What is Mental Strength Coaching – Part 2

Mental Strength Coaching, Personal Develpoment, Personal Empowerment, Personal Success No Responses »

Dec 072011

Last week in “What is Mental Strength Coaching – Part 1” we began our discussion on mental strength coaching, what it is and how it differs from other forms of assistance like therapy, mentoring and consulting.

These are basic understanding and differences as defined by several coaching organization, like he International Coaching Federation.

Personally, I like to think that “coaching” is not so easily defined. The intention of going through the differences is give you a basic understanding so you know the type of assistance that is best for you.

When people come out for my Warrior’s Quest, ultimately I have many roles that include guide, teacher, mentor, sponsor, shaman and awakener.

Now that we’ve loosely defined what mental strength coaching is, there are various types of coaching, many fall under the category of “life coaching” since all of it really about a person’s life.

What is the difference between an Executive, Corporate or Business Coach?

The client is the distinguishing feature of the above coaches. Executive coaches work with executives, usually senior executives in medium to larger sized companies.

They tend to be employed by either the executive themselves or the company. Either way they are most often brought in to coach on performance related or life/work/balance issues and they most often take the role of strategic partner to the client.

Corporate coaches also work with executives, usually in medium to larger sized companies. However they tend to be employed more often by the company and coach on company defined goals and targets.

They also take the role of strategic partner to the client. Business coaches can work with small business owners, entrepreneurs and managers of business units in companies. Depending on the client their role could be anything from life/work/balance to specific business building goals (for example, to increase sales by 50%).

Generally speaking corporate, business and executive coaches will have expertise in their area of coaching. Business coaches will have run a small business; executive coaches have often been CEO?s or senior executives themselves.

Although the coaching methodology does not demand this, there are two key reasons why it occurs:

1.) It helps to have an empathy or understanding of where the client is coming from, particularly in relation to culture and language. A corporate coach who has never heard of key performance indicators or doesn’t know the elements of a strategic plan will be more challenged.

2.) The second and main reason is to do with marketing. There is a saying in the coaching profession that all coaching is life coaching after the first 3 sessions. You may have been brought in to double sales, but you will find that very quickly the sessions become about relationships, communication, family/work balance and doubling sales.

So it is possible that a powerful life coach would do a great job at coaching a senior executive. In fact it is probably what he or she needs. But from a marketing perspective CEO?s of companies like to employ people who have come from that culture. Likewise small business owners like to know that their coach understands what it is to run a small business.

Why Companies Hire Coaches

The motivation for companies to hire coaches was revealed in a recent study conducted by corporate coaching firm, Manchester Inc. The study titled “Executive Coaching Yields Return On Investment Of Almost Six Times Its Cost” quantifies the impact of business coaching. The study included 100 executives, mostly from Fortune 1000 companies, who received coaching from Manchester.

Companies that provided coaching through Manchester to their executives realized improvements in productivity, quality, organizational strength, customer service, and shareholder value. They received fewer customer complaints, and were more likely to retain executives who had been coached.

In addition, a company’s investment in providing coaching to its executives realized an average return on investment (ROI) of almost six times the cost of the coaching. Half of the executives in the study held positions of vice president or higher (including division president, general manager, chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief information officer, partner, principal, and practice leader).

Almost six out of 10 (57%) executives who received coaching were ages 40 to 49, and one-third earned $200,000 or more per year. The coaching programs that executives participated in were a mix of both change-oriented coaching — which is aimed at changing certain behaviors or skills — and growth-oriented coaching — which is aimed at sharpening performance. The coaching programs typically lasted from six months to one year.

Results of the Study

Manchester’s coaching programs delivered an average return on investment of 5.7 times the initial investment in a typical executive coaching assignment — or a return of more than $100,000 according to executives who estimated the monetary value of the results achieved through coaching. Among the benefits to companies that provided coaching to executives were improvements in:

Productivity (reported by 53% of executives)
Quality (48%)
Organizational strength (48%)
Customer service (39%)
Reducing customer complaints (34%)
Retaining executives who received coaching (32%)
Cost reductions (23%)
Bottom-line profitability (22%)
Among the benefits to executives who received coaching were improved:
Working relationships with direct reports (reported by 77% of executives)
Working relationships with immediate supervisors (71%)
Teamwork (67%)
Working relationships with peers (63%)
Job satisfaction (61%)
Conflict reduction (52%)
Organizational commitment (44%)
Working relationships with clients (37%)

Now if coaching can provide there types of results for business and executives, imagine what it will do for you!

Coaching Models

Many coaches work to a particular model of coaching. A model is a system or set of steps that the coach can follow. Different coaching models have been developed over time by various coaches, each coming from a slightly different philosophical basis.

