There are 47,500 coaches around the world – and that number is only growing. The reason? Coaching works – you can actually measure many of the outcomes.

Let’s back up for a minute though, as it’s important to understand why people seek coaches in the first place. Many people who work with a coach have one or more of the following goals:

• Change careers
• Accelerate career success
• Successfully launch a business
• Improve leadership and/or communications skills
• Manage time more effectively
• Help top employees reach their full potential
• Improve personal relationships

As it turns out, working with a professional coach is probably one of the smartest decisions they could make – and I’m not just saying that because I’m a coach! According to a Visually infographic created for the International Coach Federation (ICF), 99% of people are satisfied with the overall coaching experience – and 96% would do it again.

That’s because the coaching process helps people:

• Unlock their potential
• Increase productivity and effectiveness
• Increase creativity
• Improve problem-solving skills
• Increase resiliency
• Gain self-confidence and trust in oneself

While some of those benefits sound vague, many of them can be measured. Of those surveyed by the ICF, 80% said they became more confident ,70% said their work performance improved, 72% said their communication skills improved, and 61% said business management improved.

Many company leaders benefit from coaching as they seek to improve business outcomes. Your employees are also vital to company success, and coaching can help maximize their talents. In fact, 86% of companies who hired a coach for employees reported that they made back at least their investment. Food for thought!

What would you like most to improve in your life? What’s stopping you?

Mindfulness might sound a little woo-woo-new-agey, but it’s actually been practiced for centuries. At it’s core, it is paying attention on purpose, without judgment, and just living in the moment. For most of us, that is incredibly difficult to do – life is just so … busy. But it can be done.

In my last blog post, I wrote about the link between mindfulness and productivity and the traits of mindful leaders. In this post, we’ll look at specific exercises you can do to increase mindfulness.

Here are 5 ways to practice mindfulness:

1 – Meditate – sit in a comfortable spot, palms resting on your thighs or knees, eyes closed. Pay attention to your breathing for a few minutes. Let thoughts come and go without spending too much time on each. Start with  5-10 minutes of meditation and work your way up to 20-30.

2 – Listen to people – when your spouse, children, colleagues, or direct reports are talking to you, look them in the eye and really listen to what they are saying. Repeat back what you heard them say rather than immediately forming your response.

3 - Pay attention to details– in your day-to-day life, let your mind briefly focus on the sounds, sights, and smells around you. When you’re cooking, breathe in the scent coming from the simmering pot, hot oven, or smoking grill. When you’re outside, listen to the chatter of the birds and the rustle of the leaves.

4 - Practice gratitude – it is incredibly easy to take things in our lives for granted, from the sunrise to our children’s’ laughter. Pay attention to the people, things, and experiences in your life that bring you joy, and be grateful for them.

5 - Think first, respond second – when you need to respond to a difficult question, a challenging email, or an angry accusation, stop and think about it first. How do you feel? Why do you feel that way? Once you understand why you feel the way you do, you can respond intelligently – and possibly diffuse an ugly situation.

The more you practice, the more productive, creative, and focused you will be.  Which practice will you work on this week?

Quick quiz!

(Don’t worry, it’s only true or false.)

True or false: I sometimes have to ask the same question twice, because I failed to listen to the answer the first time.

True or false: I check email while sitting at a red traffic light.

True or false: I watch TV with my family and work on my laptop or iPad at the same time.

I am guessing you answered “true” to at least 2 of them, but probably all 3. In our day and age, multi-tasking is common. It can be as mundane as talking to our spouse while we wash the dishes, or as serious as texting and emailing during conference calls – that you’re leading.

When you fail to fully pay attention to what’s in front of you, your productivity plummets. When you’re mindful and focused, productivity increases.

And yes, mindfulness works. The Institute of Mindful Leadership conducted two studies in 2009 and 2010. In one, 80 leaders from 12 organizations reported amazing results:

• 93% had an increased ability to discover and innovate
• 89% said their listening skills improved
• 70% said their strategic thinking skills improved

Mindful leaders are:

• Resilient – able to thoughtfully process and handle challenging situations and keep moving forward
• Focused – capable of paying full attention to what they are thinking and what others are saying and doing around them
• Empathetic – can relate to others’ challenges and better connect with them
• Creative – think up new ideas and solve problems easily

In my next blog post, I’ll give you specific tips for increasing mindfulness. For now, you have a little bit of homework: Over the next week, make note of when your mind is most apt to wander and when you are most likely to multi-task. Simply paying attention to your habits will allow you to build mindfulness.

