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Coaching Passive Aggressive Behaviour

May 16, 2014Blog, ,

Passive Agressive

We often teach coaching from the perspective of coaching to generational types, coaching to thinking types, coaching for difficult situations, coaching to give feedback, coaching to discover and build relationships – but recently we’ve explored the concept of coaching to behaviour types.

People love throwing around the words “Passive Aggressive”.  But what does it actually mean? Is it just a style? Is it bad? What are the repercussions of this style?

What does a Passive-Aggressive (PA) look like?

I had used the term before, and thought it was a way of exerting an aggressive emotion or feeling, but doing it in a nice way.  I never really saw it as a negative thing.  In fact I often categorized it with the ever so typical Canadian “Sorry.”  Someone bumps into me, and I say in that heartfelt Canadian accent “SOOrrry”.  Am I just super nice and subservient? Or instead of telling someone they are are jerk for bumping into me, am I hoping that jerk will feel bad that I said sorry (unnecessarily) and actually apologize to ME?

First let’s describe what this type of behaviour is:

Passive Aggressive behaviour is typically categorized as someone who expresses negative emotions in a seemingly positive manner.

  • Am I (or a member of my team) passive aggressive?
  • Do they use sarcasm regularly as a means by which to express their dissatisfaction with others’ behaviour?
  • Do they often agree to requests, yet less often fulfill their obligations?  (ie. procrastinate, fail to deliver, sabotage efforts)
  • Are they often forgetful, and use it as a scapegoat for fulfilling obligations? (i.e. often arriving late, losing items frequently, cancellations)
  • Do they take offense and become defensive or angry when their behavior is pointed out, believing it was the other person’s fault?
  • Do they use denial or evasive strategies when in challenging coaching discussions? (i.e. changing topics, using the obligations they forgot or procrastinated as a reason not to discuss the issue?)
  • Do they often feign misunderstanding? Arguments turn into a matter of semantics rather than the real issue at hand? (i.e. “Oh you mean you wanted that done today? I had no idea, you didn’t SAY THAT!” .)
  • Does their tone or behavior indicate anger, but their words say something completely different? (“I’m not mad!” – paired with distant or evasive behavior. This is the classic “Whatever” or “I’m fine” line that we toss around when we don’t want to get into a confrontation.)

If these sound familiar, you may have a passive-aggressive on your hands.  People with this behavior dislike expressing emotions honestly or confronting situations.  Often this cam be traced back to childhood where it may have been inappropriate to articulate dislikes and likes honestly.  Instead they please the audience with their words in an affirmative way (this is the passive part) and add behaviours (usually non verbal ones, like facial expressions) that seem to conflict with their words (this is the aggressive part). This behavior is very confusing to recipients who are hearing one message, and witnessing or experiencing another one altogether.  (Click to Tweet.)

Statement

Passive Part

Aggressive Part
“Whatever”. This is fine, I’m not concerned. Eye rolls and silent treatment to accompany the statement.
“I’m not mad”. I am not angry with you. I am mad, and I am not talking to you anymore as a result of it.
“You said that this was the MOST important thing to you. Now you are saying there are other important things as well?” I am repeating what you said to me, indicating active listening and compliance with your demands. Evading the discussion of the issue at hand, and focusing on an issue of semantics and clarity to defer and procrastinate from the issue at hand (prioritizing issues).

While this behavior is sometimes categorized as abusive, controlling, and manipulative – we take the approach that this is a habitual learned behavior that the PA may not be aware they are exhibiting (or the impacts it may have on recipients). Also, PA’s are good at this – and they see success (namely not having to confront) so their inclination is to keep doing what they’re doing. If we use our kindness and curiosity we can identify their fears, insecurities, and concerns and create a safe environment to express their emotions directly.

