Sometimes we want to help but don't know how. I have felt that.  The Covid situation has more of us wanting to help, while not knowing how. The Five Love Languages (Chapman) offers the premise that we each have a...

Randori is a martial arts exercise where multiple attackers engage you at once, and you do not know which one will attack next or from what direction or what technique they will use. It is a supremely present moment experience....

#alcoholism # addiction #cure Having Coached hundreds over the past two decades, alcohol came up more often than I expected. Some clients were seeking approval, some empathy, some sympathy, all sought freedom from everything that is alcohol, especially the judgment...

The Secret to Successful Teams Many studies reveal a consistently counterintuitive result about the make-up of the most successful teams. It is not the people with the longest, most impressive list of credentials, including experience, that make up the best...

Relentless conjures images of unstoppability, maybe even of a juggernaut. Whoa. Yet, if we could call some of that up on demand, well, that could be really handy. There are things in the way of choosing to be relentless. Full...

#action #accomplishment #inspiration #leadership Knowing exactly what to do, when and how, is not our normal state, pined George, feeling very normal, not having any idea of what to do. Speaking to his coffee cup, "most of the time I'm...

It is not acceptable in society that we intimately touch each other in public. This is definitely the case at work. Agreed? Yet it is considered essential that we, as humans, experience touch, not just once in a while but...

Certainly some Affirmations bring more potent outcomes than others. I might Affirm 'I want safety'. Well, yes, I do want that. However, my understanding of how the Universe works is that it is like a massive warehouse that holds every...

#Leadership #Management #Performance The movie Avatar (2009) was about acknowledgement on a far away planet peopled by very large blue humanoids living a simple mutually connected life, connected to their planet, plants, animals and to each other. An important aspect...

I am seeing articles of late that diss the concept of Net Promoter Score. Some say that Reichheld got it wrong with his Ultimate Question. One article concludes that there is no 'ultimate question' and that, ultimately true insight comes from...

#Engagement #Clientengagement #Employeeengagement #Success Links to the other two Parts are provided at the end of this portion. If we had a useful Q12 equivalent to the employee version to measure client engagement, how would we have gotten it? Gallup...

#Leadership #Selfdevelopment #Delegation #Executivesuccess #Personneldevelopment   When it comes to leading well, I really like simple. It can be a powerful self development aid to keep things simple. By simple I mean to the point, dead easy to understand, no...

#Leadership #Success #Leadershipdevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching There is a worldwide movement to increasingly welcome women into positions of authority. Hardly a day goes by that we don't hear how, for instance, companies that have strong representation of women on their corporate Boards...

#Leadershipdevelopment #BusinessCoaching #ExecutiveCoaching #Accountability Jack Welch was CEO of GE for over 20 years and brought massive increases in valuation. Some point to Mr Welch as the most successful CEO of the twentieth century. Some are not so sure. He...

#engagement #leadership #organization #development   There is a lot of buzz around these days on the topic of engagement and also on the topic of millenials. Lack of employee engagement is a global crisis that can be measured across pretty...

#employeeengagement #leadership #management #supervision #employeedevelopment   Employee engagement is the basis of a successful business (according to some and yes I agree). The employee represents the doing part, the arms and legs, of the company. That last person to touch...

#Better #Results #Easier #Leadership #Clarity #Success #Soundingboard #Confidante #Businessplan The new fundamentals of business have changed and this is good. We have moved from feudal hierarchy through the structures of the industrial revolution to command and control and now to...

#Better #Results #Easier #Leadership #Clarity #Success #Soundingboard #Confidante The foundation of the Business Plan can be described using three elements Our vision, our 'why' Strategy, our approach to realizing our 'why' Plan, the exact steps needed, yes, written Again, we...

The Spark of Self Discovery “I really need to do something to get more fit”, George told me. "I don't have access to or want, exercise equipment and really do not like how it feels to work out in a...

Every once in  awhile a decision making situation shows up where what to do is just not at all clear.It happens. But what to do? You are the one expected to make those decisions. That is why you get paid...

Seven Steps to Slay the Dragons of Life One day The hero/ine Stops... Unable to take another step David Whyte poet What is happening in this verse? It appears that whatever it is, it is big and it is blocking...

Let me show you 5 steps to way better decision making. Decision making is the basis of all action and in turn of all results. No decision, no action, no result, well except that you missed the deadline or something...

The entrepreneurial figure has magic to it. Many imagine becoming the fabled hero(ine) and to make it big like Mark Zuckerberg or Sophia Amaruso  or Larry Page. For most... not going to happen. Yet, there are a great many that...

  When creating powerful teams, once in a while it is very valuable to get the people in the organization back onto the same page. What is our vision, our mission, our greatest challenge, our greatest cause for celebrating what...

