In the past years, the world of work has been talking about the movement of great resignation. Employees, in search of meaning and experience of flow, have been resigning or switching to careers that promise a more human environment. A lot of them are attracted to jobs that create value for the world and are more creative. They also want to become part of a culture that values its people by investing and developing them.
 
Like many others, you might be thinking that developing others is a mindset. I would agree with you to a certain extent, and I would add that it is more than a mindset. It is a skill set!
 
I have been coaching executives and senior managers, including HR teams for more than a decade. I have worked as a corporate business coach and facilitator in cultural transformation programs, M&A processes, and leadership development. In each of these, I insist that including ‘developing others’ in your leadership competency set is not enough. You must provide the tools and invest in the skills of your managers to deliver.
 
In people’s leadership, managers have four core communication tools when working with their people for performance management: 

1.    Directing
2.    The full or partial delegation
3.    Mentoring
4.    Coaching

In my experience as a business coach with various organizations across continents, the majority of the managers are more comfortable with the first three and least familiar with coaching. Both coaching and mentoring are two proven processes for managers to develop their people and eventually create a culture where growth happens with momentum daily. To this day, coaching is still mixed with mentoring and sometimes even with consulting.
 
Coaching in a business setting, when applied with the right pillars it always brings positive results. In one international retail organization where FLOW Coaching Institute had implemented a managerial coaching program for store managers, the turnover within their stores dropped by 25% in 3 months after managers had 6 cross coaching sessions with mid-level managers and supervisors.
 
So, what is the right skill set for managers to engage with their people as a coaching manager? 

1.    Prioritization skills
2.    Engaging their people in the vision
3.    Letting them bring their values to their jobs
4.    Giving them space to think, challenge their thinking, and let them contribute
5.    Using a coach-like language and specific communication tools
6.    The right balance of listening, observing, and powerful inquiry
7.    Facilitating a shift between different levels of energy and building synergies
8.    Balancing productivity with the right amount of optimism
Bringing these elements together is a process. First, you should make them see the value in coaching their people, and maybe even measure as multinational companies do. Then, investing in their coaching skills and practice should follow. Of course, creating a culture takes time and ongoing assessment. Many organizations around the world are measuring coaching as a leadership competency. There are even pioneering companies that replaced their performance evaluations with quarterly coaching sessions.

Does this sound like something that resonates with your organizational goals?

Enroll in our ICF Accredited 60 ACSTH Business Coaching Certification program today to help your organization reach its fullest potential!
  

Recently certified professional coaches often ask me, “How do I gain credibility as a coach because my clients know that I am just a beginner coach?”

So, how do you bridge this gap between gaining credibility?

Trust that what got you here will also get you there, 

Embrace and adopt all the experiences which led you to train as a professionally certified coach. Give value to the knowledge, beliefs, skills and qualities that make you the coach you are today. Let go of the “beginner” mentality and remember that you are not just the certificate you gain but much more than that; apart from your coach training, you have the required pre-existing skills and strengths that make you unique. 

1. You Have to Start Somewhere, But Get as Many Experiences as You Can and as Soon as Possible:
Don’t wait to launch your new website, read another coaching book, or come up with a blog – start early and seize every opportunity to coach now. You can always begin pro-bono coaching to build experience, gain coaching confidence and credibility. Remember to ask for reviews, feedback, testimonials, referrals and newsletter sign-ups if you have one.

2. Gain Credibility by Associating Yourself with an Organization:
If you are in a hurry to get to coaching instead of building on your brand, you could seek to associate yourself with a coaching company. However, you must have a specific set of skills, and the coaching school might require particular coaching experience. The real benefit of being an associate coach is that you can acquire instant credibility if an established coaching school backs you. 

3. Make Use of Your Comfort Zone:
Spread the news of you being a professionally certified coach in your professional and personal networks, telling them that you are open to work. Draw on your industry experience, use the fact that people know that you understand the particular challenges. Instead of starting a life from scratch, build on your previous experience and gain coaching credibility with your existing knowledge. 

4. Reflect On Your Specialization: 
Some coaches select their niche to coach certain types of clients, some on a present issue. If your name is associated with a specific industry experience topic, it is better to consider which niche you want to focus on. Integrate your whole life experience into designing your coaching offering. Take into consideration what elements of your own life have been most significant, helpful or developmental. With what kinds of clients or certain topics do you feel at flow to coach? 