4 Tips for Coaching to Passive Aggressive Personalities

  1. Point out the behaviour (be consistent).  For example: You are telling me that you aren’t mad and I’m seeing you pull away. If you are angry let’s talk about why.
  2. Use contrasting statements (don’t/do) to indicate safety. For example:  “I don’t want you to think that I am going to be angry with you for being honest. I do want us to be able to talk openly and build our relationship.”
  3. Ask open-ended questions.  This is a classic coaching technique and the PA can often circumvent this line of questioning.  If you can, think about possible reasons that the PA is upset, and test it out. “Are you scared that I am going to be angry with you? Tell me about that?”
  4. Stay Calm and go back to step 2. PA’s are masters of their skill.  They are able to divert your attention to other issues causing the recipient to overreact. They may even exhibit pride in their ability to frustrate you. Stay calm and allay their fears and concerns.

Take the time this week to listen to yourself and others for passive aggressive behaviours.  See if you can’t be more assertive (in a kind and curious way of course) without fear of confrontation.  See if you can deal with a passive aggressive personality at work.  Tell us about your success with it @whiteboardcons #betterfasterandlesspassiveaggressive.

Until Next Time,

Nicole

Women and Leadership

May 2, 2014Blog, ,

Woman-leadershipThis week at Whiteboard Worldwide Headquarters, Ruth and I have been thinking about Women and Leadership, particularly with respect to training.  I have to be honest that my first thoughts were, “Why would women need Leadership training that is any different than the training we would offer to men?” I hated the thought of saying that women needed something different or special – to us leadership meant building relationships, coaching your team, developing and executing in a “one-size-fits-all “strategy.

The literature and media I looked at seemed to emphasize that women need more training, whether it be in order to debunk  media’s presentation of “stereotypical” women and their roles, or to add some additional skill-sets that would make women more successful. I reached out to a few feminist women in my circle who hold leadership roles, and was overwhelmed with their excitement and passion on the topic – but I still wasn’t convinced.

“Part of the hesitance to embrace powerful women is embedded in feminism itself,” says Buzzfeed’s Anna North. “Feminism is a movement founded on women’s status as a marginalized group,” North writes, “and as a woman moves closer to the centers of corporate or government power, she can come to seem like, for lack of a better word, the Man.”

Could I agree with this? I’m not sure!

My government leadership experiences have all been peppered with a wide array of women leaders, many of whom were stellar strategists and coaches, and seemed to kibosh any and all barriers to women being successful in leadership.  I have been fortunate in my career to have these leaders to guide me to take on leadership roles and excel in them.  So my experience makes it hard for me to say that women are treated differently than men in the workplace.

But how do others feel?  Do women need to learn how to react, mitigate, and respond to situations where they are being treated differently? (Click to Tweet)

This week, Ruth and I delivered some “executing on strategy” training to a team of 30+ engineers (95% male) and my mindset changed a little.  Talk about a tough crowd. My inner-self was torn between being my best, teaching the material that I knew was great in the ways I know how – and running out of the room to have a nice cathartic cry.  Wow. I don’t think I had ever experienced that before, and it was alarming to me. Did I have to win over this crowd because I am a woman? Was it because I’m not an engineer? Were there other reasons? I don’t really know. To be honest, my biggest issue is that I cannot prove that any of those reasons was the culprit. So many questions, so few answers.

While I still have questions and a lot to learn about the topic, I’m going to start this series of blogs on Women and Leadership with the concept of like-ability.

Do women prefer to be likeable over successful?

Do I need to be affirmed to feel successful? Ruth and I had a retreat last winter – and we learned that we feel the most satisfied about our work when we receive positive affirmations – either from each other, our clients, or especially training participants.  It made us re-focus our strategic plan on training in 2014 – because we like that feeling and want more of it.

To quote Jessca Vallenti – to be driven by this like-ability – “means that your self-worth will always be tied to what someone else thinks about you, forever out of your control.”

I felt a little out of control in that session of engineers who were highly skeptical of the methodology we were trying to teach. Deep down inside, however, I knew that I could turn them around. More, I knew Ruth and I could turn them around.

So I actually knew things were in fact in my control.

My ability to relay the content to the participants and get them to “get it” (or “grock it” as Ruth would say), was completely in my power. My ability to comprehend their engineering examples and summarize and repeat them would improve my credibility, would get me to understand their world, and would ultimately get them on board.

But is that unique to me? Is that some skill that I have that other women don’t? And if so – WHY?

