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Archive for the ‘Coaching’ Category

I have created a new video that speaks to my passion for what I do and how I work with people. Please take a look and leave a comment:

Although the New Year has just begun there might be some of us who have already broken some of our New Year’s resolutions. When you set about making big changes in life, it makes sense to reflect back before moving forward.

Don’t neglect to take time to review and assess your personal and professional challenges and accomplishments of 2011 as you plan for an exciting 2012 to come. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you take time to assess your personal and professional challenges and accomplishments from the past year:

1. What are your proudest successes and accomplishments from this past year?

2. What people, books, events, or activities created good memories for you in 2011?

3. Who and what supported your personal and business growth and success this year?

4. How consistent is your work with your deepest values?

5. What are you most grateful for this year?

6. What slowed you down or stood in the way of fulfilling your intentions?

7. What unexpected opportunities came up and what did you learn from them?

8. What have you been putting off that you know you need to execute on before the end of the year?

9. What goals did you fail to achieve and why?

10. What big, major goal are you working on for 2012?

Now here’s a bonus question:

How can you bring more love, enjoyment, and peace into your life in 2012?

Taking the time to think about what you’ve done, what you wanted to do but didn’t, and what you’d like to do in the year ahead is a great way to get some closure and begin the year on a positive note. Be sure to celebrate your accomplishments, but don’t punish yourself for the failures. Trying and failing is the only way to make forward progress.

Wishing you a healthy, prosperous and Happy New Year!

Marshall Brown, a certified career and executive coach, entrepreneur coach and personal brand strategist, has always had a passion for helping people find ways to live more fulfilling lives. As a coach, Marshall helps individuals to find their passions and encourages them to move ahead in reaching their goals. For more information, contact marshall@ mbrownassociates.com, 202-518-5811 or visit www.mbrownassociates.com.

Without a doubt, coaching is the hottest approach to enhancing the performance of the people in an enterprise—whether its teams of coaches working with managers in a Fortune 500 company, transition coaching for new C-level executive hires, or coaches working with the owners of small businesses or sole proprietorships. It is clear from the increasing acceptance and investment in coaching, among the broad spectrum of business in many countries, that we believe coaching works.

But how well does it work? And how hard is it to measure?

In recent years, there have been a couple of detailed, well-documented studies that put the ROI of major coaching engagements within Fortune 500 companies between 600% and 700%, depending upon how improved retention was calculated.

But studies of this precision—funded by the corporate clients—are generally too costly to be meaningful as a sustained way of assessing the business benefits of coaching even at the level of large corporations.

Moreover, the issue of the benefits of coaching is, if anything, even more relevant to small business. For many firms considering hiring a coach, the notion of funding a major study to assess the results is laughable, yet it is critical that they be able to associate the benefits they are deriving from their investment in coaching.

To a certain extent, the challenge of measuring the benefits of coaching depends upon why the coach has been engaged in the first place. In some cases, the goal of a coaching engagement can be fairly easy to quantify—improving meeting management skills, for example. You can measure how many meetings start on time, how many end on time and survey meeting attendees for their evaluation of the effectiveness of the meeting. With a little imagination, such measures could be converted to hard dollar savings or productivity increases and an actual ROI developed.

Often, however, the connection between the behavior and the result isn’t so clear.

“One of the biggest challenges in measuring coaching is that tangible, behavioral change is usually linked to intangible mindsets and beliefs,” explains researcher Terry Bacon, of Lore International Institute. “Effective measurement strategies require that we make those intangibles measurable.”

Is it possible to capture all of those intangibles in some concrete, meaningful metric? The answer is generally “no, not precisely.” However, there are techniques that can be employed to evaluate the effectiveness of coaching and often to achieve a realistic estimate of the ROI. More importantly, setting up an evaluation process up front not only helps set performance expectations, but it can also make the coaching more effective. For example, coaching can be refocused to deal with issues or to ensure that business priorities will be met. In this way, the evaluation of coaching becomes more than just a measuring stick—it becomes a key approach to deepen the business value of coaching.

For large firms, coaching consultancy Marshall Brown & Associates suggests seven critical steps for measuring ROI from a coaching engagement:

1. Set objectives for the coaching session that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound. Establish a benchmark for performance from existing appraisals and reviews.

