Author: Pam Solberg-Tapper

When I work with my coaching clients, we discuss the power of expressing consistent appreciation to others. Most people value appreciation and yet do not get the appreciation they feel they deserve – be it employees, associates, customers or family members.

Here are 3 tips for giving effective appreciation to others:

1. Be sincere – when you are genuine, you will have a positive impact on the receiver

2. Be specific – use these two questions to give more effective appreciation:

What do you like, admire or respect in the other person?

Why do you feel that way?

Then state the accomplishment, achievement, trait or quality you have evidenced or observed.

3. Be brief – too many words dilutes the impact of the message. Being clear and succinct will have a more positive effect.

Who deserves your sincere appreciation today?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark entrepreneurial business leaders to set strategy, take action, and get results. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330

Many of my coaching clients have me help them with overwhelm. They have too much to do and not enough time to do it all. Balancing work, family and other obligations stresses them out. They feel like they are always rushing. Does this sound like you?

I came across a helpful article regarding this by Joe Robinson in the November 2010 Entrepreneur Magazine entitled: Tick, Tick Boom – Time Management Tips for Entrepreneurs.

Joe talks about “time urgency” – a stressful behavior that focuses on the scarcity of time. He gives a number of practical tips to manage “time urgency”. Here are some that may be helpful to you.

Reframe the panic – Understand that it’s not the clock or the deadline that’s causing the stress but what you’re telling yourself about the stress.

Do speed checks – Look for the signs when you’re racing. Take a deep breath and deliberately slow down.

Cut clock-checking by 75% – Watching the clock wastes time and increases overwhelm.

Take time to get more time – Spend 15 minutes each morning to prioritize and organize your most important tasks for the day. Prioritizing and list-making tells your brain you’re handling things.

Be realistic – Time urgency breeds overoptimistic deadlines. Change this by adding 20% more time when you estimate how long a task will take you.

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark entrepreneurial business leaders to set strategy, take action, and get results. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330

Many of my coaching clients have trouble delegating. It’s an essential skill of managers and leaders because delegation frees up time as well as develops people.

Here is a simple 5 step delegation model to assure what you delegate meets your expectations.

1. Identify the need – What are you doing that someone else could do? What gaps need to be filled? What is important that is not getting done?

2. Identify the person – Who has the appropriate skill set? Who needs to be developed?

3. Meet with the person and partner to create the delegation plan

Let them know why you chose them

Communicate what entails a successful outcome

What are the non-negotiables – budget, time, new equipment, people resources?

What are the performance standards/expectations?

At what milestones/dates will the person report back progress to you?

4. Have the person implement the delegation plan

5. Follow up with support and coaching

Be sure to check-in if milestones/dates are missed

Acknowledge a job well done as appropriate

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark entrepreneurial business leaders to set strategy, take action, and get results. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330

At our last week’s coaching session my client was stressed by a decision she needed to make. She couldn’t decide if she should go ahead with a project or not do it. Both solutions caused her angst. If she went ahead with it, she felt that competing work demands would interfere with this project’s success. If she didn’t go ahead with it, she felt that she would miss a great opportunity. Her thinking was very black or white – either yes or no.

Through our coaching conversation, she realized she had another option – “yes, not now”. With this option, she decided to begin the project in 6 months instead of at the present time. Her stress level diminished because she had a strategy that felt doable.

What about you – when is “yes, not now” the best decision?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark entrepreneurial business leaders to set strategy, take action, and get results. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330

During a recent coaching session, my client and I discussed how the principle “a body in motion stays in motion” could assist her in getting her project completed.

We set up a plan where she worked on a specific aspect of the project each day until it was completed. She came to the realization that she was much more efficient in doing small sections of the project daily rather than trying to tackle big sections intermittently.

She learned that it took too much time and energy to get reoriented to where she left off after too much time had elapsed. It felt “jerky” – like she was always starting over. So she stuck with it to keep the momentum.

How about you? How do you stay in motion?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark entrepreneurial business leaders to set strategy, take action, and get results. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330

During a recent coaching session, my client was overwhelmed and stressed because of all of his responsibilities. He said his shoulders felt weighted down, like he was carrying a heavy backpack.

