Posts in Business Coaching
Tis the season - of change and growth for the good

Use your strengths to work on your weaknesses

When you know your strengths, go in the opposite direction for growth. That means gently pushing towards your weaknesses, using your strengths as your basis, as your foundation.

For example, if you are big on doing things right all the time, allow yourself some slack but also keep doing (most things) right. OR- if you want to grow in your relationships and you are good at listening, try sharing and being more vulnerable for growth, at the same time, still asking good questions and practicing active listening.

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No Burnout! - Holiday Season Prevention

PAST: Remember the past and be grateful, PRESENT: savor what we have in the present and FUTURE: anticipate the good things the future holds with hope.

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Do you have two or more careers? Do you want to have this? Read on!

A slash is someone who has more than one career and usually at the same time, and who perhaps has made a second career out of a hobby or passion.

A slash can transition you from one stage in life to another or it can accompany your other career through most of your life.

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Back to work?

I have just had a holiday. It’s been great, but at least for me, returning to the job can sometimes be difficult. Returning to work can be emotionally - and even physically difficult, especially if you have really had a mental break from your every-day schedule, as I have had. It can feel like you are a deep-sea diver coming to the surface again, facing a foreign world from where you have recently been. Resurfacing and getting back in the saddle, to mix some metaphors, are tough.

Start on a Wednesday, or even Thursday- or do a “fun” thing first

I restarted last Thursday.

Make your first work-week lighter by only working a few days, or perhaps schedule something “fun” first, such as a training day, or a team building day where you have no choice but to ignore your email list. This time I only focused on the deadlines

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What a great time we had - NETWORKING!

Networking can get you referrals.

Your best referrals will mostly come from people you know and I basically work from referrals. (former clients and present onew, remember to refer me, please)

To find more people who will refer you, will have to grow your network.

A web presence is nice, but, that’s where your referrals go to check you out” after your name has come up. A website is not usually used by clients and customers to” find” you. They get referred, instead.

Thus, you need these ten tips for good networking practice.

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Happiness is possible, it really is

How is happiness attained?

1. In a job well-done (and if at all possible, within the time and financial constraints)

2. In (finally) reaching a goal

But also in:

· Healthy activity for mind, body and soul (and all the underlying goals to be reached)

· Good (safe, fun, reliable) relationships where I can be myself and share myself

· Doing good to others, especially “strangers” (no kidding!)

· Being grateful for the past, savoring the present and looking to the future with hope

· Being happy about your job and what that job contributes to “the greater good”

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Do what you can - and follow these steps

Ury’s 6-Step Model:

1. Put yourself in your own shoes

2. Develop your inner BATNA

3. Reframe your picture of the situation

4. Stay in the Zone

5. Respect them, even if…

6. Give and Receive

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Fall Cleaning Ideas (for success)

How are you getting ready for the fall?

Are your emails paired down and ready for responses? Do you code/color-code them for “triage” and potential clients?

What about your to-do list(s)? Do you keep your old lists to make sure you haven’t out something under the pile of papers for too long?

What is your calendar like?

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September Reflection Questions

this gives us all a chance to think of how to make our working environment more positive, in general. Maybe I can be a friend so someone (unfortunately my work “best friend” recently retired, and now I would like to find someone, which isn’t always easy, as it is chemistry, etc.)- so, I wish you a god time reflecting and moving forward at work.

Finally, maybe you are still under lockdown or afraid that it will happen again at any time, if this is the case, what on the list can best help you deal with that uncertainty. Learning to deal with the uncertainty in life is the best we can do at this time.

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How are you coping with the continued uncertainty?

How can we go into the fall with a calm and resolute heart to move forward positively?

First, decide not to decide (too much).

For sure, we need to keep moving.

Also, keep on planning.

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MY list of to do's - what's yours?

Downsizing at the beginning of the fall/school year is a god thing (I will be doing this later, but for us here in the Argovian countryside, school began this morning).

Sometimes it’s time to downsize and also to look in new directions in our life. Maybe it’s time to make a list or two to remember what’s really important.

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Holidays are healthy! Take one!

Have you got time for some holidays? Have you made some time for R&R?

or

Are you skipping vacation? (again!?!)

Although we are taking less vacation than our normal time away, we will still have some holidays. How about you?

The temptation is to keep on working, or even work while on holiday

Many of us are tempted to skip our vacation, or at least check out work emails daily (hourly?) while away. After all, nobody wants 1,000+ emails to go back to work to.

But psychologists have found it vital for our health and well-being to completely “shut down” for a while, even if it’s a 48-hour break from emails, and a change of pace and scenery.

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Need help with your Job Search? Check your CV? Here are a few tips:

CV Check

Job Search

Change

Transition

How are you doing? What are you doing?

Here are some tips for your job search.

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What do you value? Make a list!

Our values are important and following them is one of the keys to success (and even happiness).

When our actions (and words) come into alignment with our core values, life is generally good, and we feel content, confident and satisfied. But when our behaviors don’t match up with our values, we soon begin to experience a sense of uneasiness and discomfort in our soul (mind and emotions). We are not living out of authenticity. We are not full of integrity. We need to know our whys, as Simon Sinek says so well.

Making a deliberate and conscious attempt to identify which of our core values are of greatest importance to us, is crucial if we are to keep your anxiety levels low and our sense of self-awareness high.

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How to change your mindset: STOP and be SOBER

In conflict and stressful situations…

When you say, write or do something you want to take back, what can you do?

Be humble

Admit your fault

Apologize sincerely

Start again anew

All this is good, but it may not change long-instilled negative patters.

When you want learn to change your negative responses, what can you do? You can STOP and be SOBER.

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Are your "people" Gen Z? The next generation is up and coming!

Gen Z

Zoomer

Post Millennial—

· Ambitious, Digital Natives, Content-oriented

· Like comfort and flexibility

· Curious and open

· Socially and politically aware and active (but not in traditional ways)

· Start-ups and side hustles are the name of the game (and financial independence is the goal)

· Want their freedom

Does this fit your picture of the Zoomers you know?

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Good Communication Skills take work and a clear message

What makes good communication? It’s complicated to communicate, but it’s do-able.

Good communication is askill and art to be learnedthrough practice, knowledge and sometimes, through coaching.

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Let's have amore circular (economic) world

Are you part of a circular (or sharing) economy? Do you want to learn more about this and the research behind these concepts?

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Are you an Optimist? Great! If not, here's some help:

I am reading a book called, “Useful Delusions”, which talks about how our mind plays tricks on ourselves to help us be more resilient. One of the research-based sections is on optimism and how optimists live longer. Sorry for those of you who don’t use your rose colored glasses very much. Dust them off and try to remember the positives in life and be grateful for them. Here some ideas: Be grateful, stand like Wonder Woman and smile more often.

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How we are easily persuaded and manipulated (research-based)

When I teach negotiation, I pull out the Six Principles of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini (a professor and sociologist) and we discuss two things: the students’ own experience with being persuaded (or not) and how they might use these principles in negotiations and at work, in general.

Here are the big six:

· Reciprocity

· Scarcity

· Authority

· Consistency

· Consensus

· Liking (people)

Let me explain each one and how they may be used “against” you to be persuaded and even (gasp) manipulated.

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