They say that working with an A team on a B product will bring far more success than the other way around, with a B team working on an A product. I'd say 'they' are right. In my experience nothing...

Walking in a winter wonderland...   Although simply part of a well known Christmas song, this particular phrase has some great messages for people in business. The Christmas season holds many attributes and one of them is that for a lot...

Growing a culture of accountability sounds great, but how do we do it? One important observation about people is that we almost don't hear or see things that we think we have heard or seen before. So it is actually...

  I have come across this surprisingly simple stress breaker. I suppose I could go into how stress arises and provide all kinds of stats about it, but, let's just get to the method. When you walk, we all walk...

What is needed to facilitate enduring positive change includes the following vital elements. Willingness to at least honestly consider real change Resolve to implement change(s); embrace it Patience to allow the components of the change to be installed and set...

There are new articles on Leadership every day. I read some of them, but less than I used to. The reason is that they are starting to sound increasingly same, same. What is your experience with this? I agree with...

Yes, who cares about accountability? In my experiences Coaching many business owners and Executives, that answer from them is 'not many'. What is it? Accountability includes responsibility, liability and answerability. When someone stands up in the face of some kind...

Reinventing Organizations, Frederic Laloux We are offered a self management model of running an organization where people decide what they want to do and what they don't. Job descriptions don't exist, as what a person contributes to the organization is,...

[caption id="attachment_343" align="aligncenter" width="300"] OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA[/caption] What I focus on expands. When I look for red and white trucks on my drive to work, I see way more than if I don't look for them. So too if I...

I was recently honoured to be invited to help teach/facilitate how to Coach classes for a group of about 30 people in China. The five days of sessions was their third of four installments toward attaining the ACC (Associate Certified...

What is the Big Deal About Workplace Engagement? The big deal about workplace engagement is that it is, reportedly, at an alarmingly low level. The negative impact that workplace engagement has on effectiveness, productivity and the bottom line makes workplace...

Our school system conditions us to know. The wisdom of 'I don't know' is rarely, if ever, mentioned. We learn that knowing is the best and most rewarded place to be. We are taught to know first and fastest and...

To move straight forward is to move without deviating from the shortest route, in this case, to the best results possible. Lots of advice out there on how to get those best results. OK, what about the role of 'being'...

It is said that we all see the world a little bit differently. This can get in the way of an Executive's success. We have our filters, crafted from our prior experiences, prejudices, aspirations, fears and more. Your filters are...

Getting things done, lots of things, and done well, seems to be one of those holy grail kinds of pursuits. Images of long lists of what needs doing, moving fast, directives, many directives, activity, plans, mind maps, nerve centers, almost...

Loose change is the coins that represent money less than an amount to be represented by a bill. In Canada, that is from the nickel up to the $2 coin, the so called toonie. Loose change can be found in...

The group is attempting to resolve a difficult set of choices and at least a clear majority agreement is the outcome that everyone wants. Sometimes things can go ballistic. Someone raises their voice, OK they scream. Someone says something regrettable,...

An excerpt from the upcoming book Candid Conversations – what and how Part III What is your relationship with the word ‘candid’? This reminds me of the parallel conversation we could have about the word Coach, as in the kind...

An excerpt from the upcoming book Candid Conversations – what and how Part II Having crossed that line, to have spoken against ‘candid’, our ego goes to work to erect walls against finding any new understanding (different from the understanding...

An excerpt from the upcoming book Candid Conversations – what and how   Part I When we don’t understand something, an untrue statement about it could be taken as true, simply because we don’t know. When we suspect an incorrect...

It is just so easy to default to judgment in almost any human interaction. I say default, because that just seems to be true. Check in with yourself. Walking down a street how often do you notice the shape or...

A good colleague of mine engages annually in a bit of a ritualistic meeting with his business colleagues. They meet in early Spring and reserve the whole day to be together. Their topic is their business/career. Here is how the...

Dr Seuss has provided us with a wonderful story explaining the realities of life in the book, Oh The Places You’ll Go. He makes a critical error though. Throughout the story his little dude guy is on a journey, could...

  Everyone is Coachable ...   when their day comes I believe, because I have seen it so many times, that anyone, literally anyone, can benefit from working with a Coach. And… Until one is ready to change, in order...

… does the Body have a mind of its own? We are not talking about instinct here but about direct relationships between thoughts and actions. Deliberate stuff. If I accidentally put my hand on a hot stove element, as soon...

  We have all had the experience of ‘being listened to’ in a variety of ways. Some are staring in another direction, some are fiddling with papers or rearranging their desk. The variations are many. Few feel truly present and...

Are we willing to ‘look’ at our health, the state of our home, our business, anything for that matter? Two important points here. Willingness is the gate keeper without which nothing happens. To LOOK is the verb. One would not...