There are vast arrays of books available that outline the benefits of each coaching model, usually written by the coach who founded the method. Below is a list of some well-known coaching models and the name of the author or authors who developed each one.

GROW Model (Landsberg, 1996)
Single-, double-, triple-loop Model (Hargrove)
Co-Active Model (Whitworth, Kimsey-House and Sandahl, 1998)
Solution Focussed Therapy/Coaching (O?Hanlon)
CAAACS Model (Auerbach)
Eight Stage Model (Hudson)
Stage of Change Model (Procheska & Norcross)
Systems Perspective (Tobias, 1996)
Systems & Psychodynamic Approach (Kilburg, 1996, 2000)
Iterative Feedback Model (Diedrich, 1996)
Multimodal Therapy Model (Richard, 1999)
REBT (Anderson, 2002; Sherin & Caiger, 2004)
Transformative-developmental model (Laske, 1999)
Constructive-developmental theory approach (Fitzgerald & Berger, 2002)
Action Frame Theory Approach (Cocivera & Cronshaw, 2004)
Existential Approach (Peltier, 2001)
Authentic Happiness Coaching (Seligman)

Most coach training schools train coaches in a specific coaching model. Graduates from these schools will often then go on to use the model that they have learned as part of their marketing brand.

For example, they may refer to themselves as a Co-Active Coach or an Authentic Happiness Coach.

Warrior Mind Coaching is unique in that I don’t subscribe to a specific coaching model, I believe that since people are all different, there is no single model has all of the answers for all coaching situations and that most models have something of value to offer.

I do base all my coaching on TFAR. Thoughts lead to Feelings, Feelings lead to Action and Action brings Results. If you don’t like the results you’re getting start with your thoughts. As I go deeper in my coaching session ultimately we get to the belief level, this is the beginning place for thoughts. This leads to the development of mental strength.

Why Coach?

Mental Strength Coaching is a unique, relative new and exciting field to experience. If you’re feeling stuck, not getting the results you want, feeling lost or simply looking for an “accountability partner” coaching is a great way to move forward.

I realize that not everyone can afford coaching or perhaps are still nervous about the process. This is why I developed Warrior Mind Fundamentals.

Based on the TFAR model, Warrior Mind Fundamentals provides you with the information and tools to take control of your thoughts, hence your life.

Warrior Mind Fundamentals is an online multimedia training program that is available to you 24hours a day. You can stop and star when ever you want and you can even take it over and over again.

To find out more go HERE now.

References

“Executive Coaching Yields Return On Investment Of Almost Six Times Its Cost”, 2001, Business

Wire E-Zine

Homer, The Odyssey, 800 BCE, translated by Samuel Butler

Reflection

How can coaching best assist you?
Do you know exactly what you want in the next year?
Are you feeling like something is missing?
What’s stopping you from live the life you want?

I know that the subject of coaching could go on and on with all the various niches. I wanted to give a broad brush picture of coaching and relate it to some business situations.

If you look at almost any successful person I would estimate that almost 90% have been coached or have a coach right now. So let me ask you, what’s holing you back?

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What is Mental Strength Coaching? – Part 1

Mental Strength, Mental Strength Coaching, Personal Develpoment, Personal Performance, Personal Success No Responses »

Nov 302011

At least once in any given week someone, during an Introductory Consultation or a discussion about The Warriors Quest, someone will ask me what exactly mental strength coaching is?

I thought I’d clarify mental strength coaching a bit so that you get a better feel for what it is, what it can do for you and if it’s something you’d like to pursue.

Twenty years ago, no one had heard of life, business, or success coaching. Today it is featured in The New York Times, Fortune Magazine, Oprah and CNN. But still, most of the world has not heard of it.

Demand for coaching is expected to grow and may accelerate. I wonder what will happen when the first major movie featuring Tom Cruise as a life coach hits the street. Corporations are jumping on the bandwagon with Fortune 100 companies creating both external and internal coaching positions.

The International Coach Federation defines coaching in the following way:

“Professional coaches provide an ongoing partnership designed to help clients produce fulfilling results in their personal and professional lives. Coaches help people improve their performances and enhance the quality of their lives.

Coaches are trained to listen, to observe and to customize their approach to individual client needs. They seek to elicit solutions and strategies from the client; they believe the client is naturally creative and resourceful. The coach’s job is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources, and creativity that the client already has.” (ICF website, 2006) Coaching is strongest in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand, and is reaching more and more countries all the time.

Mental strength coaching is a comparably new profession. It blends the best concepts from business, psychology, philosophy, NLP, sports and spirituality. Although mental strength coaching combines skills from other disciplines, it is a distinct process of supporting others to create an ideal life by reaching their personal goals and personal success.

