When you read success stories it usually points to one of two things…

1. The success was in a very narrow field and all that person’s energies were focussed on that one area, or
2. The person was surrounded by a team of people that made the broader accomplishment possible.

Even so, a person can be at the top of his/her game in one area and a total washout in another. A typical line I often say during a group or individual session is,

“Everybody is absolutely brilliant somewhere…everybody is an absolute idiot somewhere”.

Human nature wants to put our brilliance on display and conceal our our less fortunate side. Coaching can helps us deal with This nagging internal issue. However, coaching is not for the weak of heart but for the ‘strong’! It takes a strong person to be able to say, “This is where I am not good…my nemesis…my Achilles heal”. But here is the good news. To be able to say it, own it, and do something about it, already means you possess the earmarks of a winner.

Coaching has the ability to objectively identify one’s strengths and weaknesses. It doesn’t just emerge from dialogue, but the use of assessments provide concrete feedback that gives the dialogue direction.  This is usually very revealing, creating those ‘ah ha’ moments that more often than not, validates what you both intuitively and experientially already know; and it is ever good to get that weight off your shoulders.

So lets address a few dichotomies to illustrate the point.

• Do you thrive on impulse and spontaneity? Chances are your administrative skills aren’t strong.
• Is logic your forté? Perhaps you have been told you are not all that compassionate.
• Are you brilliant with details and micro-management? Then someone may have accused you of not seeing the ‘big picture’.
• Is your best work accomplished when you are alone, without distractions? Then you probably don’t thrive on the energy of a brainstorming session.
• Has the the inner world of impressions and hunches been a guiding force within you? Then those you work with may demand documented proof before you act on them.

Even though the above may illustrate your personal strengths and weaknesses, reality is that both sides are strengths…yours and someone else’s.  Which ones yours are can be identified in coaching sessions, then you can be trained strategies to…

• Focus on and develop these personal abilities
• Understand the opposite side, and
• Manage relationships with those that differ from you.

So…why don’t you take the plunge. Have confidence to show your inner strength. Find a coach and let your path to success begin today!

I’d love to hear from you. Leave your comments below.

Being a strong believer in the objectivity of the assessment approach, I was able to walk them through the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) as well as the Strong’s Interest Inventory (SII) to begin to establish their personal career profile. One of them in particular, a male in his late 30′s, was sceptical with the assessments. His career in this Fortune 500 company as a Purchasing Agent was for the best paying employer in town. Unfortunately it could not provide him with long term stability. With his pay cheque soon coming to an end, he was at a crossroad in terms of what to do next.

I’ll never forget the day that I say down with him to go over his Strong’s Interest Inventory results. Very quickly he changed from an assessment sceptic to a believer. The number one thing that he always wanted to be was the exact career the Strong’s scored him highest in…a school teacher. Can you imagine, an aspiring teacher that wanted to instruct kids was sitting in an office of an international company purchasing supplies. All excited as a new career consultant, I was prepared to help him walk through this transitional journey. Maybe this company’s departmental shut down was a blessing in disguise, but then came the serious twist that changed everything.

After high school, he had gone to a highly reputable university and earned a B.A.. University was his first break from home. Dorm life became party central and his extracurricular activity ended up being more important than the reason he was supposed to at university in the first place. As a result, though he graduated four years later, it was with only a 68% average. In order to go to teachers college, he had to graduate with at least 80%. Later, during his purchasing agent days, intrinsically knowing what he really wanted to do, he had applied to teacher’s college and been turned down due to his low university average. His university lifestyle had squandered his preferred future away.

I wish the story had a happy ending. I’m not certain where he is now or what he is doing, but I do know that over the years he compensated this lost opportunity by being highly involved in the city’s athletic programs. He became very busy volunteering as coach of kid’s playing in a variety of sports, but the reality is, his career had gone wrong.

The choice of your future, your career and the preparation for it must be taken seriously…and the earlier the better. You can’t live one day, one semester, one term or one year at a time. As soon as you can…

• Choose your career wisely
• Study all you need to know about it
• Understand the benchmarks
• Let these keep you on track

Following this advice, you’ll reduce the odds of suffering a disappointment, lamenting like the gentleman in the true story above, “Had I only known!”

Do you have a career story of success or disappointment you would like to share?

Leave your comment below. I’d love to hear it…and others could learn.

