Newsletters

Out of the Box: A New Year of Opportunities

Welcome to 2013 and a very Happy New Year to all of you!

We all know that with the New Year often comes a renewed hope for exciting opportunities, positive changes, as well as a sense of excitement of what lies ahead. Critical to creating or recognizing opportunities and changes is the willingness to also create awareness. Simply, AWARENESS = OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHANGE AND GROWTH.

With that said, we hope you will enjoy this issue's Team Talk article written by our very own Pamela Richarde.

Here's to a New Year filled with much joy, good health and amazing opportunities!

Out of the Box: Reflecting on 2012

We want to take a moment to express our gratitude and reflect on some accomplishments for 2012 before we jump headfirst into 2013!

We are grateful to...

• You our readers, licensed trainers, coaches, Facebook and LinkedIn contributors. Your enthusiasm for all things coaching and generous feedback is appreciated, don't stop!
• Pam Thomas, Marc Bowles, Mary Crowley, Dominic Scaffidi who gave of your time to support coaching skills training on our philanthropic side as a partner with LINGOs (Learning in Non-Government Organizations)
• Our wonderful partners at B.C. Health. Your continued advocacy for our Flagship 5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™ along with your suggestions for improvement AND your moving stories of how it is impacting Healthcare workers across the Province of B.C make what we do so meaningful.
• As 2012 comes to a close we are now at over 7,000 participants in over 37 countries who have experienced our Flagship 5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program.
• Wide scale coaching skill development in organizations continues to expand because of our ability to deliver our training in person and/or via our virtual classroom cutting edge technology. We are now working in the following sectors: Education, Health, Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Technology and Sales.
• B.C. Housing embraced our5/5/5 Coaching Skills Training Program™ by embedding it into their Leadership Development Program. Thank you Dian Paterson for your continued advocacy and passion for coaching!
• The Province of Saskatchewan has just begun to work with us in bringing wide scale coaching skill development to Healthcare . Betty, Susan and Andrew thank you for the faith you have placed in us and our team of licensed trainers!

We are so very grateful for the passion and enthusiasm by all the people we are fortunate to work with. Thank You!

On behalf of all of us a Coaching Out of the Box® best wishes for 2013.

Warmly,

Alison Hendren
MCC, Founder and CEO

Out of the Box: Play or Sit?

Life is a wonderful game to be played and not watched from the sidelines. That means we have to be willing to take chances and get in the game or we'll never know what it feels like to score a goal, sink a three-pointer, or make a touchdown.

OK, enough with the bad sports analogy. Think about it though, as coaches in order to challenge our clients to play a bigger game, we have to be willing to challenge ourselves. So, when was the last time you took a chance? When was the last time you threw caution to the wind and just went for something?

If your answer is, "I have no clue." OR"Gosh, I don't remember." Don't you think it is time you got off the bench and stepped into a bigger game?

To support you in doing so we want to share the following thoughts to ponder...

1. You have much more to gain than you do to lose. It's true, because if you go after what you want and get it, you gained. If you go after what you want and don't get it, you haven't lost anything - instead you have gained some knowledge, right?
2. Speaking of knowledge, every experience, good or bad is an opportunity for growth and learning.
3. When you allow fear to stand in your way, you are just handing your power over to the fear. We all know it is no fun being powerless.
4. Create some awareness around what holds you back. In creating that awareness you have the capability to remove the obstacle or jump over it.
5. If you follow your heart, you can't go wrong.
6. If you follow your heart, and someone thinks you are silly for it, that says more about them then it does about you. Besides, it really is none of your business what others think of you. It is your business what you think of you.
7. Did we mention that you have more to gain than you do to lose?

So what's it gonna be; are you going to sit or are you gonna play?

Out of the Box: A Child-Like Perspective

Have you ever watched a child pick up something and investigate it as if it were the coolest thing they have ever seen? They often explore what we might consider the most simple things with a wide-eyed curiosity and enthusiasm. It is a beautiful thing to see; to see a child so present in the moment, learning, and enthralled by the things surrounding them.

Isn't it true that as adults we sometimes get so lost in all the day-to-day that we sometimes don't see what's around us? We forget to be present in the moment, clouding our ability to see the great learning experiences and fantastic opportunities. Heck, we even forget to breathe!

How does the color blue suit you?

We can learn a lot from children. We can learn to slow down and be in the here and the now. We can learn to look at almost everything with a renewed enthusiasm and zest for exploration. Just because we are older and even wiser that does not mean we are too old to learn, too old to explore, nor too old to play.

It is our wish that you gift yourself (if only for the week) the curiosity and spirit of a child. Take time to stop and enjoy exploring your surroundings. Take a look at things through the lens of curiosity and see what you notice. The key is to be curious!

Out of the Box: Silence is Golden

Silence is a beautiful thing. Silence provides us with a break from all the buzz. It affords us some breathing space. It can be a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day. As coaches, it can be one of the most powerful coaching tools in our coaching toolbox.

You may have already noticed or experienced this, but when there’s silence there’s a natural urge to fill it. In the coaching conversation, when you use silence you give the other person the time and the space to reflect before responding. Think about it, you have asked that jewel of a question, a real eye-opener, what better way to highlight that question then to go silent?

We encourage you to give yourself the gift of silence in your conversations and take notice of what happens. Did the person you were talking to create a deeper awareness? Did they fill the silence with more information? What happened?

Here’s to the gold that is silence.