Author: Pam Solberg-Tapper

The strength of your relationships is critical to your professional success. My coaching clients find value in Relationship Maps, a tool to help them cultivate and enhance important relationships. The Relationship Map serves as a dynamic visual representation to assess relationship gaps.

You can create your map by placing your name in a box in the middle of a blank sheet of paper. Add boxes around yours and label them with the names of people, companies, customers, vendors, associations, etc. that that are important to your success. These could be people or entities that you do not know yet but should be part of your circle of influence. Draw straight line links between yourself and the person/entity to represent your relationship with them.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I need to do to start relationships that are important but not yet in place?
• What do I need to do to strengthen existing relationships?
• Are expectations clear between us?
• How will I benefit from them and how will they benefit from me?

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

Coaching is about change. Clients are attracted to coaching because of the emphasis on taking action and being held accountable. They may be competent and successful in many areas of their lives, but there is a situation where they can’t seem to make the changes they desire on their own. The coach enhances motivation, action and compliance by asking: “What will you do? By when? How will you let me know you did it?”

In addition to forwarding action, the coach helps the client deepen their learning about themselves and their circumstances. Clients learn from the actions they take or don’t take. The coach will ask questions such as: “What did you learn about yourself from this situation? What would you do differently next time? How can you apply this insight to other areas of your life?”

With forward action, there is movement, results and accomplishments. With learning there is self awareness, self reliance and insight. If the coach only forwards the action, the client will get burned out. If the coach only deepens the learning, there is nothing concrete for the client to act upon. Working together action and learning creates a successful coaching experience.

In what ways do you forward action and deepen your learning?

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

This Blog is By Kathie Allen, CPCC, ACC – Guest Writer

As a coach, it has often occurred to me that my clients are afraid to “want” things. They live in a place of wishing but they never take action to go after it.

What is it that you want? What do you want to “Have? Be? Do”? Make a “bucket” list of your desires! Identify those things that will add depth to your life and life to your years so they have a chance to become a reality. Find a friend (or a coach) to record all the things you want to “Have, Be, Do” as you speak. Tell the truth! You will be surprised at what comes out of your mouth.

I encourage my clients to categorize the most important things on their lists, and begin to take action to make those dreams become reality. I check in with them frequently to see how they are doing. And you know what? They make most of those dreams come true!

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

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

Kathie Allen, CPCC, ACC – Professional Life and Leadership Coach. Kathie loves to work with people who believe in the greater good and those in search of deeper meaning for their lives. Contact Kathie: 218-326-9267 • insight@paulbunyan.net

This Blog is by Kathie Allen, CPCC, ACC – Guest Writer

Recently I was coaching a client who was overwhelmed with work and wholeheartedly believed that “quitters never win.” I asked her/him, “What are some valid reasons why someone would quit any of the work s/he is doing?” “Well,” s/he said, “if you aren’t any good at what you do, then I guess that’s a reason. And, if what you are doing doesn’t fit who you are anymore, then that would be a good reason to give it up. And, if someone else is better at it than I am and I don’t enjoy my work anymore, then I could resign.” When s/he heard her/his words, s/he spoke her/his truth immediately: “I’m afraid that if I let go, someone will judge me for that action. Mostly I will judge myself for quitting!”

What about you? What are you holding on to that no longer fits? What are you doing that you aren’t very skilled at or isn’t your passion but you’re doing it because you think you have to?

Clarify for yourself the things you do well, the things you are passionate about, and the places where you make a difference and feel alive when you engage in them. Then set out to do them. Leave the things you don’t do well to someone who can. Don’t rob them of the chance to contribute to what they do well.

What do you really want to quit? I challenge you to do so as soon as possible! Your stress will be reduced, and you will begin to live from a place of passion and peace as you pursue work that is a great fit.

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

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

Kathie Allen, CPCC, ACC – Professional Life and Leadership Coach. Kathie loves to work with people who believe in the greater good and those in search of deeper meaning for their lives. Contact Kathie: 218-326-9267 • insight@paulbunyan.net

As I work with my coaching clients, I realize that most people do not routinely reflect or evaluate their progress – unless it is performance review time. I created this simple feedback tool called The 5 Minute Weekly Review to provide a structure for insight, learning and improving performance.

The 5 Minute Weekly Review

• What went well?
• What went poorly?
• What would you have done differently?
• Next week – what will you do more of? Less of?

As you try out this tool, what would you include in your weekly review?

