Check out my latest thoughts when I went to Bahrain for some business trip. Please see video below:

Are you feeling called to hire a coach to create your extraordinary life? As you will discover there are lots of “coaches” out there. But some folks who use the term “coach” don’t have enough training, or follow ethical and professional standards. Before you begin investigating coaches, begin thinking about why you want to hire a coach, and some of your short-term and long-term goals. That way you’ll be able to locate a coach who resonates with your personality and your aspirations.

Meanwhile, here are three guidelines to help you make a wise choice.

1. The key criteria I would use in hiring a coach consists first of finding out what their training as a coach has been. There are those out there who call themselves Coaches but who have never taken any training, formal or otherwise.

Have they attended or are they currently attending a coach training program? Is the school or program a reputable one that includes classes, exams, and a certification program? Did the coach get feedback and supervision about their coaching from more advanced coaches and trainers?

You’ll want to know that the coach has learned the actual skills and competencies that are standard in coaching by attending a coach training program. Whenever I go to a professional for services, I certainly expect that they be trained to provide the service, so this is a most important starting place.

2. Next, I would be curious about their background.

If I want to start a successful business, I’d want a coach who is a role model of that. If I want to have more balance in my life, I’d want evidence my coach lives this way. A coach is someone who is ahead of you right now that will assist you to move forward with them and their experience in business and life is highly valuable.

Are they walking their talk? As you are clear on your goals, you’ll want to find a coach who has quickly and effortlessly achieved such vision and can coach you to achieve your goals and way beyond.

3. The final criteria is understanding the personality and chemistry that feels right for you.

Some coaches are pushovers and will let you slide and get away with not moving forward fast. They match what some people are looking for.

Other coaches are on the opposite end of the spectrum and are what we call “edgy” and they push hard and expect you to run rapidly. That personality may fit for you and inspire you.

Yet others are a blend – they can be supportive and loving – yet give you a kick-start if and when you are sluggish.

Think about what style you may enjoy most. If you’d get angry with an edgy coach, then one wouldn’t match for you. If you felt the softer approach wasn’t going to get you going fast enough, then pass that coach by.

It is for you to get clear on the style that fits. Ask for a short trial session to see if you “fit”. Some coaches won’t offer this, but some will… you can only ask and it is in your best interests.

Business mentor Terri Levine specializes in helping entrepreneur-owned businesses achieve record-breaking growth. Based in Philadelphia, Terri is founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., The Professional’s Coach Training Program. She has been featured on ABC, NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, and in more than 1,500 publications. She is a sought after public speaker and the best-selling author of Sell Without Selling, Coaching Is for Everyone and Stop Managing Start Coaching. Learn more at http://www.TerriLevine.com. Contact Terri at terri@terrilevine.com

Credit source: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/189/How-To-Pick-the-Right-Coach-For-You.html

Am I a Leader?

Not everyone has what it takes to be a good leader. Leadership is not a quality that we are all born with. Some people can lead while others prefer to follow. However, quite often people who may think they don’t have what it takes to be a leader are actually wrong. Leadership isn’t about being right or smart. Just because somebody is successful or makes smart money decisions, doesn’t mean they are necessarily a good leader. Leadership is about recognising personal weaknesses while identifying strengths in others. The key to becoming a successful leader is identifying these leadership traits and being able to bring them out and utilise them. But to identify them, you need to ask yourself some key questions first:

Are you a people person?

Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi one of the world’s greatest leaders, said: “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.” Ghandi recognised that good leadership is about people. The task of leading a team involves many facets. This may include having an open door to listen to people’s problems, being sympathetic and understanding, and recognising when people’s faults are getting the better of them. Poor leaders all too often hide themselves away, remain aloof or can’t handle the variety of problems that people management involves. Empathy is a facet all leaders need to possess. Leaders should be honest too. Withholding information from a team, especially if it concerns them, is a sure fire way to lose trust. If bad news is on the horizon, keeping people informed of it will retain their confidence, rather than have them feel that you’ve let them down.

Can you show by example?

It may be a cliché, but all good leaders need to lead by example. In business, it’s all too common for managers to expect others to do all the work, but people are not encouraged by this approach. The kings of old knew this. They would lead their armies into battle from the front, instilling a passion and dedication from their followers. The same is true in business. Rolling your sleeves up when necessary and getting stuck in will inspire others. Being seen as one of the team rather than just the boss creates loyalty and dedication. All too often, large businesses develop a them-and-us culture between management and the workforce. This is largely due to a lack of leading by example.

Are you passionate about what you are doing?

