Posts from the Leadership Coaching Category
Does Your Wellbeing Need a Recharge?
August 15th, 2011 by Beth Kennedy
As a career and leadership coach, I not only focus on specific work and career issues with my clients, but I also have them take a look at their wellbeing. Although I practice as a certified career and leadership coach, I am also a licensed therapist and strongly believe in a holistic approach in coaching. Gallup research has determined that there are five universal and interdependent elements of wellbeing that differentiate a thriving life from one spent stressed out.
Career: liking what you do every day (Strategy: Every day, use your strengths. Make sure you are aware of your strengths!)
Social: having strong relationships (Strategy: Make time every month for individuals you care about.)
Financial: a well-managed economic life (Strategy: Set financial goals annually.)
Physical: Having good health and the energy to get things done on a daily basis (Strategy: Get 20 minutes of exercise every day you can and 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.)
Community: A sense of engagement with the area where you live (Tip: Identify how you can contribute to your community or neighborhood.)
While 66% are doing well in at least one area, only 7% are thriving in all five. If we are struggling in any of these areas, as most of us are, it damages our wellbeing and wears on our daily life. Stress can affect us in so many ways but often we do not address the stressors. In my own private practice I have seen how important stress management is for my clients and notice a direct correlation in their career success depending on how resilient they are.
Our wellbeing will not improve unless we make a conscious decision to do so. I often hear from my clients that there is just not enough time for exercise and time with friends. We have to make our wellbeing an objective just like a career objective. We need to have our own personal development plan so we have the energy needed for the success we want!
Small changes can have a huge impact. It also helps to have someone making you accountable. In my full day career class I have everyone leave with an action plan. Not every person will be meeting with me as a follow up, so I have them identify someone who can check on their goals. This one step will greatly improve their goal success.
September is a great time to focus on your wellbeing. There is something about the start of a new school year that makes setting new personal goals exciting and more realistic. Think about the five areas above and how would you rate yourself in those areas. Then pick one to set a specific goal in for September. Set up a file or get a journal and write down your wellbeing goal! We sometimes focus too much on getting things done and forget that we need to energize first so we have the energy needed to accomplish our goals!
The Magic of Leadership
May 16th, 2011 by Beth Kennedy
An exciting part of my coaching practice is when I have an opportunity to interview innovative leaders and their reports. When I interview their reports they share the unique magical aspects that make their managers such incredible leaders.
Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Baxter International, Harry Kraemer, has written a back to basics book on value- based leadership: From Values to Action. He presents four interconnected principles that are key ingredients to effective leadership.
The first principle is self-reflection. “If you do not know yourself, how can you lead yourself? If you cannot lead yourself, how can you possibly lead others?” Self- reflection makes it possible to answer key questions like, what is most important? and What should we be doing? This provides clarity and makes sure you’re in line with your strengths and values and organizational goals. Leaders need to be clear on their Myers Briggs personality type so they are aware of their natural strengths and opportunity areas.
The next principle is balance and perspective, being able to understand all sides of an issue. Kraemer says, “My task was to recognize when a particular perspective offered by one of my team members was the best answer.” He uses the term life balance over work-life balance because it’s not an either or proposition. The leaders that have the magic know how to focus on balance in their career and personal life as well!
The third principle, true self-confidence is knowing what you know and what you don’t know. Leadership is not about always needing to be right. The final principle is genuine humility. Genuine humility helps you recognize that you ought to respect everyone equally and not treat anyone differently just because of a job title. I learned this skill from my Dad who always respected every person he encountered in such a positive engaging way.
Kraemer describes a leader well: “Self –reflection increases self-awareness. Balance encourages the individual to seek out different perspectives from all team members and to change their mind when appropriate in order to make the best possible decisions. With true self-confidence, they easily share credit with their team. Genuine humility allows them to connect with everyone because no one is more important than anyone else.” These principles can be applied to individual contributors or individuals in leadership roles and the magic will appear!
Benefits of Executive Coaching
August 15th, 2009 by Beth Kennedy
“Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. Clients say coaching brings out their best by helping them focus, break down tasks and clarify their values.”
- Fortune Magazine
Is your track record outstanding but you are still unable to reach the career goals you want or expected? Do you want to increase productivity and efficiency? Are you ready to develop your full leadership potential?
Over 90% of our executive coaching clients report the following after working with us for a year:
- 80% improvement in working relationships with peers and direct reports
- Effectiveness in communication increased by 80%
- Ability to manage conflict more effectively increased by 75%
Read more here:
When The Student Is Ready The Teacher Will Appear
July 24th, 2009 by Beth Kennedy
This is a Buddhist proverb. Though it has ‘spiritual connotations, of course, it does mean more than that.
When you needed to learn new skills to advance in your field, accomplish or attain goals you thought were well beyond your reach, gain new perspectives on situations at work and at home, you often found someone to help you. That certain person seemed to ‘arrive’ at just the right moment. You were ready.