As a mental strength coach I work with clients on a variety of topics: from business and professional issues to personal and spiritual concerns. You could sat that I’m an advocate, a sounding board, a cheerleader, an accountability partner, a truth teller and a supporter.

Mental strength coaching involves dialogue between a coach and a client with the aim of helping the client obtain a fulfilling life. This is achieved by helping the client establish what is important to them and by clarifying their values. With the client’s input the coach co-creates value based goals and a plan to achieve them.

Through collaboration, the coach supports the client to achieve these goals. A coach offers many things to the client during the coaching process such as:

Support to discover the answers within him or her self

Clarification of values

Co-creation of a plan for how to achieve what the client really wants

A sounding board for new ideas

Support in making life changing decisions

Challenge to expand their views beyond their perceived limitations

Direction

Acknowledgement

Encouragement

Resource of information

What Mental Strength Coaching is Not

As a relatively new coaching profession, mental strength coaching is a methodology that draws on a range of other more traditional professions including psychology, NLP, Time Empowerment, business consulting, mentoring, management theory and adult learning. However, mental strength coaching is a unique field and there are significant differences between coaching and these fields.

Coaching and Therapy

Mental strength coaching is not therapy, counseling or psychology, in the strict sense of the profession. Although intervention often follows some psychological models such as NLP and behavioral theory, the actual process of coaching should not be mistaken for a therapeutic intervention.

One of the most obvious differences between the two approaches is that therapy tends to focus on feelings and experiences related to past events, whereas coaching is oriented towards goal setting and encourages the client to move forward.

A therapist typically works with a dysfunctional person to get them to become functional. A coach works with a functional person to get them to become exceptional.

Therapists typically work with people who need help to become emotionally healthy. A coach works with people who are already emotionally healthy to move them to magnificent levels.

Mental strength coaching does not rely on past issues for achieving growth, but rather focuses on goals towards the future.

Coaching is action oriented.

The focus is on where the client is right now, where they want to be next, and how to get them there.

If a person is working in the past, then you are involved in therapy. If a person is stuck and can’t seem to move forward or if there is a drug or alcohol problem, then they are more likely doing something other than coaching.

Therapy helps a person back to “zero”, i.e. normal. Mental strength coaching moves a person forward to achieve their personal goals and personal success.

Coaching and Consulting

Coaching is often likened to consulting. However, there are distinct differences between these disciplines.

A consultant is usually a specialist in a given area. They are hired to give recommendations and provide solutions.

A consultant works with a client to solve a particular problem or to address a specific issue. Once the problem is solved or the issue addressed, the consultant leaves.

Generally, a consultant doesn’t get involved with areas outside of their specialty.

Mental strength coaching uses a more holistic approach. With the client, the coach examines the situation, creates a plan of action, and works side by side to resolve the issue. The coach does not have to be an expert in the client’s business, if the coach is familiar, all the more better. And here the client is the expert. The coach collaborates with the client to create a solution using the client’s knowledge and answers.

While people, and companies, will often choose a coach who has previous experience or expertise in the field that they work in, the coaching methodology does not require this.

Consultants however, build their businesses around the knowledge they have gathered over time in the specific field in which they then offer consulting expertise. They are expected to provide advice, information and anecdotes about the field.

The coach, on the other hand, does not have the answers and does not claim to have them. They have the questions that allow the client to find their own answers and clarify their own values.

Coaching and Mentoring

The term “mentoring” originates from Homer’s Odyssey. In the Odyssey, the character Mentor advises, supports and counsels Telemachus, Odysseus’ son as Telemachus prepares to take on the responsibilities of the family in his father’s absence. Mentor also advises Odysseus on how to search for his father. Telemachus thanks him for his help: “Sir, I thank you for your kindness; you might be a father speaking to his own son, and I will not forget one word of what you say…”

The mentor is usually older and more experienced than the person being mentored. The mentor bestows their knowledge and wisdom onto the student. The student looks up to the mentor and seeks guidance and advice from the mentor. There are both formal and informal mentoring relationships.

In a business setting, mentoring is a formal relationship that is established with someone who is an expert in his or her field. Like consulting, mentoring involves passing on the benefit of a set of specific experiences. A mental strength coaching relationship, on the other hand, is a partnership whereby the coach walks side by side with the client. The coach supports the client in drawing on their own wisdom and following their inner guidance.

OK…I hope this helped to clarify what mental strength coaching is and is not. I’ll finish this up next week.

Until then if you’d like to explore mental strength coaching further request your Introductory Consultation HERE.

Or if you’re ready to explore The Warriors Quest further you can download an e-book brochure HERE.

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Trusting For Peak Performance – Part 2

Mental Strength, Peak Performance, Personal Develpoment No Responses »

Nov 162011

Welcome back!

