Professional Development It’s About Coaching Too

I was talking with a manager from one of the major hotel chains recently. Their organisation has a strong commitment to training and developing their staff and provide a wide range of options for their staff to choose from. He told me there is an increasing trend for managers to want to “skip” the workshop/seminar/conference approach and ask for instead the equivalent amount of money for coaching. That interest in coaching confirms the feed-back I receive from those I coach. What is it about coaching, however, that has seen it become so important in recent years?

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Professional Development More Than Skills and Techniques

Whether we are the CEO of a big company, a supervisor on the floor of a manufacturing company, a doctor, teacher or lawyer, a human resource manager, a sales assistant or a receptionist, we all need to be able to effectively communicate with employees, customers and clients to produce positive and desired outcomes while maintaining engagement, in what are often challenging circumstances. We need highly developed people skills, those interpersonal or “soft” skills that enable us to inspire the best from our people.

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A Challenge for Leaders Connecting with Generation X and Y

Every journal and business magazine we read, every conference, workshop and seminar we go to and every manager we talk with raises concerns about “managing” Generation X and Y. As someone who had seven very exciting and innovative jobs in the first ten years after I left school, (the first being the only one I applied for) I have to wonder what’s new! Much of what generation X and Y are asking for are what organisations need to be providing for all their staff anyway - challenges, new experiences, the chance to develop professionally, to move within the organisation, to feel they are doing something that is making a difference. Generation X and Y are really challenging organisations to attend to the development of their people – as a high priority.

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Achieving Success in 2006

A new year brings with it expectations, hopes and dreams. It also hopefully brings renewed commitment to keep in focus what is truly important to us. But we also need it to bring the energy, enthusiasm and passion to make those expectations, hopes and dreams reality.

So the beginning of a new year is a time when setting “goals” is often the topic of conversation. So here are a few tips.

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Engaging Employees and Empowering Your Workplace by Improving Your People Dynamics

What manager, team leader, co-ordinator or supervisor doesn't want enthusiastic, energised, loyal and committed people to work with? Who wouldn't want passionate people who make things happen every day in their workplace, who not only make the workplace a great place to be but who also co-operatively produce the results and outcomes that the company and organisation desires? When companies and organisations engage their employees in their workplaces, this is what they get.

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We Can Do It! Empowering Ourselves

Many people - if not most - have the capacity to empower themselves. What do we need to do?   Read this article to find out.

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Assuming Leadership Mark Changes His Business and His Life with Coaching - A Case Study

Mark was extremely stressed. He was on anti-depressants. He was working 12 hour days in his business with no breaks, 6 days a week. He was spending very little time with his partner or children. He had known for some time he had to make some changes. He came to that decision after his partner “dragged” him to counselling on the advice of their GP.

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