Communication: The Foundation for Changing Mindsets

Communication: The Foundation for Changing Mindsets

January 24, 2016 | No Comments

The ability to communicate is THE most important life skill that coaches, teachers, and leaders of employees need to develop. Like any other skill, it takes practice. The three most important words for the success of any leader, whether it be a soccer team, a classroom, or a business, are communication, communication, communication. The best leaders have good communication skills. The motivational speaker, Tony Robbins, emphasizes that “to effectively communicate, we must realize that we’re all different in the way we perceive the work and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” So what does it
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Change Your Mindset to Them

Change Your Mindset to Them

December 20, 2015 | No Comments

If we invoke the K.I.S.S—Keep It Simple Stupid—principle, a simple mindset change at two levels—individual and organizational—can make a huge difference in our effectiveness as leaders, coaches, and educators. The first and most fundamental mindset change begins with the recognition that leading is not about you. It is about your ability to create an environment to maximize the abilities of those whom you are leading and their potential to be successful. The second level of the mindset shift focuses on the organization. At this level, the emphasis is on communication to create a common vision, which is a critical element
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Leading, Educating, Coaching, Change, and Learning: They are all connected!

Leading, Educating, Coaching, Change, and Learning: They are all connected!

November 8, 2015 | No Comments

We often consider coaching, teaching, and leading as separate activities. At their most basic level, all three are about taking someone to a new place. When an individual takes a journey to some place new, change is involved. To change, people need to learn. Helping others learn is about helping people engage their brains in what they are doing. Therefore, using an approach that integrates the best practices for helping people learn should improve one’s ability to lead, coach, and teach (i.e., to influence their development). I refer to this as educating, coaching, and leading with the brain in mind.
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Change Your Focus

Change Your Focus

September 3, 2015 | 1 Comment

It has become increasingly clear to me that for any of us to maximize our effectiveness as a coach, leader, or educator, we need to change our mindset to focus on the needs of those we lead. As John C. Maxwell, a nationally recognized author on leadership, points out, “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” Changing our focus away from ourselves and towards others simplifies the challenge of leadership. Drew Dudley’s 2010 TEDx Talk in Toronto highlighted the capacity that every person has to be a leader, and influence and change
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My Journey – Lessons Learned

My Journey – Lessons Learned

September 3, 2015 | No Comments

Looking back over the last 30 years, I have been on an incredible learning journey, as a leader, coach, and educator. I have done some things well, and some things that I definitely would have done differently if given the chance. For me, I have difficulty distinguishing the difference between coaching, leading, and teaching, as they all have the common theme that they are about influencing others at a variety of levels—to help a person or a group get from where they are now to someplace new. I will often use the word “leader” interchangeably for the other words. Over
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