In Part 1 of Trusting For Peak Performance we discussed what is a trusting space, how happens when trust is absent as well as the Will Rogers test.

Today we’re going to go over…

Building Trust Over Time

If there is one thing that we know about trust, it is that it must be earned, not demanded. A trusting space begins with rapport between you and your “partner” (remember in part1 we defined a partner as anyone of significance in your life, i.e. coworker, client, spouse, customer, friend or family member, etc).

Building rapport is just the beginning to achieve personal peak performance. The trusting space is then built up over time as you engage a range of strategies to continue to build trust between you and your partner. This doesn’t mean, however, that you can never make a mistake. We all make mistakes and you are on your own learning and growth journey, just as your partners are.

It does mean, however, that when you make a mistake, you are honest about this; the mistake is acknowledged, and then both you and your partner move on. The perception that you are human and make mistakes does not, in itself, destroy trust.

The perception that you lack the skills or integrity to identify and manage your own mistakes is sure to.

Contemplation

Have you had a relationship of trust in your life?

What were the particular features that allowed you to trust that person?

Why is trust so important to learning?

Why is it important to acknowledge your own mistakes?

What are some ways that you can build a trusting space with your partners?

Coaching

For me and many others, the principle of trust underpins the approach to coaching. Clients believe that the coach’s first and most important obligation is to create a “trusting space” for their clients in which to develop. The trust between coach and client can be described as the “bandwidth” of coaching, the greater the bandwidth, the greater to chance to reach personal peak performance.

An Open Mind

One of the main requirements for creating a trusting space is an open mind and a non-judgmental attitude on the part of you. In coaching, it is often said that the coach determines the process but the client determines the content of the sessions.

The client always sets the coaching agenda, as does your “partner”. You “partner” may come from a background that is very different from yourself or may have made different life choices.

In coaching, these will have an impact on the agenda that the client outlines; what personal goals they set; what values they wish to live in alignment with; and which skills they want to develop.

For me, the aim of coaching is for my client to be their best self for personal peak performance. It is up to them to decide what this better self looks like, not me, not their friends, or not their family.

It is up to me to listen to and validate their desire for a better self, even if it is not what I would want in my own life, or have thought of as the best thing for them.

This is important to remember when you are creating a trusting space for your “partner.”

Stober refers to this attitude as “unconditional positive regard.” Often the client’s personal goals and the goals that the coach thinks would work best for them are the same. This makes coaching easy and can be applied to assisting your “partner.”

However, sometimes the goals are not the same, and when they are not, your “partner” is still entitled to set the agenda. It can be a challenge to assist someone through the end of a marriage if you feel strongly about the sanctity of marriage, and believe they would be happier in the long run if they kept their marriage together.

It can be a challenge to assist someone through giving up a highly paid and powerful job, if you think it sounds fantastic to you and the career they want sounds risky or boring.

In my case, this is where coaching becomes more complex and I must engage all of my listening and empathizing skills. When these situations occur, it is beneficial for me to work through these challenges myself with my own coach. As a coach I must suspend my own judgments in a coaching relationship in order to build trust.

And you must do the same with your “partners.”

Support and Challenge

Another way to create a trusting space is by balancing the need to support with the need to challenge. If you only provide support, the “parent” may be prevented from growing and developing at a rate that brings them true satisfaction and personal peak performance.

They may even feel patronized. If you only challenge, you may be in danger of damaging you “partners” sense of self worth. People often expect to be challenged; however, even the highest functioning and resilient of human beings needs strong encouragement and emotional support to respond to challenges.

A skilled coach can carefully manage the “two-way street of support and challenge” (Ting and Riddle, 2006). They listen attentively to the effect that their words have on their client.

The following description of the coaching environment powerfully paints a picture of a trusting space where challenge and support are effectively balanced that you can use in building a trusting environment.

“When you confront me, I can trust that you are pushing me to think beyond my existing paradigms, not trying to blame or hinder me. When you ask me to explain my reasoning, I can trust that you will not use my answer against me but will help me seek higher levels of performance…..my mistakes will be treated as learning opportunities – steps on the path of accomplishment, not failures.” (Bianco-Mathis, Nabors and Roman, 2002)

My goal as coach is to have my clients feel this way about me, so that I can challenge them in ways that build their sense of self so that they can reach personal peak performance,

Trust and Ethics

To create a trusting space, you must operate ethically at all times. Operating ethically includes maintaining confidentiality, preparing for and focusing on the intervention or “assisting” session. It also means coaching and assisting from the heart and being prepared to walk away from the relationship if this is in the best interest of your “partner.”

