Leaders collaborate more effectively, build better connections and develop trust and respect when they show up in an authentic way. The clearer you can be about who you are, the stronger and more valuable your offering, and your brand, will be. At Bluepoint, we know that a powerful personal leadership brand is built on a foundation of integrity, passion and connection.
In this week’s article, Susanne Biro challenges leaders to assess their own level of authenticity and clearly identify their own personal leadership brand.
To download a pdf copy of Susanne's article - A Build On "No" please click here. Feel free to share the article with your colleagues and you may also want to join in the discussion on our LinkedIn Group.
With organizations making talent development a strategic priority these days, senior leaders often ask us how they can be most helpful in this endeavor. Specifically, since coaching is such a critical element of any talent development program, they want to know what they need to do personally to make coaching pervasive throughout their organizations. In short, how can they create a culture of coaching? The good news is that senior leaders are overwhelmingly recognizing the potency of coaching. The difficult part is creating a pervasive culture in which coaching is “just the way we do things around here.”
In this week’s article, Gregg Thompson challenges senior leaders to take the three big steps that will leave an indelible mark on their organizations.
Creating a Coaching Culture by Gregg Thompson …an open letter to senior leaders Creating a coaching culture can be one of the most important contributions you will ever make as a senior leader and will likely be the predominant feature of your personal legacy. It can also be some of the most challenging, yet personally rewarding, work that you ever do. Great leaders always leave their marks deep inside their organizations. What do you want your mark to be? To read more and to download a full pdf copy of the article please
click here. Feel free to share the article with your colleagues (and senior leaders!) and you may also want to join in the discussion on our
LinkedIn Group.
This week we feature the final list, List #6 in our series of
Top 10 Lists for Great Coaching – The Top 10 Principles of Learning, Change and Development. NOTE: If you would like to download a copy of all six Top Ten Lists in one brochure, you can do so here: http://info.bluepointleadership.com/top-10-lists-for-great-leadership-coaching/ The paramount objective of coaches is to help those they coach gain new knowledge about themselves and their world, and use this knowledge to increase their personal effectiveness and career opportunities. In short, coaches are in the learning, change and development business. Here are the
Top 10 Principles of Learning, Change and Development: #1. We are all stuck, to some degree. Often the things that keep us stuck are habits, attitudes, beliefs and relationships that were once very important to us.
#2. We do not resist change; we resist loss. We are naturally wired to adapt to a changing world.
#3. Our past successes often are impediments to moving forward to a new chapter in our work, career or life.
#4. Everyone has the potential and ability to make choices now that will have a significant, positive impact on their future.
#5. It is the willingness to truly learn that distinguishes a person as having high potential.
#6. Most limitations are self-imposed.
#7. Trying to improve or fix others is a futile effort that usually ends up annoying them and frustrating you.
#8. One sincere expression of encouragement can change a life forever.
#9. The most potent step forward usually involves a very difficult conversation.
#10. One never becomes a great leader, doctor or carpenter. Those we recognize as great in their field are ordinary men and women who wake up every morning and choose to get on the road less traveled.
As always we appreciate your feedback. You can share your thoughts below or at our LinkedIn Group here
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1956524&trk=group-image
This week we feature List #5 in our series of
Top 10 Lists for Great Coaching – The Top 10 Ways to Build a Long-Term Coaching Relationship. Great coaching can happen nearly anywhere: in a hallway conversation, in a performance appraisal or in project status meeting. However, if the person being coached is seeking a significant, sustained change in their performance or career, it usually requires multiple conversations over some period of time.
Here are the
The Top 10 Ways to Build a Long-Term Coaching Relationship:
#1. Have great expectations for the person being coached. Never let them sell themselves short or pursue anything but their very best path forward.
#2. Accept nothing less than their very best efforts during the coaching process.
#3. Help them broaden their world-view by constantly challenging their thinking and sharing alternate perspectives.
#4. Coach to their values, beliefs and aspirations encouraging them to set their own personal standards of performance.
#5. Help them discover or rediscover the parts of themselves that are most unique and most treasured.