Now, I think we did turn the course around and reach the curious and open side of that group of engineers, and we saw success.  I’m still considering the concept of how much they liked me in my mind – and how that impacted me.

It’s still early in my research, and I  have a lot of work to do to solidify my views, however, I did learn a little about myself in that room.  Most importantly I wondered if I could harness that learning and help other women . Am I a feminist yet? Stay tuned for this series in Women and Leadership to find out more.

Do you have thoughts on women and leadership? What concepts do you think a leadership course on women should have?  Comment below or send us a Tweet @whiteboardcons with the hashtag #womenleaders.

To be continued……

Until next time,

Nicole

You’re Not Excused!

April 28, 2014Blog, , ,

Last week Nicole and I had lunch with a C-level exec who really gets what it means to break down silos and share responsibility, and why it’s so critical for organizations to do so these days.

He also gets how hard it is to do (which is what we are helping with), and so our conversation turned to accountability, responsibility, and shifting spheres of influence.  What really stuck with me was his statement that for all managers, and particularly senior level leaders, the fact that another person or team has not finished their work does not excuse you from finishing yours. Click to Tweet

excused

In other words, what have you done to help that person be successful?

But It’s Not My Job

Fair enough. Everyone has their list of tasks, accountabilities, and priorities. And if you need an input from another person or department in order to do your job, and that input is late or worse, incorrect, then yes… you have a problem.

Old-school thinking says it’s ok to throw your hands up in the air and say, “sorry – I’m waiting for X.”

Progressive business thinking says, “you are not excused from this accountability. How have you made that person or organization’s processes better so they can do their jobs? What is your sphere of influence and how have you “used it for good?”

Coaching to Influence

Great business coaches are able to help people self-realize areas of opportunity. By asking the right questions and being kind and curious, the coach is able to direct the individual to the right solutions, and these solutions are much more likely to remain ingrained in that person’s thoughts and habits – because they came up with them on their own! (Or so they think.)

In the same way, a great leader can influence individuals and peers so that they improve their own deliverables.

Consider a leader who is waiting for a set of business requirements before she can begin to implement a set of operational practices. If she is practicing effective project management, then she will be aware that those business requirements are likely to be late and she can approach her peer in that area to see how she and her team can help.

At the senior leadership level this is particularly effective, as Directors and VPs are more likely to be able to rearrange resources as required to solve such a problem. Yet any leader can benefit from this approach.

“How can I help?” is the question that will get this influencing coaching conversation underway.

It’s time for more leaders to adopt this approach and understand that it behooves them to make their peers successful. By doing so, they themselves will be successful and so will the organization.

Everybody wins, really.

Until next time,

Ruth.

 

PS – want to be a better coach? Sign up for our course. Click here for info.

Processes Can Set You Free!

April 18, 2014Blog, , , , ,

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Oh I know what you’re probably thinking – “Ruth, who are you kidding? Processes are simply more bureaucracy. I get that they can make things more consistent and reduce errors, but they’re also a real pain.”

Fair enough. Let me rephrase then.

Good Processes Can Set You Free!

Better? Of course better! But why is that better?

One of my pet peeves is the notion that processes simply need to be documented (written down, mapped, whatever the format) in order for an organization to say, “we’ve done process improvement.” This is the very notion of poor process culture, and gives good process culture a bad rep. You can very easily map a bad, inefficient, bureaucratic process, and doing so does not make you a process improvement compliant organization or individual. (Click to Tweet)

Did that sound like a rant? Sorry. What I mean is, please don’t judge your processes at work by the mere fact that they’ve been documented.

Good Bad

How Can You Make Sure You Have Good Processes?

Ask yourself the following questions.

  1. Are our business processes documented and available for people to look at and refer to?
  2. Have our business processes been reviewed in the last 12 months?
  3. Do our business processes show roles & responsibilities (via swimlanes, for instance)?
  4. Do our business processes reflect reality? Or, if asked, would employees who are doing the work say “we haven’t done it that way for years”?
  5. Do our employees roll their eyes when they have to follow our business processes? Do they feel the processes are a waste of time and bureaucratic?
  6. Are there people in our organization who are negatively impacted by our business processes?

