Resources
International Coaching Federation. The ICF is the leading global organization dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high professional standards, providing independent certification, and building a network of credentialed coaches. ICF Credential-holders are part of a self-regulating group of elite coaches who provide accountability to clients and the coaching profession as a whole. They pursue and complete rigorous education and practice requirements that provide unquestioned legitimacy to their commitment to excellence in coaching.
Book Recommendations
I read a lot of business books, and have some favorites that I refer to often that are easy reads, interesting, useful and practical. Here are a few:
This is one of my favorites to use with teams. 80% of the book is a story about a woman who takes over as CEO of a struggling company and how she transformed her dysfunctional leadership team. The rest of the book explains the five dysfunctions in more detail and how to move a team through them. As you get to know the characters you will soon realize that you’ve probably worked with all of them at some point in your career! A great book (and starting point) for recognizing and beginning the transformation of your leadership team.
I love this book! It offers a simple model for change and spends most of the book sharing tons of documented examples of how people have solved problems that seemed insurmountable and achieved dramatic results. The key to successful change? Discovering that the best solutions are often right in front of us; and we need both a rational and emotional approach to be successful in their implementation. The Heath brothers have written a fun-to-read book that is loaded with remarkable stories of change that will inspire you.
You’ve probably heard about Emotional Intelligence and wondered what all the buzz is about. EI is our ability to recognize and manage our emotions and behaviors and navigate social situations to achieve positive results. The author says “Of all the people we’ve studied at work, we've found that 90% of top performers are also high in emotional intelligence. On the flip side, just 20% of bottom performers are high in emotional intelligence.” The good news – you can improve your own emotional intelligence through awareness and focused practice. This book comes with a “secret code” in the back that provides the link for you to get your own personal assessment, along with practical suggestions to increase your effectiveness.
Good news for all of us…People have much more potential for growth when they focus on developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies. Besides explaining the “why” behind the change in focus, there’s also a link to take a short test online to identify your strengths, and learn how to deploy them for maximum impact.
How do we make decisions? When can you trust your gut? And what exactly is your gut? A fun and fascinating read on how our brains work and the art of “thin-slicing” – how our brains filter the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables. Lots of real life examples and studies that help you understand how a person can make good decisions in the blink of an eye.