Coaching For A Meaningful Life!

Occupational therapy is an allied health profession. This term is used to refer to the wide range of professional groups that work in mainstream health care. Other examples of allied health professionals include physiotherapists, radiographers, speech and language therapists, and podiatrists. Occupational therapists are required to train at degree level and register with the Health Profession Council, which was set up by the government to ensure the safety of the public and continuing professional development of its members.

Occupational therapists are concerned with human occupation in its widest sense. They believe that people have an intrinsic drive to be active and express themselves via occupations and activities. Occupational therapists understand that occupations contribute to a person’s sense of identity and place in society. Take a moment to have a think about all the roles and occupations that make up your life, you may be a parent, or partner, you may be studying at college or working your way up the career ladder, you may be into exercising and keeping fit or you may be leading a hippy lifestyle!

Whatever, your life choices, it is likely that these roles and occupations give your life direction. For example, think about the range of activities that you do in any week, you will find that most of what you do, is related to your life roles and choice of occupations. This is because we do what is meaningful to us and what is necessary (ironing is likely to fall into the latter category!).

It is activity that keeps the mind and body functioning. Through what you do, you learn new skills and how to adapt, get to interact with other people and your environment, meet human needs and develop who you are. Activities are the things we do to work towards our goals. They are the framework of everyday life.

It is understood that if your routines are disrupted or you are deprived of occupation because of illness, stress or other problems your health and well-being will suffer. Occupational therapists help people whose usual and important routines are disrupted because of illness, stress or social problems. Their aim is to enable people to achieve as much as they can for themselves, so they get the most out of life. Occupational therapists work on any occupational difficulties and in this way are experienced life coaches. When people cannot do things which are important to them - such as getting dressed, giving a presentation at work, having a shower, working, socializing, feeling confident to go out into the community or undertaking a favorite hobby - an occupational therapist can help them in many ways, based on each individual person’s needs and lifestyle.

Occupational therapy can help you to maintain a personally satisfying routine of activities. Occupational therapy, life coaching is available privately in Edinburgh. I am an NHS experienced occupational therapist and have worked with people with mental-health and emotional difficulties of all types, using a range of psychological techniques. Occupational therapists are skilled at empowering individuals with depression, anxiety and stress to become re-engaged with life and to feel confident again. Life-coaching in Edinburgh will involve a combination of occupational therapy, NLP, hypnotherapy, and CBT techniques.

Coaching Tips Volleyball

Successful coaching in volleyball is like any other sport. It not only requires using your best players, with proper practice and game playing, but being prepared in other areas. For example, the diet and physical fitness of your volleyball team is critical to your team’s success. Motivation and teamwork plays a role in how well your team does.

First, the volleyball coach must have a plan and be organized. In addition, the coach must think of the best ways to implement their knowledge to the players. You can have the greatest coaching tips in the world, but if you can not pass on this knowledge to your team, it is worthless.

Volleyball practice is another example of using tips to improve the individual skills of your players. To get the most out of practice, the volleyball coach needs to make it fun. Most players would scrimmage instead of doing individual skills such as blocking or digging.

Warming up before practice should be thought out and made fun if possible. You can get input from the team on various ways to warm up. One tip is for the volleyball coach to include games with the warm-ups. Freeze Tag and Dodge ball are two examples of making volleyball warm-ups fun. Team members should give you input on the type of games / activities to make practice more exciting.

Practice should be used to work on skills, improve individual skills and team goals. Another way to make practice effective is to have the player’s list three skills they would like to improve on. Time does need to be spent on the basic skills such as setting, hitting, serving, blocking, digging and passing. Besides working on individual drills, team drills must be worked on also.

The key with volleyball success is to have communication with the player to let them know how they are doing. Praising for improving in an individual skill will do more good for your team than yelling at their mistakes. Giving players praise will make most players give extra effort during the practices and the games. However, many coaches are quick to be critical of their players and slow to praise.

Another tip for a volleyball coach is to get input from the team in many areas as possible. The coach will still have the final say, but you will be surprised at some of the excellent suggestions from your players. Besides, it makes it easier for them to accept your ideas.

