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September 8th, 2010
By Guest Blogger Karen S. Richter
I am so grateful for how coaching has enhanced my internal capacity to handle whatever life hands me. So much so, that I want to share the amazing experience and resulting self-awareness, inner peace, and happiness with others.
Several years ago, I was in a place where many parents find themselves - feeling pulled in multiple directions, and living on autopilot. I had too little time and energy to devote to all the conflicting priorities in my life, and ended up feeling a bit inadequate at them all.
My Human Resources role drastically changed on September 11, 2001. Through helping our employees (our offices were across the street from the World Trade Center), I got a glimpse of what it was like to truly help others – to have a significant impact on their lives. It was an amazing experience. I felt so alive! I loved being able to help others in such a big way.
I worked with a life coach to address my feelings of frustration and inadequacy, and to identify ways to continue to feel that value of truly helping others. I got clear on my priorities and began living according to my values. As I experienced the transformational powers of coaching first-hand, I realized that this was the way to help people live their lives to their fullest potential. I attended iPEC training and learned the coaching process that allowed me to see things in a much more positive light and completely changed my life. I realized my passion was not to just live my own life to the fullest, feeling fulfilled as a parent, wife, friend, etc., but to help others find that same fulfillment and inner peace in their own lives. I decided to pursue a career in coaching, and founded Cohesive Outcomes, a company dedicating to enriching the lives of parents through coaching and outdoor adventure retreats.
The proof of how much the coaching process enhanced my internal capacity to handle all that life throws at me came when I was faced with a shocking personal tragedy. I was able to handle the situation with much more grace and ease than I ever imagined, due to what I had learned through coaching. My husband was shot in the face in a random act of violence. Instead of feeling like the victim (“How could this happen to us?”), instead of feeling sorry for myself (“How can I cope with all the stresses of this situation?”), I was able to see all things I had to be grateful for (he’s alive, he’s going to fully recuperate, we’ve got access to great doctors, we have a network of wonderfully supportive family and friends). I realized I was not a victim of my circumstances, but in control of my reactions and resulting situations. I began to live with an amazing calmness, knowing that I was able to live life on my terms, and actually create the life of my dreams.
I continue to be thankful of how coaching has enriched my life. Every day, I’m able to more clearly see the abundance in my life. I find ways to spend time enjoying all the things I have to be thankful for. I’ve stopped using up my precious energy on negative things, or things I can’t change and instead find positive energy that allows me to focus on keeping my family and friends a priority. So much energy that I’ve been able to find enough to train and complete a full marathon – yep – 26.2 miles! And coaching has allowed me to find clarity in my life – to realize that my purpose is to help others. And that’s why I’m here – to help parents realize they can achieve balance and satisfaction in lives. And that people can, not only survive in tough times, but thrive!
About Karen Richter:
Karen S. Richter is a recent iPEC Graduate and loves helping others ‘find inner peace in parenthood’. As the owner of Cohesive Outcomes, LLC, Karen finds her own inner peace by getting outdoors to enjoy nature as often as possible, and living in her old (220+ years) farmhouse in Bucks County, PA with her husband, two children, 3 cats, and many chickens.
Tags: adversity, attitude, become a coach, coaching skills, finding purpose, personal achievement, training
Posted in Coaching and Coach Training, Guest Bloggers, How Coaching Changed my Life
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September 7th, 2010
Remember that terrible old “break up” line… “No, no, really… it’s not you, it’s me.” Well, sometimes it seems that history is not without a sense of irony.
The Norm: When situations get frustrating and are not living up to our expectations, we begin looking at who is causing the situation. We can’t possibly be the source. It must be elsewhere… right?
But alas, it’s not them, it’s you/us!
We see the world through our perceptions, through our past experiences, and through our values. This forms our “filter” for viewing life and for how we act and react in any situation. So we act and perceive based on our filters; just like others act and perceive based on theirs…
See how quickly “reality” becomes quite “relative” depending who you are in this particular scenario?
Key point: Notice that others are simply interpreting and acting based on how they see the world, and you are doing the same, based on how you see the world?
This is just a normal cycle in our everyday lives. Individuals – who are empowered, who positively impact and influence others, and (dare I say) who lead others – choose not to get caught up in this cycle. Instead they know it is part of the game of life, and they have fun with it. They are quick to identify and check their own perceptions – recognizing their perception is exactly this: theirs, and no one else’s.
When you don’t see a situation the same way as someone else, or someone doesn’t see it your way, don’t let frustration or aggravation get in your way. Instead know that differences are to be expected, welcomed, AND understood.
Know that if you have a “negative” reaction to a situation or another person, that it’s really telling you something about YOURSELF.
You can spend your time wishing the other person will change or wake up or you can focus on yourself and be aware of what perceptions that you have that may be causing any feelings of negativity. One path will lead to frustration; the other to fulfillment.
So, a helpful little takeaway: Walk with a mirror – meaning, when you want a different result, when you want something to change, stop looking to others for that change, and instead focus in on the one thing you can change – you!
Live on fire!
D. Luke Iorio
President and CEO
Tags: adversity, attitude, choice, expectations, judging others, leadership, new perspective, opportunity, power of choice, values
Posted in Energy Leadership, leadership
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February 19th, 2010
It’s one of the toughest times ever — both for those out of work and perhaps, even more, for those who have held on to their jobs. The plain fact is that employees need to cover more work with less available resources in order for their companies to survive, let alone thrive. Employers, on the other hand, require employees who understand just how much is at stake and who are just as invested as the top executives are in making things work.