In my coaching, my clients need to trust that my primary motivation is a desire for them to reach their full potential and peak performance. As their coach, I need to constantly ask myself whether I am acting in the best interests of my clients or whether other considerations are impacting the coaching relationship.

This is a good point to reflect upon in your relationships with your “partners.”

These considerations might be the need to maintain a certain income, the desire to build up a business, the wish to avoid failure or to avoid “letting someone down”, or the desire to influence the person in a direction that they don’t want, but that we want for them.

A person with mental strength is not afraid to reflect on their own motivations and is prepared to act if any of their motivations are impacting their “partner” getting the most out of the relationship.

Creating a trust space requires openness and honesty with yourself and with your partners. Building on trust is doing this on an ongoing basis. Trust grows, it strengthens relationships and empowers both parties. Creating and building trust is a privilege in getting to know someone and getting to know more about ourselves.

Reflection

Why do you have to be able to trust yourself in order to build a trusting space?

How do you think you could handle coaching someone whose goals are not the same as what you would want for them?

How could you let a “partner” set the agenda but still be true to yourself?

What is the relationship between ethics and trust?

I hope enjoyed and got something out of these two posts. If you’d like to experience a trusting environment so that you grow personally and reach your peak performance request your Introductory Consultation today HERE.

References

Biano-Mathis, V., Nabors, L. & Roman, C., (2002), Leading from the inside out, Sage Publications, California.
Goleman, Daniel, 1996, Emotional Intelligence, Why it Can Matter More Than IQ. Bloomsbury, London
Stober, Dianne, “Coaching from the Humanistic Perspective”, in Stober, Dianne and Grant, Anthony (eds), 2006
Evidence Based Coaching Handbook, John Wiley and Sons, New Jersey Ting, Sharon and Riddle, Doug.
“A Framework for Leadership Development Coaching”, in Ting, Sharon and Scisco, Peter (eds) The CCL Handbook of Coaching, 2006, Jossey-Bass, SanFrancisco

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Tools, Assessments And Personal Success

Personal Develpoment, Personal Success No Responses »

Sep 212011

I love assessments!

Whether it’s a physical assessment like Functional Movement Screening, emotional assessment like Virtues in Action or mental assessments like Personality Style Indicator, I think assessments and other tools help in exposing areas for improvement as well as our strong areas.

Tools and assessments are used to support us in understanding a little more about ourselves. They do not tell us everything about who we are, but rather are used to identify specific characteristics or to assess certain measure such as knowledge or skills, attitudes or beliefs that will assist us in achieving our personal goals and personal success.

There are two types of assessments, educational assessments or psychometric assessments.

Educational assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the educational system as a whole.

According to the Academic Exchange Quarterly: “Studies of a theoretical or empirical nature (including case studies, portfolio studies, exploratory, or experimental work) addressing the assessment of learner aptitude and preparation, motivation and learning styles, learning outcomes in achievement and satisfaction in different educational contexts are all welcome, as are studies addressing issues of measurable standards and benchmarks,”

It is important to notice that the final purposes and assessment practices in education depends on the theoretical framework of the practitioners and researchers, their assumptions and beliefs about the nature of human mind, the origin of knowledge and the process of learning. (Wikipedia)

Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of educational and psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits.

The field is primarily concerned with the construction and validation of measurement instruments, such as questionnaires, tests, and personality assessments. It involves two major research tasks, namely: (i) the construction of instruments and procedures for measurement; and (ii) the development and refinement of theoretical approaches to measurement.

Those who practice psychometrics are known as psychometricians and although they may also be clinical psychologists, they are not obliged to be so and could instead be (for example) human resources or learning and development professionals. Either way specific, separate, qualifications in psychometrics are required. (Wikipedia)

In addition, tools are a range of resources available for you to use to help you reach personal success. The varieties of tools are exhaustive ranging from worksheets to questionnaires to certain practices.

One of the important practices that must be adhered to when using assessments or tools is to recognize that they are designed to provide information around a certain area of a person. They are not conclusive and a process to be used in coaching, consulting, human resources, management or other areas.

The best way to use an assessment is to determine first what you are wanting to measure. Once you have decided then you can do a search on the internet…or as me. Once you find the right assessment for you, complete the assessment and then you are provided with a report.

Some assessments on the internet are free and some have a fee attached. Assessments that are free are more like completing a quiz of a short assessment and don’t usually provide a comprehensive report. They are more used for fun in learning a little about yourself in a range of different areas.

Paid assessments that have been tested and measured are more professional and valuable to use. Assessments are developed using a range of theories and designs. A great deal of work and thought goes into the design of each assessment.

Some assessments do not require you to be accredited to use them. However it is important that you know all about how the assessment works before you use it on yourself or someone else.