I asked what he would like to accomplish on our call – emphatically he stated he wanted to get things in his life sorted out. I asked “How would you like to go about doing this?” After a moment he replied, “I want to unpack my back pack. I don’t even know what’s in there anymore.”

So that’s what we did, unpacked and prioritized what to do with the items in his backpack. At the end of our session, he had focus and an action plan. This made him feel lighter and under control again.

What a great metaphor – “Unpack your Backpack”

What’s weighting down your backpack?

What’s your plan to unpack it, focus and take action on what’s in there?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark high achieving business leaders to get on fire about their lives, develop their leading edge, be extraordinary and do great things for their world. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com or LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/pam-solberg-tapper/13/600/745

Being succinct is a communication skill that many of my coaching clients try to master. In today’s business world it is imperative to be clear and concise. Your message needs to get across with the desired effect in the least amount of time possible.

Here are 3 tips:

1. Stick to the facts. Avoid drowning the recipient in nonessential detail.

2. Use fewer words. It may be hard to tell what your point is if you ramble. Also, the recipient may decide not to read (or listen to) what you are trying to tell them if it is too long.

3. Be Credible. Know your objective and the main points of what you are communicating. You show a higher level of professionalism when you state solid evidence versus just giving your opinion.

Your thoughts?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark entrepreneurial business leaders to set vision, take action, and get results. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330

Successful people are those who have a Vision. They are fulfilled because they are living a life by their own design. They accomplish more in less time because they know where they are going.

Here are 3 Coaching Tips for Creating Your Vision:

1. Begin with the End in Mind. In 5, 10, 20+ years from now what do you want to accomplish in your life? What are your aspirations? What do you want? When do you want it? What will you take a stand for? What is your purpose? Your legacy? Then, center your priorities and activities on your vision and what is important to you.

2. Focus. Think about what you want, not what you don’t want. Guard your thoughts carefully because they create your experiences.

3. Set milestones. Create markers or steps along the way to assure you are on track. Celebrate small successes to keep your motivation high.

As the adage goes, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else”.

What is your Vision for your life?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark high achieving business leaders to get on fire about their lives, develop their leading edge, be extraordinary and do great things for the world. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com or Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/pam-solberg-tapper/13/600/745

Metaphors are powerful tools for your coach’s toolbox. A metaphor is defined as a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common. With few words, metaphors instantly convey a picture which captures the essence of what is being said. They are particularly effective to shift a thought pattern or evoke more clarity in a situation.

Metaphors take a little practice and are really fun when you start using them. Just trust your gut and blurt them out. They don’t need to be profound or make sense – your client will naturally modify it to fit their situation.

I had a coaching client that was feeling stressed and overwhelmed. I asked, “Your life is like a piano, what tune are you playing now?” Immediately she focused and realized she had control over her situation.

Here are some examples of metaphors that you may want to try:

• It sounds like you are stuck in the muck
• You are focused like a laser
• You’re jumping in the river and are going down the rapids
• Why not soar like an eagle?
• Your situation is like a marathon – take one step at a time
• Sounds like you hit a bull’s eye

What metaphors do you find effective?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

Do you try to be perfect? Or do you try to be your best?

If you think about it, there is a vast difference between being perfect and being your best. Perfect infers being faultless or flawless – while best infers being finest or greatest.

It took me a long time to shift my thinking to realize that perfection isn’t possible. When I try to be perfect, I waste time and get bogged down with paralysis by analysis.

Instead, striving to be my best keeps me in motion. When I do my best, I am satisfied with my efforts because it is dependent on my own ideals.

As one of my coaching clients summed it up with this maxim, “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is your best.”

What do you think about “perfect or best”?

For more resources, see the Library topic Personal and Professional Coaching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam Solberg-Tapper MHSA, PCC – I spark savvy business leaders to fire up their cutting edge, be extraordinary and do great things for their world. How can I help you? Contact me at CoachPam@cpinternet.com ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330