In order to do this, you may have an understanding of all the components but will not be personally wired to do them all. If you are a great administrator, you are probably not a great marketer. If you are skilled at research & development and are a corporate visionary, you are probably not as adept at human resources and personal mission. But, in order to succeed, you need to grasp the frameworks of all four.  There is a strong probability that you arrived at being an Executive because the Peak Performance principles of where you function best have been well executed, but what do you need to do to keep you there?

In my post on Peak Performance I stated this:

The pieces are put together like a puzzle and out of this comes a clear picture of you…your preferred skills, tasks, roles…your work environment…where you fit on the team. This Peak Performance picture is valid and functional when identified and accepted.

As you read this statement, you quickly realize that the energy of the process is centered on you, as you embrace self knowledge and cognitively align yourself with the identified truths. Executive Coaching is the same in concept but flips that energy outward. Instead of helping you to apply the learned principles inward towards self, it helps you with the flow of that energy away from you at three levels:

1. Towards other people individually; each person that makes up the team

   Do you have a clear picture of where others fit on the team, and can you identify and draw peak performance out of them?

2. Towards other people corporately; the team itself as a unit

   Do you have a clear  picture of what the team needs in order for it to maximize it’s potential, and do you know which individuals  (#1) to put in place to make sure that happens?

3. Toward the business itself and its employees, which you and your team are leading

   Do you and your team (as a group) have a clear picture of where your organization is positioned, and where it is going, and either directly or indirectly have adequate knowledge of your employee base to make sure the best ones are positioned to move the organization forward?

Peak Performance coaching helps you to maximize your own personal potential based on where you fit and best perform as you inwardly strive for excellence. Executive coaching assists you,  making sure the energy of that same principle extends from you flowing outward to every level of your organization. This ensures you are striving for the same degree of excellence with your team and all those you work with.

If you are performing at your peak, the obvious questions are:

• Is your team?
• Are your managers?
• Are your employees?

If “Yes”…great……If “No”….what are you going to do about it?

Feel free to leave a comment or Contact me if you would like to discuss coaching sessions.

Peak Performance then is knowing what pieces or aspects of your person belong in the right spots, then increasing the proficiency. Further to this, it is knowing what aspects are not a fit, then doing one of two things. First would be to delegate that skills or ability to someone who is so gifted and proficient in that area. If however that piece could not be delegated, the second would be to learn from someone who does it well so you can adequately fill your role.

Peak Performance “Coaching” is objectively exploring and identifying what those pieces within you are. Some of you will know this intuitively…”I know I can do that well and it comes easy to me. Why do others struggle with it?” Others will be identified by the feedback of your peer group or team…”Would you please do this, you’re a natural at it. The rest of us agree that this is your strength.”

The other way of identifying your pieces is by using assessments that objectively measure several areas. A few of these are:

1. Behaviours
2. Abilities & Skills
3. Personal, Life and Work Values
4. Core Needs and Personal Anchors
5. Functions that gather information
6. Functions that make decisions
7. Learning Styles
8. Interaction Styles

When the assessment results are in, you and the coach have something concrete to “talk about”. It is out of this dialogue that the pieces become evident and the patterns emerge. The pieces are put together like a puzzle and out of this comes a clear picture of you…your preferred skills, tasks, roles…your work environment…where you fit on the team. This Peak Performance picture is valid and functional when identified and accepted.

Using this picture you can align your current employment to become the new, improved and more productive you.  Then you can work on your proficiency and speed. So ask yourself:

• Does my job fit my competencies?
• Is there latitude in my current position where I can increase my performance and productivity?
• Can I clearly identify my areas of comfort and discomfort?

If “Yes” then Peak Performance Coaching may be for you. If “No”, perhaps Career Coaching should be your priority so you can find employment with a better fit in order to maximize your potential.

Feel free to leave a comment or Contact me if you would like to be have some coaching sessions.

Murray

At the government level, we regularly hear both the opposition and press criticizing government overspending in the obvious areas. However, the largest waste of government occurs in the less obvious…not in the mismanagement and the opulent lifestyles of politicians, nor some of the “vote for us” programs. By far the single greatest abuse of tax payers dollars is the inability of leadership, management, teams and work groups to effectively work together as a unit producing positive results that bring a higher return on investment. It is the same in any work environment regardless of sector. If people can’t work together as a cohesive unit, the project slows down, personalities get in the way, poor leadership practices occur and the outcome falls short of the standard…and that costs a lot of money. When morale is low for extended periods of time, job dissatisfaction sets in, and the discontent is part of the reason that 30% of employees are always looking for another job…and replacing that employee costs a lot of money.

