Dynamite Coaching News 
June 2015   
In This Issue
Quote of the Month:

"When a raindrop joins the sea, the sea also merges with the raindrop. Personal and collective awakening are one and the same." 

 

~ Author Unknown    

What is Coaching?


 Are you curious about coaching and want to learn more? New appointments now available. Contact Coach Mark for a complimentary, no-obligation coaching session and experience the benefits first hand. Your goals await. Act today.  

Choose your story:

 

I choose to die.                     I choose to live.

I choose to hate.                   I choose to love.

I choose to close.                 I choose to open.

I choose to cry.                    I choose to laugh.

I choose to deny.                  I choose to believe.

I choose to ignore.               I choose to hear.

I choose to be right.             I choose to relate.

I choose to scatter.               I choose to focus.

I choose to work.                 I choose to play.

I choose to be angry.           I choose to accept.

I choose to despair.             I choose to hope.

I choose to give up.              I choose to persist.

I choose to suffer.                 I choose to heal.

I choose to destroy.              I choose to create.

I choose to fail.                     I choose to succeed.

I choose to extinguish.        I choose to ignite.

I choose to get by.                I choose to excel.

I choose to follow.               I choose to lead.

I choose to drift.                    I choose to commit.

I choose my choices.           I choose my life.


I choose to get the facts so my story is correct.


 Contact Us:


What Our Clients Are Saying...

"Mark had been my career coach years ago while in Edmonton and coached me in creating a solid foundation for my business. After years of using my new found skills, I moved to Vancouver and found myself needing the services of a career coach and Mark was the first person that came to mind."

 "Mark has this innate ability to allow one to work through areas they wish to improve on and come up with a solution on their own. This of course creates ownership of positive change. Mark also has this incredible way of taking a situation or problem that seems to have the illusion of no solution and leave his client feeling like everything can be solved and even made better. I developed such incredible confidence and strength while being coached by Mark and as a result, my work environment improved drastically.  I felt Mark provided me direction, solutions, thought provoking initiative and positive energy through every coaching session."

 "I would highly recommend Mark for coaching with any type of occupation or employment level."  

 

~ Carol Raaymakers    Senior Relationship Manager,  

Large financial institution


We Tell Ourselves Stories   

   

When I was a young boy I loved a good story. I would dive head first into a book and let the words take me away to all kinds of magical places. It was here I realized I was only limited by my imagination.

 

I suppose as a 50 year old adult I'm not much different. I still like a good story, but now as a Professional Coach working with leadership teams and individuals, supporting both with their ability to communicate more effectively, it is highly important that we get the story right.

 

Entering into a conversation armed with misinformation can lead to conflict, misunderstanding and broken trust. And can prove to be very costly.

 

Yet we do it all the time. Why?

 

George Bernard Shaw said "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." I would add that in fact the illusion could actually be "The Story" we tell ourselves and this is the beginning of where things can go terribly wrong.

 

Take this scenario for example:

Imagine at work you're tasked with providing a presentation to your boss alongside a colleague of yours who is more senior and more experienced on the topic with each of you being responsible for explaining 50% of the model you have come up with.

 

The presentation is tomorrow morning at 9am and it's currently 11:30am the day preceding the meeting. You're just wrapping up the final details with your colleague when in a moment of trust and vulnerability you share how nervous you are about tomorrow and that the boss intimidates you.

 

Your colleague assures you you're going to be fine, even tells you how good you are at what you do and that he has every confidence in the world that you will nail it.

 

It feels good to hear this and you wrap up the meeting and go on with the rest of your day.

 

Later that afternoon you happen to notice your colleague walking into the boss's office. And immediately your imagination takes off.

 

And this is where "The Story" begins.

 

You see or hear something and your brain immediately starts to fabricate a story.

 

You hear yourself saying "how could he?!! "He's in there selling me out, informing the boss that I'm nervous and probably not the right person for the position!!!" You have no evidence that this is true but you've seen or heard enough and with your mind racing "the story" begins.    

 

You feel angry, hurt or betrayed. Perhaps frustrated or belittled and this leads you on a path to act in one of two ways. You either go silent or you go violent.

 

Let's look at both:

Silent: You're sitting at your desk in full-blown disbelief as to what you are witnessing and your "story" is running wild. As your colleague leaves the boss's office he walks by and says "see you tomorrow partner."

