Coaching - An Adapting Tool For Attaining Fulfillment In The Global Economy

At a time when the global economy is bringing innovation, new ideas and new opportunities into the marketplace, outsourcing and the elimination of white-collar jobs has left many of us feeling anxious and insecure about the future. It is increasingly apparent that the American Worker can no longer look to the corporation for a sense of security, place, benefits or loyalty. As reliance on old structures is diminishing, the following ways of looking at work are emerging:

  • People want work that gives them meaning and purpose

  • People want their work to be part of a balanced lifestyle

  • People will increasingly choose to create their own small businesses or work as freelancers, consultants, and independent contractors

In the changing economic climate, people need to learn to trust their own intuition, talent and resources to both survive and thrive. In order to do this, they will need sustained motivation and self-awareness to recognize and pursue new opportunities that lead to meaningful work. This begs the question of how we can even recognize new opportunities, when we may feel more stressed and anxious than ever. Many of us may not even know what we want or where to look for it if we did know.

Fortunately, there is a powerful vehicle emerging to assist people in finding focus, purpose and fulfillment, and to keep them on track during these uncertain times and into the future. That vehicle is called Personal and Professional Coaching. Personal and Professional Coaching works through a dynamic partnership focused entirely on the client and the client's agenda. In coaching, the following are presumed:

  • People are creative, resourceful and whole

  • People are capable of finding their own answers to whatever challenges they face

  • All parts of people's lives-careers, relationships, recreation, personal growth, finances, etc. are interrelated and impact life balance and fulfillment

Coaching often starts by exploring what the person really wants. Even when people believe they know this, greater clarity and self-awareness emerge through coaching. And sometimes, people discover different aspirations, ones that make them look forward to getting out of bed each morning.

By using active listening skills and asking proactive questions, the coach gets the client to experience a deeper awareness of how they operate in life. Through activities such as values clarification, brainstorming and personal strategic planning, the coach will help their client to recognize and access options and possibilities they may have never noticed before. By holding the client responsible and accountable, the coach empowers the client to follow through on the commitments they make in the coaching. Subsequently, a momentum builds that results in a confidence that turns inspired ideas into tangible actions with real world results.

What we learn about ourselves through coaching will include our potential and unique talents, but also anything we have previously avoided. A coach will work with the client to uncover and release any negative and limiting beliefs that can stop them from achieving what they really want. All this is done in a relationship where trust, respect and acknowledgment are highly valued.

Coaching is an approach that enables people to fulfill their own greatest promise and to thrive regardless of the changing winds of the economy.

About The Author

Philip Okrend is a Personal and Professional Coach who transitioned from being an attorney into the life of a creative entrepreneur. He founded Stepping Stones Coaching to help people take control of their own lives and destiny and to live more consciously and creatively. Philip lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, 2 children and dog. For more information, visit www.steppingstonescoaching.com To learn more about the profession of coaching, visit the International Coaching Federa tion Web site at www.coachfederation.org

phil@steppingstonescoaching.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Coaching Information:

