Debra Kasowski

Episode 89 – Coaching for Performance

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“Coaching is like a magic mirror, reflecting what you are thinking, feeling and saying about everything in life. By working together, you’ll understand your own mirror and change it to become limitless.”
― Sultan Alsasi

No one becomes a high performer without confidence or support from someone who believed in them more than they believed in themselves. Who is someone you have admired or been inspired by? How have they helped you become a better performer? Coaching is one of the best strategies for achieving objectives or goals. Research shows that companies who utilized coaches had an increase in productivity and profitability, reduced complaints, improved customer services, and retained talent. Individuals who received coaching described improved work relationships, improved teamwork, greater commitment and engagement, and less conflict due to better communication. Coachees (people who are coached), stretch out of their comfort zone to achieve great results than if they had not been coached.

When people hear the word “coaching”, they tend to associate coaching with teaching or training that is sport related. There are many types of coaches. There are life coaches, business coaches, speech/vocal coaches, executive coaches, and coaches in the workplace. Not all coaching is formal. It can be done individually or with a group or team. Each coach is hired to develop a person’s skillset and ability based on what the person seeking coaching needs. The coach does not hold the agenda – the coachee does. Coaches can also help deal with conflict, difficult people and conversations, issues, and challenges.

A coaching session can be done face to face, over the phone, or online through platforms like Skype or Zoom. A coach does not have to be in your industry to know how to support you. They need to know how to ask you the right questions. A coaching session is a conversation where a coach like myself will ask you questions to hep you discover and do some reflection to come up with answers or solutions. Why? When the coachee comes up with the answers, solutions, or action plans they will be more intrinsically motivated than if the coach provides the answers, solutions, or action plans. The difference between a sports coach and this type of coach is that a sports coach is often “telling” or providing direction to a player. Whereas, the coach we are discussing in this podcast is asking questions, active listening, and acknowledge discoveries.

Any person can hire a coach if they want someone to help them work through issues/challenges, climb the corporate ladder, build a business, or accelerate the achievement of a goal. Coaches help boost productivity, performance, and effectiveness – ultimately results. To achieve the desired results, you want when working with a coach, you need to be accountable for your actions and committed to what you want to accomplish. Not only is a financial commitment with coaching, there is a commitment of your time and energy to actively participate in the coaching conversation and to follow through on actionable items.

In order to coach for performance, there must be a foundation of trust and that what is shared is confidential, otherwise, the coachee will not be open to sharing any information or discuss their thoughts or feelings. With coaching, the premise is that you already having everything inside of you to come up with the answer or solution you are seeking. The coach asks the right questions to help you develop your own conclusions. A coach may offer suggestions or advise you acting as a thinking partner or sounding board.

Coaching can help improve your performance and is not limited to this list:

  • Getting unstuck and challenge self-limiting beliefs
  • Working through a challenge, issue, or stretch goal
  • Accelerating results
  • Developing clarity around a situation, choices, and desired outcomes
  • Learning to create harmony or balance between work and life demands
  • Determining core strengths and areas of growth
  • Identifying resources, skills, and knowledge to obtain a goal
  • Brainstorm options

The world is changing rapidly. Individuals, like you, are wanting to take more control of getting the results they desire in their lives by creating a plan of action. Sometimes all it takes is to develop clarity around what a person wants to achieve and what outcome will give them.

“Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out. Sometimes they just need a little nudge, a little direction, a little support, a little coaching, and the greatest things can happen.” – Pete Carroll

Coaching maximizes a person’s potential to become a high performer. Some people hire coaches as a corrective measure in the workplace. Coaching is most effective when it is used to develop yours or your staff member’s capabilities, sometimes you can be so close to a situation that you cannot see your options. A coach is a trusted guide helping you discover your own answers to make the decision that is best for you.

What is a stretch goal you would like to achieve? What self-limiting belief is holding you back from acting on and following through on what you know you need to do? Have you considered working with a coach?

We would love to have you subscribed to the Success Secrets newsletter on my website at www.debrakasowski.com where you’re going to get us free MP3 download 10 Surefire Strategies to Power Up Your Productivity and Performance. I would love to hear about this podcast has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Share it with Your Friends. Give us a 5-star rating!

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com

Time to Shift from Challenges to Opportunity

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Last week I was sitting in the audience of a panel discussion where the two panel guests were talking about their industries and the social and economic challenges they were facing. They were both passionate about their subject matter; however, I found myself shifting in my chair waiting for the right moment to head up to the microphone to make a comment. 21418888_l

I found it difficult to stay seated as I witnessed several people getting up from their chairs and leaving. I too wanted to leave. Why? The message left with the audience was draining. The focus was one of challenges. It seemed that every second statement was about the challenges they were facing.

I wanted to jump and ask for permission to coach them. However, they may not have appreciated a coaching session in front of the audience. Instead, I sat back and wondered in self reflection. What was it about their message that was irritating me? What did I want to hear from them? What was my expectation? Maybe what they were saying had some truth.

I wanted to hear them to say that even though challenges existed that they saw them as an opportunity to dig deeper and get more creative and innovative with funding and sharing their message. I wanted to hear that they saw these economic and social challenges as a temporary setback and they were setting up for their greatest comeback. I wanted to hear that there was hope. I felt that the audience also wanted to hear -there was hope.

