Sunday 25 December 2016

THE POWER OF LISTENING


Listening is the most important skill in conducting effective coaching conversation. A coach can learn the most about their coachee by deep listening with no judgment and attachment. How deeply a coach listens to the coachee critically affects the quality and results of coaching in creating the coachee’s self-awareness and learning. Trust and intimacy between coach and coachee are built on the coach’s active listening skills. A coach who is skillful listener will be able to ask powerful questions and provide depth and valuable clarifying that reflect coachee perception and emotion, which impact on coachee self discovery and moving forward.


As the gained benefits of my coachee are the center of coaching conversation, my main focus is on developing and practicing my active listening skills. I believe that listening is the most challenging part for all coaches. Listening with no judgment and attachment takes a lot of mind practice. A coach’s self-awareness plays a significant role to make sure they are maintaining a neutral perspective while expressing empathic listening and acknowledgement. Even a coach who prepares himself/herself well before the coaching conversation can be careless at some moments and judge the coachee during the coaching conversation. Of course, the coachee can feel or sense judgment from the coach, based on the questions the coach has asked or the feedback provided, which may result in loss of trust.

To develop and practice active listening skills, I would like to share some of my guidelines as below:

Before any coaching conversation, I will…

  • Put my own paradigm, knowledge, and experience aside. Remind myself of my coach role in understanding, not judging.
  • Make sure there is no personal agenda or any attachments of the result of coaching conversation.
  • Empty my mind, no thinking of anything in advance. This lets my intuition and intelligence work naturally on the foundation of integration of coaching skills and process.
  • Practice mindfulness and self-awareness by listening to myself every moment, observing what I think and feel. (To observe ourselves is the most challenging way and much more difficult than observing of other people. So, practicing with ourselves is a great and impactful way to start.)

During any coaching conversation, I will…


  • Be completely in present with my coachee and follow them 100%. I just dance with their insights.
  • Listen to not only what my coachee says, but also his/her emotions, motivations, values, and paradigms behind their words.
  • Catch my coachee’s emotional state and energy from his/her eyes and body languages, especially facial expression, as well as their voice and tone of voice.
  • Notice languages coachee uses. It may demonstrate his/her thinking pattern, values, and interpretation.
  • Be self-awareness through coaching conversation. If judging occurs in any steps of conversation, I can be aware of it and get rid of it right away.
Hopefully, these guidelines will be helpful. The more a coach expresses their active and profound listening to coachee, the more the coachee will learn and grow. People always need to be listened and understood. It’s the greatest way of encouragement and reinforcement to develop people to positive and more sustainable changes. It’s like giving the coachee oxygen. The more oxygen absorbed by the coachee, the more he/she becomes open and reasonable, and finally able to discover themselves and finally unleash their potentials.

Wednesday 14 December 2016

Can't Afford A Business Coach : What to Do?

"Need to take your business to the following level? Contract a mentor" This is something I hear constantly and all things considered.

Business mentors can be to a great degree significant and I've procured two diverse mentors to break into particular specialties some time recently. It was somewhat expensive, however it was unquestionably justified regardless of the venture.

In any case, when you're simply beginning and you have a low spending plan, it can be hard to discover the cash to put resources into a business mentor. There are still different approaches to push your business forward. Here are a few choices you can take.

Also read: Tips to Hiring Business Coach

Perused Free Information Online 

There is so much free data and substance online that you can access to enhance your business and find out about new systems. In the event that you tail somebody who's extremely powerful yet you can't bear to contract them as a mentor yet, you can read their blog entries, listen to their podcast, agree to their email list, or even go to their free online classes.

While you won't get the customized consideration and administration that you would get working one-on-one with somebody, however regardless you'll pick up esteem.

Book a 30-hour long Phone Call 

At times you require an effective meeting to generate new ideas to escape a tough situation. In case you're stuck on something or need exhortation from an expert, you can simply book a 30-hour long telephone call with a business mentor to pick up clarity on any issues you're encountered or find solutions to some of your most squeezing inquiries.

Bunches of experts have select ins on their site that permit you to 'get their feedback' by booking a one-time honing call with them.

This is a snappy approach to get a portion of the outcomes you're looking for without paying frequently for a mentor.

Take a Course 

I cherish agreeing to online courses. Great courses are well laid out, and offer particular methodologies and significant tips to execute.

Online courses extend in cost, yet once in a while they go at a bargain (particularly first and foremost stages) so in the event that somebody you respect professionally is discharging a course that could help you enhance your business, it could be more cost-effective than procuring them as a mentor.

Trade a Service for Coaching 

This choice may work better in the event that you really know the individual you need to end up distinctly your mentor in some limit. On the off chance that you have an item or administration you can trade with, you might have the capacity to request reduced or free guiding sessions.

For instance, since I'm an author, I may influence a couple articles for each month for a drilling session with somebody in the event that they have a blog and need assistance putting drawing in substance up.

This strategy may not generally work, but rather it merits asking long as you're not violating any limits.

Outline: Seek Value by More Affordable Means 

Most business mentors are astonishing, and definitely justified even despite the cost. In any case, practically that doesn't mean everybody can bear to contract one particularly on the off chance that they are simply beginning.

In addition, honing requires a huge amount of work and exertion on your end since you need to make a move and execute all that you're learning.

In the event that you don't believe you're prepared or can't bear the cost of a business mentor as of now, consider a portion of the options specified above so you can at present enhance the achievement of your business while adhering to your financial plan.

Need a Business Coach to grow your business? Talk to expert Vandana Shah today.