2. Ensure that coaching objectives flow from overall project objectives and/or business objectives.

3. Communicate the methodology for measuring the monetary value of the coaching program before the program begins.

4. Identify the opportunity costs of the client’s time for participating in coaching.

5. Capture the monetary value of the coaching in tandem with the intangible value.

6. Validate the calculation with the managers being coached.

7. Communicate the results of the coaching program to key stakeholders in the organization.

Smaller firms, on the other hand, often cannot spend the time and effort to achieve the same level of measurement precision. In that case, there are several steps they can take to come up with quantifiable measures, if not quite ROI metrics. Among them are:

•  360-degree surveys
• Climate surveys within the organization
• Employee performance metrics
• Customer surveys

However, such broad measures can be disconnected from the effect of specific behavior changes that the coach and the executive are addressing. The challenge is to figure out the connections between the executive’s behavior and the behavior of the organization. Lore International Institute’s Bacon suggests these possibilities:

•  Improvements in productivity
• Reductions in absenteeism and employee turnover
• Reductions in cycle time
• Improvements in quality and/or reduction in waste
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Increased value of the opportunity pipeline

Several of these measures can even be translated into dollar values if the goal is to determine an ROI number. In every case, however, they provide a benchmark against which to measure the effectiveness of coaching.

Thus, though challenging, the business effectiveness of coaching can be measured, or at least closely approximated. And if coaching is to prove its worth, it ultimately must stand up to the same test as any other investment in the business.

If you would like to schedule an introductory consultation to see if business coaching might work for you, contact me today and let’s talk.

Coaching as a profession has not been around that long, but in the short time of its formal existence it has had an undeniable impact both on business performance and the quality of individual people’s lives. But what kind of ROI can a person expect to achieve when they hire a career coach or an executive coach?

Because coaching is extremely personalized for each specific situation, in order to really measure ROI the coach and the client must take a look at the current state of affairs, establish a benchmark and then set specific goals that they would like to achieve. As the coach and the client work together towards achieving those goals the gains will be clearly measurable.

By taking advantage of the knowledge and expertise of a coach, the client gains several advantages that will save them time, help them to improve their career, give them guidance as they transition from one job or career to another, or even support them during a job search. Coaches help their clients improve their performance, which is a tangible result in exchange for the investment of buying access to their time and expertise.

The ROI for coaching has been studied extensively and studies have reported a return on investment of anywhere from 5 to 7 times the initial investment.

“The results tell us that corporations commonly identify their best and brightest and use coaching to turn them into more effective leaders. Coaches improve executive behaviors by pinpointing blind spots, altering management styles, and keeping careers on track.” Source: carolrossandassociates.com

Some of the benefits of coaching can include:

Individual benefits from career coaching

• Set and achieve goals
• Work through challenges more effectively
• Increased confidence
• Achieve better work/ life balance
• Improved decision making skills

Organizational benefits from executive coaching

• Increased productivity
• Better conflict resolution
• Higher employee morale
• Formalized grooming of new leadership
• Increased stakeholder loyalty

Coaching can help both individuals and companies stretch themselves and achieve much more than they ever thought possible. Having the guidance of an experienced coach can give you the confidence to attempt challenges that you might otherwise never take on. The return on investment when you hire a career coach to help you move to the next level, or when you hire an executive coach to help your company work through a challenging time can be both tangible in the measurable results you will achieve, but you will also gain many intangible results such as increased confidence and belief in your own ability.

If you are ready to consider working with a career or executive coach to help you overcome some of the challenges you are facing, contact me for an initial consultation to discuss how I can support you as you pursue your goals.

“If you don’t believe in the messenger, you won’t believe the message.” —Jim Kouzes, co-author of Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It

When people trust and believe in you as a leader, they’ll follow you far and without much question. But without credibility, that critical foundation of leadership, you face an uphill battle, because you’ll have the extra strain of trying to pull people along with you. And whether you’re the one pulling or the one being pulled, pretty soon you’re both weary and ready to give up.

Credibility stands on several legs: expertise, trustworthiness and integrity.

Expertise is an objective judgment, determined by such things as your credentials, your rank in the company and your prior accomplishments.

Trustworthiness is a subjective judgment, formed over time from a person’s experience interacting with you. Do you do what you say you’re going to do? Do you know what you say you know? How does it feel to work for you?

Integrity is another subjective judgment, formed over time from a person’s observations of you. Do you walk your talk, or do you say one thing and do another? Are you honest? Do you admit and take responsibility for your mistakes?

You may think you have a pretty good sense of your credibility among your team members, but what are they really thinking?

One of the best ways to truly know how people are experiencing, observing and judging you as a leader is to conduct a 360° assessment. Named for the 360 degrees of a circle, this type of assessment measures your performance from the perspective of everyone you work with, including your direct reports.

It takes courage to enter into this process. You may not like everything you hear, and it may highlight some things that need changing. And that’s exactly why bringing credibility issues to the surface is such a crucial matter.

