Coach Dan's Blog

📖 “A drop of ink may make a million think.”- George Gordon Byron Sharing your throughts and perspectives, asking your questions... these are the things that can help your team unlock an innovative solution. Why do we find it so hard sometimes, to share something that may be counter to what the group says?  

  📖 "You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make." – Jane Goodall   The daily leadership calendar hits just right again!   Every single day we make an impact on those around us. Everything from the questions we ask, to the tone of our voice makes an impact on another person's day. What we believe in... what we value - comes shining through in the way that we show up to our colleagues, teams, partners, friends and families.   What kind of impact are you having today?   ❔ Are you leading with curiosity? Asking questions to grow and challenge, and then empowering to follow through can help a team member learn a new skill, or gain confidence in skills that are developing.   ❔ Are you balancing results with growth? Getting the job done is important, and when you balance getting results with learning new skills, ...

  I was recently asked by someone I met, "Isn't a coach really just a trainer?" My response was quick - "While a coach sometimes trains on new skills or knowledge, they also facilitate, mentor and challenge teams to improve the way they work." Looking back, I would grade myself a "C-" on that answer. I WISH I had said... "A great coach works with you to achieve your goals. They bring experiences, perspectives and tools to help you and your team accelerate performance. It's not always about faster... but it IS about better! A great coach helps you and the team identify ways to improve and then challenges you address them WHILE working to achieve the teams goals. They know that there are many different ways to make improvements, and have a "toolbox" of processes, frameworks and techniques to help identify and make them. That said, they don't just want to teach you a skill (or framework, or process) - they want you to use your skill...

The key to unlocking your team's full potential? Balancing the 3 Es - Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Engagement. While many organizations focus solely on efficiency, measuring and optimizing for results, this approach can lead to limited long-term value. By inspecting and balancing the 3 Es, leaders can enable cross-functional teams to achieve their full potential indefinitely. Don't limit your team's success - prioritize effectiveness and engagement alongside efficiency.

  I ' ve heard a lot of talk about empowerment lately, so I thought I might offer a perspective (and maybe some advice) on the topic.  Let's start with a definition we can all rally around, shall we? "Empowered employees believe they have the tools, resources, autonomy and support they need to act independently and be held accountable for the decisions they make" - Society for Human Resources Management. As much as we'd like, this doesn't just magically happen..... If you show up on a Tuesday and say " OK team, you're empowered ".  I'm sorry to tell you, you will be pretty disappointed in the results. You see, for employees to actually act independently -  to make decisions on behalf of the company - to help them achieve their objectives, people have to feel  safe .  Employees have to feel like they have the ability, but also the backing by their managers and leaders, so if a mistake is made, the don't find themselves under a bus.  Empowe...