When you hear the name Peter Drucker, you instantly think “the father of modern management.” But did you also know he wrote a lot about self-development? In Bruce Rosenstein’s book, Living in More Than One World: How Peter Drucker’s Wisdom Can Inspire and Transform Your Life, he shares Drucker’s thesis that the most satisfying life is a multidimensional life.

If your self-worth is tied to your job, what happens if you lose your job – or retire? People with a well-balanced life full of varied interests are happy, satisfied, and can handle setbacks and life changes. By designing a “total life,” you will have a life of some work and some play, not all work and no play.

Peter Drucker was an accomplished workaholic, but he was also happy, pursued his interests in art, literature, and classical music, and embraced learning throughout his life. Here are his tips on how to live in more than on world:

• Develop and strengthen your main talents, inside and outside of work
• Clarify your values and live by them
• Manage your time wisely
• Develop parallel and second careers, which you will discover by strengthening your talents
• Make a difference in the lives of others by volunteering or through social entrepreneurism
• Use teaching and lifelong learning as complementary ways of staying engaged and up-to-date
• Focus on opportunities rather than setbacks
• Aim high at something that will make a difference
• Take some time for self-reflection, and assess where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there

Drucker said that people who are single-minded – like politicians (his analogy, not mine!) – are the unhappiest people. What can you start doing today to create a more balanced, multi-dimensional life?

Contact us if you would like a quick coaching session on how to set up an ideal schedule and start today to make positive changes in how you spend your time.

Whether you are running your own small business or serving as CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you are busy – we all are. Between preparing for a big presentation, launching a new product line, or traveling for business, it seems we are always focused on colleagues, clients, and the latest earning’s report – even when we’re at home.

When we focus so much of our time and attention on work, we are negatively affecting our inner life, or who we really are as people. Because you are more than a VP of Product Development, it is imperative to make time to focus on your inner life – your family, personal relationships, health and spirituality.

“No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?”   – Lee Iaccoca

Here are 3 exercises to do to ensure your inner life is as healthy as your professional life:

Take stock of how you spend your time

Make a list of where you spend your time: at work, with friends and family, pursuing interests, playing sports or participating in activities, and networking with colleagues and industry professionals. Note how much time you spend on each per week or per month.  Attempt to put percentages on each area and decide if you like the percentage breakdown.  If not then figure out how to make it the way you want it.  One of my favorite sayings to remind myself to live today is, “Today is not a dress rehearsal.”

Questions to consider: How is work overshadowing your inner life? How can you find more balance?

Compartmentalize your life

Shutting off your work brain when you are with your family, playing tennis, or enjoying brunch with friends is important to growing and maintaining your inner life. You cannot pay attention to what is in front of you if your mind is still in the board room.

Questions to consider: What can you do at the end of the workday to leave your work worries in the office? How can you unwind on the drive or train ride home?

Set up personal rules

Put together a list of personal rules to live by: no devices at the dinner table, only check email once in the evening (after the kids are in bed), leave your mobile device on mute during your son’s basketball games, spend one entire weekend day focused on family, friends, and leisurely pursuits.

Questions to consider: What rules would most benefit your family and friends? What rules would most benefit your own peace of mind and help you relax?

There is a model developed by Stephen Covey called “The Time Management Matrix” or commonly referred to as “The Four Quadrant Model”.  It is explained in his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  Let me give you a brief overview.

Take out a piece of paper and fold it into four equal boxes.

Label the top left box #1.  This is the Urgent/Important box.  In this box you are always fighting fires and dealing with emergencies.  The person who stays in this box believes everything that comes across his desk (or at least his co-workers believe this) must be dealt with now and it is important.  When you are constantly called to put out fires this puts you in a reactive rather than proactive position. As you gain experience, you will know what tasks can be deferred.  Calmly explain to the requester why his need can wait.

The top right box #2 is the Not Urgent/Important box.  This is the quality time box.  Ideally you want to spend most of your time in this top right box.  This means you are focusing on things that are important but not urgent.  This is the ideal and it takes planning and clarity of what is important.  This box works well in your personal and professional life.  In this box you are focusing on quality time.  It is important to live and work in this quadrant as much as possible.  I know professionals who never enter this quadrant; they are harried, stressed and unhappy people that nobody wants to be around.  You need to PLAN to spend time in this quadrant.  You need to schedule your day, your week and set up systems.  Focus on how to get better organized and use technology to your advantage.  This small time investment will help you be successful in the long run. You can’t spend all your time here but with sufficient planning you can prevent many problems that arise and keep you in Quadrant #2, which will lead to higher performance and success.

