My theme for this Monday, given the weather outside is “What’s your umbrella?”
Can you believe the weather for August? We had a rare day of sunshine here in Nottinghamshire yesterday which was beautiful as I was with a group of family & friends at the wonderful EdenHall Spa. Good to take a day off, enjoy sunshine, friendship & fun.
And it’s back to work & the rain this morning, however it’s making me thoughtful & ready for action rather than anything else –and I hope it will make you feel the same way when you work through this…
I was thinking about the weather and the umbrella as a tool we use to help manage it. And, it’s a useful tool for that situation (unless it’s just too windy, of course : ) )
An umbrella is something that helps keep us dry, safe & protected in the context of the weather. In the “wider” context an umbrella is often an overview, or a bringing together of many themes into what is most important to you.
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So for instance, my umbrella is EFFECTIVENESS. And my spokes, or themes, are
Helping coaches be more effective when they start out by supporting on Vision, Goals & Action
Helping coaches be more effective at coaching with supervision
Helping professionals be more effective through career management & career transition coaching
Helping small business owners be more effective in their relationships with their customers through customer focus coaching
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And in the same way that sometimes with your umbrella you’ll need to move angles to be most effectively protected from the rain, sometimes you’ll need to focus on different elements within your business, to help you move them most forwards.
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Action Challenge for this week:
1. Write yourself a list of the different projects or coaching themes you work on.
2. Brainstorm what the key theme or themes are that link them all together. This is your umbrella coaching theme
3. Test your hypothesis against the original list. Does it describe how you work?
4. Brainstorm what this understanding has brought to your coaching. Does it give you ideas for new products & services?
5. Let me know how it worked – leave a comment at the Grow as a Coach blog
http://fabulouscoaching.typepad.com/growasacoach/
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2 Question Research: Will you help me?
I know as small business owners you CAN help me – will you spare 5 minutes to answer 2 very quick questions? I am launching an exciting new focus soon on Customer Service & Customer focus, & welcome your input.
You can take the questionnaire here – do feel free to send on the link to any and all small business owners you know!
PS – On question 2, I am looking for information on Customer Service as well as working with your customers in general!
The link is below
http://www.assessmentgenerator.com/H/cRcoachclaire1218791886.html