 

You don't answer. In fact you can't even find it within yourself to look up and make eye contact with him.

 

He's confused. Earlier that day the two of you had really connected talking back and forth and laughing as you worked together on the presentation. When he asks what's wrong you simply reply "nothing, I'm just tired." (Anybody relate to this statement?) You're not willing to engage in what you assume will be a conversation that will lead to conflict so you go silent saying nothing at all instead choosing to hold your true feelings in.  

This hurts the relationship.

 

Violence: You're sitting at your desk in full-blown disbelief as to what you are witnessing and your story is running wild. As your colleague leaves the boss's office he walks by and says "see you tomorrow partner."

 

But this time you let him have it with both barrels. "How could you?" you ask. "I told you in confidence that I was nervous and intimidated by the boss, and the first chance you had you went into his office and sold me out." "Don't try to deny it, I saw you and even overheard you mention my name." (Can anybody relate to this statement?)

 

This hurts the relationship.

 

In both cases "the story" you told yourself led you to act with either silence or violence. But your story wasn't based on fact. It was fabricated by what you thought you saw or heard leading your mind to fill in the rest.

 

The actual true story here was that when your teammate was talking to the boss he was actually telling him how excited he was to be working with you and was getting final confirmation they had the meeting room booked and that everything was a go for tomorrow.

 

How might knowing the real facts have changed your "story," and how you felt and then acted?

How might having had the real facts have helped you avoid conflict in this case and saved you from saying something that might have broken trust and damaged the relationship?

 

Find out in my next newsletter, as we'll talk more about how to uncover the real story even when your mind is racing.

 

Or if you can't wait attend my next "Communicate for Success" workshop being held Saturday, July 4th in Edmonton. See the details below for location, times and how to register.

 

Stories are great. I tell them all the time, but when communicating make sure "your story" is based on facts and avoid unwanted consequences.

 

Life is too short to assume. Get clarity and play strong! 

Communicate For Success With Coach-Like Approach Techniques 
 

Upcoming Classes:  

 

Edmonton:
Saturday, July 4th, 2015 from 8:30am to 4:00pm.
King's University, 9125 50 Street Edmonton AB
Room N206 Second floor of the North Academic Building

 
This class is for EVERYONE who wants to improve how they Deal with Change and Communicate with both themselves and others.
  • Learn the difference between the Inquiry and Advocacy models to support achieving a higher grade in clearer communication
  • Learn how to deal with conflict
  • Learn how to demonstrate and practice leadership skills
  • Learn how to improve listening skills critical to effective communication
  • Learn how to remove frustrated and boxed-in thinking and employ Solution Focused Ideology
  • Learn how to run a meeting with engagement and buy in from your staff
  • Learn how to talk to your spouse, partner, and others without judgement and create a deeper more meaningful conversation
  • Learn how to build leaders and practice leadership

Communication is at the very heart of everything we do and it's being recognized that Coach-Like Approach Communication Techniques are being used more and more to improve the way we speak to each other and to ourselves.

 

The culture in our workplaces is changing and how we communicate needs to change along with it. 75% of the Fortune 1000 companies have already brought in Coach-Like Approach methodology to support their organizations.

 

 What about you? Are you ready for a change?

 

Bonus: If you are Canfitpro certified in any of the following designations (PTS, FIS, NWS, NWL, OAS, and PFS) and in need of re-certification credits this class is sanctioned by Canfitpro to offer your full yearly requirement of 4 CEC's.  

 

 

Reserve your spot today!   

 

    

 
What people are saying about the course:

 

"I've attended many leadership lectures on similar topics. Material was presented very well from 'being on the floor' experiences. Unlike the weeks of courses I've attended in the past from managers, I learnt more from this lecture and how you were able to present topics and share experiences."


~ Staff - Fort Saskatchewan Fire Department 


Check out this article about my course featured in the Edson Anchor Newspaper:
Let's Talk About Dynamite Coaching 

    

Who do I work with?

I work with exceptional and brilliant people, like you, who at times might find you're having difficulty in achieving your desired goals either in your professional or personal life, or both. Coaching is not about focusing on the problem or what's broken; Instead it's about focusing on creating the solutions and actionable steps that get you more of what you want. 

Together, we explore and develop elegant pathways that lead to choice and change helping you review aims, set directions, and clarify next steps toward your ultimate direction of excellence. The power is within you.

 

ICF