#Coaching

Aug 1, 2018

Self-Regard: Warts & All

I’ve been thinking a lot about emotional intelligence and the Bar-On Model of Emotional-Social Intelligence. According to the Bar-On model, “emotional-social intelligence is a cross-section of interrelated emotional and social competencies, skills and facilitators that determine how effectively we understand and express ourselves, understand others and relate with them, and cope with daily demands” (Bar-On, 2006, p. 14). One particular factor of the Bar-On model, self-regard,

May 1, 2018

Why Organizations Need More Star Followers and Less Yes People

Many of us miss a key point about the importance of followership. Indeed, most people hold a negative view of followership (Kelley, 2008). They can’t imagine anything good or positive that might come from the role of a follower. However, conversations about leadership must include followership “because leaders neither exist nor act in a vacuum without followers” (Kelley, 2008, p. 5). To me, there can be no leader if there are no followers, and people will not follow you if yo

Apr 9, 2018

GROW Coaching Model: The Fascinating Backstory

One of the most popular coaching models in the world is the G.R.O.W. Model (Whitmore, 2017). GROW is one of the earliest (perhaps even the original) business coaching models. THE INNER GAME and THE BIRTH OF MODERN COACHING Tim Gallwey and his Inner Game method are credited for giving birth to modern-day coaching (Whitmore, 2017). Gallwey’s Inner Game approach was extremely influential to the developers of the GROW Model. In fact, according to the late Sir John Whitmore, “All

Mar 20, 2018

The G.R.O.W. Model In Business Coaching – Simple, Concise, and Powerful

Business coaching is enhancing a client’s (person in a business) awareness and behavior in order to achieve business objectives for both client and organization (WABC, Business Coaching Definition). In my quest for a capable business coaching model (business coaching includes leadership coaching and executive coaching), I have spent several years looking at many coaching models. Some models are overly complex while others are very basic. Sir John Whitmore wrote (2009): “Coach

Jan 7, 2018

Workplace Friendships: The Benefits and Challenges

Workplace Friendships: The Benefits When you work in close proximity to other people in an organization, it’s inevitable that friendships begin to develop. Morrison and Terry (2007) wrote that “people are motivated to make friends for the rewards they provide, be they social or more tangible and functional. Thus within the workplace too, it is reasonable to assume that some people make friends so as to enhance their own working conditions” (p. 39). Workplace friendship involv

Dec 1, 2017

Book Review: Awaken, Align, Accelerate by MDA Leadership

Awaken, Align, Accelerate (2011) is a leadership development and coaching guide from MDA Leadership Consulting. The book harnesses “the art and science of developing leaders into a unique collection of self-assessments, development suggestions, case studies, sample leadership development plans, coaching recommendations, and cross-cultural coaching tips” (Nelson & Ortmeier, 2011, p. 1). MDA Leadership’s Awaken, Align, Accelerate is a big book. But once you flip through its bra

Nov 5, 2017

Conversation Killers: Interrupt/Monopolize, Minimize/Discount, Oppose/Argue, and Not Pay Attention

There are four types of people who destroy and neutralize a conversation dead in its track. These types can be distinct but often I find that they tend to blend together. For instance, a person who interrupts or monopolizes a conversation may also minimize or discount what the other person is saying. Or someone who enjoys arguing may also not be listening to much of the conversation since this person focuses on only one point or phrase to argue about while ignoring everything

Aug 13, 2017

The Many Benefits of Coaching Employees

“Coaching is helping another person reach higher levels of effectiveness by creating a dialogue that leads to awareness and action.” -Brian Emerson and Anne Loehr “When an employee has the skills and ability to complete the task at hand, but for some reason is struggling with the confidence, focus, motivation, drive, or bandwidth to be at their best, coaching can help.” -Brian Emerson and Anne Loehr In the classic coaching book, Coaching for Performance (2009), the late John

Jul 2, 2017

Book Review: The Leadership Challenge, 6th Edition

[Note: This post was updated July 2020 for freshness & clarity.] “The notion that there are only a few great people who can lead others to greatness is just plain wrong. Likewise, it is wrong to suggest that leaders come only from large, or small, or already great, or new organizations, or from established economies, or from certain industries, functions, or disciplines. The truth is leadership is an identifiable set of skills and abilities that are available to anyone.” -Jim

Apr 3, 2017

Hire Conscientious People

[Note: This post was updated July 2022 for freshness & clarity.] In the book, The Truth About Managing People, professor Stephen P. Robbins shared a very useful and applicable tip when hiring people: When in doubt, hire conscientious people! The APA Dictionary of Psychology (VandenBos, 2007) defines conscientiousness as: the tendency to be organized, responsible, and hardworking, construed as one end of a dimension of individual differences (conscientiousness vs. lack of dire

