Category: Blog

Happy “All-The-Days”?

With the holiday season upon us, it is time to give pause and reflect, what’s in a name? Answer: Everything.  

Last week, I watched a commercial for a very large box retailer gladly tout, “Happy All-The-Days!” (pronounce it like Mary Poppins’ friend Bert might, with a terrible Cockney accent).  Today in the grocery store, someone said, “Happy Day of Thanks”. Did they mean Thanksgiving?

My niece is a teacher in a local elementary school where they have removed specific holidays entirely from being discussed and celebrated. They removed Halloween and Thanksgiving in favor of “Fall Festivities”. They also removed Christmas (December 25), Chanukah (begins November 28), Diwali (November 4), and Kwanzaa (begins December 26) in favor of “Winter Holidays”.

Has there been a rash of recent holiday name changes that I am unaware of? 

Read More »

Case for Coaching in a World Interrupted by COVID

In a world interrupted by Covid, leaders are faced with even greater and far more pervasive challenges than the “pre-covid” era presented. Now more than ever, leaders need an approach that will help them, their teams, and ultimately their organizations thrive during these turbulent times rather than simply survive them.

Prior to Covid, leaders were already confronted with:

Rapidly evolving and constantly changing technology
A larger global “playing field” resulting in greater competition
24/7 connectivity and heightened expectations related to performance and response times
Multiple “generations” from diverse backgrounds all working together
Shockingly high levels of disengaged employees (the most recent “State of the Global Workplace” report published by Gallup reflects that globally, 80% of employees are actively disengaged at work. Per Gallup this lack of engagement costs the global economy US$8.1 trillion)

These challenges require leaders to interact with their teams in a way that fosters employee engagement, tolerance, agility, innovation, and increased resilience.

Read More »

Coaching the Coach About Diversity

In today’s global environment, where technology is making the world smaller and diversity remains one of the most important topics, coaches can no longer remain ignorant of the impact these two tsunamis have on their coach approach and on their clients.  As coaches, we need to lift up our heads, so we can lift up others. 

The current climate is looking for innovative ways of approaching diversity and cultural differences within coaching. Diversity in coaching is about understanding the mindset of your client within their larger context – be it culture, religious belief, gender, race, or economic realities.  As described by the International Coaching Federation, “this includes a paramount emphasis on … the critical distinctions between various levels of coaching agreements, the criticality of a partnership between coach and client, and the importance of cultural, systemic and contextual awareness.”

Read More »

Coaching Through the Lens of Diversity

Recently, I was talking with a new coaching client.  It was a usual intake meeting where we were getting to know each other and exploring ways in which coaching may enhance their life. We were about 40 minutes into the conversation when I realized the new client had not used any traditional pronouns while speaking about themselves or others.

A moment of decision; a time when a coach needs to determine the next step or the next question.  What do you do in that moment? Wait for the next session and determine the right approach? Or, remain curious and courageous and ask a difficult and direct question in that moment?

Read More »

Embracing Diversity in YOUR Coaching

With 2020 behind us, social protests and politics remain with us as we continue to struggle living through a pandemic. What we say and do, continues to define us and our legacy as coaches and continues to shape the impact we have on others. Therein lies both the challenge and the opportunity.

Coaches must re-address their coach approach through the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in every coaching exchange - adapting and evolving their mindset and presence to their client’s needs. Coaches need to embody the ICF competencies with a laser focus on building DEIB awareness, knowledge, and discipline to be an effective and empathetic coach.

Read More »

Diversity in Coaching

I played the oboe for years.  Beginning in primary school and through college, I practiced and practiced, joining the band, the wind ensemble, a church group and even formed a professional trio with a flute and clarinet.  Now you may wonder why I open a piece on Coaching with my musical skills?  Simple.  When I was seeking out a music coach, I searched for someone who understood me – and who understood the oboe – and the distinctive value of the double-reed instrument.  Not someone who played drums, not a tuba teacher, but a skilled musician that believed in the beauty and joy of the unusual oboe and related to the unique needs and challenges of the oboist.

It is the same with any coaching, whether it be leadership coaching, career coaching, or life coaching.  A client brings their unique perspectives – their differences – to every coaching session.  Hence, a coach must see their client, hear their client, and truly understand their client, all while respecting their own perspectives and honoring the coaching process.  This is embracing diversity in coaching.

Why is diversity important in coaching?  To be an effective and present coach, we must seek to understand the client within their context.  A client’s context that may include their identity, environment, experiences, values, culture, and beliefs. 

Read More »
freepik.com - ollyy

Moving Down the Ladder: Using Powerful Questions to Help Clients Improve Decisions

freepik.com - ollyy

The amount and speed with which we receive information has almost become overwhelming. 

Add that with the increased pressure to take action more quickly, and the continued stretch of leading (and living) through a pandemic, leaders find themselves with less and less time to think through a problem. 

Without this space, I am seeing an increased number of the those I work with are making more reactionary, sometimes short sighted decisions.

The Ladder of Inference is a powerful tool to help leaders identify their thinking process in order to challenge the premise of decisions, thereby increasing the probability of a solid decision.  The Ladder of Inference was created by organizational psychologist Chris Argyris in the mid-1970s and became well known when it appeared in Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.

The Ladder identifies 7 steps, or rungs we climb to make decisions.

Read More »

Coach Credentialing and How to Get Your ACC with the ICF

Almost ten years ago, I decided that I wanted to become a professional coach. Working in leadership and human resource roles for some of Canada’s largest employers in the financial services sector gave me many opportunities to coach people. I learned that I loved being a coach — aka a strategic thinking partner and an impartial, confidential, accountability advocate. 

Want to be a coach?

While still working full-time for my employer and with their consent, I attended coach training (on my own time and dime). Back then, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) was not as well known as the global leader and gold standard for professional coaches. I received my first coaching certification from an organization whose training was not recognized by the ICF. 

So I started again and took more coach training. This time, I found a training program that would check all the important boxes in order to meet my coaching goals. 

As of the date of this post, I am awaiting a decision from the ICF regarding my application to be recognized as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC)

If you are looking to become a professional coach certified with the ICF, I invite you to continue reading. 

Over the years, I have learned a great deal about coach training, mentor coaching, and the ICF.

Read More »

The First Coaching Tip in 2021

Welcome to 2021!

Well, wasn’t that an interesting year?

It stretched you, might have frustrated you and it may have revealed more of you.

In the face of an unexpected life twists, three groups of people show up: Innovators, Managers and Resistors

Each group plays an important part. You will have experienced each of these roles this year. Some for short periods of time and some for long periods with a lot of slipping back and forth between them.

Let’s bring your focus to the three roles we all can experience in this coming year.

There will be Pacesetters, Leaders, and Influencers.

The innovators can shift to be the Pacesetters
The Managers can shift to be the Leaders
The Resistors can shift to be Influencers

Read More »

Seven Questions You Need Answered Before Signing Up for a Coach Training Program

The following are questions you should ask any coaching company you are considering partnering with for your Coach Training to become an ICF Credentialed Coach...

What are the credentials of the coach facilitators who are delivering the program?
Ask for the experience and confirm the credentials of the coach facilitators who will be taking part in your training. Invest some time to speak to the people behind the program you are considering.

Is the program schedule convenient? Does it offer flexibility?
Can you do the program from home or on a laptop from anywhere or do you need to be physically present at a facility? What happens if you can’t make a session? Can you make it up or is there a replay?

Does the program have a good reputation?

Do they have an abundance of testimonials? Ask them if it’s possible to speak with one of their graduates? Are their trainers ICF credentialed? Search the internet to see what people are saying about them online.

Read More »