FRESH IDEAS FOR LEADERS

JUNE 2022

As people come back together, beware the fault lines Friends,  Earlier this month, I had the remarkable opportunity to deliver a coaching session in front of 160 people – live. Face-to-face. I say remarkable because, thanks to the pandemic, it has been a few years since I’ve worked a crowd that large. But it also got me thinking about how more and more organizations are bringing people and teams together after two-plus years of physical distancing and remote work. Standing with that crowd, all with one organization, it almost felt surreal after spending so much time in the virtual world. But it was also, for me and I know many others, wonderful – to see and to speak to people in a very genuine way. It was also a vivid example of a trend we are seeing in our business: a surge in demand for team coaching as top leaders and organizations look to bring people back together.   Read more Dave Veale Founder & CEO Vision Coaching Inc.

Helping CEOs reach the next level Reflecting on a busy and varied career, Denise Carpenter can’t help but wish she had a leadership coach to help guide her. “I've always either run my own business or been a leader or a senior executive,” she says. “I would have been a much better executive if I had a coach starting when I was in my 20s.” Today, she leverages her decades of experience and skills as a professional executive coach, often to those who are chief executives or on their way there.  We’re delighted to share that Denise has joined the Vision Coaching roster of leadership coaches – enticed to bring a focus on serving CEOs of companies. Read more

Helping non-profit leaders succeed As a relatively new employee at the Saint John Learning Exchange, Amanda Beckwith jumped at the opportunity to take a coaching workshop through the United Way. Working as a soft skills facilitator, part of her job involved coaching clients on their educational and employment goals – the workshop seemed a perfect fit. She was taken aback by the power of the five-part workshop, facilitated by Vision Coaching’s Bruce McLeod. It taught Amanda and other non-profit leaders how to use a coach approach in helping others solve problems. Read more

Devoting yourself to a successful life Commander Chris Hadfield, Canada’s best-known astronaut, learned a great deal about Earth and himself as a result of his three missions to space. Whether he was commanding the International Space Station or doing a space walk, Chris learned the importance of focusing on the things that matter most.   We dig back into the archives for this Boiling Point fan favourite as Chris discusses the concept of devoting yourself to a successful life and the lessons he learned from his 21 years with the Canadian Space Agency and his work as one of the most respected astronauts of our time.    In a wide-ranging talk with Dave Veale and Greg Hemmings, Chris discusses the importance of attitude, both in terms of directing a rocket ship and directing your life. “You need to have an attitude in order to properly control your spaceship. That is not a bad metaphor for life,” he says.   Chris also talks about the importance of staying humble and learning how to approach situations with an open mind and a willingness to learn before offering personal opinions. His message is of universal importance to leaders today.

The disease of perfectionism The pitfalls of perfectionism are explored in a recent blog post by Jim Kokocki, a consultant, author and public speaker. “If you have perfectionist tendencies, take solace in knowing that someone won’t enjoy your work,” Jim writes in the post. “But many will.” He walks the reader through an exploration of how the pursuit of perfection can be paralyzing, referring to interviews with the British actor who plays Mr. Bean and a Boiling Point podcast interview with Seth Godin. He went on to share his reaction to some feedback he received from one of his hundreds of public speaking engagements. “If you think someone might not like your work, you’re correct. That shouldn’t stop you from releasing your work in some form.”

Summer is here and it’s short – do you know how you’ll get the most out of your time off? Inc. magazine has a bit of an eyeopener in A Huge New Study Reveals Most of Us Are Terrible at Choosing How We Spend Our Free Time.

Harvard Business Review has a gem in Small Actions Make Great Leaders, which cites research that analyzed more than 1,000 exemplary leadership moments that achieved extraordinary impact.

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