#6. Always treat them with dignity and respect especially when they are not at their best.
#7. Recognize and celebrate every breakthrough and victory no matter how small.
#8. Always work at their most fertile growing edge.
#9. Be generous with your kindness and empathy when they struggle with the emotions, self-doubt and uncertainty of learning and development.
#10. Tell them things other will not.
As always we appreciate your feedback. You can share your thoughts below or on our LinkedIn Group here
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1956524&trk=group-image
One of the really cool things about leadership coaching is that it is not the exclusive domain of a few individuals who are uniquely gifted to do this important work. Everyone can coach. Some, however, are committed to continually developing themselves so they can serve others better. These are the leadership coaches who are truly great.
Here are the
Top 10 Qualities of Great Coaches. These leadership coaches:
#1. have a spirit of generosity - they liberally share their time, attention and energy with others.
#2. see the best in others - they choose to look past the shortcomings of others to focus on their positive qualities, even if deeply hidden.
#3. have high self-esteem - they feel good enough about themselves that they do not use the coaching relationship to feed their egos.
#4. are emotionally mature - they are keenly self-aware, understand how to manage their emotions and are able to create substantial relationships with others.
#5. are interpersonally courageous - they boldly confront those they coach and seek the path to truth in all conversations.
#6. have uncommon compassion - they understand the struggle and pain that often accompanies personal learning and change.
#7. are life-long learners - they have voracious appetites for new knowledge and self-development.
#8. are strong enough to bend - they have a unique blend of flexibility and resilience that allows them to weather the disappointments, setbacks and conflicts inherent in the coaching process.
#9. have an accepting nature - they recognize and silence their judgmental voices that are a natural part of the human condition.
#10. have a perpetual optimistic bias - they help the person being coached see that they have the power to create a tomorrow that is better than today.
As always we appreciate your feedback. You can share your thoughts below or at our LinkedIn Group here
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1956524&trk=group-image
This week we feature List #3 in our series of Top 10 Lists for Great Coaching.
Ten Step Framework for Effective Coaching Sessions
Rarely, if ever, does a coaching conversation follow a step-by-step pattern. Great coaches, however, guide the conversation so that the person being coached is constantly learning, gaining new insights and crafting ambitious personal plans.
Here are ten things for you to consider as a framework for an effective coaching session:
#1. Checking In.
- “How are you doing?”
- “ Are you ready to dive in?”
#2. Looking Back.
- “What have you accomplished since our last conversation?”
- “ What have been your biggest disappointments?”
#3. Continuous Learning.
- “What have you observed about yourself?”
- “ What new insights have you gained?”
#4. Making Progress.
- “What important breakthroughs have you made?”
- “ What new habits are you practicing?”
#5. Building Energy.
- “What has been the most fun?”
- “ How can you do more of this?”
#6. Current Issues.
- “What important new challenges are you facing?”
- “ What new opportunities have emerged ?”
#7. Being Helpful.
- “How can we best use our time?”
- “ How can I be most helpful?”
#8. Diving In.
- Affirmations, questions, confrontations, insights and challenges
- Repeat as necessary
#9. Advancing Action.
- “What is the most potent next step?”
- “ What specific commitments will you make?”
#10. Planning to Reconnect
- “When will we next speak?”
- “ My best wishes go with you”
As always we appreciate your feedback. You can share your thoughts below or at our LinkedIn Group by clicking here
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1956524&trk=group-image
Last week we shared the first in our series of “Top 10 Lists for Great Coaching” that provided some thoughts on how to measure the impact of your coaching by focusing on the outcomes.
This week our second list features “The Top 10 Coaching Mistakes.” We all make mistakes. Even the very best coaches make mistakes. However, what distinguishes these coaches is that they readily recognize these mistakes and take immediate corrective action. Additionally, they minimize the impact of any coaching mistakes by having noble intention (i.e. always doing what is best for the person being coached and being their fiercest advocate).
Here are the Top Ten Coaching Mistakes:
#1. Trying to be a great coach.
- instead, put your energy into helping the person being coached become great.
#2. Working too hard.
