Coaching Skills
The Coaching Habit: 7 Great Questions
“To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions.” Sam Keen Michael Bungay Stanier’s book, The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever, offers seven questions that he proposes will increase our impact as Coach Leaders. Question 1: The Kickstart Question…
Read MoreCourageous Conversations
The things I have loved about Coaching are the powerful, never perfect, progressive communication skills. How to be a better listener. How to respond in a way so that the other person feels heard. How to be self-aware of my own feelings and emotions and manage them in conversations. One thing I know for sure,…
Read MoreWhat Can I Do? Courage and Confidence to Move from Discouragement and Helplessness to Hope and Unity in Our Uncertain World Today
Every time I have the privilege to write for our ezine, I’m always happy to reconnect to the many skills and tools that we teach, share and practice as coaches. As Coach Leaders I have always been proud of the role model I have tried to be, albeit, with some good days and lesser days.…
Read MoreSurvival Skill #2: Resilience
“A person who falls and gets back upis much stronger than a person who never falls.” The 2nd Survival Skill for pushing through the COVID-19 experience is Resilience. What is Resilience? While resilience means different things to different people, the definition we will use is this: “Resilience is one’s ability to remain flexible in our…
Read MoreSurvival Skill #1: Empathy, not Sympathy
“Empathy is not connecting to an experience.Empathy is connecting to the emotions that underpin an experience.” Brené Brown’s, Dare to Lead, speaks to a survival skill for pushing through this difficult time. The COVID-19 experience has opened up a range of emotions some of which we have never felt before. Brené says, “When the heart…
Read MoreThe Positive Psychology of Peter Pan
In my quest to connect the lightness of children’s stories with our current reality, I had to finish with a few bits of wisdom from Peter Pan. Peter knew how to fly, even in adversity. He also knew the importance of thinking of happy things. The same idea goes for us. Here are three points…
Read MoreCoach-like Responses in Times of Great Uncertainty
As coaches, we must ground ourselves in order to be of greatest support to our clients and those we lead. Our awareness that emotions often drive responses and decisions calls on us to acknowledge and name our own emotions. Once we have done so, we are more able to move toward a more rational thinking…
Read MorePure Joy!
Let’s talk JOY! All of us can sing the wonderful song from the movie, Sound of Music, “My Favorite Things.” Joy is like that. Little things that in an instance, in a moment, bring joy. I love the mountains. I love being in them, looking at them, the splendor, the majesty explodes my joy. The…
Read MoreCoaching Language for the Goal-Setting Process
In the ezine this month, Ode to October, we spoke about how to keep October from being the “overwhelming” month. Now, let’s focus on one thing that happens in October – goal-setting. Most districts with whom we work come with a performance or appraisal process that includes a goal-setting component. Originating from a growth mindset,…
Read MoreAn Ode to October
Amazing! It’s already October . . . and, without a doubt, we’ve moved into the work . . . almost forgetting that glorious summer vacation, the great books we have read, or the feeling of having enough rest and relaxation. Some of you are already talking about how tired you are feeling. The “O” in…
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