Earlier in the Summer I submitted my application for my Master Certified Coach credential. Woohoo. Now the wait, as the assessors work through my portfolio and listen in to my recordings. Fingers crossed I might be an MCC by Christmas. And I hope I don’t get egg on my face by shouting about it now
For coaches
Lessons from three book launches
I had never been to a book launch before I went to my own. So I didn’t really know what went on. Therefore I didn’t know how to run one! I’ve just looked up best practices on the internet now – not sure why I didn’t do that before. But frankly, there isn’t anything particularly
The 4-minute shared silent pause: How to use it and its transformational power at work
In my blog in early 2022, I wrote about retaining your top talent in the midst of the “great resignation”, I’ve invited some of my esteemed colleagues to write about the kinds of things leaders need to pay attention to and this week I’d like to introduce you to Belinda Smith. Belinda specialises in coaching
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
Are business people hard-nosed and harsh? Or are boundaries part of a professional practice?
As a result of my corporate “upbringing”, I set strong boundaries around time, fees, cancellations, no-shows, role responsibilities and I do my best to stick to those, because I see these as useful – and professional. Let’s take cancellations and no-shows for example When I was an internal coach, I was fine financially if someone
Productive = 8 clients a day
When I worked for a corporate and we were discussing setting up a coaching function, one of the managers said that the coaches would be expected to work with eight thinkers per day. One thinker per hour for the whole working day – back to back, no breaks, no preparation time, no reflection time. She
Be careful of comparisonitis
I’ve been writing for leaders over the past few months…. now a few posts for coaches…. though I bet the leaders amongst you will also get some insights from them! When I grew up, we didn’t have social media. So we didn’t have the constant barrage of positivity that people post these days. If you
My business development story and some lessons learned
My story is my story. It probably won’t be your story. But there may be things you can learn from my story. So if you are sitting comfortably, we’ll begin! I left Accenture in August 2014 when my job was made redundant. My safety-conscious self thought that I wanted to work for another company (even
Own your gratitude
2020 is coming to an end. What a year. Some people are treating it like a non-year. A year to be forgotten. But that seems to me to be a waste of so much that we can be grateful for. Despite coronavirus, I have a lot to be grateful for. Speech! Speech! I am grateful
Asking for what you need
We’re not far from Christmas now, a time when Christian children ask for what they most desire from Father Christmas. How many of us take a leaf out of children’s book and ask for what we desire? I don’t mean the consumerist stuff that children mostly ask for. I mean how many of us ask
Psychological safety in team coaching
Team coaching isn’t like any other development that an individual will have experienced. The agenda is co-created by the team and the coach and there isn’t any taught content. Team members may have worked with (some of) the team for some time, but they won’t necessarily be ready, willing or able to say what is
Commuting, reading, transitioning, new routines
It’s amazing how change upsets our routines and our rhythms. I no longer commute and so, I have lost my dedicated reading time. And I have lost that transition into and out of work time…
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
Coaching is a partnership not a service
We have a problem in coaching. We sell it as a service. That sets it up in a way that doesn’t serve the thinker. Unfortunately, when they see it as a service, they expect (perhaps subconsciously) to be served. Not only that, they are used to being students. They may (subconsciously again) see this as
