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What is the Monday Morning Business Coach?
For over 12 years and running, every Monday morning we’ve sent out an email containing an executive coaching “nugget”—a simple, practical tip or strategy for you to easily take action on to start off your work week.
We use the situations of our clients (anonymously, of course) as well as what we’re pondering or reading about to write a short post. We keep it short because we know your life is busy and you need the “quick tips” to solve your problems, help you focus, and move you forward. We’re not claiming we can solve every issue, but we aim to give you the knowledge and wisdom to help you find your own power and create the future you want. You can view past posts below.
Fifty-two weeks ago, we sent out the first of our Monday Morning Business Coach series. At the time, we made a commitment to offer usable nuggets of the expertise we have accumulated in our work and lives; but privately, we wondered whether we had anything useful to say week after week. Here we are fifty-two weeks later and we are delighted to say that we have gotten feedback from many of you that these nuggets have been profoundly helpful…
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As coaches and consultants, we find that many of our clients care passionately about their work, their organizations, their teams, their families and their communities but matter little in their own lives. While this approach may seem to be selfless and generous, it is in fact shortsighted and misguided. If you are to be available to the people and efforts that you care about, you must think hard about creating a life in which you matter. From the great religious traditions to…
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We recently came across another Chinese proverb that reminds us of a powerful reason for stepping fully into your life and claiming your leadership. Your ability to grow and nurture people is central to your organization’s, your community’s, and your family’s success. If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain If you want ten years of prosperity, grow tree If you want one hundred years of prosperity, grow people -Chinese Proverb Over and over again, we have…
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We were recently asked if, as coaches and consultants, we could go in and “fix” an organization. It is an interesting question because while we make a significant impact on an organization and we support organizational success, we don’t “fix” the organization as much as we teach the individuals in the organization to step into their power and create an organization that they value and respect. Think of it this way – There are painters, called pointillists, who…
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One question we often receive about communication is, “How do I get people to communicate with me one-on-one?” Many people are confident in their ability to facilitate communication in meetings, but in one-on-one meetings they struggle to shift from a “talking to” conversation to a “talking with” conversation. Many leaders fall into this dilemma, believing it is their job to be the authority, know the “truth,” and have all the answers. Therefore, they often have little practice genuinely engaging with…
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One of the most frequent things that clients bring into coaching is frustration with a colleague who they believe feels totally confident in their perspective and will not bend to create collaboration or innovation. And sometimes, that’s true. But most of the time, the person who seems so difficult, so obstructionist, so cocky, is actually acting out their fear rather than their confidence. We know this seem counter-intuitive but it makes sense if you really think about it. One way…
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While many of us are committed to ongoing personal and professional growth, often when we learn something new or become aware of new ways of moving in the world, there is a bit of sadness. Over and over, we have heard people say with a longing or even an anger toward themselves, “Gee, I wish I had known this 20 years ago!” or “What is wrong with me, I should have known this already!” We have had that feeling as…
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As consultants we have been in and observed more meetings than we can probably count and can say without hesitation that the best meetings always, always have a good agenda. The businessperson’s relationship with agenda’s has not been consistent over the years. In the 90’s, many agenda’s went overboard and became dictatorial – they were rigid, tedious and drained all life or spontaneity from meetings. They were born of a zealous need to use those new computer programs to organize…
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The process of shifting a team to engage them fully in solving a problem, looking for opportunities, or challenging the cultural norms takes practice but can be successfully started using a simple discussion framework that we call Benefits, Concerns & Suggestions. The Benefits / Concerns / Suggestions framework is an easy to use discussion process that will shift the way your team works. To use the framework, take the following steps: Use this format to foster engagement and communication. Always…
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Last week we wrote a post entitled, Stop Talking! Now, Communicate and we received many responses from leaders who were having success connecting in new and much deeper ways with the people in their organizations as they stopped talking and started listening. Through listening, they were beginning to see a level of engagement and commitment to solving organizational problems that they had not realized was “out there.” We also received quite a number of inquiries asking us how to get…
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