=================================== TODAY's COACH Your News and Information Source for the Coaching World Volume 1 Issue 2 December 1999 =================================== IN THIS ISSUE: 1. James Autry, Author of Real Power, to Speak at Corporate Coaching 2000 2. Moving Corporations to the Cutting Edge 3. Are You Driven by Unexamined Values? 4. Corporate Coaching at Cisco 5. Today's Technology Today 6. Calendar of Events 7. Related Links 8. E-mail the Editor ------------------------------------ 1. James Autry, Author of Real Power, to Speak at Corporate Coaching 2000 by Butch Farley James A. Autry will be one of several keynote speakers at Corporate Coaching 2000 to be held in Toronto in March, 2000. Autry, a former Fortune 500 executive, is an award-winning business author and one of the most popular and influential consultants in the business community. In his most recent book, Real Power, co-authored with Stephen Mitchell, Autry comments on empowerment: "Real empowerment is not about taking power from the top and spreading it through the company. To the contrary, it is about you as a manager recognizing that your employees already have the power." James Autry on Balance: "When your life is out of balance, nothing works. There's too much pressure on the job and too much pressure at home and not enough time to respond to either. In the quest for a balanced life, most business people are frustrated to the point that their conversations are often preoccupied with just how miserably they fail at [balancing their lives]. They strive for "quality" time with family and friends, for networking time with business associates, for productive work time, and for time to just think. They seem to believe that, if there just were more hours added to every day, their lives would miraculously become balanced.... Balancing your life is not about time; it's about values. You may learn helpful ways to make better use of your time, but your life won't become balanced until you also learn to determine what you truly value." Visit James Autry at: http://members.aol.com/jamesautry/ ------------------------------------ 2. Corporate Coaches - Moving Corporations to the Cutting Edge by Susan Corbett It is not news that the corporate environment is very different than it was 10 years ago. Increased global competition, mergers, acquisitions, and buy-outs are driving the economy. The information age is placing demands on companies and people to move faster, and leverage more. Changing government regulations are changing the way entire industries do business. In the midst of this chaos, managers are expected to get more results, from fewer people, in less time. This can represent a daunting challenge. Smart leaders recognize that they need to grow and develop their people more than ever before. Companies are finding that corporate coaches deliver tremendous results for leaders and managers committed to growing and retaining their people. Services corporate coaches provide include: executive and performance coaching, culture shaping, manager-as-coach training, communication and relationship skill building, and employee assessment. Insightful managers and CEOs are investing in corporate coaching to position their organizations on the leading edge of business innovation. They are training internal coaches and integrating coaching with Human Resource Departments and leadership development programs. Corporate coaching is a powerful tool companies are using to attract the best people in their industry, giving them the edge they need to stay on top. Susan Corbett is a business and corporate coach who coaches owners, managers and Fortune 1000 executives to have fulfilling, balanced, and successful lives. Using principles of coaching, she is working toward making the workplace a fun and "humanized" place to be. Susan is also the VP of Business Development for Corporate Coaches, Inc., the premier provider of coaching and coaching services. ~ ~ ~ You can e-mail Susan at susan@coachcorbett.com or visit http://www.coachcorbett.com/ ------------------------------------ 3. Are You Driven by Unexamined Values? by Mike Duckett John was initially skeptical about coaching. Having become Managing Director of a nationwide building company by age 34, he thought, "who needs it?" At his wife's suggestion he agreed to meet me one Saturday afternoon in a pub for a drink. We quickly established rapport once he realized we spoke the same language-market growth, revenue & profit targets, price/earnings ratios, etc. Then we got to the real stuff-his battle with the new group CEO (son of the company owner). While working together, a big breakthrough came when John realized he could let go of his desire to control the CEO's behavior and exercise choice about his own responses to that behavior. John quickly decided he was willing to flex his behavior but only so far. On examining his values he uncovered three key issues he wished to remedy: 1.Family - he was missing his daughter growing up and not sharing in his wife's success. 2.Friends - he was missing the team sports and wasn't relaxed around friends. 3.Company culture - its values conflicted with many of his own (particularly his desire to support his people's personal development needs). He now had the basis for sound decision-making and chose to resign. But to do so required that he overcome two hurdles-money and status. Where could he match his current earnings and how could he handle people's perceptions of him without the £60,000 Jaguar? We unpacked these issues to expose his real values. Regarding his family for example, I asked, "If I were selling families, how much would you pay for one!" He quickly recognized that his striving to maintain status was threatening the choices he really wanted to make. Now clear about his values and motives, John resigned and immediately attracted calls from building companies that heard he was available. One was the company he started his career with 15 years earlier, a smaller operation based in a picturesque Oxfordshire village. The CEO was delighted to offer him more than his old salary. John now walks his daughter to the village school each morning, his friends are enjoying his sense of humor again and his wife tells me she just loves having him back. ~ ~ ~ You can e-mail Mike Duckett at Coaching.for.Success@usa.net or visit http://coachingforsuccess.co.uk/ ------------------------------------ 4. Corporate Coaching at Cisco by Dottie DeSelle Cisco Systems, Inc. based in San Jose, CA, is an $8 billion, worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Cisco's networking