Coaching, challenge, management

Coaching Tip No. 17 - "Never confuse movement with action" Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961)

I love this quote by Ernest Hemingway. He had a talent for saying things of real import very simply.  Whilst this coaching tip relates to the quote above, how I came to this tip is better described by a quotation of Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who said "A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind."

My mind must have been prepared, for it was seemingly by accident I asked the following question of a delegate on a workshop.

"Yes, but what do you want them to DO?".....
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Coaching Tip No.16 - Not too much, not too little, just right...

"It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it."
Arnold Toynbee - English historian & historical philosopher (1889 - 1975)


Have you ever had the experience where you've been using a tool for years (e.g. a technique, a program or even the onboard computer in the car.) and then you suddenly realise there's a far better, easier or more elegant way of using that tool? I had one of those moments recently and like the last tip, it harked back to my original coaching training in 2001.

When facilitating, my associate Waqar and I often talk about 'serving the need in the room'. Meaning, it's more important for us to be clear about the needs of the people we are working with and serving their need rather than prioritising the process or model we are using.

I was doing just this, 'serving the need in the room', when it came to me...... Read More...
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