The best way to know how assessments work and what specific areas they cover is to assess yourself. Take as many assessments in different areas as possible. Look at the assessments that you feel most aligned with in terms of the design and beliefs upon which is was constructed.

Application

When was the last time you took and assessment and what was the impact of it? It is a great opportunity to observe yourself through the language of assessments. It also provides an opportunity to distance yourself from the language as it is not someone’s opinion of you. This allows for greater observation. Taking assessments gives you insight.

Contemplation

Consider an area that you would like to observe more about yourself and take an assessment in this? Design a set of action steps to take as a result of seeing the outcome of the assessment that will help you achieve your personal goals.

Coaching Application

Assessments are used in my success coaching in two ways. The first is at the beginning when I am starting to work with a client. An assessment at the starting point provides me with more information about my client.

Part of my success coaching is about identifying behaviors that my clients have. Identifying behaviors can be done through the coaching conversation. It is through this that standards or distinctions can be made. Observations can also be discussed as an assessment. When a client carries out an assessment it provides them with an insight into a part of them, allowing them to observe it through the language of the assessment.

Once a client has taken an assessment then the next step is to understand the structure of how the client interprets the assessment. To skip over this is to lose the value of the assessment and the process of including it.

The opportunity for me to better understand my client can also be lost here too. In coaching, an assessment is like a reference. I work with my client to really see how they are interpreting the assessment results and what they have learned about themselves.

Remember no assessment can ever fully capture all details of a person such as their feelings, thoughts, potential, etc. The use of assessments to label people is also brings in judgment.

I work at removing any expectations I may have created from seeing the results of my client’s assessment, as this could influence my client’s behavior and create a perception for me that is not correct. An assessment gives form and shape to what a I can observe about the my client without limiting the client to the parameters of the assessment.

Assessments give us language in which to speak about a person, they are not the person. In addition remember that as humans we change and adapt. Labeling a person would be detrimental to them and any relationship you may have with that person.

As I have moved through my coaching I have found other ways to use assessments. A client may be looking at wanting to develop a particular area or may want to gather language to understand a particular aspect of themselves a little further. An appropriate assessment at this point is useful and discussing the outcome of it and the client’s interpretation makes a coaching session very productive.

Every assessment you take must lead to action steps. Being able to observe yourself through the language of assessment you will form certain conclusions about how the assessment will inform how you want to develop or move forward. Creating action steps will support you in this process.

At any stage throughout success coaching, a coach can use a range of tools or resources. This completely depends on the areas the client wants to work towards. Tools and assessments do not define the success coaching process or determine the conversation or judgments about a person.

An assessment is a great way to use language from an independent resource to support yourself and to see aspects of yourself rather than coming from your own personal opinion. This distance provides the safety that you may need to discuss your assessment outcome with a coach or friend

Reflection

What assessments have you taken and how did you interpret them?
How did your interpretations impact you?
What other areas of your life can an assessment be useful?

I like to use two sources from the assessments I use. The first has a great deal of variety and covers most aspects to achieve your personal goals and personal success. You can view the complete line of assessments here at CRG Leader.

The next recourse is from Penn University and are based on Positive Physiology. You can see the list of assessments here at Authentic Happiness.

Please let me know your experience with assessments in the comments below.

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Mental Strength Tip #55 – Fun and Personal Success

Mental Strength, Mental Strength Coaching, Personal Success No Responses »

Aug 292011

Welcome back to another Mental Strength Tip!

Achieving personal success and reaching your personal goals begins with a mental strength mindset of empowering beliefs.

Reaching your personal goals and personal success starts in your mind…and finishes with taking inspired and massive action.

This is one in a series of virtual life coaching mental strength tips to help kick-start your week. It is intended to enthuse and inspire you to take action so that you can reach your personal goals and personal success.

I take one mental strength tips and run though a brief overview of it, then ask some very direct questions. The intention of this virtual ‘life coaching’ session is for you to write the questions in your success journal and then reflect on them and write your answers and thoughts in your journal.

These series of posts are for YOU! If I’m not able to coach you personally one-on-one over the phone or in The 2^nd Passage, I want you to at least get the benefit of a “virtual” mental strength coaching session.

Enjoy!

Objective of this Mental Strength Tip:

To make you aware of the fact that most people how have achieved any level of personal success are having fun. This is because they love what they do!

Before beginning this session it would be worth while to take stock of what you are doing that is fun and those things are not. Then ask how can you eliminate those things are not fun…or least have someone one else do them.

There are specific advantages of doing what’s fun for work and releasing the rest.

Let’s Get Started:

Again, take a moment to reflect upon what things you do that are enjoyable in your profession and those things that are not. Then consider how much more personal success you could achieve when you can concentrate on the fun aspects of your career and hire out or delegate the other parts.

