So often when coaching I find that people get locked or stuck into a very polarized view of the world.  They see things as either ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ and this can really get in the way of good decision making.  An alternative is to use Implications Thinking where we include multiple perspectives or views of the problem and map these into positive, negative, short and long term.  Now more resources are available for us to make the best decision.  This approach is particularly powerful when evaluating options.  The question, “What are the implications if you decide on this option?” does a lot to support the person being coached to think through things in a much more holistic way, and get the best possible decision for them at the time.  I’ve found that it is particularly difficult to think in a judgemental way when asked to evaluate implications!

• How do you describe coaching to others? An approach I often use is not to tell them what I 'do' but to ask them questions(!) - well there's nothing like modelling coaching to describe what potential there can be in the relationship. For example something like below - this is really a picking list of statements that......
• What's Coaching when it's at Work Training leaders to use the coach approach is the next step for organizations embracing this concept. If coaching in the workplace didn’t exist, we’d need to invent it. Think about that. Over the last decade, the way people interact with their work and their employers has altered greatly. Empowerment, continuous......
• Coaching for effective delegation Delegation is a vital tool for Leaders and Managers both to get the work done and to develop others.  Here's a set of questions that might support coaching a manger on the topic of effective delegation Diagnosis What's your track record with delegation so far? Worked well? Not so well?......
• Coach Approach to 360° feedback Supporting colleagues in understanding and acting upon their 360° feedback report is a vital role in the development of leadership skills and competencies throughout an organization. Managers can very effectively support each other in all manner of ways; debriefing a 360 report is great example. Use your coaching skills; avoid leading &/or giving......
• Coaching Models–useful or not? Working recently with an organisation on advanced coaching skills I suggested that the only 'model' necessary for them was for the conversation to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. They had previously been drilled in GROW. After their 1st practice session the feedback was, 'we felt liberated' (by......

• Kitchen Tile Ideas When you're ready to design your kitchen, you have many different kitchen tile ideas to choose from. We all our want our kitchens to be a beautiful and stylish place to gather, prepare food and eat. But despite all the snappy kitchen tile ideas found in home improvement books, it's......
• Coming Up with a Blog Niche Are you beginning a brand new blog? One of the first decisions that you are going to want to make is where you want to put your blog, and then you are going to need to choose a blog niche. One of the best ways to get your blog started......
• Learn Options Trading To Hedge Your Portfolio In today's turbulent economy, many investors are hesitant to invest in the market because it is plagued with uncertainty. While some sophisticated and hopeful investors still have comprehensive investment portfolios consisting of mutual funds, stocks, and bonds, the percentage of investors who are trading on the market has declined significantly.......
• Financial Planning 101: What To Do with Sudden or Unexpected Cash? A friend and reader of this blog posed an interesting scenario to me this week.  One that I, or almost anyone else for that matter, would be rather shocked to see waiting for them in their email inbox prior to their ritualistic 8 AM cup of java. Matt - What......
• 529 Plans: How Do you Choose? I mentioned yesterday that I'm looking to give my newborn nephew a head start in his education savings. Having gone through a number of options, I decided that a 529 Plan was my best option. Unfortunately, a lot of research may be necessary to decide on the right state's 529......