The bottom left box #3 is the Urgent/Not Important box. This is the box that pulls you off track with many distractions.  The phone, email, texts, tweets and people stopping by your office pull you off track.  How could you limit this from happening?  I might suggest that you learn to set boundaries. The activities in this section are deceiving as you may think they are important.  By responding to the so-called “Urgent” matters you are being taken away from what is truly important. Use a different account for your personal mail, text and tweets to stay focused on work.

The bottom right box #4 is the Not Urgent/Not Important box.  This is the time wasting box.  We spend more time in this quadrant then we would like to admit.  This may occur when we are waiting in line or driving, but you can use this time wisely.  For example, when you find an article you want or need to read cut it out and place it in a folder.  Store the folder in your bag and when you find yourself waiting you have something productive to do.  If you live in a metropolitan area there are times you are stuck in traffic.  A book on tape can help make the time more productive.

To spend more time in quadrant two you must PLAN.   Choose a task, use the timer on your phone set for 45 minutes, turn off all distractions (phone, email, etc.) and give yourself permission to work uninterrupted.

The more time you spend in Quadrant Two the less time you will spend in the others and be more productive.

In my previous blog post, I discussed how deflecting compliments can undermine your effectiveness as a leader. For some people, it is incredibly difficult to smile and say “thank you” graciously under any circumstance. However, there are times we simply don’t trust the compliment we are receiving.

If a compliment seems to be insincere, questionable or confusing, responding graciously, if at all, can be difficult and awkward. As a leader, you want to demonstrate confidence and control and stop a situation from spinning out of control and possibly lowering morale on your team.

When you find yourself in a “questionable compliment” situation, here’s what to do:

Accept the compliment

Say thank you quickly and move on to another topic, conversation or task. Give yourself time to think over the sincerity of the compliment first before becoming defensive.

Don’t jump to conclusions

Some people are socially awkward and just not very good at complimenting others. Before jumping to conclusions, be sure the complimenter was really being insincere. Ask other people who you trust if they have experienced the same feeling when receiving a compliment from that person.

Start a conversation

Keep an open mind when starting a conversation with the complimenter. Say something like, “I am not sure I interpreted what you were saying correctly. This is what I heard – is that what you meant?”

If the compliment was sincere, you have just developed a much better understanding of that person, how they think, and how they communicate.

If, however, the compliment was insincere and meant to be an insult or make you look bad in front of other people, this is when your leadership skills will be put to good use. Ask the complimenter:

• Why did you say that?
• How would you have done things differently during that project?
• What solutions do you think are better, and why?

By asking for their input, you could turn the situation around from aggressive and confrontational to collaborative and open-minded, thus diffusing a potentially ugly situation.

As a leader, you probably get complimented fairly often – for presentations, new hires, programs or projects that exceeded expectations – the list could go on. Accepting a compliment graciously with a big smile and simple “thank you” come naturally to some people, but not for others.

If compliments make you uncomfortable, you probably deflect them by saying things like, “Oh, it was nothing” or “It didn’t turn out exactly as planned” or “We can do better.” These statements, repeated often enough, will undermine others’ confidence in you and thus your effectiveness as a leader.

When you deflect a compliment, you:

• Imply someone else can do it better than you
• Show a lack of confidence
• Insult the complimenter by suggesting they are wrong
• Make the complimenter feel uncomfortable or embarrassed for saying something
• Discount your own skills and knowledge

When you accept a compliment, you:

• Acknowledge your own worth
• Display a healthy level of modesty and confidence
• Show you trust the complimenter
• Start a conversation about that topic, thus gaining valuable feedback or insight from the complimenter
• Have the opportunity to acknowledge everyone who contributed to the success

If you have a hard time accepting a compliment, here are some ideas of what to say in return after you say “Thank you”:

• I appreciate that.
• That means a lot to me.
• I really enjoyed working on the project, and I’m glad you did too.
• We are really proud of our success.
• We all worked really hard to launch this program.

Note the mentions of “we” – a great way to spread the compliment around to everyone involved, whether or not they are there.

As you practice accepting compliments, practice complimenting others, whether it’s the barista at Starbucks, a helpful sales clerk, or an employee. Once you see how happy a sincere compliment makes other people, it might become easier to accept compliments directed at you.