As we ponder derailers further, let’s turn our attention to something called Thinking Traps. These are ways of thinking that can keep us trapped in unhelpful patterns. You may not be aware that you fall into one or more of these traps, but working with a coach (or therapist, depending on what you are working
Coaching
Derailers in Coaching – Part 1
I’ve long been fascinated by the idea of the derailment of career trajectories and what might cause it. It first came to my attention when I worked in leadership development and I discovered the research by the Center for Creative Leadership which found five derailers that get in the way of leaders’ continued success: Difficulty adapting to change (the most
The Thinker’s Mindset – Part 4
The thinker is “creative, resourceful and whole” (Whitworth et al, 1998) and the coach’s job is to strengthen their thinking muscles, not do the thinking for them. The coach’s responsibility is for the process, the thinker’s responsibility is for the outcomes. You may not believe in your capacity to think when you enter into a
The Thinker’s Mindset – Part 3
Curiosity is for the benefit of the thinker’s new thinking, not the coach’s understanding. When your coach asks you a question, there is no “one right answer” and nor should they be asking you questions that fill them in on the detail [see previous blog]. They are asking you for your own benefit, to get
Paradoxes in Coaching – Part 5
Life and work are full of paradoxes, opposites, polarities, dichotomies, oxymorons, contradictions. So too is coaching. I noticed several as I was writing my book, The Transformational Coach: Free Your Thinking and Break Through to Coaching Mastery. So to give you a sneak peek at the content of the book, I thought I would share
Paradoxes in Coaching – Part 4
Life and work are full of paradoxes, opposites, polarities, dichotomies, oxymorons, contradictions. So too is coaching. I noticed several as I was writing my book, The Transformational Coach: Free Your Thinking and Break Through to Coaching Mastery. So to give you a sneak peek at the content of the book, I thought I would share
Paradoxes in Coaching – Part 2
Life and work are full of paradoxes, opposites, polarities, dichotomies, oxymorons, contradictions. So too is coaching. I noticed several as I was writing my book, The Transformational Coach: Free Your Thinking and Break Through to Coaching Mastery. So to give you a sneak peek at the content of the book, I thought I would share
Paradoxes in Coaching Part 1
Life and work are full of paradoxes, opposites, polarities, dichotomies, oxymorons, contradictions. So too is coaching. I noticed several as I was writing my book, The Transformational Coach: Free Your Thinking and Break Through to Coaching Mastery. So to give you a sneak peak at the content of the book, I thought I would share
DO judge a book by it’s cover
Coming up with a book cover that will grab your potential audience’s attention is not an easy task. But I really enjoyed the process for my upcoming book, The Transformational Coach: free your thinking and break through to coaching mastery. I’m working with a publisher called Right Book Press and they have the most phenomenal
UnLearning to Coach
In the film The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda, one of the greatest Jedi Masters from a galaxy far, far away, is Luke Skywalker’s teacher. He has many words of wisdom for the young Luke as he learns the ways of the Force. The pair are in a swamp, with Luke learning to use the Force
I can work with anyone
It’s true that we are trained to coach anyone. The skill of coaching is the same no matter who we are working with. It’s the same skill, no matter which industry they are in. We don’t need to have worked in or even understand our thinker’s context to be able to coach them. But do
The Yin and Yang of (Virtual) Leadership: Hold Accountable and Trust
Your role as a leader is to get work done through others. You can’t do it all yourself, as we discovered in the yin and yang of task and relationship. That means though that you do need to hold them accountable for results. I’ve been coaching one senior legal leader who wanted to figure this
Why become a mentor coach: Extract from Mentor Coaching: A Practical Guide
This is the final extract from my upcoming book, Mentor Coaching: A Practical Guide. If this piques your interest, you can pre-order here If you are not a coach, I hope you might still be taking this journey with us as you might still learn something about leadership in roundabout ways. My motivation for mentor
Embodies a Coaching Mindset – New ICF core competency
The new Embodies a Coaching Mindset competency is brilliantly enlightened. It aligns so well with what I keep banging on about – that supervision and mentor coaching are THE most individually tailored continuous professional development that we could possibly invest our time and money in. This new competency recognises that the coach is his or
ICF Release New Core Competencies
The International Coach Federation released its new core competencies in November. I’ve spent some time studying them, and here’s what I like – and what I wish for. What I like… The distillation, down to eight competencies from eleven, has eliminated duplication and streamlined the expectations for coaches. That is going to help with the
In coaching, it’s the little things that make a big difference
As I have been mentor coaching coaches recently (observing their coaching and giving them competency-based feedback), we’ve realised that small changes in language make a big difference to the way a question or an observation is received by the thinker. It might only reach their sub-conscious, but even then, it will get in the way