Related Articles

Fear Is Nothing To Be Afraid Of!
What do you do when fear shows up? Do you hide under the covers of life, shivering as you anxiously wait for the moment to pass or do you stand up with a confident smile and embrace it?Your answer to this simple question will have a considerable impact on the level of freedom, excitement and empowerment you experience on a daily basis. Whatever your response, the thing to remember is that your fears are nothing to be afraid of!What is Fear?The Oxford dictionary defines fear as "an unpleasant emotion caused by the expectation of pain".
Helping Relationships: Understanding the Helpee
One of the most distressing observations I have made among my social work colleagues, is the overwhelming proclivity on the part of many of us so-called helpers, to lack understanding and sensitivity to the position helpees are in when they agree to accept intervention.Many of us take "professionalism" out of context and become more of a burden to families than a helping resource.
Why?
I met Sean a year and a half ago in a crowd of 50,000 people. We struck up a conversation and really hit it off.
Whats Next Syndrome
Terms like Postpartum, Post Traumatic and Post Gulf War are all well-known Syndromes - mysteries no longer to the medical community or even those of us who count ourselves among the great unwashed. We hear and read everyday about the negative outcomes from life-threatening trauma.
Free Advice From Albert Einstein
What If You Could Ask Anyone For Help?Have you ever noticed how sometimes you are at your most creative when you are interacting with another person? You and your friend or acquaintance feed off of each other's ideas and help each other clarify things. Well what about those times when you are alone, or you have no one you wish to share your ideas with? What can you do then to stimulate creative thought and to find elegant solutions to your problems? You could try talking to Albert Einstein.
Six Steps for Creating Work-Life Balance
Today an increasing number of us are experiencing burnout, low productivity, insomnia, and stress related illnesses?undoubtedly due to a lack of balance between our work and personal lives. It's time to look at how we can create greater balance in our work and personal lives.
Let Go of Your Past
People have a difficult time letting go of the past because they are held back by unfinished business. They may regret choices they have made or feel guilty about past actions.
Self-Defense Within Martial Arts Training Demands a Real-World Perspective
This story is being offered in response to a request made by my teacher, Soke (Grand Master) Masaaki Hatsumi, during a recent training visit to Japan. During one of the training sessions, Soke was suggesting that everyone, regardless of rank, should make it a point to talk to those with actual combat experience and to learn from these people.
Control, Helplessness, and Love
During my 35 years of counseling individuals, couples, families and business partners, I have discovered that an important purpose of our controlling behavior in our relationships is to avoid the feeling of helplessness. One of the hardest feelings to feel is helplessness.
Courage and the Agony of Coaching Employees
Coaching employees on sensitive and personal topics like performance or contribution to the organization can be as difficult and agonizing as telling a young son or daughter about sex for the first time. You end up playing the same mental games in your head over and over again: "What should they be told? How much do they already know? (Or how much do they want me to think they know?) How much detail should I go into?" If you are unable to answer any of these penetrating questions, you tend to put the task off for another six months.
Gullibles Travels
A journey by a web-footed gull through a sea of sharks.Definitions:Gull - a dupe, a fool; vulnerable to deceive; to trick; to defraud.
Coaching vs. Directing - How Does Improv Theater Suggest You Should Lead Your Team
An age old battle in improv that I believe resonates well with challenges we experience in the business world is the question of whether a team should have a coach or a director (in which case it should be called an ensemble). In addition there's the third option of the self coached team, which I will call committee from here on forward.
COACHING: When it's Beyond Oprah and Dr. Phil
How many more servings of the daytime self-help salad will it take to sooth your appetite? To actually get your life to where you want it to be? To actually start seeing changes for yourself rather than just on the tear-filled faces of Oprah's latest guests?How about the alternatives? If you stick with TV then you will likely wind up in frightening dead ends with the likes of Jerry, Ricky and Montel. So, you read a few more Chicken Soup books, listen to another Anthony Robbins seminar and double up on the appointments with your shrink.
Ten Benefits of Having a Relationship Coach
As a Master Certified Relationship Coach, I work with singles to help them attract a great match and with couples to help put their relationships back on track. I hear great feedback from my clients about the value of coaching.
The Benefits of Coaching
When I was first introduced to the profession of personal coaching, my first initial thought was that it sounded exactly like something I would love to pursue. I did further investigation into the profession and before I knew it I was happily enrolled in the Coach Training Program offered through Coach U University in Colorado, USA.
Overcoming Work Addiction
Why are you so busy? Do you really have too much work? Is work so important to you that you'll sacrifice just about anything in your life to get the job done? Even if it's at the expense of your health and your relationships?If you find these questions disturbing then see how you rate with these ones:Do you work more than 50 hours a week?Do you dream about work?Do you feel that in order to succeed you must work late most of the time?Are you a stranger in your own home?Do you constantly miss family and social events because you're always working?Do you schedule and undertake more than you can get done in a 40-hour work week?Do you get bored when you're not working?Is missing family and social events because of work unavoidable?When on holiday do you constantly check your phone messages and email?Your ScoreThe greater the number of yes answers, the closer you are to fitting the profile of a workaholic. If you've answered yes to more than half of the questions, it's time to take stock before you lose your health, family and everything you hold near and dear to your heart.
How Stella (Laurie) Got Her Groove Back!
Being a Life Strategy Coach doesn't mean I'm always on top of my game, completely balanced and without my own challenges. Building a website, writing an e-book, getting a newsletter off the ground and securing clients required a great deal of work andcommitment.
Do You Make These Common Mistakes When Talking to People?
Many moons ago. Talking to people was something I avoided where possible.
What Can Be Changed In Management To Improve Bottom Line Results?
If you don't have the full support and understanding of key management positions, any organizational changes being made are going to be thwart with difficulties. It is up to CEOs and Presidents to champion the cause and ensure their managerial teams are also in full support, so that it can filter down through the ranks more smoothly.
Forget Resolutions - Craft A Life Theme That Works
How many people do you know who, in January, enthusiastically name their resolution for the year yet somehow neglect to follow through with it a few weeks or months later? Forget making New Year's resolutions. They rarely work because they are often based on "shoulds" versus the bigger picture of your life.