Posted by Guest Writer September 23, 2008 By Ray Blunt There is a game being played somewhere right now within almost every government organization. The game is called ‘In Search of Best Practices’ and it is played something like this: “We’re about to launch a major change (like putting in a leadership development program). Before we do, let’s benchmark the best organizations around to find out what they do, and especially, let’s see what other government organizations are doing. After... Read Full Story

Posted by Frank Marafiote September 17, 2008 As much as we would like to believe that the power of Internet-based social networking will fill our schedules with paying clients, old-fashioned, face-to-face social networking should still be a major part of your marketing program. Since the success of your practices are fundamentally based on the success of our client relationships, it makes sense to interact directly whenever you can with potential customers. Seeing and talking to you... Read Full Story

Posted by Frank Marafiote September 8, 2008 As reported in Alchemy Exchange, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) is sponsoring a conference next month focusing on the psychology of coaching, the impact of coaching and best practices in coaching that maximise return on investment (ROI). A study by The Human Capital Institute and DBM found that 60% of American companies use executive coaches and 78% consider coaching an effective way to develop leaders. But... Read Full Story

Posted by Frank Marafiote September 4, 2008 Birds do it. Bees do it. Most of us writing blogs do it. Social networking as a business development tool now seems as ordinary as sending out press releases used to be. The question is: are the some social networking strategies and tactics that are more effective than others? Charisse, owner of Emergence Business Coaching believes their are. In a blog post titled Get Social, she offers some of her best thinking about social networking. Here... Read Full Story

Posted by Frank Marafiote September 3, 2008 One of the pleasures of writing this blog is scouring other coaching blogs and web sites for marketing news and information that will be useful to you, my readers. Eager to find the “good stuff,” each week I end up reading dozens of blog posts and visit as many web sites. Now and then I run into a coaching blog that tries to get it right but stumbles here and there. “Stumbling here and there” is what we humans do. To err is human, right? Most... Read Full Story

Posted by Frank Marafiote September 1, 2008 Many coaches operate their practices from home. There are plenty of good reasons to work from home but there are also a few pitfalls. One of the real perils of working from home is getting distracted. For me distractions mean everything other than work: taking care of the dog, reading non-business email, feeding and re-feeding myself, reading books or magazines not related to my work, surfing web sites, doing chores, reading blogs that are... Read Full Story

Posted by Frank Marafiote August 29, 2008 Guy Bloom, an executive coach and editor of the Executive Coaching Blog Site, thinks it was. Obama talks from the heart, he is authentic. Being honest I’m not really in a situation to say whether his politics are sound, whether his budget adds up but do you know, “that doesn’t matter”. When you decide to ‘follow’ a leader the majority of the tme you never really know the facts as they get to see them. . . . So what are you really buying into... Read Full Story

Posted by Frank Marafiote August 28, 2008 Paul Bob Velick, a life coach based in Santa Monica, California, specializes in helping men who are seeking personal balance in their lives, as well as those who are striving to improve their performance at work. Says Paul – Having a coach in your corner means having access to a new set of powerful tools that are uniquely designed to address the domains of career and life that may be slightly or very much out of alignment. Through his... Read Full Story

Posted by Frank Marafiote August 19, 2008 According to the Spokane (WA) Journal of Business, business coaches are seeing increased demand for their services, especially from small-business owners who want to become more efficient so they can weather the difficult business climate. Kevin Weir, a Spokane Valley franchisee of Australia-based ActionCOACH, says in a recently published profile that the tough economy has boosted his client load significantly, spurring revenue growth of 54... Read Full Story

Posted by Frank Marafiote August 12, 2008 Dr. Maynard Brusman, a consulting psychologist and leadership coach and president of Working Resources, says that there are seven major “triggers” that determine the level of influence one person might have with another. According to Brusman, emotionally intelligent leaders are adept at sensing which triggers are appropriate: One of the most powerful questions one can ask oneself is “Can I sense the triggers that will guide me in effectively... Read Full Story