Hope. They wanted to see how what was said related to them and how they could see through the challenges they faced. The audience longed to hear tips and strategies of how these individuals have lead others through these challenges and came out ahead.

I left the room disappointed but on a mission to find a way to pass this message on. I sought out the most appropriate person and shared my concerns. He listened very carefully and stated he felt that he played a part in how the panel’s questioning was framed. He learned from my feedback and stated he would pass it on.

It really made me think about the power of the words we chose to communicate with. We need to think about how we want others to feel after we have shared an important message. What do we want them to walk away with? Do we want a call to action? Do we want to gather ideas and support?

Words are very powerful. When I was listening to them speak and focus on their challenges, I kept thinking about how many more challenges that were coming their way. What you focus on grows! Instead of focusing on challenges, focus on solutions and breakthrough ideas. Brainstorm ideas or ask your employees and colleagues what they would do.

I was taught to view life as a learning lab. If this is the case, I choose to help individuals and organizations to focus on solutions, opportunities, and possibilities. When you focus on your strengths and what is working, the greater the momentum you will carry through to your vision.

We are in the greatest time to dream, discover, and design what we would like the world to be. A place of possibilities and a place of hope.

In what ways can you look at your challenges and turn them into opportunities for growth?

7 Reasons Why You Should Hire a Coach

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14461375_lAre you ready for a change?

If you knew there was one action you could take that would accelerate your success, help you gain clarity and focus, and challenge your assumptions, would you do it? Athletes are not the only group of people hiring coaches. Hiring a coach is one of the pivotal actions you can take in achieving your goals. More and more individuals are working with coaches internally within an organization or externally so that they can get promoted, grow their business, and get unstuck where they may be sabotaging their own success.

 

Reasons why you should hire a coach:

1.  You are more likely to achieve your goals. When working with a coach, a coach will help you create an action plan and hold you accountable to what you say you will do. A coach does not do the work, you do. The belief is that everything you need is already inside of you – you need the coach to ask the right questions. You will develop greater clarity and become more focused on what you need to do to achieve the results you want. Let’s face it. Some people are intrinsically self motivated but most people will fall into patterns of procrastination or jump into the next best thing leaving plans or projects started and unfinished or worse – not started at all.

2.  A coach can offer a fresh unbiased perspective. Coaches often see what you cannot see because you are in the midst of your situation. Family, friends, and colleagues may have their best interest at heart and offer advice or share their concerns as they do not want you to fail. They may not have experienced the power of working with a coach and how asking questions can get you out of your own way when you default to old habits. They themselves may be holding themselves back by not taking a risk in their own development.

3. A coach can challenge you to stretch out of your comfort zone and help you see your blind spots. Coaches hold a safe place to challenge your assumptions and potentially challenge you to take actions that make you feel uncomfortable (only because it is against the grain of how you routinely do things). These challenges are to empower you  and for you to start to discover how much more potential you have inside of you – if you would only tap into it.

4.  You will achieve your goals faster than if you did it all by yourself. A coach will help guide you and help you decide what goals are most important to you. One or two sessions may work for some people but for others they may need up to 6 or more because they have new goals to work on or other issues surface that are sabotaging their success. One thing I have learned in being coached myself, you need to actively participate and trust the process.

5. Coaches can act as a sounding board or share in brainstorming new ideas. I have had clients say that it was great to have someone to share what was on their mind without any judgments and to share ideas that would not be taken for their own use and promotion.

6. Coaches create a confidential safe environment. You are able to get further ahead when you feel safe to be vulnerable enough to share your audacious goals or sticky situations that you need help with. By having this environment, you are able to dig deeper and come out stronger than ever before.24609569_l

7. Coaches can celebrate your successes with you. They know how hard you have been working on achieving your goals. A coach can help you stop in the moment to “really smell the roses” and pay attention to your successes. Too often, people reach a success and they are already off and running to the next action on the to-do list. Take time to stop and acknowledge your success; it builds momentum and keep you motivated.

Coaching can be a transformational experience if you are willing and open to the possibilities that lie in store. The future is bright!

If you are interested in working with a coach or learning more about what coaching can do for you, contact Debra

What Makes a Good Executive Great?

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http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-business-woman-looking-away-vision-concept-image10468085Some people believe that great leaders are born while others think great leadership can be learned. I believe it a can be a little of both – what you are born into and the role models and mentors you learn from make the biggest difference.

There are certain qualities that propels a good executive to a great one!

Great executives:

  • are committed to sharing the mission and vision of the organization and try to onboard all the champions to continue to share the message

 

  • make regular appearances throughout the organization. The staff need to see that you care about the work that they do. Take time to learn about your people. Get to know some of their names – everyone from the janitor to your assistant.

 

  • are strategic systems thinkers who communicate in an all-inclusive “we” – collaborative message.

 

  • are open to listening to ideas and opinions of others even if they are different than your own.

 

  • help build the capacity of the people within the organization by encouraging growth and development. They take a step back from the control of being a micromanager.

You know who those great executives are.

They are the only one who brings that high powered energy to a room. They are theones people in the organization look forward to seeing and hearing from. They are the ones who believe in the work being done.

The people who work for them respect and admire the leadership.

These fine executives surround themselves with the very best – you may be one!

What are you willing to do to shift from good to great starting TODAY?