- it’s your job to challenge the person being coached to do the hard work.
#3. Not saying what needs to be said.
- always walk away empty knowing that nothing important was left unsaid.
#4. Neglecting to ask the person being coached how you can be most helpful.
- you do not own the agenda, the person being coached does.
#5. Assuming the person being coached is a challenge to overcome or a problem to be fixed.
- coaching is not a project but rather a special relationship and conversation.
#6. Talking too much.
- silence and attentive listening are some of the most powerful coaching tools.
#7. Owning the outcome.
- the person being coached owns both the success and the failures; you don’t.
#8. Giving well-meaning advice.
- this is a very weak form of coaching that makes the coach feel good but does little for the person being coached.
#9. Steering the conversation towards the path you know is best.
- the person being coached is resourceful, creative and perfectly capable of finding their own best path forward.
#10. Finishing without a commitment.
- insist that the person being coached promises to advance their cause in some way.
As always we appreciate your feedback. Are there any other common mistakes that you think should be included on the list? You can share your thoughts below or visit Bluepoint's LinkedIn Group at
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1956524&trk=group-image
We are pleased to announce the release of our “Top 10 Lists for Great Coaching”. These lists are intended to stimulate and challenge your thinking about coaching and identify ways to increase your personal effectiveness.
The “Top 10 Lists for Great Coaching” include:
- The Top 10 Outcomes of Great Coaching
- The Top 10 Coaching Mistakes
- The 10 Step Framework for Effective Coaching Sessions
- The Top 10 Qualities of Great Coaches
- The Top 10 Ways to Build a Long-Term Coaching Relationship
- The Top 10 Principles of Learning, Change and Development
Each week we will publish one list from the series here in our Leadership Bulletin and also on our Blog and Bluepoint LinkedIn Group. We encourage you to share your thoughts and feedback and perhaps you have some ideas of your own that you feel should be added to the lists. You can subscribe to our Blog by filling out the form to the right hand side of this page and you can join our LinkededIn Group here http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1956524&trk=group-image
The Top 10 Outcomes of Great Coaching
Challenging questions, affirming feedback and fresh insights make coaching an often exhilarating process. But so what? Is it making a real difference in the work or career of the person being coached? There is only one way to measure the effectiveness of coaching and that is by measuring the outcomes…and here are the top ten.
Has the person you are coaching:
- raised their standards of performance and career ambitions to scary heights.
- redesigned how their precious time, attention and energy is invested.
- eliminated those once-important practices and habits that no longer serve them well.
- challenged and laid bare their most closely-held beliefs and assumptions.
- set unbelievably ambitious goals for themselves
- de-junked their lives of incessant time-wasters, stresses and distractions.
- gained a greatly enlarged view of their amazing strengths and capabilities.
- confronted and slayed the principal demons that had been blocking their way forward.
- rediscovered their playful, creative side that had long been held in exile.
- re-acquired a radical passion for work, life and the well-being of others.
____________________________
If you can answer yes to at least 7 out of 10 then you are well
on your way to providing some great leadership coaching.
There is a hard truth about leadership development that many practitioners in this field prefer to ignore: Much of the work done promoting a particular set of leadership practices or competencies is for naught because it fails to influence the leader’s thinking. It falls on deaf ears. Workshop facilitators and leadership coaches may as well save their breath to cool their porridge because any behavioral changes are short-lived unless there is a sustained change in the way the leader thinks. In fact, there is so much focus on practices and competencies these days that we neglect the leader’s mind and it is from here that all great leadership emanates...
To read more, click here & complete the form to download a PDF copy of Gregg's full article.
Great leaders seem to have the uncanny ability to readily create large networks of people who help them and their teams get things done; approvals are given, resources are provided, projects are financed, decisions are made. Other leaders seem to struggle at getting the smallest things accomplished within the organization. What's the difference between these leaders?
Great leaders understand that their real power comes not from their position, but from their ability to build strong, lasting connections with others in the organization.
Bluepoint Leadership Development is excited to share this new video in which Gregg Thompson shares a four-step process for Building Leadership Connections.