Unleash Your Inner Coach to Increase your Performance

As an entrepreneur or small business owner you have the opportunity to play a critical role in shaping a better tomorrow. With personal and professional vision, skill, and resourcefulness you can move your business beyond mere change to a transformation that impacts the quality of life for everyone it touches. To further develop these qualities requires mastery of principles that positively impact performance, profitability and fulfillment. It’s no accident that the global trend to engage coaching services has grown steadily for the last twenty years. With the support of a coach, individuals are learning new skills that are empowering their leadership and organizational development. Coaching is essentially an empowerment paradigm. When you practice leadership behaviors within this paradigm, people around you learn to be more responsible, more accountable and they learn to consistently make better decisions. You are then freed up to focus on more strategic issues and initiatives. The following key principles of the coach paradigm will, when mastered, greatly empower your leadership effectiveness. I am not suggesting you become a coach. I am suggesting you will increase your effectiveness and positive impact in your work by embracing these as operating principles: Hold others as capable and resourceful Assume the other person is highly capable and resourceful. Ask questions that assist them in accessing their thinking and reasoning faculties, raising their self-awareness, options and choices. Use “what,” “when,” “who,” and “how” questions versus leading questions that start with “did you,” “are you,” or “have you considered.” When people are empowered to choose a course of action based on their own motivations, they are more committed, responsible and accountable. Most people don’t really need advice. They just need support and discipline in doing what they already know works. Marianne Williamson Promote wholeness and balance Wholeness is about integrity - the quality of being complete. Balance is about allocation of energy. Foster an environment committed to well-being for everyone and in all aspects of the enterprise. Establish well-being as a one of your top values and walk your talk by visibly honoring that value. Model behaviors committed to well-being and you will promote an energized, innovative, creative work environment. You will build trust and loyalty. Personal and professional fulfillment will be more accessible and learning, growth, and transformation can occur. The part can never be well unless the whole is well. Plato Aim for the goal and embrace the process Be committed to achieving your objectives and with equal dedication, appreciate your learning and self-discovery in the process. Be open to the unexpected along the way. Evaluate for your learning, versus judgment, blame, or rigid perceptions. Be flexible enough to revise your plan based on your learning, step by step. The route may be circuitous, but the results will be richer and more satisfying in the end. The definition of success has changed. It is not only survival, the having -- it is the quality of every moment of your life, the being. Success is not a destination, a place you can ever get to; it is the quality of your journey. Jennifer James Promote empowering language Practice speaking an empowering language. Empowering language is responsible, powerful, and energizing. Disempowering language is a victim language that indicates an underlying belief that “I am powerless.” For example, say: “It is my intention” versus “I have to.” “I am committed to” versus “I’ll try.” “Let’s explore the possibility” versus “It can’t be done.” Model empowering language in every communication.  Others will learn from your example. Introduce empowering language and establish it as a ground rule in your team meetings. Over time, you will see improvement in the levels of responsibility and accountability in your organization. Two of my favorite books on this topic are, Fierce Conversations, by Susan Scott, and Crucial Conversations, by Kerry Patterson. Language is power. When we speak, we exercise the power of language to transform reality. Julia Penelope Suspend judgment Here’s the biggie! Provide a safe environment for others to explore and experiment for gaining clarity. In a safe environment they will also discover their unconscious assumptions, their core values, beliefs, and ultimately their innate wisdom. Eliminate any toleration for gossip, blame or negativity. Avoid offering unsolicited advice. It is disempowering. Unsolicited advice sends a message that you believe the person is not capable or resourceful. Without judgment present, fear is reduced. In the absence of fear, energy, creativity, and trust can emerge. If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are. John W. Gardner With the support of a coach, and the learning you gain from practicing coaching principles, you can master new skills that will empower your leadership performance, organizational profitability and fulfillment. 2009-08-31T22:22:53Z

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unleash-your-inner-coach-to-increase-your-performance

2009-09-01T15:10:43Z

2009-09-01T15:11:44Z

As an entrepreneur you can play a critical role in shaping a better tomorrow. With personal and professional vision, skill, and resourcefulness you can move your business beyond mere change to a transformation that impacts our quality of life.

Unleash Your Inner Coach to Increase your Performance

2009-09-01T15:11:44Z