Stories are a great way of exploring the past, the present and the future. Good stories have a plot, sub-plots, characters, choices, dilemmas and drama. Stories can be factual, fictional or both. Stories, like anecdotes can be used by coaches or mentors to help illuminate situations and experiences. Stories and anecdotes can help strengthen the (more…)
Personal disclosure is an important part of an open, trusting relationship. It allows us to build multiple points of connection, in terms of shared experiences, shared values and shared hopes and fears. Overused, it can have the opposite effect — as anyone will testify, if they find themselves on a train or plane sitting next...
Membership Required
You must be a member to access this content.
Why not sign up to a month's free trial?
Already a member? Log in here
Visioning is a technique used in many coaching / mentoring situations, it is often used to help the learner clarify goals. The technique if future focused and can be a very powerful tool. Visioning is best used when the learner is relaxed. It requires real focus and engagement in order for someone to place themselves...
Membership Required
You must be a member to access this content.
Why not sign up to a month's free trial?
Already a member? Log in here
This simple approach brings focus and depth to team or small group discussions. The three questions are: What makes this issue meaningful for me? This is about giving everyone a chance, individually, to reflect upon and share their experiences, hopes and concerns about the issue. What makes this issue meaningful for us? This is about (more…)
Managing time is one of the most common issues learners present to coaches and mentors. The coach/ mentor can help them understand the reasons that they struggle with time management and the implications of not managing time, as well as how to establish greater control over their time. Common reasons for problems with time management...
Membership Required
You must be a member to access this content.
Why not sign up to a month's free trial?
Already a member? Log in here
You may never have really thought about the values you hold, but they will exert a strong influence on how you behave, the choices you make, who you feel comfortable being around and many other aspects of your daily life. Some (perhaps most) of these values you will have absorbed from family, friends and work (more…)
Using humour in a coaching or mentoring dialogue can be beneficial in a number of ways. Firstly, it helps to rebuild rapport at the beginning of a session. You might say, for example, “Tell me what has amused you most since we last met”. This helps to the client to relax and to switch on...
Membership Required
You must be a member to access this content.
Why not sign up to a month's free trial?
Already a member? Log in here
Experienced coaches and mentors learn to use intuition, in parallel with more analytical processes, as a rapid means of sensing what is happening in the learner’s internal world. Intuition is important in situations, where people have to make rapid decisions without time for detailed analysis. Comparison with previous experience, at a generally superficial level, allows...
Membership Required
You must be a member to access this content.
Why not sign up to a month's free trial?
Already a member? Log in here
NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming stirs very different responses in coaching and mentoring. On the one hand, it is seen as manipulative mumbo-jumbo by many academics and trained psychologists; on the other hand, it has a wide following and literature. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. NLP borrows most of its tools and techniques from...
Membership Required
You must be a member to access this content.
Why not sign up to a month's free trial?
Already a member? Log in here
Although the experience of both mentor and mentee is an important component of developmental mentoring, in most cases a driver of the relationship will be the mentee’s need to tap into the mentor’s experience. That sounds simple, but how do you know what is there to be mined, when should you seek the benefit of...
Membership Required
You must be a member to access this content.
Why not sign up to a month's free trial?
Already a member? Log in here