Similar to the way we interact with our community or family, friends and the world, we also interact with an internal community. The internal community is that group of internal parts of the psyche that direct our lives. Each part has an important purpose, without exception. Our role as coaches is to help clients learn to embrace their parts, exactly as they are. Even when a part behaves harshly, we look beneath the words or vicious behavior to understand its positive intent. If we appreciate each part’s attempt to contribute, honor the important role the part is playing and thank it for its years of service, the part feels seen, heard and understood.… Read more

In this case, she wants to be herself and let go of the expectations that she has to be an expert in all matters. Addressing this, she sees that her expectations of herself are in her way and when she becomes more comfortable with being in her own skin, then the meeting no longer looks ominous. This new light changes how she feels about the meeting and what she needs to do to prepare. By changing her viewpoint, she is more in touch with herself and can respond more fluidly with whatever happens in the meeting.

Coach: So Anya, what would you like to be coached on today?… Read more

When clients experience intense emotions, resistance or have trouble finding their voice, Experiencing the Moment can help them slow down and get to know themselves. When they are going full speed ahead, ignoring their body, or living in a state of confusion, Experiencing the Moment brings them into full awareness.

Experiencing the Moment is valuable when a client is having trouble fully experiencing or accepting some part of their life. This can show up as a lack of emotion or words not matching their tone or energy.

We use Experiencing the Moment skills in every other alignment pathway and, for many coaches, it’s their first choice as a pathway because authenticity becomes paramount.… Read more

Honoring all parts becomes a way of life. Whenever we see or hear parts that are out of alignment, we can bring them in by asking them to speak. We’ll notice misalignment because we’ll hear polarized voices vying for attention. It’s only natural for parts that value the status quo to block the parts that want to make changes. When our clients experience internal conflict, this pathway is a form of internal mediation.

They may experience internal conflict at many levels: mental, emotional, physical and behavioral.

I think I want to work with children / What if I can’t make a living?… Read more

Tips for setting stretch goals:

• Make sure the goal is compelling
• What makes this goal important to you ?
• Search for the growing edge
• What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail? How can you play a bigger game?
• Balance the outrageous, ambitious and practical
• What’s one ambitious element you could add to your goal and still achieve it?
• How could you make that goal 10 times bigger and still achieve it?
• What would make your heart sing?

Expanding Your Comfort Zone

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. — Anaïs Nin

Our comfort zone has the familiarity of an old couch.… Read more

A vision without a plan is just a dream. A plan without a vision is just drudgery. But a vision with a plan can change the world. —Old Proverb

A strategic plan helps individuals and organizations determine where they stand, where they wish to go and how they plan to get there. By focusing on the big picture, long-term planning creates an opportunity for people to design their lives.

As coaches, we help people become the authors of their lives and create their ideal future. How do we support them to choose actions that are aligned with their values, vision and purpose?… Read more

Employment assessments are becoming more widely used by employers of all sizes as a means of assessing skills, behaviors and knowledge. Employers are seeing the value of having objective information about a candidate rather than relying solely upon subjective interviews where the majority of the information is provided by the candidate. As the use of the internet has grown so has the ability for employers to objectively assess candidates to determine if they have the right skills, attitudes and abilities for the position. Although behavioral interviewing has been a useful tool, it still relies upon the candidate’s skill in interviewing.

Assessment Use is on the Rise

Increased use of employment assessments isn’t necessarily bad news because if you are not a good fit for a position then it’s not likely that you will be successful or that you will stay with the company anyway.… Read more

This article illustrates how Balanced Scorecard techniques are being used in small businesses. It is particularly relevant to students who are based in small practices or even small businesses where exposure to business techniques, frequently presented against a framework of large corporations, may be limited. After reading this article, students will be better able to relate what they have learned to their everyday business environment and thus understand the techniques and produce better answers in their examinations.

Debate behind the balanced scorecard

The student should remember that the primary criticism that has motivated the Balanced Scorecard is that traditional techniques over-emphasise financial performance often to the possible exclusion of other measures.… Read more

A while back I was agonizing over how to fund a new venture. Do I raise money, and spend the added time to form a board and do books for a non-profit? Do I enlist investors and give up ownership in the organization? Or do I take out a personal loan (which I find distasteful) and run it as a business? Several self-imposed deadlines had come and gone, and I still couldn’t decide.

Finally I sat down with my friend Tim, a successful businessman who’s also a coach, and asked for help. I laid out my conundrum in detail, going through the pluses and minuses of each option, and then inquired: “What do you think I should do?”… Read more

The concepts of coaching and mentoring are often overlapping and there are many disagreements about what constitutes coaching and mentoring—especially when coaching and mentoring are delivered in an organizational setting. Considerable time can be taken (and perhaps wasted) debating over definitions of coaching and mentoring. I propose that another approach might be taken—that of determining which of seven distinction roles are served by coaching and mentoring in a specific organization.

I offer the following exercise as a catalyst for personal reflection as a mentor or coach or as someone leading a coaching or mentoring program inside an organization. This exercise can also serve as a catalyst for group discussion among members of an organizational planning team for mentoring and/or coaching.… Read more