Welcome to the Future of Coaching
Having up-to-date information - whether from a book, a blog post, or your own internal reality, is the key to integration and growth. At Kalbrosky Associates, we are focused on access. We are dedicated to helping you gain access to the information you need in order to move forward. Chances are you already have everything you need ... you just haven't figured out how to unlock the door.
We are here to help you unlock your potential.
When a coach may help from Boston Globe
Posted on June 18, 2010 - Filed Under Executive Coaching, General Posts, Kudos, Leadership, Life Coaching
Carol Kauffman has a question for you: If your life could look the way you’d really like it to look, what would that be?
Depending on your answer, she’ll help you build on your strengths so you can pull yourself toward your goals, step by small step. She’ll also hold you accountable.
Although Kauffman is a psychologist, this is coaching, not therapy. Codirector of the new Institute of Coaching at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital, she is working to solidify the growing body of evidence-based research supporting the relatively new field that is often defined by what it is not.
“Therapy helps you overcome the challenges of the past and coaching helps you very clearly identify your vision of the future,” she said. “Coaching is a process of change that revolves around strengths and potential, rather than feelings of pathology and pain.”
There are executive coaches who encourage leadership, wellness coaches who help people become more fit, and health coaches who focus on preventing disease or coping with illness. And there are life coaches who step in when people are stuck, at work or in relationships. Moving forward is the mantra, in tune with positive psychology, which Kauffman defines as “the study of what is right with us and what makes life worth living.” Read more
New Decade and New Year
Posted on January 5, 2010 - Filed Under General Posts, Leadership, Life Coaching
New Decade and New Year
Today, Monday January 4, is not only the start of a new business year but a new decade as well. Whether you’re a top producer or on the bottom of your company’s sales board, whether you’re an old sales pro or fresh out of school, you start today, this year, this decade with the opportunity to create a completely new future.
Maybe 2009 wasn’t what you wanted it to be–that is certainly the case for a great many of us.
Maybe the 21st century hasn’t lived up to your expectations yet.
Put all of that behind you now.
Read more
Laser coaching
Posted on December 14, 2009 - Filed Under Life Coaching
Many busy professionals put off success coaching because they’re afraid of the time commitment. They fear weekly one-hour appointments stretching on indefinitely. Because of that fear, they miss out on the benefits of feedback from a professional coach on life, work and success issues.
Laser coaching removes the fear of long-term commitment. With laser coaching, clients hone down their concerns to one bite-sized piece that can be addressed in a single hour. Client and coach work intensively for one hour on that specific issue, and emerge with an action plan. No further sessions are necessary. Additional laser coaching on different topics can always be added without ongoing commitment.
Laser coaching works best in the following situations:
Situation #1: The client can narrowly define the behavior or obstacle and is clear about its impact. Because laser coaching has only one hour, there’s no time to dig into the past or uncover cause and effect. The client should come prepared with a clearly defined problem and objective. For example, a client who is fearful about pulling together a major presentation could meet with a coach to devise strategies for organizing and presenting the material, along with positive reinforcement techniques.
Situation #2: The problem involves interpersonal relationships such as a problem boss or a difficult colleague. Laser coaching can help develop skills for dealing with difficult people that manage conflict successfully. It deals with the here-and-now, not untangling long-standing patterns.
Situation #3: The problem is part of a larger issue that can be broken into smaller related pieces. For example, a client who fears public speaking may choose to deal with that fear over a series of laser coaching sessions spread out at her convenience as budget permits. One session might deal with techniques for speaking to a small group, while another session might cover body language and gestures. By breaking a big topic into smaller pieces, it’s possible to make progress without a long-term coaching commitment.
Situation #4: The client has one or two concerns but is otherwise confident about his/her life and career. If a client only needs help with one or two defined concerns, laser coaching makes sense as a time-efficient and cost-effective way to get results.
Situation #5: A client wants to check out a coach before making a long-term commitment. Starting with one or two laser coaching sessions is a great way to make sure you and the coach are a good fit.
By making coaching a defined project with a beginning, objective and clear end, laser coaching as a technique appeals to many busy professionals. Most importantly, laser coaching makes success coaching accessible to more people than ever before, helping professionals become more confident, productive and fulfilled.
