Some Key Differences Between Life and Business CoachingWritten by Kevin Ecclesine
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While life coaching directives tend to be mapped out with individual’s goals in mind, specific or vague, business coaching can offer measurable improvements for both person being coached and organization itself. It can come from an external source or from someone trained to provide it within an organization. Of course, to stay competitive in today’s economy, it is imperative for organizations to utilize their resources to fullest extent. However, today’s leaders have had to do more with less, and in focusing on driving forward they often subsequently spend very little time developing their people. That’s a trap many leaders fall into—being busy can feel productive, yet actually slowing down and using your resources more efficiently can lead to much higher productivity. Some leaders can forget that there is a great deal to learn from their people. One of Lee Hecht Harrison’s programs called Coaching Practices for Leaders focuses directly on an organization’s management level—to provide tools to hold productive coaching conversations, more effectively reach their direct reports, and ultimately retain their key talent and maximize their potential. Experts have identified several key areas that leadership skills fall into: people skills, business skills and overall effectiveness. In most cases business skills and effectiveness are in need of less development than people skills. This is area where most leaders are lacking. These very necessary people skills come into play for those in leadership roles when holding development conversations, bringing up issues about performance (positive or negative) and remembering to maximize their ‘people resource’ by really listening and paying attention to what their team is thinking. Business coaching targets individual organization’s direction and strategy to make most of a company’s most valuable assets—its employees. Coaching should be anchored in business objectives of an organization. You should establish coaching relationships with enough process in them to meet individual’s needs and still ensure a significant return on investment for organization as well as individual.
kevin Ecclesine is the vice president of leading career management services compnay Lee Hecht Harrison's Grand Rapid, Michigan office.
| | DISPELLING THE MYTHS OF HOLIDAY JOB SEARCHINGWritten by John Bateman-Ferry
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Be flexible: The end of year can be a busy time for most organizations, so be prepared to interview at last minute, very early in morning or late in day. Don’t plan to take your vacation during this time if you are serious about your job search! Staying available will give you edge over other candidates who may have holiday plans. Volunteer your time for a worthy cause: While there are opportunities to volunteer all year long, many charitable organizations need extra help during holidays. Volunteering will not only make you feel better about your own position, but can offer great chances to network. Send holiday cards to companies you’ve recently interviewed with: It’s a great way to follow up and remind them that you are still open to meeting with them. Keep cards simple and secular, avoiding overt religious themes. Don’t send them to companies or people with whom you’ve yet to interview. Remaining upbeat and making most of many job searching opportunities that season brings will not only give you jump on your fellow candidates, but may lead to a great new year, replete with a new position.
John Bateman Ferry is the senior vice president and general manager of leading career services company Lee hecht Harrison.
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