Coaching Blog
The Coaching Group Of Switzerland

by Travis Bradberry
The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. At TalentSmart, we have conducted research with more than a million people and found that 90 percent of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control.
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There is some startling research that explores the havoc stress can wreak on one’s physical and mental health (such as this Yale study, which found that prolonged stress causes degeneration in the area of the brain responsible for self-control). The tricky thing about stress (and the anxiety that comes with it) is that it’s an absolutely necessary emotion. Our brains are wired such that it’s difficult to take action until we feel at least some level of this emotional state. In fact, performance peaks under the heightened activation that comes with moderate levels of stress. As long as the stress isn’t prolonged, it’s harmless.

Dianna Anderson,
Dianna is the thought leader behind Cylient's unique, comprehensive approach for instilling coaching cultures. 
Is building a coaching culture for your enterprise a strategic priority for your organization in 2019, or does it fall further down the list in the “nice to do someday” category? If building a coaching culture isn’t at the top of your priority list, here’s why I think it should be:

I believe that many of the top priorities that Learning and Development professionals focus on are actually symptoms of using traditional “direct and correct” leadership approaches to try to manage our current multifaceted, ever-changing work environments.
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Here’s why I think that:
When people lead by telling people what to do, and then correcting them when they think they are “wrong,” it teaches the people they are leading to:

• Wait to be told what to do, which causes inertia, particularly when it comes to making any kind of change happen.
• Avoid taking initiative because they may be sanctioned, sometimes in subtle but impactful ways, for choosing the “wrong” approach.
• Only propose ideas that their manager will understand and grasp quickly because those are “safer,” resulting in lack-luster innovation.
• Avoid being accountable for things they can’t control, which can become a pretty long list as the most pressing issues become increasingly complex.

By Zaria Gorvett
The Power of One Hour
There’s a scene in the classic sitcom The Office, where David Brent – the ultimate cringe boss, with zero self-awareness – is doing some motivational speaking. “Laughter is the best medicine,” he says, explaining to his staff that it reduces stress and that he likes to do it several times during the working day. He demonstrates the technique by bursting into a solo manic cackle; though it only lasts about 30 seconds, it seems to go on forever. The whole room stares back in lethal silence.
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It turns out that, for once, Brent may have been onto something. He was inadvertently describing what experts call a “microbreak” – any brief activity that helps to break up the monotony of physically or mentally draining tasks. They can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes and involve anything from making a cup of tea to stretching or watching a music video.

Though the breaks are tiny, they can have a disproportionately powerful impact – studies have shown that they can improve workers’ ability to concentrate, change the way they see their jobs, and even help them avoid the typical injuries that people get when they’re tied to their desks all day.

By Glenn Leibowitz
The other day, I was walking out of the elevator lobby of my office building and looked outside the front doors. I stood for a few moments to look at the streaming white and yellow light from the sun pouring through the entrance to the building. The sky was blue that day, and was mercifully clear of the depressing blanket of gray haze that has too often blocked the sky.

By John Rampton
Take a moment to think about the best boss, manager, or leader you’ve ever had. Why did you enjoy working with her? What made you admire her? Did she play a hand in helping you grow personally or professionally?
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If you were fortunate enough to work with someone like that, I bet she wasn’t just your boss. She was also a coach who clearly explained what was expected of you while encouraging you to play to your strengths. She educated you and helped you work on your weaknesses. In other words, she empowered, motivated, supported, and trusted you. 

At the time, that may not have seemed like a big deal. But research has found that organizations with a strong coaching culture “reported that 61 percent of their employees are highly engaged, compared to 53 percent from organizations without strong coaching cultures.” What’s more, 46 percent in organizations with strong coaching cultures notched “above-average 2016 revenue growth in relation to industry peers.”

By Arianna Huffington
Well-being = performance
The idea that performance improves when we prioritize well-being, and that a burnout culture is bad for business, will move into the realm of settled fact. Sure, there will still be outliers and denialists, as there always are, who continue to celebrate burnout culture or congratulate employees for being always on and answering texts in the middle of the night. But leaders who incentivize burnout by bragging about how little sleep they get will sound increasingly retrograde in 2019. 

The disruption of AI is here, but so are the opportunities
The conversation around AI will no longer be just about the jobs it will replace. This conversation is hugely significant and will continue, but increasingly apparent will be the opportunities AI creates for new jobs based on what can’t be automated: creativity, complex decision-making, empathy, compassion, engagement, and caring. So, yes, while AI will cost jobs, it’s a chance to rethink what we value: humans working and caring for other humans.
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Knowing how to work intensely but avoid burnout will be a job qualification.....