solutions connect people, computing devices and computer networks, allowing people to access or transfer information without regard to differences in time, place or type of computer system. Cisco sells its products in approximately 115 countries through a direct sales force, distributors, value-added resellers and system integrators. In this article, Dottie DeSelle, a Cisco employee, tells us about corporate coaching within her organization. ~ ~ ~ I arrive at my office before 8:00 A.M. There's an employee waiting for me, and he doesn't look happy. We talk for 40 minutes. I listen intently, ask lots of questions, and he looks at me funny with a couple of them. Next, I make one suggestion, which he likes and agrees to do, and then goes back to work. He seemed relieved that someone really heard what he was saying. Later, I follow-up with his manager. Again, I listen, ask questions, and get the same funny look. I make three suggested changes. He agrees to two of them. This is "coaching" in Corporate America. For 18 years I was a Human Resources Consultant in the high technology industry. I've been with Cisco for five years, and have been "coaching" as a daily practice for the past two. I'm just one of many professionals that have put on this new hat. Executives, line managers, and employees talk enthusiastically about the benefits they've received from coaching vs. old style H.R. interventions. They see its value because they see results much faster, and at Cisco, change occurs on a dime. The greatest resource of any company is their braintrust; their employees, and company turn over is a direct measure of employee satisfaction. While, good salaries, bonuses, and stock options are important to employees, they tell me almost daily that job satisfaction, good management and great tools are too. This year, Cisco's turn over rate was 8.75%, compared to an average rate in Silicon Valley of 12-15%. I believe that coaching has had a lot to do with these results. Coaching in Silicon Valley is poised to explode. There are well over 100 executives at Cisco alone, many of whom are working with a coach. When coaching works for them, they recommend it right down through their line organizations. As technology pushes us to move faster, we need to be able to shift focus, develop new skills and maintain balance at a very rapid pace. If companies are to be successful in this competitive environment, they must hire, train, and develop the best. Many successful corporations are learning that a shift from the old style H.R. methods of helping their employees and managers are necessary if they wish to stay competitive. The coaching model fits this need. As technology pushes us to move faster, we need to be able to shift focus, develop new skills and maintain balance at a very rapid pace. If companies are to be successful in this competitive environment, they must hire, train, and develop the best. Many successful corporations are learning that a shift from the old style H.R. methods of helping their employees and managers are necessary if they wish to stay competitive. The coaching model fits this need. As technology pushes us to move faster, we need to be able to shift focus, develop new skills and maintain balance at a very rapid pace. If companies are to be successful in this competitive environment, they must hire, train, and develop the best. Many successful corporations are learning that a shift from the old style H.R. methods of helping their employees and managers are necessary if they wish to stay competitive. The coaching model fits this need. ~ ~ ~ Dottie DeSelle is a Certified Professional Effectiveness Coach with 18 years experience as a Human Resources Consultant to a variety of high technology organizations. She has a varied and unique mix of skills that have been honed through working with individuals, managers and teams at many major corporations. You can e-mail Dottie at Urmycoch@flash.net or visit http://www.integrateddimensions.com/ ------------------------------------ 5. Today's Technology... Today! by Butch Farley Legislation FYI Recognizing the rapid growth of electronic commerce, the House passed legislation that would give electronic signatures and records the same legal validity as written contracts. The bill is sponsored by Tom Bliley, R-Va. Check with your representative for its progress. Surge Protection? The sun will erupt into the most active part of its 11-year cycle, solar max, with outbursts of energy that can threaten satellites, electrical power and astronauts. Solar activity is building now and should peak next year. Check out NASA's latest Space Weather Forecast at http://www.spaceweather.com/. Better get a surge protector.... ------------------------------------ 6. Calendar of Events December 1999 - March 2000 Free Corporate Coaching Teleclasses. Interested in taking one? Visit http://www.Teleclass.com/. The classes are numbers 3701-1 through 3710-1. They are free and cover a variety of Corporate Coaching issues. Try one on! January - June 2000 Millennium Coaching Tour - Thomas Leonard, founder of Coach U, will be offering free 3 hour workshops in 50 cities across the USA during the first half of 2000. Register at http://www.coachingtour.com/ by calling 905-989-0791, or by e-mailing register@coachingtour.com March 13-17, 2000 Corporate Coaching 2000 Conference, Toronto, Canada - for coaches and organizations interested in corporate coaching. For details or to register visit http://www.coachulive.com/ June 14-17, 2000 Coaching 2000 2nd Annual Coach U Training Symposium, Atlanta, GA. Details available soon on http://www.coachulive.com/ December 20 - 24, 1999, Fortune Magazine highlights 8 pages on Corporate Coaching in America. See how Fortune 500 companies are adopting coaching skills. Interested in learning more about Corporate Coaching and Coaching? Visit http://www.ccui.com/ and http://www.coachu.com/ Important Dates! December 31st, 1999 CCUI (Corporate Coaching U International), price increase goes into effect. Price goes from $1,795 to $2,495. If you have questions about registering call 1-888-391-2740, or visit http://www.ccui.com/ for additional details. ------------------------------------ 7. Related Links The Top 10 Questions To Ask About The Culture of a Corporation http://209.223.182.20/Sites/topten/public/AC/AC31.html Business Top Ten Ways to Empower Your Employees http://209.223.182.20/Sites/topten/public/AC/AC63.html ------------------------------------ 8. E-mail the Editor with your comments and suggestions. butch@coachu.com Subscribe or unsubscribe at: http://todayscoach.com/ Thank you!