Life Work Coaching Blog

A critical factor in building effective relationships within any organization is Reflective Listening. Reflective Listening takes determination and clear intent, absolute focus and dynamic participation. While it takes time to perfect, I promise you, mastering this will immediately have a positive impact on every aspect of your business and personal life.

The method is straightforward. You listen, tell the person what you heard, and ask if you understood them. If they say no, you listen and reflect back the information, and ask if you understood them. Repeat until they have nothing left to say. You will see body language change and breathing slow down. Any anger, resentment or discontent disappears. And most importantly your team member becomes your immediate ally. The positive energy spreads like wildfire, attitude improves… and service improves.

Recipe for Success:

• Let go of any negative beliefs about the person you are in conversation with

• Ask open-ended questions

• No interruptions – stay focused on the person

Start practicing Reflective Listening today; master it while teaching it to your full team…not just the managers

By practicing Reflective Listening we build healthy, honest relationships, which allows others to build the same. If we teach this life-altering method to everyone around us we create an environment geared toward success. The listener implies…you’re just as important as I am and I care enough about you to hear what you’re saying: even if I don’t agree.

As owners or managers we often feel annoyed by the small, seemingly inconsequential stuff, and just as often it is these very things that add up to the big stuff! So put away your judgment and pre-conceived notions and take full responsibility for creating a successful Reflective Listening conversation. Consequently the drain of negative energy created by lack of communication and listening is completely resolved leaving space for greatness from the entire team and incredibly happy customers.

For information or to arrange sessions to build a world-class organization, a powerful team and enthusiastic and delighted customers, contact Karen or Kevin at 206-434-1521 or karen@kcarey.com

“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we lead.” Flora Whittemore

The advantage of coaching is perhaps for the first time in your life it is entirely about you. Effective coaching is all about you. It is your Agenda, it is your Program, it is your Life and it is Your Future.

The coach is simply there to work with you to create a clear vision of what you want, to get you unstuck and in motion, and to guide you in removing obstacles and barriers. A coach is there to follow-through with you to attain the choices you make; to hold you accountable to your plan of action; to keep you on-track and on-focus; and to support you moving forward to attain your goals and to reach your vision.

The coach is not there to do things for you, but they are there to encourage and support you in taking positive action to create the life you aspire to.

The actions you Co-Create with your coach can include:

• Discovering what you really want in life
• Creating a clear vision of your future
• Increasing your self confidence
• Developing a plan of action
• Setting priorities and working on what really matters
• Encouraging you to reach each milestone in your plan
• Overcoming self defeating habits
• Removing barriers and obstacles
• Managing your health and wellness
• Improving your relationships
• Energizing your career
• Rediscovering your passion

And of course, celebrating your accomplishments, as you make daily progress.

“If you don’t create change, change will create you.”

To see if coaching is right for you, experience a powerful, one-hour free exploratory session, with either Kevin or Karen. To start creating a dynamic, workable plan, enabling you to achieve your dreams, call or email now to reserve a session time.

“Where there is love there is life.” Gandhi.

Of all the things we accomplish in life … finding love, being in love, staying in love, losing love and grieving for it’s loss; these emotions represent the most important, complex, challenging, illusive and stimulating themes of our lives. Since earliest recorded history many works of art, books, movies, poetry, music and theater are devoted to this mysterious component of truly being alive.

“Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.

It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.?”

I Corinthians 13:4-8

What poets, writers and playwrights understand is that much of our hopes and dreams, our joy and laughter, our purpose and our life focus are melded into and built around this preeminent emotion. “Who so loves, believes the impossible.” Browning.

We also understand, albeit reluctantly, that after a short ecstatic, magical period of sheer bliss the energy level begins to subside and we start to explore the person we are in love with and more calmly imagine a long-term relationship.

Do You Love Your Relationship?

“Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals that can go it alone.” Wheatley

It is said that love is blind, but love is also potentially a guide and a gateway to a more sustaining, and a lasting relationship. But is love enough to sustain a relationship, or do we need more? Love is like the blossom on the tree, but the relationship is the roots, integrity is the trunk, ethics is the bark, loyalty is the branches, compassion are the leaves and joy is the sunshine.

So how do Integrity, Loyalty, Ethics, Compassion and Joy fit into your Relationship? Because, just like your relationship if any element of the tree is not working effectively the blossoms fall, the leaves wither, and the tree begins to die. We know from experience that a fledgling tree/relationship needs water, it must be protected from blight and viruses, it must be pruned and cut back to build new growth, and the roots must be in the right environment with room to grow.

Love may be difficult to define, but the other building blocks of a relationship, built upon the foundation of love, are more pragmatic, more easily defined, and more readily developed. “Man is a knot, a web, a framework, and a mesh into which relationships are tied. Only those relationships matter.” –Antoine de Saint-Exupery

If you are building or rebuilding a relationship call Karen at 1-206-434-1521 for a powerful sample session focused on the keys to creating and maintaining a successful relationship.