Archive for Coaching
Three Coaching Tips
Posted by: | CommentsIt is now official; the newspapers have announced that the world has entered one of the worst recessions in history. In actual facts, whether this is actually true or not is irrelevant, because what really matters is our perception of the economic downturn.
A few days ago, I was facilitating a round table at a Chamber of Commerce on the subject of “How to grow your business in an economic downturn”. We had fascinating input from the managers and CEOs who attended. And guess what the conclusion was? For most attendees, the actual impact of the economic downturn on their activity was relatively mild, HOWEVER, almost ALL of them said they were preparing for the worst in the future, and focusing all efforts on boosting their effectiveness ratio, by setting extremely stringent requirements for results with their employees, but also in their dealings with outsiders as well.
Problem-Solving: An Example of Changing perspective.
Posted by: | CommentsA Rabbi teaches his disciple. “Two men go down a chimney at the same time. One comes out completely clean, the other one dirty. Which one goes to wash himself?” The disciple looks at the Rabbi, thinks for a minute, then says: “the dirty one.” “Not at all!” says the Rabbi. “The dirty one, looking at his clean friend, thinks he is clean as well. The clean one, seeing that his friend is so dirty, concludes that he must be dirty as well and goes to wash.”
“Let me ask you another question” says the Rabbi. “Two men go down a chimney at the same time. One gets to the bottom completely clean, the other one dirty. Which one goes to wash himself?” The disciple looks at the Rabbi, totally puzzled: “You just told me! The clean one!” “Not at all!” replies the Rabbi. “The two men look t themselves, and the dirty one goes to wash.”
“Now one more question” says the Rabbi. “Two men go down a chimney at the same time. One gets to the bottom completely clean, the other one dirty. Which one goes to wash himself?” The disciple is lost: “I do not know, depending on your point of view, either or?” “Of course not!” says the Rabbi, “how can two men go down a chimney at the same time and only one of them remain clean? They are both dirty and go to wash themselves.”
Often, the solution to problems depends on the point of view we adopt. A problem-solving coaching style will promote the client’s ability to get out of his/her usual model of the world.
Reframes: The secret to problem solving
Posted by: | CommentsWhat are reframes? The process of reframing is shedding a new, positive light on a behaviour or pattern that is understood as negative.
For example, to a father who was complaining to him about his headstrong daughter, Erickson said that this was a quality which will be extremely useful when she grows up and can fend for herself.
How can you reframe how you consider some of your own behaviours?
Want to know more about the art of reframing? Contact us!
Why do we feel unhappy?
Posted by: | CommentsThis is a vast question, and many answers have been proposed. In 1957 Karl Jung hinted one possible answer in his book “The Undiscovered Self”. The Conscious Mind (that part of us which is rational, speaks in words and which we are aware of) takes us away from experience. The dissociation between the Conscious Mind and the Unconscious Mind (that vast, symbolic part of us which … you are not conscious of right now, but which contains the programmes behind our behaviours) is at the root of many human problems.
The logic of the Conscious Mind dissociates us from reality itself. The Conscious Mind attaches labels to reality and we become identified to labels, by the same token, restricting our flexibility and emotional and mental freedom. Example: I hate my job, but it pays well. Rationally, there is no reason to feel miserable, but I do. All the rational reasons (Conscious Mind) are here to be happy but emotionally, spiritually, (Unconscious Mind) I am not.
Hypnosis bypasses the critical faculty of the Conscious Mind to work directly at the unconscious, symbolic level by giving suggestions to the Unconscious Mind; if the Conscious Mind is the goal setter, the Unconscious Mind is the goal getter; when the two are aligned, we function at top performance; hence the effectiveness of Hypnotic suggestion in times of stress and confusion.