Mar 7, 2017

How To Manage A Team That Keeps Growing

Athletics carrying a crew canoe over heads | Credit: Clerkenwell I was contacted by a freelance writer working on a blog post for the project management platform, Wrike, for my thoughts about how you manage a team that keeps growing. Question: What are some notable differences between leaders of small teams (let’s say 10 people and under) and leaders of large teams (100 people and over)? I’m sure there are numerous differences in the way they should communicate, delegate, etc

Feb 1, 2017

Reasons Why People Resist or Support Organizational Change

“Change can generate deep resistance in people and in organizations, thus making it difficult, if not impossible, to implement organizational improvements.” -Thomas Cummings & Christopher Worley Oreg, Vakola, and Armenakis (2011), in their 60-year review of quantitative studies involving change recipients’ reactions to organizational change, discovered that recipients’ reactions to organizational change involve cognitive (what they think), affective (how they feel), and behav

Jan 4, 2017

Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)

Much of the original research on Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) came from the field of sociology. Two sociologists from University of Minnesota’s Flexible Work and Well-Being Center, Dr. Phyllis Moen and Dr. Erin Kelly (Kelly is now at the MIT Sloan School of Management), were the original researchers invited in 2006 to observe and study ROWE as it was being implemented at Best Buy (Flexible Work and Well-Being Center, 2015). Background of ROWE Results Only Work Environ

Dec 18, 2016

To Deceive Using Truthful Statements is Called Paltering

Deceiving Others By Using the Truth Paltering is “an active form of deception that involves the use of truthful statements to convey a mistaken impression” (Rogers, Zeckhauser, Gino, Norton, & Schweitzer, 2016). We tend to think of lies (i.e., to mislead or deceive others) as misstating facts or actively using false statements (lying by commission) or leaving out important details (lying by omission), but there is a third, very common, type of deception called paltering. Palt

Dec 3, 2016

Characteristics of a Team and Barriers to Effective Team Functioning

Before delving into the barriers of an effective team, you must first understand the difference between a team and a group: “The distinction between a group and a team is an important one. All teams are groups, but not all groups are teams. A group consists of people who work together but can do their jobs without one another. A team is a group of people who cannot do their jobs, at least not effectively, without the other members of their team” (Spector, 2012, p. 303). A tea

Oct 12, 2016

Don’t Waste Time Trying To Discredit Others

Whether in my personal or professional life, when I observe myself and others around me, one of the biggest personal and professional missteps I witness is being a blocked learner. More than blocking learning, I think of it as repelling learning — as if it were a mosquito or bug. On professional networking sites (e.g., LinkedIn), I now observe, much to my dismay, individuals going out of their way to put other people down and/or intentionally trying to harm other people’s pro

Sep 30, 2016

Why It’s Necessary To Fight Work Stress And How To Do It

A writer asked for my thoughts about why it is necessary to fight work stress and how to do it. Here’s my response: Why We Must Combat Work Stress There are many work-related problems that crop up as a result of work stress. These are similar to stress experienced outside of the workplace (i.e., involving physical, psychological, or behavioral reactions). Employees complain about and/or experience sleep disorders, inability to concentrate or focus, feeling exhausted or burned

Aug 4, 2016

Social Media And Its Impact On Working Professionals

I was contacted by a freelance journalist with the BBC for my thoughts about what social media has taken away from working professionals. I am reposting my response below (in a “Question and Answer” or “Q & A” format). Reporter Question: What do you think social media has taken away from us? In terms of taken away from working professionals. My Answer: One key thing I believe social media takes away (or we allow it to take away) from us is the ability to self-filter. It is to

Apr 13, 2016

Giving Feedback Is Easy, Much Harder to Accept, Learn From, and Apply It

About 15 years ago, I was enrolled in a counseling psychology Master’s program. It was quite good and I learned a lot back then and continue to use many of the counseling/coaching skills today in the corporate world. As part of the program, we were required to conduct counseling sessions with real clients and film these sessions (after securing the client’s permission) so that our classmates and professors could review these sessions and offer their feedback. One day, during

Jan 1, 2016

Don’t Have to Put Others Down To Feel Better About Ourselves

[Note: This post was updated July 2020 for freshness & clarity.] One consistent and recurring theme keeps appearing over and over again for me. Whether in the workplace or in a social gathering, I often witness people putting others down simply because they want to feel better about themselves. I’m not sure what’s the root cause or causes of this behavior. It might have to do with low self-esteem, being afraid (of failing, of what others might say, etc.), the desire to self-p