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

My coaching clients often ask, what is the difference with working with an internal coach (an employee) or an external coach (an independent contractor)? Here are a couple considerations to keep in mind as you make the decision to hire a coach.

1. Clients tend to talk more freely with an external coach than with someone within the organization. An external is “unbiased” while an internal may be influenced by the goals, politics and culture of the organization. For example, it is very common for senior management to “open up” only to an external coach due to the sensitivity of issues they are working on. No matter how well self managed the internal coach may be, if the focus of the coaching is on strategic issues, executives may not feel free to discuss them.

2. Be sure to have a clear agreement upon how coaching information will be exchanged among the client and sponsor. For purposes of identification, the International Coach Federation defines these roles as follows:

• Client: The “client” is the person(s) being coached.
• Sponsor: The “sponsor” is the entity (including its representatives) paying for and/or arranging for coaching services to be provided.

3. An internal coach may have access to organizational resources that could enhance the coaching. They may also be more available between coaching sessions for extra support.

4. The external coach may have broader range of experience as they often work with many different organizations.

5. This does not have to be an either/or situation. Many progressive organizations choose to use both internal coaches and external coaches in order to provide best match of coach for the client as well as the objectives of the coaching engagement.

What do you think?

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

Have you ever noticed that the day before you leave for vacation is your most productive day of the year? From my perspective here are some reasons why we become “super efficient”. I suggest these strategies to my coaching clients who are getting ready for vacation – I trust they will help you, too.

Focus on essential priorities – create a sense of urgency to only focus on the things that absolutely need to get accomplished

Delegate or ask for help – find ways to get assistance for tasks that you cannot accomplish alone

Reschedule the non urgent tasks – tasks or meetings that are non-essential are slated for a later date or cancelled entirely

Understand the finite nature of time – respect your time – no procrastinating, “busy work”, reading junk emails, extra phone calls or unnecessary searching the web

Use block time – utilize uninterrupted periods of time to increase your efficiency

Have a plan – have a “do list” to follow – either on paper or in your mind. It is your “blueprint” for completion of the essential tasks

What do you do the day before vacation?

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

A common theme that emerges with many of my coaching clients is that they would like more feedback. They would like to know if they are doing a good job and are on track with what is expected of them. Further, if they are not meeting the expectations, they would like to know what they need to do differently.

I encourage my clients to “coach up” by being proactive and ask for feedback.

Here is a simple feedback tool that works for many situations:

Ask: What should I start doing, stop doing and continue to do?

Another variation is: What should I do more of, less of and continue to do?

These simple questions can help you get specific feedback and information that can help you stay on top of your game.

Try this tool and give me your feedback on how it worked for you.

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 in 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

Many of my coaching clients struggle to maintain work-life balance. With all of their family and work demands they feel out of equilibrium.

One client shared this metaphor about balance that I trust will help you look at your work-life balance in a different way.

She views life balance as a teeter totter – one end being work and the other end being family. She strives to keep the teeter totter level, yet it rarely happens that way. Sometimes she’s more tipped towards work and sometimes she’s more tipped more towards family. In the end, however they balance each other out.

Work-life balance is a dynamic system of movement – moving away from balance and then back towards it – it is rarely a steady state.

What do you think?

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

Are you the type of person that will not act until you have “all your ducks in a row”?

Successful people are the ones that move forward with their ideas, goals and endeavors even when they don’t have everything figured out. They focus on what they want – and take action.

Here are 5 tips to Bust Paralysis by Analysis that help my coaching clients:

1. Forgo perfection – strive to be your “best” rather that striving to be “perfect”. No one can be perfect. Expending your time and effort on perfection gets you bogged down.

2. Adopt the winning strategy of “Go-Ready-Set” versus “Ready-Set-Go”. Create momentum by getting started and take the first step. Once you begin, you can tweak your course along the way towards a successful outcome. As in physics, a body in motion stays in motion.

3. Set a deadline – realistically allocate how much time you will spend on a project or situation. When you are intentional about how much time you will spend you will find you can usually get it finished in the projected timeframe.

4. Get an accountability buddy – enlist the support of others (and your coach) to keep on task. When you are accountable to someone else, you are less likely to get mired down.

5. Make decisions faster – by making faster, wiser decisions you can take action quickly. Practice your decision making skills with simple everyday decisions – i.e. give yourself only 1 minute to decide what to order at a restaurant.

As Nike says – “Just Do It!”

How will you bust your Paralysis by Analysis today?

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 ~ Linkedin ~ 218-340-3330