The discussion that causes the most angst with coaches is the talk about how much to charge. New coaches seem embarrassed about communicating their rate to new clients. There are lots of reasons this is true. The new coach doesn’t feel worthy to charge what feels like a high rate. They can feel like

  I was talking to a pastor friend about the current state of politics, and he said, “I don’t know how this is going to turn out.” I thought that was an odd statement. Then I realized something—something about myself. When he said, “I don’t know how this is going to turn out,” he meant

  Recently I coached the ownership team of a small service firm with about thirty employees.  One of the challenges they face concerns a salesman who so badly wants to make the sale that he will customize and upgrade the services beyond the scope of what the company can truly support (or afford).  They all

  The International Coach Federation recently announced a change to their list of core competencies. The list and descriptions for each competency help coaches know what’s expected of a coach. The new list has eight competencies while the previous list had eleven. The only somewhat surprising change? The new list drops “Powerful Questioning”. Hmmm. Brian

  A major mistake a coach can make is agreeing on the topic too soon. At the beginning of a general coaching conversation, the client isn’t completely sure exactly what the topic is. A coach needs to spend time helping the client clarify exactly what the issue is. My analogy for this is the topic

  You are probably more cynical than you think. Cynicism is the belief that people only act out of their own self-interest. Of course, this is always true to some extent, but the cynic changes their behavior because they don’t believe people will show up at their best. Cynicism is a nasty virus in North