Questions to Uncover Beliefs about Mental Strength Thinking:

Do you believe the mental strength individuals have achieved personal success love what they do so much they would do it for free?
Is it possible to experience great personal success and fun at the same time?
What percentage of mental strength individuals do you believe are having fun at what they do compared to the average person?

Unsupportive Beliefs about Having Fun at Your Career

Work is not fun.
Work is not supposed to be fun.
You work hard so you can then have fun when you retire.

Mental Strength Beliefs about Having Fun at Your Career

Work is fun.
People who have fun at what they do are always more successful and happy.
If you earn your living doing something you love and have fun at it your chances of experiencing uncommon personal success dramatically increases.

Outrageous Questions:

Are your beliefs about having fun at what you do helping or hurting you changes for personal success?
How much fun are you having at what you do?
What is the most fun you ever experienced at what you do or have done?

Reflective Questions:

On a scale of 1-9, 9 being most fun, how much fun are you experiencing at what you do currently?
How does someone who’s not having fun at what the do compare to someone who is having fun?
How can I help you discover the enjoyment and fun at what you do?

Mental Strength Coaching:

Remember, most people have been programmed to believe that fun is something’ you experience on the weekends and vacation…not at what you do for a living.

This limiting belief has been handed down for the industrial age when people slaved away doing physically demanding work.

Limiting beliefs are passed down from generation to generation and can last hundreds of years, well past the point where they any more value.

We are now living in the age of the mind, where it’s possible to have fun performing tasks that challenge the intellect and serve as catalysts for personal growth.

Part of mental strength coaching around having fun at your career is to help you understand that some of your beliefs no longer server in reaching your personal goals or achieving personal success.

Final Thought

This virtual mental strength coaching session was to help you shift your perspective that having fun at what you do is OK and you that have “permission” to smile, laugh and enjoy your work.

The benefit to you is that you will be more productive and will reach your personal goals sooner and reach your personal success with joy and ease.

If you’d like to get started on developing the mental strength mindset for personal success, fun and happiness so that you can reach your personal goals and personal success request your Introductory Consultation today!

OK…now it’s your turn! Let me know about your thoughts on this subject in the comments below.

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Accountability and Personal Success – Part 3

Personal Develpoment, Personal Empowerment, Personal Success No Responses »

Aug 172011

Welcome back!

In Accountability and Personal Success – Part 2 we started to look at the six significant factors in goal setting and personal achievement. As discussed by Marshall and Kelly Goldsmith.

Before we move on I want to mention again a crucial factor in reaching personal goals. In my experience as a coach if a client comes to me with a set of personal goals it is worth exploring where the goals came from before holding my client accountable for them. If the client is having these goals imposed on them, if they don’t understand or agree with them, then no amount of accountability is going to help them achieve these personal goals.

Commitment to change and being accountable needs to come from a good place. Having to do something because your boss tells you to, or because you believe it is expected of you, or because you think it is the “right thing to do” will not compel you forward.

Some initial work on exploring your values and determining what you really want from the coaching process will increase the likelihood of your personal success.

OK…so today we’ll finish up this topic by looking at the last three factors as described by Marshall and Kelly Goldsmith.

Factor 4: Distractions

At the time a person sets a goal or makes a commitment to change, their future is a big blank canvas.

The sales target that they have set themselves or the fitness routine that they have committed to, for them, is the only challenges on the horizon.

But guess what?

Storms can and will crop up from nowhere. New paths can reveal themselves. Perhaps, despite their best efforts, you’ll get sick, or lose a major account, or win a bigger account than they ever imagined!

The research on goal setting indicates that individuals almost always underestimate the distractions and competing goals that will inevitably crop up.

Implications

Knowing that distractions are bound to arise, you can prepare yourself. This doesn’t mean worry about them, simple consider some of the potential distractions.

You can do this by building in time buffers to your personal goals that you might not otherwise consider. This is helpful by thinking of some “scenario planning” where you explore a series of “what ifs” to ensure you’re ready for a range of eventualities.

For me, when the distractions pass, this gives me a unique position to gently re-engage my client with their long-term goals so that the distraction remains simply a distraction, and not a permanent deterrent or opportunity to give up.

Factor 5: Rewards

Sometimes when setting personal goals a person can become despondent that success in one area doesn’t bring the immediate rewards that they desire.

For example, you might want to work on your communication skills and may find it frustrating that the change you’re working on is not immediately recognized by those around you.

A business leader who builds their skills through coaching and then doesn’t get an immediate promotion may feel disappointed.

There is considerable research indicating that companies that invest in leadership coaching have greater long-term profits. However, there is no research to indicate that companies that employ coaches have greater short-term profits. The change process almost always leads to long-term success rather than short-term success.