Small businesses turn to coaches for guidance Entrepreneurs benefit from expert advice
Posted on October 18, 2009 - Filed Under General Posts
Thousands of coaches work in non-sports businesses, selling their services to mom-and-pop entrepreneurs as well as to corporate executives. Techniques and business backgrounds vary widely; however, almost all business coaches claim niches more personal and distinct from consulting. And, although some coaches found it tough going early in the recession, most report getting steady work in recent months as the nation and region struggle toward recovery. “We’re getting two or three new clients a day,” said Bill Dueease, a former coach and the Fort Myers-based president and co-founder of The Coach Connection, a matchmaker for people and member-coaches. “People are taking control rather than letting the economy take over.” Coaches say they serve as sounding boards and confidants for often-lonely business owners and executives. Read more
What Coaches Can Do for You Ask Harvard Business School
Posted on July 24, 2009 - Filed Under Executive Coaching, Leadership
For the first time ever, Harvard Business Review has conducted its own research into some aspect of business, in this case executive coaching. Despite the widespread use of coaches in organizations today, little is known about who coaches are, what they do, or how much they earn. The results of this survey, conducted with 140 experienced coaches, will appear in the January issue of HBR in an article co-authored by executive coach and Harvard Medical School professor Carol Kauffman and me. In addition, the related podcast is now available here:
Coaching has come a long way since the days when companies engaged coaches to help fix toxic behavior at the top. Today, most coaches are hired to help develop high performers, and having one is almost a badge of honor. That can be a mixed blessing. On the one hand, who wouldn’t want a coach? On the other, the experience may inadvertently result in overdependence on your coach - a situation that can in itself be toxic. But though coaches in our survey worried openly about the number of charlatans operating in the field, they were evenly divided about whether certification is necessary to ensure that coaches have the necessary skills to deal with such difficult issues as executive dependency, depression, and anxiety, which are more predominant than commonly thought. Surprisingly, perhaps, training as a psychologist ranked second from the bottom in the credentials that coaches deem necessary to be a good executive coach. Experience coaching in a similar setting emerged as the main qualification that coaches say companies should look for when hiring an executive coach.
Other important findings of the survey are that there is considerable overlap between coaching and consulting, and coaching and therapy, suggesting that coaching is a new area that still borrows a lot from other fields. What makes coaching different from therapy, though, and more like consulting is that coaching is a three-way relationship among the executive, the organization and the coach. That raises thorny questions of confidentiality. Despite the seduction of doing so, you may not want to turn your coach into a therapist as there may be unwanted organizational repercussions.
So where is coaching headed? Most of the respondents to our survey replied that the field is still in its adolescence and that it will only continue to grow in the long term, despite the economic downturn. To keep the field growing, however, coaches will increasingly need to provide hard quantitative data about their added value. To date, very little exists. That’s disconcerting when you think that it costs on average $500 an hour to engage a coach, about the price of a top-notch psychiatrist in Manhattan. Not small potatoes
To read the article What Can Coaches Do For You? visit hbr.org. Complete results from the coaches survey are available at coachingreport.hbr.org.
Leadership: Why we must teach it
Posted on July 24, 2009 - Filed Under Executive Coaching
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — We recognize great leadership and seek it. We appreciate great leadership and need it more than ever. Great leaders are rare and we struggle to find them. Today we face a shortage of exemplary leaders in all walks of life. This calls for the training, preparation and inspiration of the next generation for leadership. This must begin in elementary school. Leadership development should be a part of curriculum. Our task is not just teaching management skills but effective leadership. Greatness is up to the individual.
The financial debacle exposed failings of many CEOs in varied industries. Without vision, many abandoned responsibilities and ethics, driven by personal gain. Scandal among elected officials is too commonplace. These few have affected confidence in leaders in general and have a chilling effect on those seeking public office for the right reasons.
Our president works to project confidence and integrity. He inspires hope. Whether he can resolve the economic crisis is unknown. However, like Roosevelt before in such times, President Obama is a visionary, knowing optimism is key to holding off despair. While Roosevelt’s policies failed to completely resolve the Great Depression, he did inspire hope at a critical moment when people needed that most. Regardless of political persuasion or disagreement, leadership that instills confidence helps avert panic and hopelessness. We should be grateful for that at least. Together let’s establish a new age of reason by instilling the qualities we expect of the greatest in the hearts of our youth.
