"To strip an idea down to its core, we must be masters of exclusion. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound, something so laser and to the point that an individual can want to spend a lifetime becoming masterful at it. Once we know something, we can't begin to imagine what it would be like to not know it"

That is the world of Shadow Coaches™ and their clients.

In the world of coaching, we have to be at least two steps ahead of current trends. If we can't think outside the box we're not serving our clients. And if we give clients what they think they can get instead of what they need and want, then we're serving ourselves first. Coaching is about the clients, supporting them, partnering with them and helping them stretch beyond where they've ever been before to fly.

As Coaches, we have a finite amount of time available to us to coach clients on the fly, in the centre of complex challenges in chaotic times. Unlike most coaching sessions, shadow and laser coaching sessions can be a matter of moments in time, where we coach on one thought, one moment in time that had just unfolded in such a way that when they're coached on it, they not only "get it" but it sticks.

Add to that equation working with client's shadow personalities, and not only do they 'get it' but they embrace it, all aspects of themselves within the context of their worlds as they know them.

Combining evidence with patterns of behavior I can say that 50% of the data I use when Shadow Coaching my clients is what they don't tell me. It's located between their words. I discern what wasn't said, pick up what wasn't evident and become a catalyst so my clients could discover what it was they weren't aware of, in real time. It's all about context.

It's fast, dynamic, powerful and, because it happens in real time, they create sustainable change.

What circumstances unfolded where you would have benefited from having an observational Shadow Coach there to help you process what had just happened and learn from it, grow from it and respond rather than react to it? It's partnership without judgment....a rare occurrence in our lives these days.

For those of you who want more from your coaches (or want to work with a coach) remember to ask for what you want and don't settle.

Best!
Donna Karlin

It's a Launch!

Well, it's finally happening. After a truck load of emails, and trust me when I tell you there is NEVER a shortage of emails in my inbox, we’re finally launching our newsletter Perspectives in Brief. We’ll have a home for it at http://www.perspectivesinbrief.com/, for those of you who sign up after tomorrow’s post so you can read what was sent out in the past.

And as comments keep coming in to this blog, through my weekly posts on Fast Company Experts, and through published articles and interviews, I realized I had to do a few things differently as well as add a few. So to meet those requests, I created a self-coaching program that will give people a piece of me even when they can’t (for whatever reason) have a piece of me and secondly set up a system by which I could be more accessible through phone or technology for laser and lightening round sessions.

We just launched “It’s All About You…and Others”. Click here to check it out! Soon to be released is our Time Mastery program, “If I Could Save Time in a Bottle”. Stay tuned. We'll let you know when that one's going to launch.

As of tomorrow, the first broadcast of Perspectives in Brief will be sent out to subscribers. It’s a short sweet, to-the-point 'tips to run with' and think about that can be delivered through your in-box or Berry. The way I look at it, anything longer than what you can read in an elevator is too long for a newsletter. To sign up, fill in the form on the sidebar of this blog to get you going. More in-depth and detailed articles, book recommendations etc will be posted here on Perspectives.

We’ve reserved a few days a month for laser and lightening round sessions. I believe executive coaches need to rethink how they work with many clients. Life coaches are a different realm altogether, but in this fast paced chaotic world when sometimes you might need a half hour to an hour reality check, brain storming session or removal of a roadblock, one session just might do it. And if you know it’s possible to book as you need, then you’ll get what you need.

For those solopreneurs, business people or those new coaches who are up-and-comings and need some help in designing a practice that works for you, hour long lightening round sessions will give you the chance to pick my brain and create something that speaks you, not a clone of someone else and to look at marketing, target audience etc. Let’s get you jumping into the deep end with an eye on the sky, OK? To find out more about how to book Lightening Round and Laser sessions with me, email us and we’ll get right back to you!

It’s time you asked for what you want, not just accept what you’re getting. But that goes for life too, does it not?

Best!
Donna Karlin