Employers have been able to hold onto top talent because of the poor economy, but that may no longer be enough to retain those high performers, especially when the economic climate improves. The number of Americans who reported being happy with their careers dropped to an all-time low — 45 percent — in a new Conference Board survey that found people are more miserable than ever in nearly every aspect of their work lives.
What can you, as an employer, do to increase motivation and engagement and help those employees you value through challenging times? How can you, as a leader, set the tone and motivate and inspire your team, leading to a happier and more productive workplace? (Remember, when things get better, you don’t want to lose your best workers - retraining and rehiring is an expensive proposition!)
Employees are looking for true leaders…who can talk AND walk like true coaches! “Nothing is better than a leader who understands the value of the coaching process, who learns from his or her own coach, and then takes those skills into the workplace to develop and lead a team,” comments Ed Abel, President of Abel Institute, an international leader in business coaching, whose company develops business owners into powerful business leaders.
Here are just a few great skills that all leaders can develop, courtesy of iPEC Coaching:
• Share the vision and empower employees to contribute their ideas and give feedback. Ask more questions than you answer, and seek to get “buy in” to the plan. Ask questions like, “what does the plan need in order to make it work for you?”
• Don’t make promises you can’t keep – employees appreciate honesty! Level with your team and show that you are committed to helping them.
• Listen to your employees’ concerns, and acknowledge and validate their fears. Focus not only on “what” they say, but on the context of the message (where are they truly coming from? why are saying what they are saying? what does their tone tell you? other non-verbal cues?).
• Celebrate successes and give recognition. Adam Gostick and Chester Elton, in “The Carrot Principle: How Great Managers Use Employee Recognition,” write “For organizations that do it right, it’s a bit like discovering gold in your backyard. Employee recognition, long considered a benefit that costs money, can actually be a management tool that makes money.”
• Find out what internal drivers motivate your employees (it’s not a one size fits all approach) — is it more exposure, creative outlets, time off, etc? What else will speak to their individual needs? Then create opportunities that play to these drivers.
• Lead by example, and with integrity: D. Luke Iorio, President of iPEC Coaching comments, “It’s often been said that true leaders emerge when times are tough – it’s what you do in the difficult times that makes you a leader; and this is when your integrity will be tested the most… When your actions match your message and your decisions match your principles, others view you as genuine, authentic and trustworthy. They will follow your lead.”
Tags: achievement, adversity, attitude, business coach, coach training, encouragement, intentions, leadership, mentor coach, opportunity, workforce engagement
Posted in Business Development, Coaching and Coach Training, Current Affairs, Energy Leadership, Life Potentials
28 Comments »
October 30th, 2009
On October 20ththe Alternative Press published an interview with Luke Iorio, President of the Coach Training Division at iPEC and Master Business Coach, highlighting how coaching helps people to achieve success in this rapidly changing economy.
A few additional thoughts on this topic from Luke Iorio:
Our greatest resource is under great pressure right now: our energy. With rapidly changing circumstances, everyone feels their energy pulled in countless directions. It can feel like the world around us and whatever situations we find ourselves in are dictating what we must do. It feels like we have little, to no choice in some if not many areas of our lives… and yet, this view won’t stand long in this country. We already are seeing individuals stand up and say, “Ok, I get it; we needed to change. So what can I do to make it happen?”
This interview was a great chance to give insights into the coaching process, what the coach looks to do, and much more. It’s very timely to what we’re experiencing.
Enjoy…
Click here to read the article
Tags: achievement, Add new tag, adversity, become a coach, leadership, life potential, personal achievement
Posted in Business Development, Coaching and Coach Training
8 Comments »
January 2nd, 2009
Our guest blogger today is Luke Iorio, President of iPEC Coaching.
An interesting perspective came up on The E-Factor show a few weeks ago, and it stuck with me, so I thought I’d share it here.
In interviewing our guest, Ralph Marston of the Daily Motivator, I asked him what trends he saw in the emails he received from subscribers to his daily emails. He noted that, due to the economy in large part, many readers are coming from a perspective that things are bad these days, and that we’ve lost a lot of things in our lives.
Ralph then pointed out that, if we look around, not much in the world has changed drastically from a year ago. The farms that grow our food still exist, law and order still exists, our families and friends still exist, the country we live in still exists. Not much has materially changed.
Many of us may well have experienced losses – the loss of a job, loss of income/savings, or even loss of a home. It’s important to remember that you are still who you are, with the same strengths that you had last year, and you’re hopefully a year wiser for the living.
When times are lean, there is ample space for self-created opportunity to replace what might have gone away, and we often wind up in a better place for having had the more challenging periods. After the stock market crash of 1929, there was a greater period of growth in industry, innovation, and business than there had been at any time prior to that in this country.
So, there can be greatly encouraging news found in the sparest of times. Look in to yourself with deep and honest affection for your strengths, and you may find new riches in abundance just waiting to be dug up.
Tags: adversity, coach training, coaching, creativity, e-factor, encouragement, finding purpose, life coaching, opportunity
Posted in Business Development, Coaching and Coach Training, Current Affairs, Energy Leadership, Law of Being, Life Potentials, Training Programs
4 Comments »
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