Tag Archives: The Quotable Coach

Repeat Back Report Back

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“Repeat Back / Report Back”

—Tony Mayo, Executive Coach

Image from Linkedin.com

Image from Linkedin.com

Effective communication is perhaps the number one priority for most companies or organizations. It is also a top priority in virtually all our personal worlds as well.

Consider all of the shortcomings and outright failures of communication you observe on a daily basis. In general, the problems are caused by misinterpretation, misconception, and the ever popular assumptions we all have.

When working with others, repeating back to them what you have heard and what you understand will enhance the communication and assure all parties are on the same page. Reporting back to one another allows you to modify plans and efforts along the way, to keep you from getting off track.

EXERCISE:

Where and with whom in your personal or professional worlds would practicing Repeat Back / Report Back improve your communications and overall effectiveness? Consider making this a habit by using this technique daily.

“Do More Great Work!”

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“Do More Great Work!”

—Michael Bungay Stainer, Sr. Partner at Box of Crayons

Do-More-Great-Work-3d

QC #955

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am currently reading the book Mastery by Robert Greene, with great fascination. The subject of mastery has intrigued me all my life. This brilliant analysis includes stories of a wide variety of historic and current masters, and how their life journeys evolved.

Fundamental to the majority of these stories is a clear and authentic passion for the type of work or activity the subjects pursued. Each person tapped into their own gifts and unique abilities, and combined them with an unstoppable drive to pursue, develop, and contribute their talents to the world.

EXERCISE:

What does doing more great work mean to you? How can you do less bad work, or stop both the bad and even some good work, to make room for more great work in the year ahead?

Consider making the book Mastery a must read for 2016.

Another favorite I am sure you will enjoy is Do More Great Work by Michael Bungay Stainer, author of today’s quote.

Hard Working People

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“Nice, Smart, and Hard Working People Succeed.”

-Author Unknown

QC #954

Image from funds2orgs.com

 

I often speak on the subject of success with various professional and civic groups as part of my business development efforts. In a presentation called Success: Best Practices, I engage the audience in 24 ideas I’ve discovered over the years. One of my favorites that relates to today’s quote is the acronym A.S.K., which stands for:

Activity

Skills
Knowledge

By increasing any or all of these qualities, we can all achieve even more. These characteristics also point to the smart and hard-working aspects in today’s quote.

I do very much like niceness as a critical element in building our social capital. This highlights the importance of relationship as a fundamental aspect of success.

EXERCISE:

How can you use the coaching in today’s quote to enhance your own success journey now and throughout this New Year?

Make it a Game

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“Making it into a Game.”

—Author Unknown

Image from blog.bufferapp.com

Image from blog.bufferapp.com

One of the things we like about weekends, vacations and holidays is that they are almost always associated with considerable fun and enjoyment. It is not unusual to block out time during these occasions for games we enjoy.

Alternately, the majority of folks rarely experience work days as filled with fun. Studies by the Gallop Organization indicate that most people work in their areas of strength — and thus their areas of greatest satisfaction — less than half the time.

EXERCISE:

How could you “gamify” your current personal and professional work efforts? Create new rules and scoreboards to bring greater enjoyment— and perhaps added productivity — to your days.

Consider picking up a copy of the book Play by Stuart Brown, or Google the term gamification to learn how to make 2016 a fun and fulfilling year.

Lose Yourself in Service

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“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

—Mahatma Gandhi, Indian Independence Leader

Image from blog.bcwinstitute.org

Image from blog.bcwinstitute.org

We’ve all heard statements such as “givers gain,” and “shift your life from success to significance.”

But how do we do it?

Today’s quote challenges us to lose ourselves in a good way, to find our flow and purpose, what we might call our true north.

When I ‘give,’ I grow and feel I’m living a more expansive and true life. When I ‘get,’ I feel good too, but it’s not the same experience or at the same level.

EXERCISE:

Where and how can you serve others so that you both lose and find yourself in the experience?

The Stream and the Rock

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“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.”

—The Buddha, Indian Spiritual Teacher

Image from Flickr by Nicholas A. Tonelli

Image from Flickr by Nicholas A. Tonelli

Most of my elementary school teachers would have described me as an average-to-good student with a bit of an attention problem.

Starting in the eight grade, I realized that although I was average-to-good on the standardized tests, I was able to outwork others to achieve what I wanted.

This “magic quality” has been a key to success throughout my life.

EXERCISE:

Where can you apply the power of persistence to outwork others and achieve your goals?

Walk Your Talk

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“You cannot talk your way out of something you behaved yourself into.”

—Stephen Covey, American self-help author

Image from nxtlvlc.com

Image from nxtlvlc.com

Actions speak louder than words. They are all we really have to turn our dreams of a better future into a reality.

Consider a business leader whose behavior is inconsistent with the core values and corporate vision he claims to follow.  Consider the individual who constantly brings up his interest in health and wellness, yet makes unhealthy choices and rarely engages in physical activity.

EXERCISE:

Where in your life can you bring greater alignment between your words and your actions?
To whom, beside yourself, will you make the promises? What added support will be required to ensure this new level of personal responsibility?

When the Student is Ready

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“When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”

-Gautama Buddha, on whose teaching Buddhism was founded

image from kevingcook.com

image from kevingcook.com

When people say, “perception is reality,” they often mean that the way we perceive something makes it real. What if we don’t perceive an issue, challenge, or lesson to be learned, simply because it is invisible to us?

As a student, we must first see a situation and determine that there is value, opportunity, or benefit in it. Only then is there the potential to hear the teacher and see how they might assist us in understanding the lesson.

EXERCISE:

Where are you stopped or stuck in your life? Where are your efforts to move forward being thwarted? To whom could you go with the challenge you face, to determine your readiness and receptivity to the lesson?

Don’t Stumble

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“Don’t stumble over something behind you.”

-Seneca, Roman Stoic Philosopher

Image from lovethispic.com

Image from lovethispic.com

Where do you live? Regardless of city, state, or country, we all live first and foremost in our thoughts.

How often do you think of past events or experiences that were negative or upsetting? We have the ability and tendency to travel back in time to revisit – and yes, stumble over – the same events and all their limiting feelings.

EXERCISE:

Image you were born with a factory-installed time machine with three settings: past, present, and future.

How would you use your current level of self-awareness and intentionality to limit your negative journeys to the past in order to maximize your experience of the present?

Who Looks Outside

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“Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakes.”

—Carl Gustav Jung, founder of analytic psychology

Image from zdnet.com

Image from zdnet.com

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of exploring new worlds. I was a fan of Mr. Wizard as a child, and dreamed of being an astronaut. The Discovery Channel is one of my favorites, and my first career was as a science teacher.

As I aged and pursued adventure, personal growth, and my current career in coaching, I found new excitement in taking frequent journeys into the land inside of my mind and heart – without the assistance of a rocket or a space suit.

EXERCISE:

Chose a practice such as meditation, prayer, journaling, or reading insightful, thought-provoking books and blogs to explore the worlds inside of you, and engage in new journeys of self-discovery.