When it comes to business/professional advice, I consider the Wall Street Journal my Bible--a constant source of the top suggestions from talented writers the world over. I know there are other strong sources of similar wisdom but I always prefer this particular modicum of news.
In the last few months, I've noticed an increase in their advice to readers on the advantages of hiring a career coach and decided to actually post today's mention. The blurb below is from the WSJ's 12/31/2008 article titled, "How to Fix Your Life in 2009" and I've also included the URL if you'd like to read their other questions/answers.
Problem: Your job hunt is hitting a dead end.
Solution: Start by researching your online reputation. Enter your name into search engines to see what employers might find. If you have a profile on a social-networking site, such as Facebook or MySpace, be sure to remove any inappropriate photos or comments. Invest time in networking: Studies show that most jobs are filled through referrals. Inform friends, family, former colleagues, alumni, fellow parishioners and others that you're looking for work and that you'd welcome their help. Attend business events, such as industry conferences and seminars that cater to your career field. Create profiles on career-related networking sites, such as LinkedIn, ExecuNet and Plaxo, and participate in discussion boards to develop online relationships.
Meanwhile, consider hiring a career coach who can critique your résumé and interviewing skills and suggest ways to improve them.
—Sarah E. Needleman
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123068308029744121.html
In addition to providing these resources, coaches at ReFresh Your Step work with each client to ensure he or she is embarking on the career path most suitable for them. We know it takes time and effort to get to this point but feel strongly in the necessity to do so.
Despite the constant influx of news on a negative econommic/career outlook for next year, we believe that spending this time looking inward and working on a plan for both career and personal goals will help clients exponentially. Have a wonderful New Year's celebration and we look forward to working with you to make 2009 your best year yet!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The Human Factor
I wish to go ahead and announce to the world that coaches, even the best ones, are not perfect. We make mistakes in our own life, whether it's accidentally running a red light (officer, I swear that was an accident!), leaving our blackberries in a movie theater or forgetting to call our best friend on her birthday. Today, I made the largest gaffe in recent personal history...
After rolling out of bed at a leisurely hour and calling my coach for our 10 am session, I got to work on my coaching site, pausing a few hours later to catch up on emails. As I was emailing my mother-in-law about flying into NY tomorrow, I double-checked the travel itinerary to verify my flight number. While scanning the page, my eyes came to rest on the date and then promptly bugged out of my head once I realized it said, “12/29” and not “12/30”. My eyes then darted over to the flight time and I nearly screamed when I saw the flight had departed nearly two hours prior.
A flurry of choice expletives later, I thought to myself, What now? I missed the flight but getting upset won’t help the situation. What are my options?
I do believe that taking a few minutes to calm down and begin thinking rationally helped me immensely: I was still annoyed at my own random absentmindedness but at least I was formulating a plan for getting up to New York rather than banging my head against a wall.
In the end, I called the airline, explained the issue and was able to go standby on a later flight. Rushing to the airport was a less than fun experience but I did make it up to New York and now have an extra day to spend with family and friends. Additionally, I spent some time on the plane ride thinking of what I learned from the experience: a deep breath and friendly voice can go a long way when dealing with airline people and even the best-laid plans can end up on the wrong page of our daily planner.
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Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? How did you handle it? Additionally, what other life lessons could you derive from this (or a similar) predicament?
After rolling out of bed at a leisurely hour and calling my coach for our 10 am session, I got to work on my coaching site, pausing a few hours later to catch up on emails. As I was emailing my mother-in-law about flying into NY tomorrow, I double-checked the travel itinerary to verify my flight number. While scanning the page, my eyes came to rest on the date and then promptly bugged out of my head once I realized it said, “12/29” and not “12/30”. My eyes then darted over to the flight time and I nearly screamed when I saw the flight had departed nearly two hours prior.
A flurry of choice expletives later, I thought to myself, What now? I missed the flight but getting upset won’t help the situation. What are my options?
I do believe that taking a few minutes to calm down and begin thinking rationally helped me immensely: I was still annoyed at my own random absentmindedness but at least I was formulating a plan for getting up to New York rather than banging my head against a wall.
In the end, I called the airline, explained the issue and was able to go standby on a later flight. Rushing to the airport was a less than fun experience but I did make it up to New York and now have an extra day to spend with family and friends. Additionally, I spent some time on the plane ride thinking of what I learned from the experience: a deep breath and friendly voice can go a long way when dealing with airline people and even the best-laid plans can end up on the wrong page of our daily planner.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? How did you handle it? Additionally, what other life lessons could you derive from this (or a similar) predicament?
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The Coach's Coach
Since beginning the work necessary for launching ReFresh Your Step (an endeavor that apparently began long before I consciously realized it), I have received quite a bit of advice:
"Coach what you know."
"Separate out the professional coaching from life coaching."
"Charge everybody, even your friends."
and a personal favorite:
"Remember that you can coach from anywhere, including a pool on vacation in Tahiti."
Although this is certainly a mixed bag of advice (and I've made a point of absorbing very little of it into my actual practice), one pearl of wisdom stood out from the pack:
"Coaches should have coaches."
It actually seems somewhat intuitive, like saying, "Dentists should have dentists"; no matter how skilled a DDS you may be, it's particularly difficult to remove a pesky wisdom tooth or fill in your own cavity (for the record, I'd be impressed to hear of a dentist having done that to him or herself).
However, when I thought more about the notion of taking on my own coach, it hit me what the advisor meant: how can you really be a good coach without knowing what it's like to be coached? Furthermore, who better to advise you (both professionally and personally) than someone who is trained to help you the way you help others?