If it were possible to learn how to be more focused, to be aligned with your values and to gain more joy from achievements through a short course…well…this would be the most popular course in the world!

If it were possible to learn how to communicate in a way that sustains and builds those around you to achieve greater business success from a book, it would be a bestseller.

These “transformational” skills are notoriously difficult to develop and sustain. (Moreton, 2007) The rapid development of coaching as a field is, in part, due to its effectiveness in supporting clients to tackle these difficult but incredibly powerful skills.

Implications

Some explanation about the benefits and limitations of coaching can be of great use before you engage in the coaching process. Coaching is not a quick fix. Coaching is a long-term investment in your personal development. It works best in the areas that are the hardest for you to develop through other means, i.e. books, audios, seminars, etc.

I always consider the “minimum time” I will need to invest when working with a client.

If the client wants to tackle significant behaviors built up over time that will create long-term benefits, then I need to let them now that they are not going to be able to do this in three weeks.

Many coaches insist on a minimum period of 3 months for coaching (I work on a minimum of 1 month depending on the outcome of the Introductory Consultation). I do offer a discount for the client signing up for 3, 6 months and One Year.

If you are only willing to work for a smaller period than this, make sure you are clear about what is likely to be achieved in this short period so that you don’t begin with unrealistic expectations.

Factor 6: Maintenance

Often my clients find making a change easy but maintaining it hard.

“Once a goal setter has put in all of the effort to achieve a goal, it can be tough to face the reality of maintaining changed behavior.” (Goldsmith & Goldsmith)

I’m sure you’re familiar with the concept of “yo-yo dieting” where an overweight person goes on a dramatic weight reduction diet and loses large amounts of weight, only to find that they put even more weight back on because they can’t maintain the restricted diet they set for themselves.

They then look for another short-term diet to lose weight again. Each time they go back and forth (like a yo-yo) their confidence diminishes and they do enormous damage to their bodies.

The “yo-yo effect” can occur in many different types of goals. A person aiming for a one-off return or “state” rather than embarking on a “lifelong journey” may move at a pace that they can’t maintain. Once they achieve their short-term goal, they can become overwhelmed at the thought of all the hard work that they will have to do to remain at that fast pace.

Implications

There are a number of strategies that I employ to ensure that my clients don’t unwittingly “support” the “yo-yo effect.”

Firstly, in my discussions I frame my client’s development as a “process” or “journey” rather than a destination. This is something to consider if you plan to take on your personal develop solo.

Secondly, I acknowledge the small steps they have taken along the way. This is to encourage an attitude of gratitude and celebration. Again, keep this in mind if you will not be using a coach to reach your personal goals.

Finally, I must give my client feedback if I think the client is moving at an unsustainable rate. This one is going to tough for you if you plan on being a lone wolf.

Managing Accountability

Managing accountability is a complex thing and varies enormously from person to person.

Holding a client accountable for their commitments will only work if this is what the client wants.

People should be free to talk through issues without having to make firm commitments before they are ready. Beware of committing to short term goals because this is what you think you others expect.

I normally talk to my clients about what they expect from me with regard to accountability. I make sure that the language they use to make commitments is clear to both of us and that they feel supported.

Questions I ask (and you can ask yourself) include:

“Are you ready to make a commitment to that goal?”

“Can I check with you next time on how you went with that?”

“Would you like me to hold you accountable for that goal?”

I also ask them about their past history of success. Please consider these as well:

What goals have you achieved in the past?

How did you do this?

What accountability did you have?

What accountability may have been helpful at the time?

A Gentle Art

Accountability is one of the most complex aspects of coaching and supporting others.

Reminding a person of a goal or commitment in a way that doesn’t judge or control is challenging to manage and takes practice. Helping a person discern what might be holding them back from reaching their dreams takes a high level of trust between coach and client, or any two individuals.

Accountability needs to be carefully balanced with encouragement, enthusing and acknowledging. It needs to come from an understanding of how challenging real change and achievement can be.

For me, this comes from an absolute belief in the power of coaching to enact real change. When I believe that a personal goal is attainable then this belief will flow on to the client.

The client will feel the energy from me and be compelled to move forward to reach their personal goals and achieve their personal success.

Contemplation

What are some ways that a coach can encourage you to keep commitments?

How can understanding the nature of achievement help reaching your personal goals?

References

Goldsmith, Marshall and Goldsmith, Kelly, 2000, “Why Coaching Clients Give Up and How Effective Goal Setting Can Make a Positive Difference” in Goldsmith, Marshall and Lyons, Laurence, (eds), Coaching For Leadership, Pfeiffer, San Francisco, California
Ruiz, Don Miguel, 2007, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, Amber Allen Publishing, San Rafael, California

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