Tag: professional development
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Finding clarity in times of transition
Reflecting back over the last 2-3 years, with so much unpredictability, change, obstacles, and discouragement, what has kept you moving forward? For many, the pandemic and other recent upheavals have put us in more immediate contact with what is essential. Of course, there have been countless immediate concerns to address. But in our work, we’ve…
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What’s the Difference Between Self-Improvement and Self-Development?
This article was originally published on the Mindful Leader blog in May 2022. It has several questions for reflection in italics. In these places, you’re invited to pause, feel into your response, and perhaps explore a bit with some notes or journaling. “To be purposeful is not to be goal oriented, but to seek to…
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Changing and Staying the Same are the Exact Same Process
Cyd is the person in the office who is always fixing everything: the broken printer, the scheduling snafu, the delivery gone awry. They see things that are invisible to most: the bump in the ceiling that could become a leak; the fact that you’re halfway through the second-to-last jug of water and haven’t placed the…
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The space we need to grow
This article was originally published on the Mindful Leader blog in July 2020. When folks are considering Integral Coach training, they often bring very reasonable questions like: These are all perfectly understandable scenarios, which is why it can be surprising to learn that our answer to each of these questions is “no.” We require students…
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The Shadow Side of Advice
In Coaching Circles, we stay away from giving advice because it’s the antithesis of development. When a group first gets together, we do make some room for it because it serves as a useful point of departure for developing a coaching posture. The advice reflex is so strong and culturally ingrained that no useful interaction…
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Our Commitment to Anti-Racism
Dear friends, We live in a society plagued by injustice. The past several days have shone a bright spotlight on just how insidious, systemic, historical, evil and dehumanizing many of these injustices are for the black community. As an organization whose purpose is the flourishing of life, we stand for the flourishing of black lives.…
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Episode 2: Why Does Coaching Matter?
In our second episode of Stepping In, we explore the topic of coaching itself. What is it to create a safe space for a client? Why is the coach’s own self-development so important? What makes the Integral Coaching methodology effective? We dive into these and other questions with our special guest Lizzie Winn. Want a…
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How and Why to Get Better at Failing
The ability to “fail well” is a skill we all need if we want to accomplish what we set out to do. Failing is really a cornerstone that all other skills are built on. Of course everyone has failed. Sometimes in highly visible ways. It is hard to get through this life without major setbacks.…
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The Importance of the Body
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Adjusting to a New Corporate Culture—Case Study: Executive Coaching in a Complex Environment
by James Flaherty It seemed like a perfect fit: Dr. Chris (not her real name) had the exact and unusual talent and experience necessary to solve the very expensive and potentially disastrous dilemma. She’d been hired by an insurance company that was responding to competitive pressure by following an unusual strategy: they had recently purchased several hospital groups and…
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Letting Our Differences Have Their Way With Us
In my experience, any time we engage in a conversation about our differences with an intention to prove the other side wrong, we’re heading for a dead end. When we take a right-wrong stance to any conversation about difference — whether it’s about race or gender, politics or religion — it reveals that we’re more…
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Learning Again How to Trust Ourselves
Rene Descartes’ method for discovering what’s true starts with a bold and radical move – distrust everything until it can be proven. It’s not hard to see how powerful a way this is to cut through superstition and confusion. By starting from first principles, and using step-by-step logic, he gives us a way to prove things for ourselves, doing away with…
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Needing to be needed
The other day, a brilliant colleague likened self-care to the oxygen mask drill on airplanes – specifically, the part about always affixing our own mask before assisting others. In other words, if your own ability to take a breath is compromised, how in the world can you be of service to anyone else? “Basically, if…
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How is coaching distinct from therapy?
Someone asks me this question every time I do a public talk about coaching. To continue the dialogue, I’m writing this piece. As will quickly be grasped, I cannot resolve the question once and for all. That’s partly because there’s not common ground as to what would constitute a satisfactory response and also because both…