Tag Archive: executive coaching

Consider Whole Life Coaching

Posted by Henry Barbey

Whole life coaching has become increasingly popular for good reason. It works.

Coaches help their clients to proceed with confidence. They get them “unstuck” so to speak. People from all walks of life are seeking help because they are unfulfilled, unsuccessful, struggling or just feel like they can’t get their lives together.

There are many types of coaches. They originally spent most of their time with business executives helping them to become more successful or more productive.

The “whole life” term refers to those coaches that offer coaching in all aspects of individuals’ lives. They may provide coaching that focuses on:

• Careers

• Relationships

• Leadership ability

• Communication skills

• Goal-setting

Or all of the above. The aspects to focus on will vary depending on individual needs.

If a person is simply “lost”, the first step will be to define some goals. A personal coach helps you to do that by asking you lots of questions. The questions help the coach to figure out who you are right now and where you want to be.

Clients usually start out worried. They are not in need of psychotherapy, which involves delving into a past that could be painful. They are worried that their lives are passing them by and they need direction.

Coaches help their clients define their futures. You have the ability to have the future you want. Every person is in control of his or her own destiny. We are not being pushed forward by some undefined force. We carry ourselves forward on our own two legs.

People need different things at different times of their lives. Teen-coaching is one of the latest trends. But you could need help at any time of your life. Teens might go on to have coaches for their entire lives. It is nice to have a guide.

Choosing a whole life coach can be difficult. There has been some concern that coaches are not well trained. There are no regulations concerning the 10,000+ coaches that are currently practicing in the US alone.

The best advice is to interview a few coaches and find out about their training. If you want a lifelong guide, you want to be sure that you will not outgrow or exceed your coach’s ability to help.

Many coaches have extensive training. They have backgrounds in a variety of different careers. The thing they have in common is their desire to help other people. That’s what we do in whole life coaching. We help others to achieve success and happiness.

Business Team Coaching Works

Posted by Henry Barbey

The goal of business team coaching is to produce a successful team of people who work well together. The members develop a sense of belonging. They often call it a family. They have clear shared goals and recognize that it will take teamwork to achieve those goals.

In business team coaching, we teach how to build a successful work team by choosing the right people and making sure they have the right information before the project begins. In order to choose the right people, the leaders need to know a little bit about them.

Generally speaking, loners do not do well on teams. On the other hand, the social butterfly might not be able to stop talking long enough to get the project done. People who are serious and able to focus on the project at hand make good team members.

Teammates need to know exactly what is expected of them. There will probably be some general things that are expected of all teammates and some specific things that are expected of individual members. What are their responsibilities?

In executive coaching, we emphasize the importance of communicating with individual members so that they know why they were chosen to participate in this group. Why were the members chosen for their teams? What special abilities do they have?

Communicating with the members in this way ensures that they recognize why they are an important part of the group. People who know they are important feel responsible. They work harder. They don’t skip meetings or show up late because they understand the importance of what they have to contribute.

Another thing that we talk about in executive coaching is recognition. Sometimes companies set up teams but fail to give recognition to the members for what they are accomplishing. Everyone needs a pat on the back or the occasional “good job”.

In order for executives to be able to give honest recognition, they need to be aware of what is going on. The “good job” is hollow if all of the members know that the executives have no idea what the group is actually doing.

Successful business team coaching can take time. Some people might need to leave the group. New members might need to be added.

In executive coaching, we point out how successful professional football teams work. They are not stagnant groups. They are constantly changing.

Introducing someone new to the group can create excitement that contributes to business team coaching. Change can be a good thing.

What Is Leadership Development Coaching?

Posted by Henry Barbey

There are many ways to grow a leader. The idea of leader development originally came from the sports world.

Benjamin Carter was one of the first life coaches. He started helping develop leaders during his career as a college football coach.

Eventually he wanted to help more people. He achieved that goal through motivational speaking and private coaching sessions, often with executives who wanted to be more effective.

Life coaches provide general guidance, support, advice and sometimes training. More specific kinds of guidance are used for emerging or prospective leaders.

Leaders need to be able to organize. They need to be able to manage their time wisely. They need to be able to remain calm during times of crisis. They need decision-making skills.

The elements included in leader development training vary. The advantage of one-on-one training is that it can be customized to suit the individual or the individual organization.

Your goal might be to become a leader. You might want to become a more effective leader. You might want the current leaders in your organization to become more effective. Every individual is different.

Helping you to identify your goals is the first step for the typical executive coach. But even that step is unnecessary if you have already identified your goals.

There is no off the shelf blueprint for teaching leaders to become more successful. You will actually develop your own blueprint as time goes by. Coaches give you the tools that you need to do that.

Ongoing support is one of the things provided by most coaches. By the time you get to the ongoing support part of the process, you will have defined your goals and created a plan for achieving them. You will know how to measure your success.

The ongoing support provided during executive coaching helps to keep you focused on your goals because it is very easy to lose sight of them. You will also get feedback, an unbiased opinion of how you are doing.

Who benefits? Individuals and organizations of all kinds benefit from focused training.

Research has shown that training alone increases productivity in the work place by over 20%. Training does not usually include the ongoing support or other coaching techniques used by professionals.

Certain leadership development coaching programs have been shown to increase productivity by over 80%. It is a win-win situation and everyone benefits.