The Coaching News

 The idea of a career coach sounds good. For a fee, an experienced person will help you develop and enact a professional, goal-oriented plan - like a fitness trainer for business. Depending on what you think, a career coach may not be much more than a mentor you pay to see. In some cases, you may find invaluable step-by-step advice from a coach. In other cases, a mentor in your field who can provide richer insights may be what you really want. So, what's the difference between these two and how do you determine if you want the help of either one of them? Coaches and mentors help in different ways Career coaches and mentors both provide you with experience, insights and ideas. However, they often serve very different purposes. Career coaches most commonly work with individuals hoping to make some kind of career change. They act more like guidance counselors and accountability partners to help professionals achieve changes they want to see in their careers. A coach may n...

I wasn't always the Admissions Director at Corporate Training. A few years ago, I was downsized, scared, and wondering where my next pay check was going to come from. Every week, I'd complete my unemployment paperwork and wonder what my next step would be. I spent a lot of time researching, and finally decided to make a really big (four-digit big) investment in coaching training. But I was still so nervous. Was I making the right decision? If you're in that knee-deep, buried in research phase...if you're thinking this whole coaching thing might be a bit "woo-woo" (it's OK to admit it, I totally thought the same thing back them)...I understand how scary jumping from research to "I'm ready to enroll!" can feel. Here are a few things I invite you to ask yourself, so you can feel more confident about your decision to pursue coach training, and, more particularly, your choice of school: 1. How do I plan on applying my coaching training? ...

One of the biggest misconceptions I hear from people when they are considering enrolling in the coaching training program is that they'll need to quit their job in order to have the time to complete it. They often feel overwhelmed by everything else going on in their life, they couldn't possibly fit one more thing in. Right? Not true. What's really happening when they say "I don't have enough time" is that they believe the time doesn't exist. Their thoughts (that time doesn't exist) and feelings (that they're already overwhelmed) overshadow everything else and sways their (lack of) action. Who's in control? If they could take a step back and see that their mindset is controlling their outcome, and that they actually have the power within to make a different decision! If you're exploring becoming a coach, and you find time to be a limiting factor, know that it's possible to make a few changes to your routine so you can get ...

You wake up, get dressed, and start the coffee pot. You eat the same breakfast that you do every day, say goodbye to your family (both the two and four-legged) and head out for the morning commute. Some time later, you're sitting at your cubicle, and you can't even remember getting there. It's like you blacked out the last two hours. How is that even possible? Simple: You went through the motions. The same motions you do every, single, routine day. Nothing about your morning was memorable enough to stand out in your mind. It's like you're living someone else's life instead of starring in your own. I know this story too well. For a while, I felt like I was living in the zombie apocalypse. Every morning, I'd be surrounded by a horde of silent, eyes-glazed-over zombies traveling to Manhattan from New Jersey. They were blank and lifeless, on their way to sit in their cubes and stare at their screens all day. Without any living, breathing life around them...

In organizations large and small, across all industries, creativity is considered a prerequisite for success.  In a 2014 Forrester Consulting survey, 82 percent of senior managers from a wide cross-section of industries indicated that creativity in areas of leadership, customer awareness, risk propensity, and collaboration leads to a greater market share and revenue growth. Yet only 11 percent thought their own organizations measured up to companies known for their creative practices. To get better at the kind of thinking that leads to cutting-edge R&D, imaginative problem solving, and breakthrough technologies, it's best to start with a definition. We talk about creativity in business all the time but what do we really mean? Often, we simply mean brainstorming ideas for new products and services. When people say they want their organizations to be more creative, they may think they're looking for Eureka moments. But what they really want is a way to drive game-chang...

The success of a sales organization depends on the quality of its leadership. Sales managers often need to juggle competing demands from supervisors, staff, and customers - while also meeting their own career needs.  Challenge: Creating a Sales Career Advancement Plan  Solution: Lead Yourself When you "lead yourself", you become the CEO of your assets. You are at the helm, guiding your career. To develop a career strategy, you must be certain of your professional purpose. Begin by asking yourself these questions: Why do you do what you do? What motivates you about your work? What gives you energy? What impact are you trying to have in the world? You answers should help you understand your motivation. Use this to identify your career aspirations, assess your strengths, and create a roadmap of your sales career strategy.  Take time to define and physically write down your one, three, and five-year career aspirations. Detail the actions you will take ...

Workers today are experiencing more stress, anxiety, and frustration with their careers than ever before. Many feel unfulfilled by their day job, restlessly unproductive, and emotionally unattached to their employer and coworkers. Unfortunately, the imbalance they feel in the workplace spills into their personal lives. They routinely sleep less than they should, their eating habits are all over the place, and regular exercise is practically non-existent. This isn't the life people dream of when they close their eyes and imagine their best selves. Work shouldn't be a source of frustration. The weight of office demands and the pressures you put on your shoulders to "succeed" can be overwhelming. And, when you're feeling burnt out, finding the motivation to complete just a small task on your To-Do list can be difficult. So how do you move beyond these crushing forces and toward a greater sense of fulfillment? Step 1: Recognize the lions. Our brains are ...

When your friends are battling an internal tornado, do they turn to you when they need to decompress and let it all out? If you've repeatedly found yourself in the situation of counselor, advisor, or trusted confident, know that you're special. Your peers and colleagues seek you out because they feel safe with you. They trust you and wholeheartedly believe that you're not out to judge them for their decisions, thoughts, or feelings. You help them find the clarity they're desperately seeking. Maybe, once or twice, after a heart-to-heart "session" with you, they pass along the praise... "You'd make a great coach!" The first few times you hear it, you smile, deflect, and wave it off. You didn't do anything special, right? The tenth time the compliment is offered - this time by a near stranger - you start to wonder, "maybe there's something here after all." Are you ready to take your natural ability to the next level? ...

Many people believe that you should only pursue coach training if you want to become a life or business coach. But, that's not simply the case. Any professional can benefit from coach training. In essence, coaching is the practice of helping individuals achieve their goals. A good coach not only helps people go from where they are now to where they want to go..he or she empowers people to be the leader of their own lives. There's no rule that this transformative process can only occur in a traditional employee-coach manner. Whether you have a team of employees, lead interdepartmental projects, or work individually with people, you can benefit from learning coaching philosophies. And, if you're one of the millions of professionals working with employees of all levels, coach training can be a game changer for your career. If you: Work in training and interact with employees on a regular basis Lead or facilitate career services Want to better connect and impa...

Many of the people I talk to on a daily basis want to enroll in coaching training but push it off because of money. Financial concerns are some of the most burdensome limitations we face and they come in many forms: I have a kid in college and their loans are going to starting to piling up. I'm swamped with bills. There's no wiggle room in my budget. I tried starting a business once but it didn't work out. I got laid off or I'm between jobs. I need to hold on to as much as my savings as I can right now. If I do this, I'll probably have to take out a loan...is it worth it? What's the ROI? What if I go through this training, spend all this money, and then nobody hires me? I understand how it feels to be at financial rock bottom. When worries like these are holding people back from enrolling, I can relate to where they're coming from on personal level. I live in a area that was devastated by Hurricane Sandy. In the wake of the storm, I fou...