If you said “no” to any of these, then you have some work to do. Contact us. We’ll help set you free.

Until next time,

Ruth

 

A business model that works for you!

April 11, 2014Blog, , , , , , ,

After enjoying a sunny and fabulous yoga retreat at Anamaya Resort in Costa Rica I am now back to the daily grind. I spent 7 days enjoying the most fabulous organic food (grown on Anamaya’s own farm), getting my chakra on with the most amazing Yoga/Dance/Everything Instructor, Melissa-Jane Shaw, meeting a fabulous smart group of women (and one lovely man), Salsa dancing and busting a move to Beyonce, and above all, estro-bonding with my bestie, Yaryna.

While sometimes blog ideas elude me, this one was as clear as the Costa Rican sunrise over the Pacific Ocean: Things don’t have to be done the way they’ve always been done. Do them so that your customer is surprised and delighted. (Click to Tweet).

View

So I’ve been to a ton of resorts, spas, retreats, hotels, motels, all-inclusives, B&B’s, Inns, timeshares – you name it and I’ve probably been there.  What’s the first part of the process when arriving at your destination? Checking-In.  Whom do you likely deal with most during this transaction? The reception desk.  Some do it really well, others have trouble communicating, others are bombarded with clients. Now, Anamaya has this down pat:

You arrive, a delicious smoothie is placed in your hand, and you are directed to enjoy the most stunning view you have ever seen. There’s a little house where you do the check in – you are then introduced to your receptionist for the day.  She’s in the kitchen, helping prepare for communal meals in the main house, helping you at the boutique to buy fabulous yoga wear, arranging taxis, booking spa treatments, grabbing you a glass (or 3) of white wine.  You name it, she’s on it.  It worked so well, and created such an amazing family atmosphere, that tears are shed on the last day of every retreat without a doubt! The best part is she’s quietly and un-assumingly documenting your purchases, so that checkout (back in that little house) is a clear, transparent breeze! It was literally genius. Literally. I can’t even.  Those folks deserve the Whiteboard Process of the Year Award (wait – Ruth – we should do that!).

Nicole & Gretel

Me & Gretel one of the receptionists that I absolutely LOVED! Sorry for my yoga hair and crossed eyes (selfies –ugh).

So what’s the moral of the story? Don’t be afraid to try something new with your business model.  Here are a few tips on trying out a new business model for interacting with clients:

5 Tips to a business model that surprises and delights

  1. Seek unique business models from your industry competitors for interacting with clients. Try them. Use them. Figure out what works and what doesn’t.
  2. Take a leap of faith.  It’s not easy, but it doesn’t always have to be the way it’s always been.  Change is hard guys!
  3. Test and trial them out.   See what will work best for your environment. Clearly the model I described above won’t work at the Four Seasons in downtown Toronto.  Find out what works for you and your customer.
  4. Survey your customer.  Get their feedback, input, and suggestions for improvement. You’ll know you have it right when you have raving reviews.
  5. Process. Process. Process.  Think I forgot? I think not.  Document and standardize your processes so that you can continuously improve and monitor your progress.

Do you have any examples of a unique business model that worked?  Tell us about it @whiteboardcons!

Do you believe you should win the Whiteboard Process of the Year Award?  Let us know  – we’ll throw you a fancy party and celebrate your awesome process (whether we helped you with it or not!).

Until next time,

Nicole

The Genius of a Checkbox

April 4, 2014Blog, , ,

CheckBoxIf you’ve been following along our blog for a while, you know that we are fond of the mantra that everything is a process. Whether it’s understanding the voice of the customer, hiring a consultant, coaching, or managing alternative work arrangements, pretty much everything has its roots in process. Heck, Nicole even related having the flu to a process!

So, I have a challenge for you today – just to see if you’ve been paying attention.

I’d like you to look at your place of work and identify one process improvement that would make all the difference in the world to your job.

Samantha’s Checkbox

Last night I went for a walk with one of my bff’s, and conversation turned, as it often does, to work. My friend (I’ll call her Samantha) works as a physiotherapist in a major hospital, and no one is better suited to the job. I think it’s a calling, really. She loves it, she loves the patients, and most days everything is rainbows, puppies, and sunshine.