Having faith and confidence in what you are trying to achieve is essential for leadership. If you don’t have any enthusiasm for the task in hand, it’s hardly likely people are going to be inspired by you. When people see you working late, dedicating your time and showing passion in the importance of what you are trying to achieve, it will infect others. If you don’t believe in what you are doing, then it’s highly likely you are in the wrong job and certainly shouldn’t be leading others.

Can you communicate?

Communication is two-way. All too often, managers delegate and give instructions while failing to listen to other people’s views. As mentioned, being a leader doesn’t mean you are going to be right all the time. The experience and skills of the people working in the team are a leader’s most valuable assets. A good leader recognises this and uses them. Good communication also means making firm decisions and relaying instructions clearly and concisely. Indecision will not inspire confidence in a leader, while dressing up instructions in convoluted business speak may mean information get lost in translations. Good leaders need to be decisive and clear in their requirements.

Can you trust others?

Delegation is as essential aspect for any leader. You can’t do it all. Not having faith in the people you delegate tasks too is also a sign of a weak leader. A leader needs to show confidence in his or her workforce. When people make mistakes, as inevitably happens, this may mean taking responsibility for them, rather than blaming whomever the task was delegated to. People need to know they have their manager’s trust. If not, they will be reluctant to volunteer or take control of projects.

Are you organised?

Good planning and organisation are effective skills for any leader. Chaos and disorganisation will soon infect the team as a whole. A good leader instils confidence by appearing confident. If you are organised and know what you’re doing, then it is more likely the team will too.

Coaching Support Group Trójmiasto, Noble Manhattan Coaching Polska i telewizja Polnocna.tv zapraszają na krótki reportaż z konferencji pod nazwą “Wprowadzenie do coachingu”. Zapraszamy do oglądania.

http://polnocna.tv/node/85

Translation:

Coaching Support Group Tri-City and TV Polnocna.tv invite you to a brief report from the conference, entitled “Introduction to coaching.” Enjoy watching.

A client has approached you with the following question: how can I make a living doing what I like? Terry Neal, LCI’s Master Coach, answers…

I believe that this question will be asked of you by clients more and more over the coming years. Many people are realising and acknowledging to themselves and others that the work they do each day is not what they would choose to do.

There has been much attention lately also of an activity called ‘downshifting’, where people exchange the ‘rat race’ and doing a job that either they don’t like doing any more or which they never wanted to do in the first place for a simpler and happier life.

Whether your client has just started working within a job or career or they’ve been involved in a particular role for years, being able to do what they’d like to do and make a living from it probably seems (to them) highly unlikely at this point. As their coach I suggest that you first determine if your client is aware of two aspects about themselves, what their personal values are and if they know for sure what they’d like to do.

If values are something that they have never determined for themselves then I would begin by asking them to determine these personal values. To do this you could give them a checklist of personal values in a worksheet that they could look through and decide upon in the session, or they could take it home and work on it for next time with you.

The other aspect that they need to determine is what “they’d really like to do” looks like in reality. There are a number of possible approaches to do this if they’re unsure or say that they’ve never really thought about it or just have no idea. You could complete the “What’s My Life’s Purpose” exercise with them to draw up a life purpose statement:

Exercise – What’s My Life’s Purpose

To begin, provide your client with 6 pieces of plain paper and a few pens and then ask them to do the following: “On the first piece of paper, list as many of your positive attributes as you can. This includes abilities, skills and traits that you know to be true about you and also those which a partner, family and/or friends have said to you as well”.

Encourage your client to not limit what they put on the list; encourage them to put down as many as they can think of; encourage them to be truthful and honest about themselves.

On the second piece of paper, ask your client to write down all the ways that they express themselves in the world; all the activities that they do like painting, gardening, reading, whatever they do on a day to day basis, that’s what they write down.

On the third piece of paper ask your client to list all the ways they would like to see the world, the qualities that they would like to see the entire world express as commonly held values. Once again remind them to write down as many as they can think of, to not limit the qualities that they’d like to see in the world.

Now ask your client to look at each of the lists on each of the pieces of paper and circle the three personal qualities, expressions and world qualities that “speak” to them the strongest and deepest. This will mean that your client has 3 items indicated on each page. Remember to remind them that this is the start and that the lists can be amended at any time to reflect a more accurate sense of what’s important in their life right now.

On a sheet that you have prepared with the following words, ask your client to complete using their lists of words.

The first sentence starts with: My life’s purpose is to express and apply my… Ask your client to write in their three most important positive abilities, traits and skills.

It continues with: through… Ask your client here to write in the three best ways that you express yourself in the world.

It ends with: to bring forth in the world… Ask your client to list here those three qualities that you’d like to see expressed throughout the entire world.

The final step is to ask your client to read out their life purpose statement to hear how it sounds to them. You could then ask your client how it feels to them and if they want to make any amendments to it.

