Category: Psychology

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…

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…

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…

“Being a gift” is an admittedly curious turn of phrase.  It’s one that I recall hearing back in my early days dabbling in what I like to call the “transformational arts”.  Here amid the holiday season when gift giving is so top of mind, let’s…

When your clients are up to ambitious things and making progress, you can easily give them a pat on the back that fuels them to keep going. It's a treat to be on the receiving end of such encouragement.

My father-in-law is a genius when it comes to being handy.  If there’s anything wrong around the house, I’m grateful to have him as my phone-a-friend and I always know with his help I’m in good hands and on the right track. Ever been around…

For better and worse, we are all at least partially driven by a desire to look good to others, or to at least avoid looking bad.  Because they trust and respect you, your clients are dying to look good to you. You can turn that…

Seeking to “look good” to others often distorts our behavior, and not in good ways. I heard a tale of school-aged twin sisters, one popular, one not.  They both knew their Shakespeare from home.  If teacher would ask a question to do with Shakespeare, the…

The tech industry is currently rife with acronyms describing business types ending in “aaS”, which stands for “as a Service”.  Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and so on. If you’re a coach, I humbly submit…

Coaches are often eager and willing to explore client feelings. That might be okay for psychotherapy, but that is not the path to giving great coaching.