Get them involved

I occasionally do shadow coaching with my clients. Shadow coaching can shortly be described as when the coach works side by side with the client, eg at the client' s office.
A few weeks ago I worked with a client on his skills on how to lead a team meating. What we discovered was that he did a lot of preparation before the meeting. That is okay, but his team members did bring the same reports to the meeting - so the same work was done twice.

During the meeting my client talked, talked and talked. He went through all the reports, sometimes he asked questions like why is this number low or what are you going to do about it. His team sat mostly quiet and digested the lecture - passively and looking somewhat bored.

After some coaching he made some drastic changes in how he lead the meetings. Now he asks his team members to come really well prepared to the meetings, so that everyone could make a short presentation about their own reports and the action steps they have designed.
The dynamics of the meetings changed immediately to a more active and positive one. Everyone thought this was a good idea, and the leader, my client, was very happy when he dared to let go of the lecture mode and the control. He saved a lot of time and got his team involved and to own their results and the needed action steps.

They decided also to keep the "report" part as short as possible and concentrate on building their businesses, inspiring each other and planning the future together.

Where can you get your team more involved in their own work?

Enjoy the present moment

Today we celebrate the Midsummer festivals. It is a magical day when the day is actually longer than the night. The sun won t go down in the northern Finland, and even here in the south, we only have a couple of hours of dusk - like on a cloudy day. We Finns are used to the light, but tourists often forget to go to bed.

This summer is exeptional for our family, because we are not travelling together. The last five years in a row, we have been travelling around Europe. I love travelling, it is always exciting to explore new countries and places, but I absolutely adore my time here at home. For the first time in years I have a kitchen garden, and I sometime take my laptop out to work on the patio under a big birch with live music from all the birds.

Now it is the time to enjoy the summer, the warm and / or the rainy weather, all the bugs ( we have millions of them here ) without any worries about the holiday coming to an end, the beginning of the schools, cold and wet autumn and... ( gasp! ) the winter.
We Finns keep reminding each other of the days getting longer again and talking about the summer as if it already has ended. I promise myself to stay here and now, enjoy the summer, the light, the flowers and even all the bugs.

It is a perfect time to reload your batteries with energy, by resting, eating healthy and staying outdoors moving your body. I feel extremely inspired by all the rest and the beauty of the nature, so I reload my batteries by planning new and exciting programs for my clients. It is so fun and exciting that I almost can t fit into my skin.

I just love this time of the year......