This will give them a strong indication of possible areas of involvement that’s closest to their personal values and beliefs. You could ask them to imagine or to visualise what their perfect working and earning money situation would look like. You could do this by using a miracle question. Ask them to sit comfortably and to close their eyes if they’re ok doing so. Let them know that you’re going to write down whatever they say so they won’t have to remember it all.

Once they’re comfortable and as free of distractions as they can be you could then ask your question: “Let yourself imagine that you wake up tomorrow morning and you are in the work situation that you’ve always wanted to be in. What does it look like? Where are you? Who’s around you?” Ask them to provide as much detail as possible. Keep on asking them for any more details until they stop and say that they’ve finished.

Ask them to open their eyes and to listen as you read out what you’ve written down about what they’ve said. Ask them if there’s anything that they’d like to add or change about what they’ve said and you’ve written. Remind them that this is the first draft only of their future working plan. It isn’t ‘carved in stone’.

If your client isn’t comfortable with visualisation you could suggest that they create a collage or picture of what this plan of ‘making a living doing what they ‘like’ would look like – or they could write a letter from the future to define what this idea would look like.

Now if your client knows what they’d like to do already to earn money, ask them to state it and to write it down or use whatever means your client would prefer to create a visual image of how it would look.

As a follow on from this you could ask if they are already doing this activity or some part of this activity on a regular basis e.g. if they wanted to produce art to earn money, are they painting on a regular basis now?; if they are ask them if they’re prepared to commit time to continue to do this activity on a regular basis. If they haven’t done any of this activity at all before, check that this is what they would like to do to make a living and not what they think that they should do.

Essentially there are three stages that your client needs to be ready to do for themselves to start making their vision or plan an actual reality: (1) recognition and acknowledgement of what they’d really like to do; (2) clear statements or pictures or whatever medium they choose of the activity in its fullest possible terms and finally (3) a commitment to allocating time to be involved in this activity from this point forward on a regular basis.

This will assist your client to either begin or to continue to do the activity that they would most like to do. Making a living through their preferred activity can be addressed in another session and it’s been my experience that opportunities to do this arise more easily and naturally when a person is connected to their true passion in life.

Source: http://www.livetocoach.com

A client started working with you a couple of years ago. She was dissatisfied with her current life; in particular with time management and procrastination-related issues in her professional career. After 24-months working diligently, she is experiencing great success in her career, and as a result she is extremely satisfied personally.

She has now decided to review her initial goals and ambitions, and in the last session she posed a common question: what do I need to do to continue the success I have had in my life up to this point? As coach, how do you go about helping your client? Below is a script from Zahava Starak, LCI‚s Master Coach.

A very astute question. This client clearly realises that once you have succeeded in reaching your goals you are faced with a new set of challenges – that of maintaining your success.

Before you begin tackling this concern, congratulate your client for a job well done and reinforce that their success is indicative of their abilities and drive and that whatever their next step is – they have the resources with which to address it.

Questions and Exercises

It now may be time for a life review to verify that the success attained and the life that comes with it is actually what your client wants. It is time for a reality check! This is accomplished by asking your client some powerful questions such as “Now that you are a success, are you living the life you want to?” “Is the kind of person that you are now, the person that you want to be?” and “Are you getting everything out of life that you want?”

The discussion generated by these questions will help your client to evaluate how they are generally experiencing their life – what is the overall “feel” of this success that they have achieved.

Next you can conduct an inventory that addresses all aspects of your client’s life to determine the levels of satisfaction in each. Simple questions such as “How do your family feel about your success?” and “What do you do for fun?’ can start a dialogue on the overall effects of your client’s success.

It is important to explore all facets of their life – including family (as already mentioned), other relationships, recreation, health and wellness and the spiritual. What you are determining is whether there has been a price to pay for this success and, if so, is this acceptable.

By the end of this process your client has a clear direction – either it is time to drastically change what they are doing – as the success they have is not what they want – or they have given their success a clean bill of health and want to maintain it and carry it further.

Success Strategies

Regardless of ‘what’ your client’s success looks like it – whether it relates to a new business venture, achievements in the field of academia or accomplishments in the sporting arena the steps you take next are relevant to any client wanting to continue along their successful path.

There are a number of procedures you can initiate to help your client maintain and build on their success. An obvious start may be to review the strategies that the client has used so far to help them achieve. It may be that some of these strategies were not that effective and can be eliminated altogether; others may need some fine-tuning to upgrade performance, while others may be doing just fine.

For example if your client’s success is based on running a business they may find that the innovations they introduced to their product are perfect and need no adjustment. However it may be apparent that a marketing strategy they used was totally ineffective and so will no longer be used, while another promotional activity was so effective it will be upgraded to appeal to more diverse sectors in the population.

