In leadership coaching and training, there are several key areas where people seek help for maximizing their performance. Over the next few weeks, we’ll focus on one a week and provide you with some tools and tips to help you if the area is one in which you seek to develop as a leader. Last week we pointed to feedforward and feedback as one of the steps in our coaching process. We often find, however, that this topic is also a tactical approach for improving performance. Many people in leadership roles, don’t seek feedback for themselves and do not provide

If you are seeking to maximize your performance at work, hiring a professional coach may help you do this. We’ve mentioned key factors in vetting a coach, one of which is considering the approach or process the coach or firm follows. Our coaching approach is grounded in our company values. Our basic leadership coaching process focuses on these key elements, stemming from our values: 1. Assessment. We start by assessing where people are from their perspective and the  perspective of people who matter in their life. 2. Self-Awareness. Based on the results of the assessment phase, we work to build self-awareness

Last week, we discussed what you should look for in a coach. But before you go looking for a coach, you need to look in the mirror. Consider these questions before you vet coaches to help you: Are you willing to devote the time to coaching? Developing as a person takes time. You’ll need to be willing to meet with a coach at regular intervals and devote the time to practice and follow-through on assignments that arise from the coaching arrangement. Just like you won’t be a become a better baseball pitcher if you only practice during the 1 hour

Today, you can find a “coach” for everything. Where we used to associate coaching specifically with sports, now there are life coaches, leadership coaches, executive coaches, parent coaches, career coaches… you get the picture. Since our firm provides leadership and career coaching, we obviously see the value in coaching.Performance Management: Putting Research into Action states, “There is strong research and case-study evidence that coaching is an effective leadership development tool.” In fact, one of our coaching clients from last year received a substantial raise as a result of gains in his performance. He deserves the credit for this through his

I’ve been asked by a friend to write a post on time management. It seems fitting at the beginning of each year to look at how we manage our time and “resolve” to manage it more appropriately as we begin anew.  But other than this one tidbit of time management advice, I’m not going to write today about time management: How you spend your time should be based on your purpose, and your purpose should be captured in a mission statement to govern how you spend your time.  Instead, in considering time management, I think it is worth reflecting on