The CoachAccountable Perspective – An authentic view of what works from the receiving end of being coached

2 min 0

Showcasing Style

More Than Just Conversations

Carefully consider the physical, observable form of what it is you offer in your coaching service. What is it, as in what actually comprises it? Does it leave a trace after it’s over? In a world in which there is ambiguity of whether it was…

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2 min 0

Psychology

Courage to Acknowledge Failure

Finishing up an Engagement? Great! Now is the time to review with your client those clear, up-front intentions! Practically no coaches do this. Have the courage anyway, to acknowledge whichever intentions that were not fulfilled. By taking the time, you get to model for your…

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3 min 0

Psychology

Clear, Up-Front Intentions

“Why bother to have this coach/coachee relationship at all?” At the top of an engagement you should look your client square in the eye and ask this question. Why? All too often the answer is taken as a foregone conclusion, and why wouldn’t it be? …

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1 min 0

Psychology

We are Paying You to Make Us Believe that You Care

And anything that shatters that illusion makes us less eager to keep paying you. How do you make us believe that you care? By tracking with our story By knowing where we’ve been and what we’re up to By having all your words be your…

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4 min 0

Session Notes

The Session Notes are the Product

Here’s a novel twist on what you produce as a coach: Session Notes. Not conversations, not insights, not breakthroughs, not even results in cold, hard numbers. Session Notes. Your job? It’s to produce notes from your sessions. Bear with me here. This is not literally…

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5 min 0

Psychology

The Yin and Yang of Coaching

This is a distinction around the flavor of coaching that doesn’t really get talked about, but I think it’s actually crucial for coaching to live up to its promise. So what do I mean by “The Yin and Yang of Coaching”? Let’s begin with the…

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4 min 0

Psychology

Ever Listen to Your Clients Like a Polite Stranger on a Bus?

Probably. Consider the possibility that the answer to that question is: probably. I want to distinguish a scale, call it the “Degree of Investment” scale, i.e. how invested you are in the person you’re talking with. At the lower end of the scale, you’re like…

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5 min 0

Showcasing Style

Prototype the Sorts of Outcomes That Happen

Thank you for reading this far into the article, because hoo-boy is that title a weird mouthful that’s apt to make eyes glaze over; LIKELY for lack of clear meaning, which of course means no substance to compel you to read on. So why didn’t…

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4 min 0

Psychology

Shut up and do the reps

I remember the first time I heard the word “coaching” used to refer to the sort of coaching we here all know and love, i.e. NOT to do with sports or athletics of any sort. This new sense of the word “coaching” opened up a…

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5 min 0

Showcasing Style

Phone-a-Friend as a Service

You all remember that life-line from Who Wants to be a Millionaire, right? I called a buddy the other day. I was looking for some tactical advice on a matter he was quite well-versed in. During the conversation, I realized there was a fully separate…

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