5. Be The Best of You!
Commit and believe in being a true catalyst of change. Work to make every coaching session a powerful and memorable experience for your clients. Commit to continuous professional development and work towards your next ICF credentialing. Gain regular supervision. Supervision is a wonderful opportunity to learn new skills and boost confidence. 

A final thought: “Nothing ever becomes real ‘til it is experienced.” John Keats
If you are looking to become a credible coach, gain your ICF coaching certification with us. Email us now at info@flowcoachinginstitute.com
 

COVID-19 and the changing workforce dynamics have completely shifted the way we work, think, and behave. Employee turnovers are higher than ever and continue to increase. Employees expect growth and development opportunities from their employers and are pushing for more flexible work arrangements such as WFH and Hybrid work models. At the same time, many individuals are struggling with their mental and physical health, and are looking for external help to find their purpose and meaning.

This is where coaching comes in. Coaching, previously seen as a luxury, is now being considered a necessity to combat employee turnover among businesses. Not only that, but many individuals suffering from mental and physical health issues are also seeking coaching to discover their passions and live a fulfilling life.

Because of these factors, the demand for coaching is higher than ever before and still continues to be one of the fastest growing sectors in the world (Willis, 2021)! According to the ICF website, the coaching industry value was about $15 billion USD (Willis, 2021). Experts have predicted that this number will rise to $20 billion USD by 2022, which is an increase of nearly 7% in a short span of three years (Willis, 2021)!

In addition to this, the ever-growing networking opportunities such as LinkedIn give coaches a strong platform to showcase their expertise and certifications, and connect with clients.

FLOW Coaching Institute allows you to do the same. At the end of your program, you receive FLOW’s ICF recognized certificate as well as badges to showcase on your social media platforms.

If you’re interested in becoming a coach to help individuals or businesses, click on this link to register!

Are the world problems (pandemic, war, divisions between people) creating a fear response for you?
Let me tell you, constantly focusing on problems will make it worse, and you will only be moving between three survival responses that are fight, flight, or freeze.
 
Let's not go there because a fear response does not represent our true potential.
 
In the next two weeks, you can set boundaries to external distractions to protect yourself from the fear response and discipline your psychic energy to move above that kind of stress.

1. Learn to say no to negativity and negative people 
2. Restrict viewing news on conflict, violence, crisis
3. Build learned optimism practice 

Remember, life is precious. So, you are! We are here to actualize ourselves and realize our full potential. If we allow external events to step into our boundaries, we will find ourselves not practicing our ability to protect ourselves and our life.
 
We have boundaries that are:

1. Too flexible to say no. 
2. Too rigid to say yes.
3. Flexible enough to allow ourselves to say no when it is necessary, and say yes when we want to. 

Healthy boundaries should be flexible enough to let things in that are functional and give us a sense of meaning. 

7 Self-Coaching questions you can ask yourself if you sense a need to set boundaries that will help you control external negativity:

1. How do you spend your time? Give a percentage to each event, person, activity. 
2. As you measure your daily activities, what do you notice?
3. If you keep repeating this pattern, where will you find yourself in a year?
4. If you could change one thing that will make a positive impact in your life, where would you start?
5. List three things you will change right now and name them as your ACT OF POWER. 
6. Journal about them and start acting on each one every week.
7. Measure progress and notice momentum. 

Yes, it is that time of the year again. So many of us are reflecting on the year we left behind and using the fresh energy of the new year, we are excited to make a new beginning.  We’d like to start the year with resolutions to plant seeds of hope. Speaking with my coaching and therapy clients, in years, I’ve concluded that most resolutions are forgotten in a few months and the optimism fades out. However, instead of resolutions, if we set intentions, then chances are high that we will be able to experience momentum and a sense of achievement in a few weeks as there is a whole different psychology behind setting intentions versus listing new year resolutions. Let me coach you on this as this is a powerful concept, I truly believe in.