The conversation went something like this:

Samantha: So again today, I had to deal with referrals that weren’t legit.

Me: What does that mean?

Samantha: Well, in a hospital, physios only see patients if there is a mobility-related need that has been properly assessed by someone else like a nurse or a doctor.

Me: Why?

Samantha: Because not everything is a mobility issue. If you have a headache you aren’t referred to a neurologist right away, are you? No. You’re assessed and things are ruled out. The same goes for patients who don’t want to get out of bed – it may be related to their illness or some other cause. Physios only help with the mobility causes, and when we are referred incorrectly it’s a HUGE waste of time and is annoying to the patient.

Me: So what’s the process for a referral?

(That’s right. It took me, the process geek, 2 minutes to get to a process issue. Kind of scary. Fortunately Samantha doesn’t mind at all.)

Samantha: There’s a referral form that people fill out, or they might just verbally request it during rounds and then fill it out later.

Me: Is there something on the form that requires the mobility assessment is done?

Samantha: No. They just have to put it in the comments when they do charts.

Me: So there’s no checkbox on the form to ensure the assessment is done before the referral is passed?

Samantha: Genius!

What’s Your “Checkbox”?

Now to be fair, finding the improvement and getting it implemented are two different things. I’m sure that Samantha can’t just march up to administration and demand the form include a checkbox.

That doesn’t mean it’s not worth looking at potential improvements. Over time, Samantha will have the opportunity to influence and educate those around her, and this will likely lead to an improvement in the referral process. These things just take time and patience. (Click to Tweet)

So there’s my challenge to you. Look around your workspace. What are those annoying things that could be tweaked and improved with relatively little effort? What is your “checkbox” and how can you influence change?

Tell us about it in the comments below.

Until next time,

checkbox

Ruth

 

 

FAQ’s on The Process of Coaching’s Experiential Learning Module

March 28, 2014Blog, , , , , , ,

An interview with Peter Gardiner-Harding, Executive Director at playsthatwork

Peter-Gardiner-Harding_Bio_page1Many of you have asked about our Process of Coaching Course and what “experiential learning and simulations” as part of the second half of our day will be like.  We explained it in a recent post this way: After lunch, we’ll bring an actor in to “play”.  He will have a specific character, personality traits, and some previous past experiences built into his character.  And in this segment you get to do the hardest part of applying coaching tools – PRACTICE.  One-on-one you’ll get to work with the actor to go through the “Process of Coaching”.  Every once in a while we’ll “FREEZE” we’ll have the room give you some tips and suggestions, get feedback from the actor on how he’s feeling, and get feedback from Ruth and me.

I thought more about how best to explain it, and who better than the expert and experiential leaning guru himself? Our fantastic colleague at playsthatwork, Peter Gardiner-Harding (say that three times fast!), can share his thoughts on the subject?”  So earlier this week I had the pleasure of speaking with Peter (furthermore known as PGH) to gain his insights.

ND: So Peter, what IS experiential learning? How is it different than role-playing or simulation?

PGH: To me, role-playing is like a “let’s pretend”, and simulation is a subset of experiential learning itself, which is a way to experience learning with the mind and heart. (Click to Tweet) Participants are fully engaged – not playing a role with someone else.  They are doing the work in their own skin, with their own point of view, learning to integrate the new coaching skills into the way they coach. It’s here we use a professional actor who does the role-playing. The actor has the skills to portray a character and to deliver feedback so that learners have instant integration of their performance with their learning.

ND: How did you get into this field?

PGH: Although I started in business and became a CA, I was meant to be an actor. The combination of business and theatre is dramatic and meaningful, and I wanted to tell stories using my theatre and business backround together.

ND: Who gets the most out of these simulations?

PGH: The people who really thrive in this learning environment are those that are exceptionally emotionally intelligent, and self-reflective; people who are good at receiving feedback and seeking it.  They levitate in these situations! (Click to Tweet) Everyone can benefit, but these people are the ones who who discover the most about themselves. And I believe that anyone who deals with other people in their jobs can glean a lot from learning to coach – IT software developer, for example, can learn to empathize with their users.