Giving player’s information on proper dieting and fitness plays a huge role in a volleyball coach being successful. The volleyball players need to be in top shape to reach their potential.

One last coaching tip for volleyball is to work on teamwork. Having exercises that several teammate’s work together to become closer. A team of average players with teamwork will beat superior talent with no teamwork. The players will have some fantastic ideas to promote teamwork.

Volleyball coaching is more than improving your player’s individual skills. It requires teamwork, motivation, praise, proper training and fitness to reach these goals.

Career Coaching : Importance Of Work Values

It is crucial to know your work values if you want to find your ideal job. Your work values are those things in your work life that you consider to be important. When you design your career based on your values, your motivation will be greatly increased and your chances of success and fulfilment improve hugely. Otherwise you’re faced with spending 1/3 of your life doing something that doesn’t fulfill you.

Are you aware of your work values?

Taking the time to think about the things that really matter to you is a good starting point for finding your ideal job.

Find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed. Relax your body and mind. Look at the values listed below. Make a note of the top ten values which are most like you and the five that are least like you. Take as much time as you need.

• Independence
• Helping others
• Risk taking
• Change and variety
• Stability
• Making a difference
• Prestige and the social status
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Advancement
• Material benefits
• Security
• Artistic creativity
• Work environment
• Self expression
• Adventure/excitement
• Working outdoors
• Recognition
• Competing with others
• Influencing others
• Work-life balance
• Sense of achievement
• Intellectual stimulation
• Challenge
• Structure and predictability
• Making decisions
• Supervision
• Public contact
• Working with… (children/data/machines/numbers/ideas/hands/tools, etc)
• Working alone
• Working for a good cause
• Physical work
• Traveling often
• Being an entrepreneur
• Working in a fast-paced environment
• Having regular work hours
• Setting your own hours/having flexibility
• Location
• Having fun at work

Now that you’ve discovered your values you should be starting to get a sense of what is important to you in terms of your career plan.

Write a few sentences describing or summarizing how your values translate into your ideal job.

Consider how each is reflected in the work you currently do. Don’t assume that to find your ideal job you have to change careers completely. If you like your job but you are not happy with long working hours, is there scope for you to negotiate fewer hours ? Maybe your job allows you to work from home a couple of days a week ? Be imaginative ! Changes don’t always have to be drastic to be effective.

If you are happy with your career but find yourself working for a company whose values are totally different from yours, you are in the wrong place. In this case, you might consider applying for another company whose values align with yours.

If work-life balance is very important to you but you spend 4 hours commuting each day, this will take valuable time away from your family and the ability to pursue other activities that you would normally enjoy. Start looking for a job close to your home.

If you are sure that changing careers is the only way you will be happy, then start preparing yourself for the transition.

Remember : Confucius said, "Find a job you enjoy, and you'll never work a day in your life."

Coaching types

Life coaching

Life coaching is a practice with the aim of helping clients determine and achieve personal goals. Life coaches use multiple methods that will help clients with the process of setting and reaching goals. Coaching is not targeted at psychological illness, and coaches are not therapists nor consultants.

Life coaching has roots in executive coaching, which itself drew on techniques developed in management consulting and leadership training. Life coaching also draws inspiration from disciplines including sociology, psychology, positive adult development, career counseling, mentoring, and other types of counseling. The coach may apply mentoring, values assessment, behavior modification, behavior modeling, goal-setting, and other techniques in helping their clients.

Government bodies have not found it necessary to provide a regulatory standard for life coaching, nor does any state body govern the education or training standard for the life coaching industry; the title of "coach" can be used by any service provider. Multiple coaching schools and training programs are available, allowing for many options (and sometimes causing confusion) when an individual decides to gain "certification" or a "credential" as they apply to the coaching industry. Multiple certificates and credential designations are available within the industry.

There are six self-appointed accreditation bodies for life coaching: the International Coaching Council (ICC), the International Coach Federation (ICF), the International Association of Coaching (IAC), the Certified Coaches Federation (CCF) and the European Coaching Institute (ECI)International Guild of Coaches (IGC). No independent supervisory board evaluates these programs, and they are all privately owned. These bodies all accredit various coaching schools as well as individual coaches, except the IAC and ECI which only accredits individuals.

