You cannot become a good leader until you have learnt how to manage the day job.

  Trying to be a leader when you are struggling to manage your deadlines, complete your projects, and deal with conflict, just doesn't work. Regardless of the amount of leadership training that you have had, or books that you have read, it is likely to be a waste of time until you have become proficient in the day job. Perhaps you have been on your organisation's Leadership Development Programme. I have no doubt that it put forward some magnificent content and you left feeling pumped up and ready to go — destined for great leadership, and perhaps a little fame. How long before reality slammed the leadership book shut again? Few leadership positions come Read More

Scary as this may sound, it is relatively easy to avoid if you are aware of the risk and take a few simple precautions. It is also possible to take steps to protect yourself if the worst does happen.Unlike many forms of coaching, this particular danger awaits the unwary. It is extremely easy to fall into. It may not get as extreme as being sued, but it easily could do.

Influence Coaching Trap #1:

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It is some time since I last wrote specifically about power here. The topic has not gone away, far from it. Power remains a central part of the way I look at the world, and how I help people with integrity to influence more effectively. Regardless of what you are trying to achieve when you're working with others, power is an undercurrent in your relationships. If you are a leader, leaders need to be powerful in order to get things done. If you are a follower, you need to be powerful to achieve your goals. If you are outside of the working environment, you need to be powerful in order to get your needs met. Over the last year, I have invested a considerable amount of time researching and re-thinking the whole subject of power, looking for a way to open out this topic and make it more practical. To begin the process of sharing the output from this, here are a number of provocative thoughts about power, which I hope will make you stop and think. Some will appear obvious yet oft forgotten while others will be more of a puzzle. Without doubt, some will challenge your values, in which case, look  Read More

In this article, I am going to share with you my thoughts and experiences of creating coaching programmes that help people to become more influential. Along the way I will give you detailed examples, including a template structure which I call the Executive Service. This is a detailed outline of typical coaching sessions I propose to prospective clients. You'll also see how I go about documenting my coaching programmes. As mentioned in the previous article on principles, I prefer to adopt a structured approach to coaching. This starts with building a clear understanding of the needs and also the parameters I have to operate within. You will have your own way of approaching this stage. Here is how I do it (in most cases). Read More

How you choose to record and how you use these documents is entirely up to you, and perhaps the person in HR who is paying the bill. The examples given below are based on actual coaching I have done but have naturally been made anonymous. My suggestion is to take a look at each example before reading the notes below.

Example One

Here is a document that was created at Read More

The topics you choose to include in an influence coaching programme will naturally vary depending on the needs of your client. Below is an example proposal structure together with the content that I commonly put into coaching proposals. I have no doubt you have your own way of doing things, so, as with all of these articles, I share this in case it helps.

Executive Coaching/Mentoring Proposal: Colin

Colin has recently been appointed Head of Operations (Global). To establish Read More

The initial session with a coaching client is perhaps the most critical one for the coach, and there is a great deal you need to achieve. During the call you will establish the relationship, build trust and create a firm foundation on which the success of the coaching programme will be based. Here are some extra thoughts to help you get this right. They are particularly relevant to coaching people to influence more effectively. Read More

There is a great deal of debate about coaching, what it is and what it is not. Since I've been coaching and training coaching for over 20 years now, I don't tend to engage in those debates, I just get on with doing my job. I don't want to get too far into this series without openly laying out my position. In that way, you can understand a little more about where I am coming from, and perhaps, more easily work out what is right for you and your practice. I do what works for me, and so should you. In this article, I want to share with you seven core principles which sit behind the way my business and coaching practice has developed. Quite a few are based on my personal values, and all are based on what I have found to be especially useful when helping people to become more influential. Naturally, you are free to agree, disagree, adopt and mould to your preferences. But, be aware, some of these are fundamental to the way I do things and what you will be learning more about as Read More