Coaching Corner

Coaching Corner

  • Articles

    • Wisdom of a Leader

      Recently, one of my clients who is the principal-leader of staff and students in an elementary school, compiled a list of key ideas he has taught himself through the coaching process. John’s purpose was to share with his supervisor how coaching had influenced him professionally and personally.

      John sent me a copy of the list as well. His list consisted of sixteen questions he has found valuable, as well as sixteen key concepts he has discovered, or re-discovered, through the coaching process. My first thought was, these are a true reflection of how this man leads, and lives his life. My second thought was, each of these would make a great chapter in his book that is waiting to be written!

      With John’s permission, I am sharing five of his learnings in this article, because they are powerful ideas for each of us to consider as we lead in our various capacities in our varied lives. Whether you lead as a parent, a teacher, a volunteer in your community, a student leader in a student organization, within your spiritual community, or the CFO of your own company, John’s learnings have the potential to expand your thinking and actions as a leader. And isn’t that another thing great leaders do, share the wealth and enable others to learn and lead?  Here is our gift from John.

      A little shift, over time, makes a big difference.

      Some issues cannot be solved, they must be managed.

      I can’t give away what I don’t have; energy, confidence, trust, etc.

      The leader doesn’t give the message; the leader is the message.

      CREATE SPACE to think, to prepare, to listen, etc.

      Here is something else I noticed about John’s list. Every item on his list refers to what HE can do, or be, not what someone else should do, or how they should be. Self-management is the invisible item written all over his thinking.

      It’s tempting to expand on John’s ideas. However, the insight or motivation you might take from this will be unique to your situation. Expand on it in a way that makes a difference in your life and in the lives of those you serve and love.

      Thanks John.

       

Coaching Corner Archives

  • Articles

    • Wisdom of a Leader

      Recently, one of my clients who is the principal-leader of staff and students in an elementary school, compiled a list of key ideas he has taught himself through the coaching process. John’s purpose was to share with his supervisor how coaching had influenced him professionally and personally. John sent me a copy of the list as well. His list consisted of sixteen questions he has found valuable, as well as [...]

    • Once in a Blue Moon

      Later this month, on August 31, 2012, a blue moon will appear in the night sky. Most of us have heard of a blue moon; it’s the unusual occurrence of a second full moon in one month. The last blue moon was on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2009. That seems a very auspicious night for sighting a blue moon, being the relatively rare event that it is! The next [...]

    • Acting From Desire

      If you read last months “Coaching Corner”, you know I publicly committed to posting a fresh article by the 15th of each month in this section of my website. It was my way of asking each of my readers to be my accountability partner and to increase the likelihood that I would carry through on this desire turned commitment. And here I am, with a fresh article for you, and [...]

    • I Commit!

          Here goes. Today, June 15th, I am publicly committing to posting a new Coaching Corner article by the 15th of every month on my website. Just typing that statement, I feel my throat tighten a bit, and the little voice that sits on my shoulder saying, “Don’t dooooo this.” And I am going to do it anyway. You see, when I launched my website in February of 2011, [...]

    • Be Inspired . . . and Inspiring!

      If you read January’s article, you know I’m doing some sorting in my life. My question to myself, and to you, was “What will I do less of so I can do more of what I really want to do?” One thing I wanted to do less of was cooking. And I am! My husband, Pete, is now cooking dinner each Wednesday evening. And I am getting much more than [...]

    • Less Might Be More

        Are you a New Year resolution setter? I am not. I do have some ideas about things I want to do this year. I want to spend more time in the outdoors in wilder places than I’ve been before, grow my coaching practice to another level, experience lots of live music venues, and appreciate deeply my time with my aging Mom, to name a few. Like most of you, [...]

    • Simply Listen

      As a trained coach, I spend a good deal of my time with clients simply listening. Simply listening, now there’s an oxymoron! There is nothing simple about listening deeply and completely. It is a skill, an art, and it starts with an intention to be completely present with the person who has a need or desire to be heard by you. One of my favorite inspirational reads is entitled Wabi [...]

    • Scenic-Path or Psycho-Path?

      Here is a filter that cuts to the chase when shaping the quality of our days; will the result of this choice I make, decision I postpone, reaction I choose, question I ask, money I spend, 4th episode in one night of Men of a Certain Age I watch, take me down the SCENIC PATH or the PSYCHO-PATH? Each day, several times a day, we find ourselves at this Path [...]

    • Lighten Up!

      Summer is a time of lightness in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Our days seem longer as the light of day extends late into the evening. We wear lighter clothing, perhaps eat lighter foods, and at night, we fall asleep under light coverings if anything at all. There is a sense of freedom in the many kinds of lightness we experience during this sweet season. We seem to automatically detach [...]

    • The Beauty of Response-ability

      There’s a Hole in my  Sidewalk Chapter 1 I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost . . . I am helpless It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. Chapter 2 I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend that I don’t see it. I fall in [...]