We are creatures of habit – from the time we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night we engage in countless daily routines such as brushing our teeth or turning on our computer. Research shows that we make upwards of 11,000 decisions every day–thankfully most are unconscious and involuntary – meaning… we don’t really have to think about them, we just do it!

A habit is defined as a settled or regular tendency or practice especially one that is hard to give up. Over the past few months I established a habit of reading the news feeds morning and night or watching news on TV. I recently came to the conclusion that I was devoting too much time to hearing the same events played out over and over again and the stories were mostly negative and often horrible. I’ve made a conscious decision to catch up on news only once a day, and not at night so as not to disturb my sleep. I recognized that in order to change this habit I needed to replace it with a new habit that was more satisfying. I have decided to use this 30 minute daily pocket of time to connect with business colleagues on social media – to  read informative and motivational articles, respond to posts and submit material such as this blog. I hope to ‘see’ you more regularly online!

If you’ve recognized that one or more of your habits are no longer serving you well, ask yourself this question:  What are the costs of sticking with this habit?  Or conversely –What are the benefits of changing this practice? What new practice would you like to develop? It’s important to identify the benefits or WIFM (What’s in it For Me) in order to build momentum towards your new goal.

Remember it takes a minimum of 21 days to develop a new practice into a habit and then you must continue with it to ensure it sticks?

What new habit would you like to develop? Share it below if you feel so inclined. Going public with your goals gives it a boost.

I hope you are enjoying the summer.

Rebecca

DON’T MISS OUT.  REGISTER NOW!

September and October 2014 – Limited Space
Train-the-Trainer Coaching Certification Program for the Confident Coach™

Ideal for Internal and External Coaches, OD Consultants, HR Business Partners, Trainers.

Do you believe that people want to learn, grow and contribute – and that organizations want to grow their bottom line?

Do you also believe that when managers regularly coach their staff engagement soars?

Achieve certification in the Confident Coach™2 day coaching skills program and train managers how to coach and inspire their teams.

The 2 day Train-the-Trainer Certification Program, will be held in Toronto, Ontario at OTEC’s  Head Office. This training will provide you with the knowledge and licence to market and deliver the 2 day Confident Coach™Program to managers in any organization of any size.

You will receive:

• Interactive, in-class training; limited class size.
• Electronic PowerPoint presentation of the Confident Coach™.
• 100 page Leader Guide with comprehensive resource tool-kit
• Opportunities to customize learner content and co-brand marketing materials.

Want to register or learn more?

Contact Rebecca Heaslip – President of Leadership Insight
Email: rheaslip@leadership-insight.com
Toll Free:1-888-878-5913

Enhance your professional standing – get certified and make an impact!

Studies show that employees thrive in the workplace when they know that their supervisor cares about them as people, and invests time and resources to support their development. Coaching is a vehicle to achieve this level of engagement and is predicated on the following: a culture of trust is present (an absolute requirement for coaching to be effective); the coachee (employee) is receptive to the idea of change; and the coach (manager) exhibits superior communication skills, such as listening, questioning and feedback skills to empower and inspire the employee to take action.

How do you measure the effectiveness of coaching? Outside of conducting a full-blown employee engagement survey, you can measure the success of your coaching endeavours through observing the following:

1. You “ask” more than “tell” or direct.
2. You provide 5 positive comments to every 1 critical comment daily.
3. You meet regularly (monthly/quarterly) with staff to discuss their needs, goals and motivations.
4. Regular use of affirmative language such as: “I will” or “I can.”
5. More collaboration up, down and across.
6. Fewer surprises and fewer fires to put out (more regular communication).
7. People come to you with solutions not just problems.
8. People are working smarter not harder and/or longer.
9. People find ways to leverage their strengths and manage their weaknesses.
10. Less push back from staff.

When you take time to coach your employees, you’re effectively saying “I care about you and your job satisfaction – not just your performance”. Please visit www.theconfidentcoach.com for additional articles on coaching skills and to learn about our Confident Coach™ training program for managers.

Enjoy this issue of talent talk !

Rebecca

Click here to view the rest of the newsletter

There are many reasons why people do not complete tasks that lead them to achieve their goals, even goals that they were initially pumped about. External variables over which a person has no control can sometimes derail a goal (such as a lack of resources, for example, or changing priorities). If we’re honest though, there are many times when we simply lose interest in the goal and its associated rewards/benefits.  This is often on account of one or more of the following:

1. The goals are not SMART: Their goals are not specific, measurable, attainable, realistic or tangible or any combination of these. This sets the stage for a lack of commitment and follow-through.

2. Lack of Accountability: There is no accountability and no consequence for failing to follow through. Again, this begs the question – is this is smart goal and has the individual truly bought into it?

3. Behavioural trait: The habit of procrastination has become their ‘norm’. It’s their status quo and it’s become such an ingrained behaviour, it fails to register with the person.

4. Mental disorder: The individual may be suffering from anxiety, depression or other mental illness or disorder such as ADD and my not even be aware of it. This can explain the lack of sustained focus.

5. Overwhelmed:  The individual may have too much on their plate and they don’t know how to say ‘no’ (or don’t want to). A fear of rejection or fear of disappointing others can cause this.  When a person takes on too much, they end up disappointing themselves, and the familiar pattern of non-completion repeats itself.

If you observe someone in your team or your family failing to make progress on their goals, open up a dialogue with them to help uncover the reasons.  Or share this article with them to see if any of the bullets ring true for them. Early intervention might prevent them from developing a lifelong pattern of failing to complete things, a habit that gets harder to break as time goes on.

For coaching assistance, please contact Rebecca Heaslip, Executive Coach and President of Leadership Insight Inc. at rheaslip@leadership-insight.com or 888-878-5913.