Some assert that life coaching is akin to psychotherapy without restrictions, oversight, or regulation. The State legislatures of Colorado after holding a hearing on such concerns, disagreed that coaching is unlike therapy because it does not focus on examining nor diagnosing the past. Instead coaching focuses on effecting change in a client's current and future behavior. Additionally, life coaching does not delve into diagnosing mental illness or dysfunctions.

According to a survey of coaching clients, "sounding board" and "motivator" were the top roles selected for a coach. Clients are looking for a coach "to really listen to them and give honest feedback." The top three issues in which clients seek help are time management, career, and business.

Personal coaching

Personal Coaching is a relationship which is designed and defined in a relationship agreement between a client and a coach. It is based on the client's expressed interests, goals, and objectives.

Personal Coaching is a learning process. A Personal Coach may use inquiry, reflection, requests and discussion to help clients identify personal and/or business and/or relationship goals, develop strategies, relationships and action plans intended to achieve those goals. A coach provides a place for clients to be held accountable to themselves by monitoring the clients' progress towards implementation of their action plans. Together they evolve and modify the plan to best suit the client's needs and environmental relationships. A Personal Coach acts as a human mirror for clients by sharing an outside and unbiased perspective on what they are observing about their clients. A Personal Coach may teach specific insights and skills to empower the client toward their goals. Finally, a Personal Coach encourages the client to celebrate the achievement of milestones and goals.

Clients are responsible for their own achievements and success. The client takes action; and the coach may assist, but never leads or does more than the client. Therefore, a coach cannot and does not promise that a client will take any specific action or attain specific goals.

Personal Coaching is not counseling, therapy or consulting. These different skill sets and approaches to change may be adjunct skills and professions. The Personal Coach recognizes his/her limitations, and refers the client for other services as ethically required.

Business coaching

Business coaching is the practice of providing support and occasional advice to an individual or group in order to help them recognize ways in which they can improve the effectiveness of their business. Business coaches work to improve leadership, employee accountability, teamwork, sales, communication, goal setting, strategic planning and more. It can be provided in a number of ways, including one-on-one tuition, group coaching sessions and large scale seminars. Business coaches are often called in when a business is perceived to be performing badly, however many businesses recognize the benefits of business coaching even when the organization is successful. Business coaches often specialize in different practice areas such as Executive Coaching, Corporate Coaching, and Leadership Coaching.

At least two organizations, the International Coaching Council (ICC) and the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC) provide a membership-based association for professionals involved in business coaching. The ICC and WABC also provide an accrediting system for business coach training programs. The ICC has currently over 1,500 members from over 50 countries. Business Coaches can also gain creditability by joining a franchise or firm.

Business coaching is not the same as mentoring. Mentoring involves a developmental relationship between a more experienced "mentor" and a less experienced partner, and typically involves sharing of advice. A business coach can act as a mentor given that he or she has adequate expertise and experience. However, mentoring is not a form of business coaching. A good business coach need not have specific business expertise and experience in the same field as the person receiving the coaching in order to provide quality business coaching services.

Business coaches often help businesses grow by creating and following a structured, strategic plan to achieve agreed upon goals. Multiple organizations train professionals to offer business coaching to business owners who may not be able to afford large coaching firm prices .

Health coaching

In the world of health and wellness, a health coach is an emerging new role. Health coaching is becoming recognized as a new way to help individuals "manage" their illnesses and conditions, especially those of a chronic nature. In both sports and health, a "coach" is a person who observes, gives objective feedback, teaches, helps to develop a plan of action, and holds another responsible for their actions and commitments. The coach will use special techniques, personal experience, expertise, and encouragement to assist the coachee in bringing his/her behavioral changes about. .

Coaching

Coaching -a definition: Zeus and Skiffington ('The Complete Guide to Coaching at Work' -McGraw-Hill) define coaching as “a structured process-driven relationship between a trained professional coach and an individual or team which includes: assessment, examining values and motivation, setting measurable goals, defining focused action plans and using validated behavioural change tools and techniques to assist them to develop competencies and remove blocks to achieve valuable and sustainable changes in their professional and personal life.” Training may include seminars, workshops, and supervised practice.