I was recently attending a party when one of the other guests learned that I was a coach. Without much hesitation or coaxing and after a quick introduction, this gentleman went on to share with me the fact that his 30 year old daughter has been struggling with her career and most aspects of her life.  At the conclusion of his telling of her story, he then asked if I could take her on as a client.

I noted that I would love to help, but it’s the one with the pain that must take the action.  In other words, as well meaning as her father was I could not be of any help until his daughter recognized that she is in “pain” and wants to do something about it.  Until then, no amount of pushing (by parents, friends or others) or hoping is going to have any meaningful impact.

Keep that in mind when seeking to help others.

Many of my clients are quick to praise me for helping them achieve the success that they were seeking.  The truth is that my role was but a small part.  The real difference and determining factor was the individual’s willingness to actively do what was needed to move to the next level.  So while a coach can certainly help guide you to where you’d like to go, it is really up to you to make it happen.

Every morning when you wake up you have a choice—–that is to be happy and positive or sad and negative.  The choice is yours.  No person or organization can dictate that choice.  It’s totally within your realm of control and whichever way you decide will have a lasting impact on your results and ultimately your success for that day and possibly even into the future.

Sounds rather simple and trite, huh?  Well think about it for a moment and then do yourself a favor tomorrow morning.  Get up out of bed, put a smile on your face and tell yourself that nothing that happens today is going to get you down or cause you to think any less about yourself.  It costs nothing and can yield unbelievable outcomes.

Coming from the corporate world, I often wonder why more corporations aren’t providing coaching to their employees in a manner similar to other types of professional development (e.g., management training).  Could it be the perceived cost?

Could it be a lack of understanding as to what coaching is?  Could it be there is confusion between coaching and mentoring?  Whatever the reason or reasons, the lack of a coaching component as part of the professional developmental process could potentially stall, at best, and make moot, at worst, all that was gained on the training and development side of the ledger.  So, how do we change this mindset?