Want to succeed in your company, career and life? Well the coach is here, is the student ready to Spark Success?
What Really is Linked In?
March 10th, 2009 by Beth Kennedy
If you already have a linked In profile, give yourself a gold star! If your like many of my new clients…you have been hearing about it and wondering what is this site called Linked In and is it really important?
- Linked In is a business - oriented social networking site.
- It is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can learn more at LinkedIn.com.
I have some great stories on how clients were able to use Linked In for networking that led to jobs. My latest story is a client was contacted by a recruiter because he was so impressed with his Linked In profile. Not only did the job sound like a great career fit, the salary range is way higher than my client every dreamed.
Linked In really can help connect you to others to spark success!
“Regardless of what success means to you, you can’t achieve it without the help of others.” Vivian Buchan
Love Your Heart!
February 14th, 2009 by Beth Kennedy
My family and I found out on January 30, 2009 that my sister would be having open heart surgery on February 6, 2009 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. A strange coincidence, the day of her surgery just happened to be National Heart Day. The lobby was filled with hundreds of red heart balloons when my Mom and I brought her in that morning for the surgery. The week as you can imagine was filled with all sorts of emotions. Thankfully, the surgery was a success. On our daily visits I found myself not only being thankful for all the little things in life, but but I really thought a lot about leadership and careers in health care.
I was able to observe the health care practitioners that really had a great fit! I observed their passion, customer service, presence to the patient and the great follow up they provided. My sister’s doctor, Dr. Stelzer was a true example of leadership. He provided 100% ++ customer service, he provided recognition to nurses and other floor staff, and he made such an effort to connect with every person. I observed some doctors that spoke to the nurses as if they were from a different planet with a lack of respect.
Leadership skills are so important in every career and unfortunately lacking in many professionals. We need to ask ourselves:
- “How do I want my customers to describe me?” “What is my reputation?”
- We each have an opportunity to challenge ourselves and focus on how we can be a leader and spark success in ourself and others!
Washington D.C. – Leadership Coaching
October 4th, 2008 by Beth Kennedy
I just got home from attending a 3 day Certification Training on Leadership Coaching sponsored by Linkage Incorporated that took place in Georgetown. The best part was on the last day they hired an actress who we had to coach. We had a business case study of a high performer who had issues with her Manager and also micro-managed her reports. We had to work through the Coaching model each of the participants doing one section and then received feedback from the Master Coach and classmates.
I often wonder why I am so motivated to attend these training sessions. I had a great section to coach where my coachee wanted to improve engagement with her team. I had only 20 minutes to move her to action – “laser coaching”. I received some great feedback and found the exercise extremely helpful. Getting feedback can be challenging but the goal is to make us aware of our strengths and opportunity areas. Have you recently asked for feedback from your Manager, customers or direct reports to see how your doing?
Leadership quote for the day
March 31st, 2008 by Beth Kennedy
“Leadership both projects to the future and reflects upon the past. It bursts with possibilities, flaunts peculiarities, and occasionally defies probabilities.”
~ Marcia Lynn Whicker
Entrepreneurial Leadership
March 11th, 2008 by Beth Kennedy
“Leadership is an active, living process. It is rooted in character, forged by experience, and communicated by example. -John Baldoni
Welcome to my first blog! I hope to leave you with insights that spark your career or leadership success!
I had the luck to be born into an entrepreneurial family. Both my parents’ Fathers had their own business in the moving & storage industry. The real gift I had was having a Father who was a natural leader! My Dad was the President of Steinway Moving & Storage, Long Island City, NY. A family owned and operated business since 1926.
I have a vivid memory of when I was a little girl and would get to assist my Dad on moving jobs. I remember when he was moving a department for Pan American Airlines. I followed him around as he prepared for the big moving day! We always arrived early and he covered every detail, from coffee and fresh rolls for all his employees to taping every wall corner to prevent paint from being scratched. The part that I remember the most was how he knew everyone’s name. It did not matter if they were a Vice President or an elevator operator he called them by their name. He had the gift of finding value in every person! Every time he would leave me by myself someone would come by and say your Dad is amazing!
- As we say in the career coaching business my Dad had the perfect career fit. He was so passionate about the moving industry and so committed to giving more than 100% customer service. He not only motivated his staff but his customers only wanted to book Steinway Movers.
- I dedicate this blog to my Father, Richard Benatti who passed away on May 27, 2003. He is the reason; I started my business – Benatti Training & Development, 15 years ago. He taught me the authentic meaning of leadership and the power a true leader can have on their career and people around them. I never thought anyone could be as happy as he was at work and I feel thankful to have found that path for myself.
- I challenge you to follow your passions and find the fit that will engage you to give more than 100% in your career and life!