ND: Why do people find it hard to coach?

PGH: I would say the biggest barrier to effective coaching is when the coach has their own set of outcomes that drive the agenda for the coaching conversation. Keeping the coach’s outcomes out of the conservation is the key, so that the employee can self discover. It’s very difficult to straddle that line.  You can have outcomes and coach; you just have to be transparent about them.

ND: What’s your favorite part of your job?

I love seeing people come away from a simulation having experienced a transformative “a-ha” moment, when they actually see themselves and the results they get differently, something about themselves that they never noticed before.  Some people have come away from simulations having changed their lives both professionally and personally.

***

We absolutely love working with playsthatwork. And we also love seeing the “a-ha” moments when people really “get” the process of coaching and how impactful it can be on their teams. We know our attendees will love the experiential portion of our Process of Coaching course and are really looking forward to delivering it. Click here to register today! (Early bird savings end April 30th.)

Want to learn more about the process of coaching and how we use experiential learning?  Give us a shout at info@whiteboardconsulting.ca/staging, or Tweet us at @whiteboardcons using the hashtag #processofcoaching.

We’re so excited to see you all there!

Until next week,

Nicole

Happy Birthday to Us!

March 27, 2014Blog,

birthday

 

This week Whiteboard Consulting Group celebrates its second birthday, a real milestone for us!

We love our work, and we are so glad we made the decision to start our business together.

In the last two years we have learned a lot through experience and through our clients, we have laughed pretty much every single day, and we have never looked back.

Thanks to our clients, present and past, who continue to amaze and delight us, and to our partners who continue to support our journey. You know who you are!!

Here’s to the next two years and beyond!

Ruth & Nicole

That Time You Tried to Manage Alternative Work Arrangements

March 21, 2014Blog, , , , ,

altspace 

I was talking with a colleague in the insurance industry the other day, and, as often happens when discussing what we do at Whiteboard Consulting, the conversation turned to business processes, what they are, and where organizations can find them.

I love these conversations, because there is always an “A-ha” moment when the light comes on and the person finally gets it. (It’s not as easy as you think, especially if you’re not trained in the industry. Go ahead and try it. Write down five key business processes that are critical to customer or employee satisfaction in your industry. I’ll wait. … … … … Tough, isn’t it? But I digress…)

For my colleague, the A-ha moment came when he thought about his business clients and the implementation of benefits programs in their organizations. They get a new program and look at it and say, “Ok everyone, here are your benefits! Yippee!” and the whole thing ends up a complicated mess of paperwork and administration. Guess what? There’s a process in there, and it needs to be defined and efficient. (Click to Tweet)

Flexible, Remote, and Successful

At Whiteboard we recently engaged with Regus to use their gorgeous downtown Toronto workspace to host our upcoming course, The Process of Coaching. Regus helps businesses maximize the benefits of alternative work arrangements by providing access to the world’s biggest workspace network.

If this type of service is available, why do so many organizations find alternative work arrangements difficult to manage?

Do they do the same thing my colleague’s insurance clients do? “Hey everybody, we’re being flexible! Work from home! Yippee!” And then a month later when deadlines are missed and it’s impossible to find Employee X for an important call, it’s instantly revoked.

Do they manage remote teams by having a conference call once in a while to go through action lists? Are they surprised later when individuals feel disengaged and isolated?

That got the process geek in me thinking.

Nicole, David, and I work from home and from office space at Regus. We have no problem with our productivity, meeting goals, staying connected with each other and with clients, and we have the flexibility to hit the gym in the middle of the day (or have a nap, if I’m being honest) if we want.

The reason for our success in this area is that we have a process in place. If we didn’t, we’d be in trouble and we’d probably have to move to a formal office structure, which is not what we want to do right now.

It’s a Process, It’s a Process, It’s a Process

A while back Nicole wrote a blog posting on how processes don’t have to be big and showy, but you do have to have them! And if you look at some of the things that are bugging you at work (like unsuccessful alternative work arrangements) as processes, you’ll most likely be able to turn them around and make them work for you.