On the other hand, you may be doing most everything right, but your credibility in the eyes of your team members is still not where it needs to be. The most likely cause is that they don’t see what you’re doing.

In this case, it’s time to become more visible in the organization. Turn your office into a fishbowl and reveal what’s been going on behind closed doors. Then, get more involved and aware of what everyone else is working on. Practice “management by walking around,” the successful Hewlett-Packard strategy that Tom Peters and Bob Waterman popularized in their book, In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies.

A 360° assessment will reveal how credible you are in the eyes of your team. Then you’ll have the opportunity to improve that rating. It’s not enough to have the expertise and credentials. Your team members need to observe and experience your trustworthiness and integrity for themselves. So open up the office door more often, and get out and interact with people more. Show them you’re someone they can believe in.

Author’s content used under license, © 2008 Claire Communications

The best way to have a good year is by living life on a daily basis, letting the good days accumulate, one by one. And it doesn’t have to be New Year’s to resolve to have a good year. Start anytime. Today, for instance.

1. Take time, slow down. Be present in your life and mindful of the present.
2. Care for your body, eat well, exercise, treat yourself to loving, nurturing self-care.
3. Spend quality time with family and friends. Communicate, keep in touch. Say I love you. Tell people you appreciate them.
4. Take time throughout the day to renew yourself. Take a walk, read a poem or a good book, listen to music (really listen); bring beauty into your life. On a monthly basis, take a whole day for yourself — play, treat yourself to something you want to do; retreat from your daily life. Mark these special days on your calendar (in ink) so you’ll be certain to take them.
5. Clean up what needs to be cleaned up. Make amends, fix what’s broken, clear away clutter, forgive what needs to be forgiven and let go.
6. Commit to a project you really want to do or to learning something new or attaining something you want. Commitment is the first step. Then set achievable goals and work toward them on a daily basis.
7. Give yourself to a cause, volunteer at a nonprofit organization, a community group, your church or lend a hand to an individual or family who could use your help.
8. Practice your spirituality in whatever form you express it, on a daily basis.
9. Laugh every day.
10. Take time to dream.

Here’s wishing you the happiest holiday season and make it a great ‘10′ in 11!

Now is not the time to put your job search on hold. Not only are there a lot of extra job openings, but also new budgets take effect in January. Human resources receives the job requisitions for the budgeted new jobs in November and these are filled before January 1. Not only that, you have less competition because people think it’s a bad time to look for a job. This is one of the best times of the year to find a job!

Announcing The Career Success Mastery Program

You will no longer be frustrated and anxious in your efforts to succeed. We will work together to:

•  Create a Powerful Resume that Opens Doors
•  Create a A Strategic Cover Letter
•  Develop a Great 30-Second Pitch
•  Launch a job search campaign that will actually work
•  Maximize your networking efforts
•  Increase your energy and confidence level so you can feel great about presenting yourself in a knock-’em-dead interview
•  Negotiate effectively for the salary you desire and deserve
•  Receive professional feedback on how to improve your job search and career improvement skill
•  And so much more!

If meeting with other Greater Washington DC area job seekers in a confidential, face to face manner, facilitated by a Professional Career Coach, appeals to you then this is the program for you.

“Marshall has an uncanny ability to guide his clients to maintain a motivated job search. His networking coaching is incredible, and he is exceptionally accessible. In today’s competitive marketplace, it is critical that executive talent have exceptional guidance to secure your employment goals. I recommend Marshall, without reservation.”

—Bill Williams

We will meet in person or via telephone, once a month for 2 hours PLUS emails in between. The first meeting, by phone, is Friday December 12th at 12:00pm Eastern. Then the group, once formed, will determine day, time and location of subsequent meetings

Ahead-Of-The-Curve Discount: $275 if registered by November 15th 11:59pm Eastern

Full $350 per month payment registration Deadline:
November 29th

Consider this…

When you are unemployed your loss of salary can cost you thousands of dollars per month. This program will pay for itself many times over by helping to accelerate your successes PLUS save 1-on-1 coaching $$ by being a part of this group. Isn’t it time to invest in yourself?!

Click here to learn more!

I am fortunate enough to be on assignment in South Africa and will be blogging when I am able too.   I want to share my experience with you while I am here.

I am working with people in the international development field from all over Africa. Let me tell you from a career stand point, if you have interest in making a difference; this is an area that desperately needs help. I am with people that are fighting malaria, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition and poor (if any) sanitization and agricultural development. They are from countries such as Uganda, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Madagascar, to name a few. Many of these professionals are with USAID and the State Department.  They are hard working individuals that despite the conditions that they face are passionate and committed to help in humanitarian relief.

