A bit of reading...
What flowers are you too growing in your garden?
Be yourselves, listen to more experienced gardeners, understand what you could get (or not) but in the end, be the only one to decide what flowers you want to
grow and how tall you want them to be!
If you want to know more about what soil you are made of and how you could make it more fertile, let me know!!!
PS: I know, that image has a poor definition. That's an old one I had saved as I loved the message and I simply updated with the right year. Let's not focus on the unimportant đ
Choosing your coaching topic: a hot topic!
Thatâs a question I have very often: âCaroline, how do I choose the topic?â
đŤ Creativity comes when our mind is wandering so donât focus too hard on finding a topic just now. Give your mind a rest. It will come naturally.
Also, to give you an idea of what I have been coaching on, here is my latest 10 clientsâ topics:
1. Individual I want to stop procrastinating
2. Individual I am struggling to find my values
3. Individual I want to leave my current professional life to be able to enjoy a new one
4. Individual I want to have visibility about my future
5. Group We want to have guidance about how to optimize our time
6. Group How can we deal with stage fright
7. Group How do we naviguate with our emotions
8. Individual How do I stay authentic in my relationship with a toxic manager
9. Individual How do I handle a total change in my boss' behaviour
10. Individual I want to market myself and I donât know how to do it
A bit of reading...
Flight, Fly or Freeze: my clientâs answer to her toxic boss?
My client is an extremely clever, reliable, kind, ambitious (yes, kind and ambitious are not incompatible) and hard-working lady with high responsibilities in a global company.
She knows how to use best her brain and her heart so that she gets great results and leads her teams in the right direction.
However, she has an extremely toxic boss. On top of that, he has what seems an irrational and unpredictable behaviour, she doesnât know how she should behave. Everything she has tried until now fails.
Our coaching session yesterday led us to talk about fear.
Have you heard about the âFight, Flight, Freezeâ responses to fear?
When facing a real or perceived danger or aggression, hormones are released in your body as an answer to stress and your nervous system will involuntarily make your body react in either one of these 3 ways:
- Fight: your body turns into fight mode as it thinks you can overpower the threat.
- Flight: your body turns into ârun awayâ mode as it thinks you cannot overpower the threat.
- Freeze: your body is not able to move away from the danger or act against it.
There are numerous ways to overcome these physiological reactions. Breathing techniques, relaxation or meditation practices, regular exercices, etc.
As useful as they are, these solutions could be supported by coaching.
WHY?
Because you will never be able to tackle the root cause(s) of your stress if you donât understand what it is really, how deep it impacts you and family/colleagues, where it is leading you to, etc.
Coaching can help you to find the answers to these questions.
Have you or are you lived/living a similar situation at work?
If so, donât waste a moment, this is a serious challenge you are facing and coaching is a way to get out of it quickly.
Alice, a mirror and an unexpected journey.
Has Alice actually been through a coaching experience?
I can hear you âwhaaaaaat is she talking about againâ?
So, we agree that walking through the mirror is Aliceâs real first step into her adventure.
Letâs see if you can see the similarities between this mirror and a coach
A mirror symbolizes a door, a gate, an access point.
The beginning and the end of Aliceâs journey âŚ
Between this beginning and this end lies a journey.
â¨Unexpected, brutal and absurd sometimes.
â¨Also funny, dramatic, emotional.
â¨Always full of learnings.
Alice seems to wander erratically in her adventure but she actually keeps on moving forward.
â¨She finds support and answers to her questions.
â¨She meets lovely people and vaguely spooky creatures.
â¨She meets with her unconscious self.
That mirror is the coach.
Reflecting your thoughts, feelings and emotions, asking meaningful questions, making sure you head the direction youâve set for yourself, thatâs we do best.
â¨â¨So be like Alice, walk through the mirror!
Being in great mood and booom, incident and now trying to see the end of the tunnel?
Is this post about you?
Could be me last week when I fractured my foot in 2 places after a bad landing at taekwondo. 3 months without sport. Thatâs tough and I am not happy about it.
What about you? đ§
It happens every day at work. You are doing well and suddenly something short-circuits this positive mindset of yours.
A feedback badly interpreted, an email that sounds aggressive, a suggestion from your boss that doesnât align with your plans, an argument within your team, etc. đ¤
Can be anything really, serious or not.
But whatever that is, that sticks to your mind for the rest of the day and sometimes, the whole week.
â¨Before it impacts you too much, talk to someone about it.
â¨Your mentor, your partner, your boss, or even better someone neutral, your coach (nudge nudge wink wink).
Most of the time, it is enough to get the pressure down.
đĽInvest in your mental health and talk to a coach
Know yourself, push yourself, be the one that gets hired!
Letâs play a game together.
Imagine you are going to a job interview tomorrow.
Not any job interview though. This is THE one for your dream job. The chance of a lifetime.
You know there will be serious competitors there and you also know that the interviewers are brilliant and wonât take things for granted.
So play with me and answer these basic questions that are (too) often on the table:
đhow would you describe yourself in 3 adjectives?
đWhat do you consider your biggest achievement?
đWhat successful projects have you lead until now?
Easy questions, right?
As simple as googling âtop keywords for job interviewâ to get a list as long as your arm that you think best describes you and your responsibilities.
But do you REALLY think these professionals in front of you will fall for it?
How many times do you think they have listened to âenergetic, reliable, passionateâ or âenthusiastic, team player, results drivenâ candidates?
If you stand in front of them, itâs because they went through your resume and they already know all this.
The question you must ask yourself is HOW DO I MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
How do I sparkle better and shinier than the others?
Forget about the obvious and brainstorm about yourself, about your successes at work, about what have made you proud, happy, passionate. Push yourself!!
And now, you feel this is not going to be so easy. Why?
Because seeing inside our true self is almost impossible as we all wear lenses in order to get through a life we want to be as close as possible to what we believe in.
The proof is that if you ask people around you to describe you, you will end up with unexpected adjectives about your behaviour. Surprise Surprise.
We are our harshest critics and our judgements about ourselves is always biased based on our education, experiences, and beliefs.
đđđ So here we go, you saw me coming from a mile away.
Coaching can help you. Donât waste time.
Tell me what you would like to achieve in your job interview, and we will start from there to help you find what makes you a better candidate than anyone else.