5 major differences between intentions and resolutions

• Intentions, unlike resolutions, are broader and embrace the whole person.
• Intentions are inclusive of mental, spiritual, and emotional parts of our being versus resolutions are more a list of what one wants from the new year. 
• Setting intentions can become a great self-awareness process as it helps you reflect on what is important and meaningful for you.
• Intentions are active versus resolutions are passive. When you say I intend to, the activation of energy happens, and your subconscious starts to work for you.
• Resolutions are a type of checklists, whereas intentions aim for real transformation and positive shift in an area or multiple areas of life.

8 Self Coaching Questions to Help You Set Intentions

Keeping in mind what makes intentions different from resolutions, ask yourself these powerful self-coaching questions and journal your answers:

1. What would be the best outcome of 2022 for me?
2. What about these outcomes are meaningful for me?
3. How do I want to feel at the end of this year?
4. What do I need to understand to make difference?
5. What do I need to improve to make and manage progress?
6. How will I know I am making progress?
7. What will success look like?
8. When and how can I start?

Setting goals are an important part of the ICF coaching process, whether short or long-term. Reading this blog will help you increase your coaching impact -whether you are a life coach, business coach, or executive coach- when setting goals.

SMART goals re-framed: Use SSMMART Goals Instead

SMART goals are popular in all coaching relationships, whether business coaching, corporate, executive coaching, or life coaching. An ICF coaching relationship ideally begins with setting smart goals.

However, in real life, some of the original goals during the phase of the coaching relationship might later become cliché or irrelevant when the coach does not go deep with the client.

Having studied psychology behind happiness and experimented with my coaching clients, I know that when we help the person to find the meaning behind the goal and go deeper in their mind, heart, and body about this meaning, then the goal becomes more authentic and sustainable.

When goal setting, I give my clients enough space to reflect and process. Goal setting is a creative process, and it should involve mind-body and heart.    

That's why, in this blog article, I would like to give you a useful framework that I use in my coaching. My secret ingredient is inquiring about asking thought-provoking questions about the ‘meaning’ behind the goal and whether it will bring a ‘sense of flow’. So instead of SMART goals, I use SSMMART goals.

SSMMART Coaching Questions:

• Specific – What specifically do you want to achieve?
• Sense of FLOW- What will FLOW look like when you achieve your goal?
• Measurable – How will you measure progress? What will progress look like?
• Meaningful – What about this goal is meaningful for you? Where do you feel it in your body?
• Achievable – On a scale of 1-10, 1 is lowest 10 is highest, what is the chance of success?
• Realistic – How will you know if the goal is realistic or not?
• Timebound – What's the time frame on this?

According to the renowned psychologist Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi, people are most creative, productive, and often happiest when they are in the flow. Flow means concentrating so much on one task that it becomes effortless, and the person loses sense of time. Athletes, philosophers and people from different industries define the experience of flow as having no past or future but only present, being so absorbed in an activity that you forget yourself, having complete clarity, and other matters of life seem to disappear.

Here are some tips for coaches to create and benefit from the flow state:

Taking up tasks that are challenging: 
Flow state is set to occur when a person takes on a not-so-easy task that is challenging and suitable to the degree of a person's capabilities. If the challenge is difficult, it may cause a feeling of anxiousness, and if it's too easy, it may cause boredom. In coaching, the coach is knowledgeable, skillful as per the coaching competencies and methodology, and brave enough to go out of their comfort zone. It may also be translated as taking on challenging clients and asking difficult questions, but not going beyond which is out of one's skills set. 

Having clear objectives: 
A significant step in creating flow is "having clear objectives." One of ICF's Core Competencies includes "Planning and Goal Setting," which must come naturally to an ICF Certified Professional Coach. At the beginning of a coaching session, the client usually arrives with a situation to change and improve their life; with the coach's help, they agree upon clear objectives to be met with each coaching session. In addition to clear goals, regular feedback also contributes to creating flow. 

Use focus as a tool:
A successful coaching session, or let alone a flow state, is incomplete without focus. To maintain focus on your coaching session, do prep-work before the session, show up on time, put away distractions and check in with the client before you start. Focus is a state of mind, and it requires practice to achieve. The biggest enemy of focus is your inner chatter, a trained and certified ICF Professional Coach will always be aware of managing the inner voice. Practicing mindfulness and meditation are also ways to develop a focus that aligns with the ICF Core Competency "Coaching Presence." 