I grew up not really knowing too much about the international development profession. Although I have coached individuals that have returned from missions in Africa, I have not been on “their turf” before. It has certainly changed my perspective on the work they do.

One man was telling me that after spending 20 years in the practice of law, he decided to join the Foreign Service so that if he lives until he is 80, he can say he did something, other than suing people and making a lot of money. He is now living in a metal “pod” in Afghanistan, developing a more effective way to filter water. Talk about making a difference!

So the reason I feel compelled to write this blog is 2 fold.

1. If you are not aware of the field of international development, explore it!
2. Go for your passion, live your dreams and in whatever way you choose, make a difference; people less fortunate than us, will appreciate it.

I hope to share more stories with you about the folks that I am meeting on my journey.

Answer:
Job satisfaction /n/: a sense of happiness and fulfillment felt by people who enjoy their work, and do it well.

In my work as a coach, I have identified 10 areas that contribute to my clients’ satisfaction at work. While all of these areas will play a part in job satisfaction to some degree or another, how they are prioritized will vary from individual to individual. I have listed five today and will present five more in the next blog post.

1. Financial reward. Those who approach their work as a means to an end place more emphasis on their paycheck than they do on their interest in the work itself. People who fall into this category are motivated by money and find fulfillment when they are paid for their performance. Those who fall into this group easily move on when a higher-paying job comes their way.

2. Stability. Those who see their work primarily as a way to provide for themselves or their family often put emphasis on stability, rather than on advancement or career growth. In tough economic times, particularly when layoffs are rampant and new jobs are hard to come by, those who usually put stability toward the end of their priority list may find themselves moving it higher up the list.

3. Advancement and recognition. Those who are motivated by advancement and recognition approach their work with their career in mind. They are more willing to put up with doing things they don’t enjoy in the short term, as long as it allows them to climb the ladder in the long term. People in this group are motivated and fulfilled by power, prestige and status. Opportunity to move onward and upward–and to see their progress–make them happy.

4. Impact. Those who are motivated by the impact they have–on the world, on other people, on the field they are working in, or even on the organization itself–are focused on making a difference. They get their satisfaction from contributing and from understanding how that contribution matters in the big picture.

5. Process. Those who are motivated by the work itself view their job as a “calling” or as their raison d’etre. When all is said and done, they love the actual work itself, and that is their focus. An artist, for example, may find fulfillment in the act of creating, and that may take precedence over fame, fortune, or making a difference (which is not to suggest that other artists won’t find satisfaction in those things!).

Published by Marshall Brown, “The Career Coach Is In” for the Washington Post.
http://views.washingtonpost.com/on-success/career-coach/

“Career Success Toolkit” Teleseries:
The Ultimate Unfair Competitive Advantage to Open Doors & Get the Job You WANT!
Coming September 22, 2010 to a telephone near you:
http://www.mbrownassociates.com/toolkit/index.html

Free Preview – September 13th at 7:00pm EST
http://www.mbrownassociates.com/toolkit/index.html#Register

Without a doubt, coaching is the hottest approach to enhancing the performance of the people in an enterprise—whether it’s teams of coaches working with managers in an association, Fortune 500 company, transition coaching for new C-level executive hires, or coaches working with the owners of small businesses or sole proprietorships. It is clear from the increasing acceptance and investment in coaching, among the broad spectrum of business in many countries, that we believe coaching works.

But how well does it work? And how hard is it to measure?

In recent years, there have been a couple of detailed, well-documented studies that put the ROI of major coaching engagements within Fortune 500 companies between 600% and 700%, depending upon how improved retention was calculated.

But studies of this precision—funded by the corporate clients—are generally too costly to be meaningful as a sustained way of assessing the business benefits of coaching even at the level of large corporations.

Moreover, the issue of the benefits of coaching is, if anything, even more relevant to small business. For many firms considering hiring a coach, the notion of funding a major study to assess the results is laughable, yet it is critical that they be able to associate the benefits they are deriving from their investment in coaching.

To a certain extent, the challenge of measuring the benefits of coaching depends upon why the coach has been engaged in the first place. In some cases, the goal of a coaching engagement can be fairly easy to quantify—improving meeting management skills, for example. You can measure how many meetings start on time, how many end on time and survey meeting attendees for their evaluation of the effectiveness of the meeting. With a little imagination, such measures could be converted to hard dollar savings or productivity increases and an actual ROI developed.

Often, however, the connection between the behavior and the result isn’t so clear.

Click here to read more of this article.