If you are thinking of setting up an alternative work arrangement, or if you’re in the middle of one and it’s not going very well, ask yourself what your processes are:

  1. Have you clearly defined who is eligible for flexible work arrangements and under what circumstances?
  2. Have you outlined the goals (which may be unique to each employee) expected out of each arrangement?
  3. Do you care about core working hours? If so, do you have a check-in process? (Once a day? Twice a day? Twice a week?)
  4. Do you have a way to personalize your communications process? Do you use Skype or another similar program that allows virtual face-to-face interaction?
  5. Do you review the success of the arrangement on a regular basis? (more than annually) Do you have a way to modify if things aren’t working perfectly right away?

Below is a highly over-simplified image of what your process might look like. (Bonus points if you can comment and tell us one HUGE improvement that could be made over this simple process flow diagram.)

Blog March 21

The key is to have a process, discuss it with impacted people, communicate it, and stick to it. If you do, even complex situations like alternative work arrangements can work for your organization!

Until next time,

Ruth

Sneak Peek into “The Process of Coaching”

March 14, 2014Blog, , , , , , ,

Title

Title

This post is a short and sweet SNEAK PEEK into our: Process of Coaching course being offered on June 9 or 10 (register here) in the format of a FAQ!

Note there is an early bird discount of 10% (on the registration website) and a special BNI members discount of 20% (email us for details) so, if you like a deal (and who doesn’t?) – get a deal!

FAQ’s About the Process of Coaching

What is the target audience of this course?

The people who will get the most from this course are people managers.  Examples include supervisors, team-leads, managers, or directors that lead groups of people in the private or public sector. These leaders want to be just that – a leader, not just a manager.  They want to evoke a spark in their teams that will increase productivity, unleash skills, and create a great culture.

What exactly do you mean by “Process of Coaching”?

If you read our blog a lot – you know we love to talk about coaching (link, link, link).

We’re taking all of those tips, tricks, methods, and tools (along with more) and putting them into one simple process that you can apply to be a great coach every day.  The morning portion of the course we will be teaching you our Process of Coaching that helps to build effective and collaborative relationships built on trust.  This trust empowers multi-layered feedback and difficult conversations with accountability making sure that you get the most from your team.

What is Experiential Learning? Who’s this Kris guy?

Great question(s). If you come to our course you’ll learn why stacking questions isn’t a great idea! We will have a few blogs coming up over the coming weeks to give you more insight to the methods to our madness.  The first will explain why experiential learning is so effective with a one-on-one interview with Peter Gardner-Harding from Playsthatwork.  The second will be a blog feature on our fantastically famous actor, Kris Ryan, and learn a little more about Kris’ experiences with acting in a business setting like this.  After lunch, we’ll bring Kris in to “play”.  He will have a specific character, personality traits, and some previous past experiences built into his character.  And in this segment you get to do the hardest part of applying coaching tools – PRACTICE.  One-on-one you’ll get to work with the actor to go through the “Process of Coaching”.  Every once in a while we’ll “FREEZE” we’ll have the room give you some tips and suggestions, get feedback from the actor on how he’s feeling, and get feedback from Ruth and I– something you CANNOT replicate in real life! This is the most fun you will ever have in a business course, hands down (Click to Tweet)

What’s for lunch?

Excellent question. We haven’t decided yet, but rest assured, between two gluten & dairy intolerants (Ruth and I), and our vegan project assistant David Keyes, we’ve got you covered.  When you sign up, send us a note with any dietary restrictions and we will happily accommodate.

Why is the dress code business casual?

All of that real-live simulation means we need to be in an environment that means business.  So, when you arrive, you’ll notice our fantastic space at the Verity Club, 111d Queen St E, Toronto, ON M5C 1S2 (www.verity.ca) – you have no choice but to get right into a business mood with that buzzing modern business environment surrounding you.

Same goes for your outfit. Dress like you would when talking to your team at the office!

Where do I sign up?

Intrigued already? Sign up here to catch our early bird deal and join us for a fantastic day!

Join us in our on-going conversation about coaching and office culture on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn!

And if you sign-up, let us know about it! (Click to Tweet )

Are you excited yet? We are!

– Nicole

 

 

 

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