Intrinsic reward:
There is one more important element of flow, love what you are doing. As an ICF-certified professional coach, you should not expect any other reward or outcome from coaching, as coaching itself should come as rewarding enough for you. If you love coaching, chances are higher that you already experience flow during your sessions. 

Practice makes everything perfect; by adopting some simple steps, you can create your flow at your coaching and experience the joy and effortlessness that comes with the flow. 

If you want to learn more about flow, join us! Send us an email at info@flowcoachinginstitute.com

Learning to ask powerful coaching questions is one of the most valuable skills that coaches use in helping their clients explore what is truly important and meaningful for them. Questions help coaches dive deeper into the client's mindset, but the client also gains clarity during answering effective coaching questions. With the right coaching questions, the coach truly understands what the client is going through and where he wants to get. 

Following are some of the ways to practice effective questions. 

1. Short, Concise and Simple:
Coaching questions should be simple, to-the-point and easy to understand by your client. Long questions often make it difficult to follow and become complex. A succinct question will help your client to explain themselves easily and also helpful for the coaching process to get to the core of the issue at hand. An excellent technique for asking a complex question is breaking it up into shorter questions and asking one at a time. 

2. Open-ended Questions:
Open-ended questions are the most crucial tool in a coach's toolbox of skills. Open-ended questions are the one which cannot be answered in a one-word response or just with a "yes/no." Coaches use open-ended questions to dive deep into the client's mindset and learn more. With open-ended questions, coaches get a clearer perspective of what the client is really thinking or feeling as an open-ended question is open to various responses. Additionally, closed-ended questions put a full stop to the conversation rather than expanding and opening the topic to a broader discussion. 
An example of a closes-ended question would be: "Do you like your job?" whereas an open-ended question would be "What do you like about your job?" 

3. Non-judgmental:
A coach must be careful that his questions do not show any bias, opinion, prejudice or judgement. An example of such a question would be, "Why would you do something like that?!" Of course, the tone of voice plays a huge role here and the reasoning behind asking the question as well. If you use a sarcastic or offended tone, it would be very judgmental; a coach's job is not to judge other people's opinions. If you explain the reasoning behind your question and ask in a polite tone, the same question would be perceived differently. Of course, the question will define that you want to know more about their actions and their reasons for behaving in a particular manner rather than you being judgmental. Also, you mustn't impose such questions where there can be only one correct or accurate answer, as in some cases, this might also be perceived as judgmental or getting out a particular response from your client. 

4. Language Mirroring:
The questions you ask must mirror your clients' same terms and exact words that they use to describe the issue. This way, your client will feel more connected and would be able to visualize the goal. It will also help you gain the trust you need in your coaching sessions as the client will feel heard. 
An example would be:
Client: "I feel like I am on top of the world."
Coach: "What exactly makes you feel like you are on top of the world?"

5. Exploring Willingness to Change:
Coaches can also ask questions to explore clients' willingness to change and find reasons why they didn't make certain decisions in the past to help them change. 

An example would be: "What are the obstacles that didn't allow you to move forward with this decision?"

This helps with reasoning why the client had to seek a coach and why they didn't make specific changes by themselves? Such questions also help coaches understand the client's past and help the clients stay focused on future goals. 

Using the right question type at the right time will come with practice. Using the above criteria will help you in coming up with the right ones. It is helpful to make a list of your most compelling questions you have asked your clients. Asking the right questions helps clients open up and makes a huge difference in their progress. The questions you ask make you the coach you are, and with practice, you will get better. 

If you want to learn more about what questions to ask, enroll in one of our signature ICF Accredited Coach Certification Programs to learn more! Email now at info@flowcoachinginstitute.com to learn more. 
 

Need a Business Coach? 
It seems like many people out there claim to be business coaches without certification, so how do you decide which Business Coach is effective for you? 
Here at FLOW Coaching Institute, it takes 3-8 months of accredited training, mentoring and supervision to become an ICF certified business coach. Knowing what it takes for a business to become successful and knowing the challenges of various business environments, FLOW Business Coaches are intensively trained with the unique 5 step FLOW Coaching Methodology. The 5 step FLOW Coaching Method is based on science and research. Our international Business Coaches have helped several businesses to overcome their barriers and succeed. Not all Business Coaches use techniques backed by research and science and hence fail to support their clients. Without structure, no progress can be made. 
Following these 5 tips, you will be in a better position to make an informed decision when choosing a Business Coach who can provide you with measurable success for your business. 

