My Blog

We see them everywhere, templates, wireframes and patterns to follow. The basics are there, just fill in the blanks. And those forms, guides and templates save us time and cognitive load by helping avoid having to start from scratch every time we need to complete a task. However there is a dark side to these useful tools. They condition us to focus on the blanks - the gaps - not the whole process. What if the process isn't fit for your purpose and you only fill in the blanks?

I have had the pleasure of running two cohorts of coaching capability building for a global client. Fourteen and a half hours of classroom training spaced over 14 weeks with group coaching sessions between each to reflect on and discuss our experiences of coaching as a leader. Some participants were skeptical, others excited. Many were beginners with some experienced coaches joining as a refresher / upskill. All were committed to the journey. And over those weeks together we

I recently ran a coaching workshop for a client on the topic above. Building coaching capability requires development of skills in asking questions, listening, helping shift perspectives ("reframing") along with feedback. The challenge many managers and leaders face is the expectation from their staff and the broader organization, that they, the manager/ leader, need to have the answers to all the questions they are asked. When building a coaching culture managers and leade

You've attended a course on how to be a coach. You have learned the difference between coaching, mentoring and directing; discussed and practiced asking questions, listened deeply to the replies; discovered reframing to help get team members unstuck and a host of other techniques. You're excited, you know how these skills will benefit you and your team. So back on the job after class, you begin to put the techniques in place. A team member comes to you for an answer and you

If you desire to become more productive, impactful, and fulfilled, you need to do two things (with an optional 3rd) Understand what makes you productive, impactful, and fulfilled in the first place, and Do more of that and less of the other stuff. Optionally, get a coach. Someone to ask you the tough questions and challenge your thinking to get specific about what #1 above looks and feels like and how you can achieve it. Someone to hold you accountable and inspire meaningful

I'm posting every day this week as part of the ICF International Coaching Week. In one of the coaching capability workshops I run, I ask the participants to draw (or "represent" for the artistically challenged) the current state of coaching in their organization and counter pose that with the desired state they would like to achieve. This is a picture from a session where the organization is in early stage of consciously building a coaching culture. Coaching is a seedling, i