Entries Tagged as 'Guest Blog Post'
I’m wondering if you can give me some advice on managing my boss. I am really into trying to build on the positive with employees and I spend a lot of time in our staff meetings trying to give credit where it’s deserved and cast management decisions in a positive light. However, my boss tends to follow up my comments by saying something that sucks all the positivity out of the room. He is a really good guy and I don’t think he realizes the does it, but he speaks badly of former and current employees to me with the office door open so the people who sit nearby can hear. He also acts like employees can’t be trusted. We recently participated in a top 100 Companies to Work For survey, and people came to me and asked if I wanted us to win or if I wanted them to be honest. Of course I want honesty, but it concerns me that they would ask. Also, I recently conducted a peer review wherein employees were asked to finish the following statements about each of their peers: please do more of this, please keep doing this, and please do less of this. The response for my boss was overwhelmingly to stop making negative comments and treating employees as if they are expendable. I’m nervous to bring this up with him, because I don’t think he even realizes he does it, but I feel like there is a consistent pattern wherein he negates praise or recognition with a small but cutting comment. Read more...
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Tags:bad boss·coaching·Coaching Skills Active Listening Leadership competencies·coaching transformation·communication·difference between coaching and mentor·employee motivation·leadership·mindfullness·taking coaching mainstream·value of coaching
Taking Coaching Mainstream is about creating a network of people around the world and having good conversations about leadership, communication, listening, curiosity and of course coaching skills.
We believe using various social media platforms like a blog (this one), a facebook page , an interactive website, a twitter account and now a Linkedin Group can bring people together to have those great conversations about coaching who otherwise would not connect.
On the verge of launching into the LinkedIN world, we found it relevant to pause and write a post about the value of social media.. not only for us, but hopefully for all of you in your businesses and organizations. Read more...
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When some people hear the word mindfulness, they immediately dismiss it as some esoteric Eastern meditation practice or New Age mumbo jumbo. However, mindfulness is an important ability to work on for coaches – or anyone else.
First, let me clarify what I mean by “mindfulness.” There are multiple views of what mindfulness is and is not, but in the most general sense, we can think of several levels of mindfulness, ranging from a basic level of awareness up through the sharp internal mental focus of a longtime meditator or yoga practitioner. For our purposes here, I am referring to a more open-minded awareness of others and of the environment itself, rather than awareness of one’s own internal processes and thoughts. Internal mindfulness is certainly a great topic, but it’s one for another day. Read more...
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Tags:coaching mainstream·listening·mindfullness·noticing
The following is a guest post from Tom Maher “the Musician’s Coach” who we met at the recent ICF conference. No more introduction needed, this blog post will give you a great sense of the man behind the “heels”! ***
If you haven’t met me before, let me introduce myself. My name is Tom Maher and I am a professionally trained and certified life coach. I also professionally impersonate Paul Stanley of KISS in KISS Tribute Bands. Some would think this is an unusual combination, but for me, it works.
I was recently asked how I can be authentic as a coach when I spend so much time being someone else, or “inauthentic”. I told them that no matter how much of Paul or Paul’s mannerisms I try to emulate, I always make sure that I am shining through that trademark star. Read more...
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The celebration of the 15th anniversary of ICF brought coaches from around the world (e.g. from Turkey to Chile and many places in between) to Fort Worth during the last week of October. We’re proud to tell you that RRU alumni were well represented!
There were a host of choices for topics and breakout sessions. Just a few high lights were:
Sonja Lyubomirsky, Harvard trained and author of the book “The How of Happiness” presented an overview of her research in a session titled “The How, What and Why of Happiness”. If you Google her name you’ll get to her web site where she shares information about what contributes to happiness. For example research shows that happy people:
1. Nurture and enjoy social relationships
2. Express gratitude
3. Often are the first to help others
4. Practice optimism about the future
5. Savour pleasure and live in the present
6. Make physical activity a habit
7. Are deeply committed to life-long goals
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How often do you experience your mind racing so fast that you are overwhelmed and /or were unable to sleep? When this happens, how do you turn it all off?
When was the last time you sat down, some place quiet, to just reflect, think and write about how your day went… what went well, what did you accomplish, how were you “being,” what could you have done differently that might have brought about different results, what are you grateful for? Read more...
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I have just had the experience of a life coaching session with a new connection in Geneva. And it is funny how, when the tables are turned, one can get a feeling first hand of what it is like to receive rather than to share. Strangely I was really kind of nervous to start with and found myself a little uneasy and unsure of what to expect. Once we dived into it, I felt indulgent to spend the time on myself and to be speaking to a stranger about my thoughts, successes and challenges. To a stranger?! Read more...
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A “GIFT WORD” is a concept I was introduced to by a coach I highly respect, Ian Chisholm.
This refers to a big word that you have to earn ; A word that that someone gifts you. For Ian, the word mentor is such a gift word. He passionately believes that we don’t get to decide that we are mentors for someone. This word is something they tell us that we were for them. It’s a big word, and not one to throw around lightly.
For me, LEADER falls under that category. I know a lot people who have the title of leader, but the handful of people I would call up and say how much I respect and value the way they conduct themselves as leaders….. pretty small. Read more...
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Tags:coaching·difference between coaching and mentor·gift words·mentor
Remember when you were a kid and having someone tell you a secret was something that was a big deal? I remember my best friend Aimee in grade 4 passing me a note in class telling me she had a secret at recess… and for the next 32 minutes I watched that clock in the classroom tick by so very slowly.. until the bell rang and we raced outside to the far side of the school yard.
As a kid, when a friend tells you something important to them, you listen with every fibre in your body. When I watch my four year old listen to her best friend Liv tell her a “secret” (which could be that she had strawberries for lunch) Nicole is 110% present in that moment. She listens with her eyes, her ears, her heart. Read more...
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Tags:Coaching Skills Active Listening Leadership competencies
I’m wondering if you can give me some advice on managing my boss. I am really into trying to build on the positive with employees and I spend a lot of time in our staff meetings trying to give credit where it’s deserved and cast management decisions in a positive light. However, my boss tends to follow up my comments by saying something that sucks all the positivity out of the room. He is a really good guy and I don’t think he realizes the does it, but he speaks badly of former and current employees to me with the office door open so the people who sit nearby can hear. He also acts like employees can’t be trusted. We recently participated in a top 100 Companies to Work For survey, and people came to me and asked if I wanted us to win or if I wanted them to be honest. Of course I want honesty, but it concerns me that they would ask. Also, I recently conducted a peer review wherein employees were asked to finish the following statements about each of their peers: please do more of this, please keep doing this, and please do less of this. The response for my boss was overwhelmingly to stop making negative comments and treating employees as if they are expendable. I’m nervous to bring this up with him, because I don’t think he even realizes he does it, but I feel like there is a consistent pattern wherein he negates praise or recognition with a small but cutting comment. 