1. Choose a certified coach. 
Certification means that your coach has professional values and believes in investing in one's business. If you go with a self-claimed business coach with no coaching education, it means that they do not value learning new things and learning from others. 

2.Make sure your coach has enough experience: 
It is better to hire a coach who has some know-how to business basics and has business acumen. Your business coach should have a working knowledge of how to help business leaders make important decisions, how they must tackle obstacles, and catch opportunities for business growth. 

3. Test their business theory:
Even if your coach doesn't have a business degree or any formal training in business, he should know of the popular techniques and theories advocated by the world's top business leaders. It is easy for a Business Coach to gain this knowledge by doing some research and reading some books. Along with being a good Business Coach, they must also have their own business opinions to help understand your situation by being in your shoes.

4. Look for references and real-life examples:
A successful Business Coach would be most eager to share their positive experience with their clients and provide real-life examples and case studies that have been successful. Ask for examples regarding how they have helped entrepreneurs, business owners, or organizations reach their goals. It could be behavioral change, culture change, sales figures, productivity, expansion goals etc. 

5. Understand their coaching approach: 
An effective coach doesn't use a make-up theory. Their coaching has to be based on a scientific method that has been tested and bound to work in most cases. Spend a little time looking for the process of your Business Coach to truly understand and see the value of coaching and if it is helpful to you and your business. Most ICF Certified Coaches prefer to stick to specific standards and coaching methodology, so your top priority would be choosing someone certified from a legit institution or coaching authority. 

6. Seek for the chemistry between yourself and your coach: 
Apart from being the best-trained and certified, not all coaches are the same and share the same values. Spend some time with your Business Coach and understand if they share the same fundamental principles as you. Trust your gut feeling and make sure the Business Coach understands your vision, goals, values and would be a good fit. 

There are plenty of business coaches out there; however, make sure to pick the one that aligns with your goals and values and can take your business to its full potential. Keep your standards high; your business deserves it. 
If you are looking to become a Business Coach, consider enrolling in our ICF Business Coaching Certification Program, email us today for the program overview and outline at info@flowcoachinginstitute.com 

A family business has a lot more at stake than other regular businesses, and that’s why it has the most need for Business Coaching. Why? Because each family member is personally involved in handling the business and putting all of their heart and soul into the business. A Business Coach can provide direction to the family business with goals invested in long-term dreams, and it’s a lot more personal for them.

In a family business, a variety of family members would want a say in the industry; at FLOW, we believe that’s great; our method of coaching, which has been derived from Positive Psychology and Neurosciences, has been proven to be effective in several businesses all over the globe for more than 15+ years. The coaching works just as well for a family business, just as it works for individual entrepreneurs.

This blog discusses a few ways Business Coaching can help family businesses:

1. Brings extra knowledge:

A Business Coach is a person who has been trained to be a Coach and someone who has business acumen and knows the best business practices of the industry. Your Business Coach can act like another peer at the discussion table. Someone who can ask meaningful questions, work out solutions with you, offers valuable perspective and a big picture which a family might miss all along.

2. Each family member is valued:

A Business Coach knows how to make others feel heard. With the Business Coach, each family member will have an opportunity to talk about their role, their problems, their solutions, their ideas and their values. One of the things they can also discuss with the Business Coach is their long-term goals and dreams. The Business Coach can make sure every family member contributes to the discussion equally.

3. Encourages brainstorming:

Many family businesses face a common problem: some of the family members dominate over others, or maybe it’s another type of family business where everyone demands attention. A Business Coach can help mediate the discussion and give an equal floor to every member to have their say. This way, a clueless fight can turn into a helpful brainstorming session where everyone can develop solutions and ideas.

4. Brings the family closer:

It has been reported that many family coaching clients benefit from coaching and believe that it brought them together as a family. Business Coaching can help the family make more effective mutual decisions and find common grounds. With coaching, families become more united, ready to face new challenges and competition.

The listed benefits of Business Coaching alone are worth the investment. If you are looking to coach Business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, corporate clients, or family businesses, consider becoming an ICF Certified Business Coach. Get in touch with us now for a free consultation session without any obligation; get in touch with us at info@flowcoachinginstitute.com