On a recent trip to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Williamsburg, Virginia, Steve and I navigated the perils of I-95 through NYC, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. The infamous hazards include texting drivers, constant roadwork, and more than a handful of multiple car accidents.

The 2007 movie “Bucket List,” starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson and written by Justin Zackham,popularized the term. In the movie, two terminally ill cancer patients race around to experience things they have always dreamed of doing and had never done.

Last week April Armstrong (one of our Justice Coaching Center coaches and consultants) and I attended four-day coach certification training on mBIT (multiple Brain Integration Techniques). Over the past two years, I became drawn to the notion (and subsequent research) that our complex neural networks operate in the heart and the gut as well as the brain.

Recently my husband Steve celebrated his 71st birthday. In 1995, my father died at the age of 71. I have a choice here – which filter will I use to live my life to its fullest? I could certainly choose to worry that my husband’s age has some weird correlation to my father, my father’s health issues, and my father’s genetics. Or, I could clean that filter and see my husband for who he is today. A robust, funny, cognitively sharp, energetic husband, father, and grandfather. I choose the later.

Every situation is different. Every person is different. Every organization and culture is different. Supervisors, managers and leaders need to be able to assess and determine the correct mode of intervention or support to effectively address the complex issues and relationships within an organization.  Supervision, mentoring and coaching are three divergent methods of support; each has value when applied in appropriate situations.

Put More Play in your Labor Days

By April Armstrong

I am recently back from a weekend “workcation” in Vermont, with my amazing colleagues at the Justice Coaching Center. Our mission? To devise a tactical approach to help hundreds of judicial officers in large court transition smoothly to new information systems with no disruption to the Court’s productivity. By Monday we had the plan.

What's Next?

Finding hope in chaos seems an appropriate exploration of the world that has me pondering, “what’s next?” I admit that recent national and global events have left me feeling somewhat down.

What does walking have to do with leadership? Plenty!

Having vision, being able to move forward, creating connections and exchanging ideas are all facets of effective leadership. One simple way to advance these assets is to walk.

Anyone who has ever owned and loved a pet is likely to believe that there is something unique and special about his or her pet. My husband and I are no exceptions. Yesterday we had a seemingly happy and ornery Shih Tzu, who, with advanced age was becoming just a bit bossier and righteous. And then bam, just like that she took a horrific turn for the worse. Bella was into her 14th year and became part of our family when she was eight weeks old. After an incredibly rough night trying to comfort both her pain and labored breathing, Bella left our care, our home, and our life.

Grieving is something none of us escapes in this life. It can strike us at any time and for any reason that has meaning, significance, and value to us. Kübler-Ross gave us a roadmap for the stages of loss including

I belong to an online professional community. Recently a member put forth an interesting question –

She asked, “if there were one piece of advice you could go back in time and give yourself at an earlier point in your career, what would it be?”

I waited and read the responses wanting to see if anyone would mention hiring a coach. Not altogether surprising, no one did (well, I did, finally). Thinking more about both the question and responses, I remembered having a conversation with a high-level executive who casually suggested that

Ok, now that I have your attention, I don’t hate golf. It is, however, a game I love to hate. Yesterday I made my first birdie (for those non-golfers, birdies are coveted). That alone will bring me back to the course where I will once again attempt to outdo my previous game.

 This blog is not about politics. It is a blog about leadership character. I am going to pose a question – What’s not to regard about President Obama’s leadership character? Unfortunately, many members of Congress have spent these past seven years trying to tear apart the core character of a man who has been steadfast in his service and stewardship. To date, he has shown up to work daily; been a present-day and loving father to his two daughters and, shared his respectful and enduring relationship with his wife for all of us to experience. Talk about leadership character.

Stages of Change Model and Coaching

Prochaska and DiClemente’s Stages of Change Model  is widely understood and used in the addictions and treatment community. I also find that the model has application to coaching in identifying areas where a coaching client may be stuck. I will attempt to demonstrate through coaching examples for each stage of the model.

In this newsletter, I would like to share an article from the New Yorker by Dr. Atul Gawande. He posits the question “should you have a coach?” Although highly skilled and expert in his medical career, Dr. Gawande is willing and open to coaching and asks a retired surgeon to go along with his experiment. We all have our blind spots; we all have great skill that has gotten us to where we are, and, we all need to continue the journey of navigating complex organizations and relationships to continue that success.

Coaching is a relationship. It isn’t always easy, and it isn’t always comfortable. In the right relationship it should be trusted, honest, and supportive.

Read on to experience Dr. Gawande’s journey through coaching. 

Teach your staff to fish!

We can customize training for your organization to enhance and improve the skills of your supervisors, managers, and leaders by teaching and certifying skills – add to the toolbox and realize the benefits instantly.

Coaching is gift and training your supervisors, managers, and leaders will change the conversation.

Leadership is Lonely

Whether you are new or seasoned in your leadership role, every day presents issues, options, possibilities and risks. Leaders with emotional intelligence work to build assets in staff, prepare them to be resilient and change ready in times of turbulence, and create environments that support work/life balance. These leaders care less about hierarchy and more about building a workplace where people bring their best selves each and every day.

If you are a leader who want to work with a coach in a confidential, focused and safe environment, contact us. A safe place to land doesn’t mean we won’t challenge you on your assumptions, ask you to think about and perhaps change or revise your mental models, push you to create innovative approaches and options. It doesn’t have to be a lonely journey.

Coaching is a gift. Give it to yourself or someone you care about.

A two decades long senior leadership team member was assigned to a new strategically important position. The transfer was perceived as a demotion and a message to move on. Through the coaching conversations, the senior leader was able to see it as an opportunity rather than a threat. By accepting the challenge, she developed her role beyond anyone’s expectation and increased her value to the entire organization. 

Leadership isn’t for the faint of heart. It is heavy lifting. Coaching provides leaders with supportive and confidential conversations to get clarity, identify and develop their options, and get the results they intend.