After deciding that I would, indeed, take on a coach, I embarked on a mission to find the one most suitable for my needs: a person who understood what I needed in a coach, who could listen well but also jump in at any point, someone who could call me out when necessary as well as a coach who would absolutely push me in the right direction (especially when I didn’t realize it). Most importantly, however, I wanted someone with whom I clicked.
I believe that finding the optimal coach (or boss, employee or therapist) is not unlike the dating process (when done right, of course). I spoke with a number of potential coaches, all of whom would have done an amazing job, but only one person seemed to understand me and my needs better than even myself. During our first-ever conversation, he made a suggestion for my business that had been staring me in the face but one I had not opened my eyes wide enough to see; it was at that point that I thought to myself, "I think I found the One."
Unfortunately, interviewing a number of potential coaches meant having to say no to people (I can barely afford one coach, let alone pay for all five). Regardless, I selected the coach and actually had my first session with him just this morning.
To be quite honest, I've been coaching people for a few months now but actually felt nervous for the first part of our discovery session. Was it because I knew what questions are coming and felt that I had to answer them the "right" way? I hope not and was definitely as truthful as I could be. Or was I nervous because I had honestly answered some deeply personal paperwork questions prior to our discovery session, therefore felt that this person I'd never met knew more about me than most close friends? I am sure that was part of my nerves; though, I felt the more authentic I was in answering those questions, the more I would get out of the coaching experience altogether. I did know, however, that at least some of my nerves were kicked up a notch after wondering if I really had picked the right coach (kind of like those brides and/or grooms who report feeling nervous in the days leading up to the wedding).
I must say that shortly into my discovery session, my nerves died down and I felt truly comfortable, knowing full-well that not only had I made the right decision in selecting this particular coach, but that experiencing coaching from the client side would be hugely beneficial to my own practice as a coach.
I expected to feel exhausted after the discovery session ended and was surprised at how but spirited and calm I was. Even though I committed to starting and finishing a major project by the end of the year, I felt (and still feel) that my coach helped me find a route to really launching ReFresh Your Step and keeping myself grounded in life along the way.
My overall objective with coaching young professionals and students is to help them define or redefine their lives (both professional and personally), as well as create a course of action for reaching their goals. In working with my own coach, I feel that I will be better-suited for doing so with my clients.
----------------------------------
What do you want most of your coaching experience? Honestly, it’s not the same for everyone (nor should it be). What one person wants out of coaching should be unique to that individual, though it takes some self-awareness on each person’s behalf to figure out his or her goals for the coach/client relationship.
"Coach what you know."
"Separate out the professional coaching from life coaching."
"Charge everybody, even your friends."
and a personal favorite:
"Remember that you can coach from anywhere, including a pool on vacation in Tahiti."
Although this is certainly a mixed bag of advice (and I've made a point of absorbing very little of it into my actual practice), one pearl of wisdom stood out from the pack:
"Coaches should have coaches."
It actually seems somewhat intuitive, like saying, "Dentists should have dentists"; no matter how skilled a DDS you may be, it's particularly difficult to remove a pesky wisdom tooth or fill in your own cavity (for the record, I'd be impressed to hear of a dentist having done that to him or herself).
However, when I thought more about the notion of taking on my own coach, it hit me what the advisor meant: how can you really be a good coach without knowing what it's like to be coached? Furthermore, who better to advise you (both professionally and personally) than someone who is trained to help you the way you help others?
After deciding that I would, indeed, take on a coach, I embarked on a mission to find the one most suitable for my needs: a person who understood what I needed in a coach, who could listen well but also jump in at any point, someone who could call me out when necessary as well as a coach who would absolutely push me in the right direction (especially when I didn’t realize it). Most importantly, however, I wanted someone with whom I clicked.
I believe that finding the optimal coach (or boss, employee or therapist) is not unlike the dating process (when done right, of course). I spoke with a number of potential coaches, all of whom would have done an amazing job, but only one person seemed to understand me and my needs better than even myself. During our first-ever conversation, he made a suggestion for my business that had been staring me in the face but one I had not opened my eyes wide enough to see; it was at that point that I thought to myself, "I think I found the One."
Unfortunately, interviewing a number of potential coaches meant having to say no to people (I can barely afford one coach, let alone pay for all five). Regardless, I selected the coach and actually had my first session with him just this morning.
To be quite honest, I've been coaching people for a few months now but actually felt nervous for the first part of our discovery session. Was it because I knew what questions are coming and felt that I had to answer them the "right" way? I hope not and was definitely as truthful as I could be. Or was I nervous because I had honestly answered some deeply personal paperwork questions prior to our discovery session, therefore felt that this person I'd never met knew more about me than most close friends? I am sure that was part of my nerves; though, I felt the more authentic I was in answering those questions, the more I would get out of the coaching experience altogether. I did know, however, that at least some of my nerves were kicked up a notch after wondering if I really had picked the right coach (kind of like those brides and/or grooms who report feeling nervous in the days leading up to the wedding).
I must say that shortly into my discovery session, my nerves died down and I felt truly comfortable, knowing full-well that not only had I made the right decision in selecting this particular coach, but that experiencing coaching from the client side would be hugely beneficial to my own practice as a coach.
I expected to feel exhausted after the discovery session ended and was surprised at how but spirited and calm I was. Even though I committed to starting and finishing a major project by the end of the year, I felt (and still feel) that my coach helped me find a route to really launching ReFresh Your Step and keeping myself grounded in life along the way.
My overall objective with coaching young professionals and students is to help them define or redefine their lives (both professional and personally), as well as create a course of action for reaching their goals. In working with my own coach, I feel that I will be better-suited for doing so with my clients.
----------------------------------
What do you want most of your coaching experience? Honestly, it’s not the same for everyone (nor should it be). What one person wants out of coaching should be unique to that individual, though it takes some self-awareness on each person’s behalf to figure out his or her goals for the coach/client relationship.
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