Blog

Speed Dating for Coaches

  • Posted by Liz Gooster
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Several coaches lightheartedly compared it to speed dating. While most people hastily qualified this analogy by saying they’d never actually been to a speed dating event, I confess, rather shamefacedly, that I have and there were definite resemblances! There was the same boisterous, slightly breathless sense of anticipation. There was the same primal urge to […]
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Under Observation

  • Posted by Liz Gooster
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The night before I’d pitched and tossed along the treacherous horizon between the warm ocean of sleep and the thundery sky of wakefulness. So I felt tense and tired as I travelled in to my practice client session, where my tutor was due to shine the flashlight of observation onto my business coaching skills. ‘Coach, take […]
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Dress Code: Floor length oyster satin

  • Posted by Liz Gooster
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The invitation had promised full-on glamour, pared-down art deco style, crittal windows and floor-length oyster satin. I’m not sure about the satin, but there was style and glamour in spades as more than 50 guests milled around the function room on the 10th floor at 80 The Strand, marvelling at the eye-pricking views of London.
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It’s Not About the Coach

  • Posted by Liz Gooster
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“Too many people think that a coach — especially an accomplished one — will solve their problems. That’s like thinking that you’ll get in shape by hiring the world’s best trainer and not by working out yourself.”  This quote, from über-coach Marshall Goldsmith’s article, ‘It’s Not About the Coach’ (you can read the full thing […]
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What’s your Type?

  • Posted by Liz Gooster
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In our sixth coaching tutorial we focused on self-awareness. The emphasis was on how self-knowledge can help you ‘get out of your own way’ when you’re with a client, and on how having a grounded sense of your own preferences and characteristics can lead to useful insights into how you behave as a coach.
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Review of ‘Working Identity’ by Herminia Ibarra

  • Posted by Liz Gooster
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I’d wanted to read Herminia Ibarra’s Working Identity for a long time. It was first published in 2004 and was widely reviewed – and praised – in the business press. I’d even met the author once, on a book commissioning trip to INSEAD, where Ibarra is Professor of Organizational Behaviour. So I was excited to […]
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New Year Goals

  • Posted by Liz Gooster
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“Only about 3% of adults have clear written goals. These people accomplish five and ten times as much as people of equal or better education and ability but who, for whatever reason, have not taken the time to write out exactly what it is they want.” Brian Tracy, Eat That Frog!
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Time to Think in a Fishbowl

  • Posted by Liz Gooster
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If questioned, most of use would probably admit that we’d benefit from more time to think, without distractions, interruptions, assumptions. Nancy Kline’s ‘fishbowl’ session, organised by Meyler Campbell, was an astonishing demonstration of the power of her ‘time to think’ technique.[1].
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A Game of Two Selves: Timothy Gallwey’s Inner Game of Tennis

  • Posted by Liz Gooster
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‘The Inner Game ‘is played to overcome all habits of mind which inhibit excellence in performance.’ Gallwey’s book is a thought-provoking overview of how our performance is affected by the relationship between our two inner selves, the self-conscious mind, or ‘teller’ (Self 1) and the unconscious mind, or ‘doer’ (Self 2). Dealing ostensibly with tennis, […]
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Silence is Golden

  • Posted by Liz Gooster
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As most people who know me would probably agree, I’m not exactly a shrinking violet. I’m very fond of a bit of vocal exercise. Embarking on my business coaching training programme with Meyler Campbell, this trait of talking a lot was a big source of anxiety for me. Kind friends have told me I’m a […]
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