My church has a pastor of coaching. Really. So as part of the coaching team, I attended an ICF-aligned training event at the church office, focused on transformational conversations, asking powerful questions, and setting S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-specific) goals. One core concept stopped me cold: Coaching that transforms lives flows from coaches [...]
Empathy, or its lack, can make or break a coach’s business success. Core to emotional intelligence, empathy is the ability to identify with and understand the feelings, motivations, and viewpoints of others. Empathy, in its most basic form, simply means good “people skills.” Empathetic coaches excel at managing relationships and making connections with others. But [...]
Show me a professional coach who is successful, and I’ll show you a coach who has high emotional intelligence (EQ). Emotional intelligence, or the ability to perceive, access, and regulate emotions, encompasses five key components: self-awareness, self-regulation/self-management, internal motivation, empathy, and social skills. Last week, we talked about self-awareness. This week, let’s take a closer look [...]
“Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves—their strengths, their values, and how they best perform.” Peter Drucker Would you like to build a thriving coaching practice? If so, self-awareness, a facet of emotional intelligence (EQ), is critical to your success. Science journalist and psychologist Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., author of wildly popular book, [...]
“I don’t want to work with Leslie*” (The coach's name has been changed to protect the guilty), a client I was referring said. “Why” I asked. “Well look at her website. Her website looks dated, and if her website is stale, her coaching probably is too.” Ouch! This actual conversation with a tech-savvy 30-something speaks [...]
Our family has recently gone through a difficult time as we watched my father endure quadruple bypass surgery. It was his fifth or sixth surgery in as many years. As is often the case when families come together in times of crisis, unresolved issues among family members surfaced, leaving me weary and drained. The experience [...]
Do you have what it takes to run a successful coaching practice? Not surprisingly, great entrepreneurs share common traits and habits. The good news is that most of them can be learned. Here are five habits of extremely successful coaches: 1. Successful coaches invest in professional and personal development. Successful business owners read business and [...]
Hurry sickness is the curse of our age. Yet, many of us wear our busyness as a badge of honor, confusing a full schedule with a full life. Its antidote, in the words of Dallas Willard, is to “ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” In a word, we, as Christian coaches, need margin. In his [...]
Today, my father is in surgery. It’s his second surgery in two months and his sixth in five years. The family has gathered from various points on the East Coast to support him, and frankly, we’re exhausted. As I sit writing this in the hospital waiting room, I am asking myself and God, “What does [...]
Life coaching is exploding. Is it any wonder why? According to the International Coach Federation, the leading professional association for coaches worldwide, individuals who hire a coach can expect significant improvement in productivity, satisfaction with life and work, and the attainment of goals. Once limited to high-level executives, professional life coaching is now mainstream, enjoyed [...]