Cuff Coaching

I have 3 words written on a sticky note which I have stuck to the bottom of my computer (yes I still like the sticky note approach to make me remember things). It sits in the middle of the other two stickies- one being the BRAVING words that I have talked about in a previous post and the other being 3 main coaching questions that I like to keep on top. This sticky note comes from the work of Bryon Katie "Loving What Is" and is something I use time and time again - both in my personal and professional life. In fact my daughter and I have had quite a few conversations around this and she is even using it in her conversations, asking the three questions.  It is extremely empowering and really makes us stop and think about whose business we are actually getting into. It also stops a lot of stress when we pause and stop and think this way.  The simple premise that Bryon breaks these down into is you are either in your own business, someone else's business or in the Reality (Go...

This quote has come up three times in three different places this week for me, hence the inspiration around my topic for today. It obviously was something that I needed to think about or needed to read, especially when it kept reoccurring throughout my week. I'm a big believer in everything happens for a reason philosophy and always look at outcomes and how I can improve or change things in reflection. This is part of my personality and part of my growth mindset. Everything I've done through my life is reflected in this quote - I always put my best foot forward with anything new that I try and then I keep challenging, questioning, asking, researching, reading, discussing and pondering how I can do better. Either through my workplace, in my gym training or just in my personal life. Personal setbacks, whilst at times have been harrowing or emotionally draining, have forced me to then reflect on the fact that at the time I was doing my best but what have I learnt from it? Rather t...

There is such a lot of information out there about Emotional Intelligence, Personality traits, Mindsets, Strengths based to name but a few. All have lots of gems in them and are a great way to start really understanding who you are and how you function. This is a huge discussion and can't possibly be written in one blog post. But for me it is important to spell out some simple things that we can do. But why is this so important?  Once we know ourselves we can contribute a lot more to our lives. We can develop personally and professionally and start to understand why we do things and how we can make a change. We can start working on ourselves to transform and move through the different Adult Stages of Development. We can then start to see our lives differently and to take a better perspective of how we function in our society (our circles). All of this can have a profound effect on us.  But we have to do the work. Just as we do the work in the gym or at our own workplace, we ne...

This week I have had numerous discussions with colleagues and family around barriers that people put up that stop them from progressing further and reaching goals that they have set. It was obviously on top for me. At the end of my gym training this morning I reflected on the barriers and hurdles that I had faced throughout the week, both personally and professionally and how I had dealt with these. It was timely. Barriers come in all shapes and sizes and often we don't even see the barrier. What we think of as  unmotivated, uninspired or feeling like we are flounding around in the dark,  is really just a barrier disguised. Barriers disguise themselves in many shapes and forms and it is not until it is pointed out to us that we begin to see them for what they are. It is when the barrier becomes so great that it stops us moving forward and achieving our unleashed potential  that the barriers beat us or wear us down. Often it is the wearing down of the barrier that means we...

Yesterday I was lying in bed thinking about what I would like to post and the idea of Accountability came up for me. It is something that is on top for me at the moment, in a number of different ways, both career wise and personally. This of course, linked naturally to the work that I done through Brene Brown - for those that don't know about her she is so worth a watch or a read of her book. Interestingly enough I then met a friend when I was out who asked me about Brene Brown and my thoughts on her BRAVING concept. How funny was it that I had just been thinking about it and then it was bought up. Hence the post this morning around the concept of BRAVING.  I came across BRAVING a few years ago, when working with a team of leaders, and since then have had a sticky note constantly on my desktop computer with the acronym. It's a reminder to me to keep it on top, especially when things get tricky or I have a barrier to face. Reminding myself of the concept and how I need to work t...

I found this photo from one of our diving trips yesterday and it made me think about the number of  conversations I've had over the last couple of weeks, as we settle back into some sort of normality with our lives. The idea of being separated from our known to the unknown - of feeling like we were living on top looking beneath us for much of the time.  Numerous conversations have been around how we coped in Lockdown and what we did with the time - even looking back how quickly the time actually went. So the big question for many is how are we dealing with coming out of Lockdown and adjusting back to our semi normal lives in Lockdown 2.  For me it is a combination of what have we actually learnt about ourselves in our lockdown time and how we manage those changes.  I've done a lot of thinking and reflection around this and our personal wellbeing - not just for myself but also for those that I work with. Our students, our colleagues, our families.  For some there...

As a coach I mainly work with educators - I coach to help transform the adults that I work with so that outcomes for students improves. In order to do this I work with adults to help them identify their beliefs, values and their own teaching practice. Along this journey I have changed and developed as a coach, always transforming myself and my practice, so that I can create the conditions for others to thrive in, so that they can reach their full potential. The great thing about the journey so far, is the amount of self reflection and learning about myself that I have discovered and the tools that I have used to help me do this. These tools are all things we can access and develop within ourselves.  Elena Aguliar in her work on "The Art of Coaching" defines transformation as an " end result which is almost unrecognizable from its previous form, a massive change that is so thorough that until we are there it is unimaginable"   In this view coaching becomes the vehicl...