Throughout my daily life, I try to illustrate connections between great customer service and coaching. It's apparent when a company truly embraces what it means to have a great culture when you experience it consistently across an organization. I welcome the millennial stereotype of brand loyalty when it comes to working with or spending money with companies that move beyond simply "talking the..
The Progress Coaching Blog
Quit Role-Playing! Facilitate Positive Practice Sessions
The phrase "role-playing" universally tends to conjure up sighs, eye-rolls, and groans. Even though this is the typical case, can we all agree that we don't get better without practice? One of the reasons role-playing get such a negative connotation really has nothing to do with role-playing itself, rather it’s based upon how we give one another feedback.
Positivity Equals Productivity
Leaving little notes on your employees’ desks, taking 30 seconds out of your day to let someone know something specific that they have done that you appreciate, or calling a meeting just to let your team know that what they do is appreciated are all ways that positivity can drive a positive and productive workplace atmosphere. So what happens when positivity is missing?
Why People Avoid Conflict
When we have to do something associated with conflict and confrontation, people tend to get very squeamish and hesitant to even do so. But, in the meantime, they'll go off and tell others of their frustrations, resulting in "Water Cooler Talk"!
Feedback: How to change your business culture in less than five minutes a day
People in my industry, including myself, talk an awful lot about “Feedback.” To a degree that makes it seem like it’s this huge, daunting thing. It has gotten to the point where we talk so much about feedback and emphasize the importance of feedback to such a level that we forget one important truth. Rather than being a huge deal, or something to be afraid of, remember that feedback is a..
Teach Employees "How to Be Coached & Why": It Is a 2 Way Street!
We spend billions on leadership development, but what about the other side, the people receiving leadership and in this case coaching? What if we taught people how to receive feedback? What if we taught them skills to improve their "coaching reception" skills. This could include how to:
Feedback- How Important is it, really?
According to most of us in the field of coaching and consulting, we'd say pretty dang important. Feedback is a conversation, and just like a conversation, there's a give and take, a back and forth. Not only is delivery of feedback important, but one could argue how you respond to feedback is equally, if not more, important. Think of a moment where you have given someone feedback and they respond..
Conflict- Can't Live with It, Can't Live Without it
We all know that conflict can be divisive, but do we all know that it can, in fact, be constructive? Conflict is seen in every human experience, and it's honestly inevitable. It is how we choose to deal with and ultimately use conflict that defines our interactions and growth in the workplace. Check out this article published in the Harvard Business Review that outlines some of the important..
Dare to disagree
Disagreement isn't always a bad thing! One could argue that it is one of the most valuable traits to have in a successful business. There is one caveat: It has to be done professionally. In her TED talk, Margaret Heffernan shows us, good disagreement is central to progress. She illustrates (sometimes counter intuitively) how the best partners aren’t echo chambers — and how great research teams,..
Feedback- How to Deliver Honest, Yet Sensitive, Feedback
Feedback- It’s that word we dread hearing at work, right? Why do we feel this way about feedback, this immediate negative connotation with the word? Throughout our lives, we have received feedback, whether it was requested or simply bestowed upon us. So, with that logic, we should be used to it by now, even professionals at receiving it and giving it in the right way! The truth is, we still..