Sunday, February 25
5 SIMPLE RULES
1. NEVER give up - failure comes when you stop trying!
2. Be nice, but not a pushover - no one likes to work with an ego-maniac or a whiny child!
3. Think Positive - reach for solutions, don't dwell on problems!
4. Humor & Laughter = a smile. I have fixed more problems with a smile than I could shake a stick at!
5. Eat your vegetables!!!!
-- Keith Fiala
Professional Musician
2. Be nice, but not a pushover - no one likes to work with an ego-maniac or a whiny child!
3. Think Positive - reach for solutions, don't dwell on problems!
4. Humor & Laughter = a smile. I have fixed more problems with a smile than I could shake a stick at!
5. Eat your vegetables!!!!
-- Keith Fiala
Professional Musician
Wednesday, February 14
A quick 8-point check on your coachability...
Which of these are true and to what extent?
I usually allow my manager and others to complete their sentences before responding.
When I’m given feedback/ criticism, I usually think about it before responding (a small gap of silence).
When I’m given feedback/ criticism, I rarely find myself defending a position or action immediately.
When I’m given feedback/ criticism, I ask questions about it in order to try to better understand it.
I feel my work’s purpose is to serve my external customers.
I feel my work’s purpose is to serve my internal customers (managers, colleagues, other departments).
I’ve changed/ revised my position/ approach because of the advice of another individual.
My manager invests time in my professional development (if s/he doesn’t, it may be because of a perception that you are uncoachable).
=== A quick habit to improve your coachability ===
After you’re given feedback/ criticism, before responding, ask a question…
How do you mean?
Can you tell me more about that?
Can we talk that through so I understand it better?
Bottom line: You don’t know everything.
You do know that. Don’t you?
Continual learning is a basic necessity to professional improvement, and in many cases it’s other people who will help you get there.
But only if you’re coachable. Are you?
To be coachable means to be…
Approachable
Attentive
Receptive
Curious
Objective
Trusting
Shapeable
Confident
It means you must listen with the intent to learn rather than to show what you know (exactly the type of listening required in the sales process).
To be coachable means to lack arrogance and defensiveness… to minimize pride and ego.
Completely teachable. Completely trainable. Completely malleable. (Is there anything more frustrating than the “know-it-all” in the room?)
To be completely perfect, to need no more training or coaching, is to stagnate or die – and in many cases, to be dismissed.
To know everything is to be un...credible.
The best professionals at all levels (and in most fields) require -- and seek out -- coaching to improve (executives, managers, professionals). And they know it.
Are you one of them? Hmmm????
I usually allow my manager and others to complete their sentences before responding.
When I’m given feedback/ criticism, I usually think about it before responding (a small gap of silence).
When I’m given feedback/ criticism, I rarely find myself defending a position or action immediately.
When I’m given feedback/ criticism, I ask questions about it in order to try to better understand it.
I feel my work’s purpose is to serve my external customers.
I feel my work’s purpose is to serve my internal customers (managers, colleagues, other departments).
I’ve changed/ revised my position/ approach because of the advice of another individual.
My manager invests time in my professional development (if s/he doesn’t, it may be because of a perception that you are uncoachable).
=== A quick habit to improve your coachability ===
After you’re given feedback/ criticism, before responding, ask a question…
How do you mean?
Can you tell me more about that?
Can we talk that through so I understand it better?
Bottom line: You don’t know everything.
You do know that. Don’t you?
Continual learning is a basic necessity to professional improvement, and in many cases it’s other people who will help you get there.
But only if you’re coachable. Are you?
To be coachable means to be…
Approachable
Attentive
Receptive
Curious
Objective
Trusting
Shapeable
Confident
It means you must listen with the intent to learn rather than to show what you know (exactly the type of listening required in the sales process).
To be coachable means to lack arrogance and defensiveness… to minimize pride and ego.
Completely teachable. Completely trainable. Completely malleable. (Is there anything more frustrating than the “know-it-all” in the room?)
To be completely perfect, to need no more training or coaching, is to stagnate or die – and in many cases, to be dismissed.
To know everything is to be un...credible.
The best professionals at all levels (and in most fields) require -- and seek out -- coaching to improve (executives, managers, professionals). And they know it.
Are you one of them? Hmmm????