So how do you fix the problem? People, or Soft Skills training by qualified facilitators has been put on the back shelf for too long in favor of two other areas.

1. Concrete, hard skills instruction in technical & management practices, or
2. The purchase of the of latest overpriced technical equipment.

Though necessary, these come with the hope that better practices and machines will improve the situation. Lets rethink that for a moment by contemplating what is missing.

People and Soft Skills training will:

• Help people understand themselves and others
• Improve communication
• Identify the behaviors, skills, roles, and abilities of the staff in order to match the person with the need
• Teach the essence of what makes people tick
• Strengthen the character of each employee and,
• Enhance the group and team dynamics of those that are behind the practices and machines.

Ultimately, this can create and more healthy work environment with better outcomes, at an increased rate of productivity. Predictably, in such an environment, there will be that far less staff moving on to other opportunities resulting in thousands of dollars being saved in staff replacement and training.

Dollar for dollar this could bring you your largest return on investment. In this economy when money is tight, investing in your human capital could be the best decision you ever made.

If you have a comment or a story that confirms or suggests something different that this post, please feel free to leave a comment.

]]> http://www.lifeconcepts.ca/blog/are-people-soft-skills-training-workshops-a-good-investment/feed/ 0 http://www.lifeconcepts.ca/blog/getting-help-with-your-career-issues/ http://www.lifeconcepts.ca/blog/getting-help-with-your-career-issues/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:43:30 +0000 Murray http://www.lifeconcepts.ca/?p=401 So you need help with matters pertaining to your career?

I remember…as if it was yesterday…the day I had my first visit with this person who was to assist me in one of the most important decisions of my life.  I wasn’t completely leaving my former field of work, but I was very aware it needed to be adjusted implementing a fresh approach. Back in the fall of 1999, I knew who I had been, but really didn’t know who I would become, where I would end up or how I would get there. I was both afraid and excited at the same time.  So…

Who are you?

1. A student looking at career and university options
2. A frustrated employee needing a career shift
3. A person who has gone through the devastation of job loss for one of many reasons

There are a few names for people who can help you out and each name determines the approach that will be taken. The three main names are:

• Career Counsellor
• Career Consultant
• Career Coach

The Career Counsellor during overall process would look at and deal with emotional factors surrounding your situation focussing on matters pertaining to the “heart or values” of the matter. The Career Consultant during overall process would look at and deal with rational factors surrounding your situation focussing on matters pertaining to the “mind or logic” of the matter. The Career Coach during overall process would look at and deal with motivational factors surrounding your situation focussing on matters pertaining to the “action aspect” of the matter.

If you search the internet you will find all three but reality is that anyone helping you in your career path should be able to move fluidly between each one as your personal need arises, even though they may be stronger on one area more than another. Which approach is needed depends on your personal situation.

If for example you have gone through job loss through downsizing, you will probably need to deal with some of the anger or sorrow factors before you can move forward with the rest of the process. More of the counsellor would be required here. To try to take a logical or motivational path here would probably prove futile.

If on the other hand there is no emotional attachment to your current career situation, but you have no idea where to begin, then objective analysis of your position by assessing your skills, abilities, drivers, interests, core needs, resumes, interviews, market research, etc. would be in order. The objectivity of the consultant would be required here. To focus on emotional or motivational path here would be a waste of time.

Perhaps you are either over or have no emotional issues but all the objective work has been completed but you are having a hard time getting the drive to move forward to the next step of career discovery or transition, you would be in need of a cheer leader and accountability partner. This is where the Coach steps up to the plate and helps you with motivation. To try to move forward when there is emotional baggage or a lack of functional and process understanding would be futile here.

If you are dealing with introductory or transitional career issues, where should you go from here?

1. Take time to reflect…have a look inside
2. Take an inventory, and document it
3. Get feedback from those close to you

When you are sitting down in front of the one you have chosen to work you through the process, you can tell them exactly where you are and a good Career Counsellor, Consultant or Coach will know exactly where to begin.

So, what is your story? What has been your experience with a Career “Guru” of some sort? Do you really understand the role of such a person in your life?

I’d love to hear from you!