Management Coaching- how does it work?

I believe that as a coach my role is to bring out the best in you (and trust me it is definitely there!), to bring out that potential that is just sitting there and waiting to be launched and applied. Together we partner in “getting it out there” and focus exactly where you need that potential to go, generating the thought processes, commitment, plans and accountability in the direction you need them to go. It is not only inspiring- it is practical, it is not only movement, but progress to a goal worth going after.

We may work on a wide gamut of issues and challenges, never forgetting where we are going and what we want to happen when we get there. I like to call it a “partnership for your success”.

Inside Outside

What a great quote: "While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us." -- Ben Franklin

Old Ben lived and died over 300 years ago, way, way before any New Age guru started sharing "mass spirituality" and yet, nothing could be more spiritual in my eyes than this great quote. Great leaders and figures share great wisdom in different forms, different "brands" perhaps but the wisdom endures. What a guy was this Ben Franklin…

I ask you and I ask myself: how much effort are we putting into controlling what happens inside us and not just outside us in our daily routines, jobs and managing others?

And at times a Mastermind member needs to take a break…

Recently I received an e mail from one of the CEOs in the veteran DunetzMastermind group which I founded and have been running, now in its eighth consecutive year…
Parting is always difficult, but here is a way one of the other veteran CEO members put it in a return e mail: "…It was a pleasure having you with us and I believe that it will also be so in the future. In any case, he who enters our group is there forever, he can't leave, he just doesn't show up to the meetings."

I think this says it all..
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Dear friends,

It has been more than 2 years that I have been with you, two very significant years from my point of view.
After serving for 17 years in one place of work- rising to the position of a CEO of one of the corporation's subsidiaries, I found myself at a junction in my career, one in which I needed to make important decisions regarding my future path.

This group, the environment, this extraordinary group of people influenced me greatly over the last two years.
I found in this group a very heterogeneous mix of individual managers and business owners, some of whom may have very different views about certain subjects, who together, helped by superb and sensitive facilitation and management, offer a feeling of stability to each other.
I found myself sharing dilemmas and issues about 3-4 times during my period here, each time I was totally overwhelmed: by the openness of members, about the degree in which I was eager to share and open things up, and of course it goes without saying- what people had to say about it all.
I must say that I heard more than my share of "pearls of wisdom" that I am using today on a day to day basis.

Life takes us all on journeys to all kinds of places, I find myself today needed a break in the action.

I would like to thank each and every one of you that I was privileged enough to be a member of your group.

A special thanks to Ronnie, the mentor, the facilitator, the one whose hand steers and conducts it all. At times, he needs to discipline us when we revert to "misbehaving children" but he is always there to successfully bring us back to focus.

We shall meet again soon, all the best ahead."

C.

Just how powerful is storytelling in business?

VERY powerful… this short article is EXACTLY what I mean when I say storytelling- in its many variations- is really powerful in a business setting!
The more I hear presentations and people trying to make them, the more I am convinced that they are so far from understanding that a picture tells a thousand words and "painting a picture in a person's mind" does things a thousand times better!

Check it out:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3020606/dialed/nail-your-next-pitch-in-60-seconds?partner=newsletter

NAIL YOUR NEXT PITCH IN 60 SECONDS

WHY DID APPLE LOSE ITS HUMANITIES?

THE cASE CONNECTING THE LIBERAL ARTS TO TECHNOLOGY-EVEN IF YOU'RE THE BIGGEST COMPANY IN THE WORLD.

http://www.fastcompany.com/3020609/leadership-now/why-did-apple-lose-its-humanities

When I read this article recently I immediately flashed back to 1989 when my good friend and housemate, Chris Bell, and I developed a concept at developing workshops on "global education" in schools and social settings.
It was our hope to get support to teach kids to understand the world more and more from a "we" perspective rather than a parochial, "I" and "you" are different so I need to "outdo you".
Our short-lived fundraising networking tour took us to a place I would never have thought of "Apple", to be more precise, "Apple University".
We spent an entire day with two fascinating Apple-people, just talking about our idea, our vision, our backgrounds and our hopes.

It was really strange getting so much time from a hi-tech company and even more strange to figure out what was "in it for them".

After reading this article I can re-connect… Apple used to believe that technology does not live alone but it is engrained in the life, mind and culture of human beings.
That was 25 years ago… according to this article, it is no longer… too bad, I thought it was really a fascinating journey to somewhere different, one close to my heart and vision…

What is always under our control?!

I got a great quote in my inbox today, a Chinese proverb:" "You cannot prevent the birds of sadness to fly above your head, but you can prevent them to nest in your hair."

What is it that we can always control,  and I mean ALWAYS?....
It is of course our reaction to things, we can't control anything else, there has never been a person on earth who can control the future.
Let's remember that the next time something gets dumped on our head that we did not ask for and never would...

To get out of "we are alone"…

Copernicus was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a  model of the universe which placed the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the center.
And yet how often do we find ourselves thinking that "we are the earth" and everything revolves around us.
Well it just ain't so…sometimes I think we need to be reminded that our "4 corners" is really rather limited- if we open up to the fact that there is a "sun" out there we may learn better, faster and more from others.

Always on the the run…what about NOW?

It seems like we are always planning, figuring, anticipating and getting ready for something to take us a step to somewhere else.
Most of the time, however, we miss out on what is happening just NOW, seeing, hearing, relating to it----try looking at it a bit differently today and see what you find.
There may be some important insights just there in front of you- for your career, your job, your business and ….yourself!

Managers, listen up: learn relationships!

As one goes up the ladder of management technical expertise becomes a lot less important, knowing to communicate and build relationships A LOT more important.
This is a fact often overlooked by technical managers, about half of what we have in hi-tech, what a shame! We need you guys to be more aware of this earlier on, don't wait till your 45 and feeling like the "elder statesman", go out and build those relationships from the start. Don't know how to do it?
Drop a line, we will put you in the right frame of mind with the right tools real quick.
There is a huge price to be paid for those who don't get it- do you get it?