This reappraisal will not only affirm that all strategies are working at peak efficiency, they will assure your client that they are doing all the right things and thereby they will be further motivated to keep themselves travelling along this successful path.

It should probably be mentioned that when exploring strategies if it comes to light that certain people have played a key role in helping your client attain their success; your client can be encouraged to recognise their contribution, if they as yet have not done so. Positive reinforcement and attention can go a long way in reassuring repeat and heightened performances.

At this stage it is probably a good idea to also look at your client’s goals. It may be that your client may simply want to keep things going just as they are with a possible tweaking here and there. However it is also possible that success has inspired your client to focus on a new and greater vision.

In this case, a reality check will be required to ensure that your client is not blinded by their success before any action plans are implemented. Your client will be familiar with this next stage and if you have helped them in the past to attain their present success you will be able to accompany them as they undertake any new challenges.

While you are involved with your client in exploring both strategies and goals you can also be addressing another important aspect that reinforces their present success: professional development. A professional development plan will blend in with your client’s career path and can integrate the knowledge and skills your client has developed.

It will enable your client to look strategically at where they are now in relation to where they want to be and will help identify specific areas for ongoing professional development in order to maximise your client’s potential and ensure that they continue enjoying their present success.

In addition it will allow for more effective monitoring and reviewing of progress and this then leads into another activity your client can undertake to safeguard their present success: that of introducing significant milestone dates. This will permit them to regularly review their success indicators to assure that they are still on the right track.

By the time your client has reached this stage it is hoped they will be able to relax and enjoy their success with the assurance they have initiated all the appropriate strategies necessary to insure its continuation.

Source: View this article online! Simply visit www.lcia.com.au/ezine and click on the view button to access current and previous editions of Coaching Inspirations.

For the information of our readers, Jack Lundee is our recommended Guest Author for this month.

Jack Lundee of Everything Left, supporter of all things green and progressive.

Without a vision, Martin Luther King would have never been a prophetic and influential leader in the civil rights movement. The same principle can be applied to individuals in the modern day business world.

Before any real corporate establishment or individual can progress forward, they must have a vision, along with a prepared list of written goals and objectives. It’s true that a mere 5% of the American population has a list of written objectives. And sadly enough, the business world is much different.

And these “lists” or goals should be updated consistently. For most business owners and entrepreneurs, this means quarterly, bi-annually or annually. Nonetheless, a prepared set of objectives is ultimately what helps us indentify constraints, set standards, and track progress. Likewise, it’ s a constant reminder and motivator for what we have to do and how we have to do it.

Visions are the driving force in any work environment, and eventually they help us outline goals and give clear direction as to where we want to be in 1, 5 or even 10 years. American poet Henry David Thoreau once talked about dreams and visions in his famous quote “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” As individuals, we can take company goals to the next level by pursuing our own dreams of wealth and success. This translated to establishing a relationship between where you stand now and where you want to go. If you’re satisfied with your work environment, but wish to see change in certain areas, perhaps it would be wise to assert yourself in the areas which you deem weak, whether you’re the cause of weakness or not.

To accompany this, it may be wise to practice things that typical leaders do. This would involve things like writing down daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly goals for yourself at the organization that you’re in. Having your goals in ink allows you to clarify your thought process. Likewise, it helps prepare and process obstacles, objectives, constraints and previous standards, all of which are essential variables in goal setting. Ultimately, writing down your goals will create self-inspiration, which vital to leadership and success.

Self-inspiration will eventually lead to confidence. Having the confidence to challenge the system by providing sound and reputable theory or evidence can better any establishment. But a leader must be more than confident; they must possess the knowledge and capacity to influence through their written agendas. If you’re prominent investment manager Daniel Zwirn and you’re looking to increase revenues by the end of the year, you may want to revert back to previous years to see exactly where you stood. And I use Zwirn as an example because he’s been through a great deal of adversity, which is also another great component of a leader. To fully understand what it means to be at the bottom, you’re definitely more capable and determined to be at the top.

Yet, all the personality traits and characteristics are direct or indirect result of personalized business goals. You’re bound to be successful if you constantly track and monitor your objectives. Be wary of things like time, money and seasonal constraints, but don’t ever lose sight of what it is that you’re trying to accomplish. Once you’ve hit the point to where no question can go unanswered, you’ve already become your own coach. Use your abilities to motivate, influence and inspire and make sure that when somebody asks you how you got to that point, show them your goal sheet.

More about Jack Lundee:

email: j.lundee@gmail.com

sites: http://everythingleft.wordpress.com and http://shadesofgreen.info

twitter: http://www.twitter.com/j_lundee