Read more
If it is good enough for Google
Posted on July 23, 2009 - Filed Under Executive Coaching
Everybody needs a Coach, says Google’s CEO.
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/schmidt-everyone-needs-a-coach/35310649
THE LEADERSHIP CODE: FIVE CORE QUALITIES
Posted on May 18, 2009 - Filed Under General Posts
“This book creates order out of chaos,” I explain. The authors, Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood and Kate Sweetman, synthesised hundreds of studies, frameworks, tools and interviews to discover the essential rules of great leadership. “They think of The Leadership Code as a ‘unified field theory’ of leadership.”
“Like The Da Vinci Code?” Jinda teases.
“You could say that this is The Da Vinci Code for leadership. The authors say leadership has two principal parts: the leadership code, and the differentiators. The code represents about 60-70% of what makes an effective leader. It represents the fundamentals or essence of leadership. The differentiators may vary by strategy, vision and individual job requirements. Mastering the code becomes the foundation on which effective leadership is established.”
“What is the code, then?”
I explain the five codes that effective leaders must live by:
1. Leaders must invest in themselves to be personally proficient. Effective leaders manage their physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual selves well. They learn constantly and deepen their insights about themselves. They are capable of quick, bold actions, as well as great patience. This is especially true in tough economic times when people look to their leaders for hope and confidence.
2. Good leaders know how to be strategists and can answer the question “Where are we going?” They test their big ideas pragmatically, and they work with others to find the path from the present to the desired future.
3. Effective leaders are executors. They ask: “How will we ensure that we reach our goal?” They understand how to make change happen, assign accountability, delegate appropriately, and make sure that teams work well together.
4. They are talent managers and engage people to get things done now, in a manner that generates intense personal, professional and organisational loyalty.
5. Finally, they are human-capital developers who build the next generation of leaders with the skills, knowledge, behaviours and attitudes for future strategic success.
“Do all leaders need to exhibit all of these abilities in equal measure?” Jinda asks.
“The authors say all effective leaders must be personally proficient. They must have integrity, they must be trustworthy, and willing to learn. In addition, most people tend to have a predisposition or strength in one of the other areas.
“For example, many frontline leaders have to be skilled executors and talent managers to get things done. But as they reach more senior levels, they must become proficient in all of the areas.”
“How do you evaluate leaders in Thailand according to the code?”
“I classify them in three groups: private-sector, public-sector, and political leaders.
“Private-sector leaders in Thailand are quite strong on self-investment, strategy and vision. They are executors and talent managers. But they’re not that good at human-capital development. There may be two causes: the shortage of strong human capital, and the fact that the leaders are too caught up in their own jobs.
“Public-sector leaders are good executors. But they are not so good at vision, engaging with talent, or developing future leaders and themselves. To give you an example, last year I offered an executive coaching service by waiving a fee of 900,000 baht to coach four senior officers in one ministry. After several meetings, they declined my offer. They said that even though they were interested in it, they did not have time.
“For political leaders, I think the majority are good executors. They are high achievers, but again, many are weak at vision, self-development, engaging with talent, and the worst part, developing future leaders. The majority invest heavily in relationship building and networking.”
“What else have you learned from this book?”
“I haven’t finished it yet. But the authors do propose several practical examples that you can apply in the real world. They also provide several tools and checklists to assess your current level on each rule.”
How Executive Coaching Enhances Leadership Skills
Posted on May 18, 2009 - Filed Under General Posts, Strategic Planning
In Challenging Times, Leadership Skills and Leader Development Matter
Posted on March 24, 2009 - Filed Under General Posts
The Duke Executive Leadership Survey examined the relationship between organizations’ financial performance and assessed senior leadership skills, and between financial performance and leadership development investments. The survey found that those skills associated with inspirational and ethical leadership were most strongly associated with organizational performance.
By James Emery, Sim Sitkin and Sanyin Sian
About Ira
Ira Kalbrosky is a 15 year veteran of the high tech sales world. His experience in your sales world, and his credentials as a Certified Coach make him the best choice to help you break through into your top performance ... professionally and personally.
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