Coaches on Zoom Drinking Coffee

A deep dive into neuroscience and coaching with Ann Betz, cofounder of BEabove leadership and international speaker and trainer. Ann has been an early adopter of neuroscience in the coaching industry since 2010, so Coaching.com CEO Alex Pascal takes this opportunity to find out how she believes this knowledge can be best used to enhance the profession. In this conversation, Ann explains why she believes neuroscience has an expansionist effect on her coaching practice. She provides examples of how it has brought inspiration to her work and opened up new creative opportunities.One of the concerns coaches have about integrating neuroscience into their practice is that they don’t want sessions to become academic lectures. Ann addresses this concern in this episode, giving practical guidance on how to find a balance between sharing the “why” and overwhelming clients with unnecessary information.Recognizing that there are now many neuroscience programs for coaches to choose from, Ann also gives advice on choosing the correct course - one that’s both accurate and easy to apply. One red flag would be a program leader that focuses on the “typical brain,” for example, as Ann believes we are all (to some extent) neurotypical. From Ann’s perspective, neuroscience has helped take her coaching from “just a thought” to a true exploration of reality. Find out how she uses science as a means to orchestrate conversion by subscribing and listening to this episode.

A conversation with author, teacher, and coaching industry rockstar Michael Bungay Stanier. Michael is known for writing The Coaching Habit, which has sold over a million copies, as well as the unconventional but accessible approach that has earned him high profile fans like Brene Brown and Marshall Goldsmith.In this episode, Michael talks about how coaches can lean into curiosity to navigate uncertain times. He shares his “advice monsters” model, which is used to identify and address the ways in which a coach’s ego can show up in their practice. Michael also shares guidance on how coaches can tame their need to add too much value to their sessions, causing information overload, and instead strive for simplicity on the other side of complexity.It’s clear that Michael has had many previous lives, and he talks us through them in this episode. He almost became a solicitor before discovering coaching, then when he created his coaching practice he felt called to dismantle it and pursue another path. He is the founder of Box of Crayons, a training company, but he has chosen to step down as CEO.During this candid chat with Coaching.com CEO Alex Pascal, Michael explains how both courage and lack of courage have informed his bold career decisions. He also shares how his “big purpose” and his “big business purpose” inform how and where he directs his energy.Listen in to find out how he thinks coaches should embrace ambiguity and stop oversaturing sessions by adopting a “teach the least to have the most impact” approach.  

A powerful conversation with Susan Brady, CEO of Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership and author of Arrive and Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership.In conversation with Coaching.com CEO Alex Pascal, Susan outlines the career journey that brought her to write her most recent book. She also shares her perspective on mastering your inner critic, including why men and women engage differently with theirs.It’s not just problematic narratives in our own minds that make us feel smaller and not good enough; the world also reinforces these beliefs. Susan’s work is concerned with how we arrive back to a compassionate center, both for ourselves and other people. During this episode, she explains the importance of understanding who your best self is in order to be able to return to this person swiftly. As an experienced expert in women’s leadership, Susan has many informed opinions on the most effective methods of increasing workplace diversity. One of the issues she identifies with Alex is that men may have justified concerns about stepping in to right the wrongs that they’ve observed.Susan has ideas about how to avoid blaming and shaming and using compassion and empathy as the fuel for change. She also clarifies why she believes it’s crucial to pursue diversity across dimensions, beyond the well-intentioned but ultimately inadequate concept of allyship.To unlock strategies for exercising empathy and reconnecting with your inherent worthiness, listen to the full episode!

A deep-dive into coaching in the healthcare space with Mo Kasti, founder of CTI Leadership and author of Physician Leadership: The Rx for Healthcare Transformation (2015) and Beyond Physician Engagement: A Roadmap to Partner with Physicians to Be All In (2018). What does it take to be a doctor ? Prior to 2005, Mo explains that passing exams and achieving a great GPA was the only real criteria. However, he understands that success in the healthcare industry requires so much more than that. In this conversation, he explains to Coaching.com CEO Alex Pascal why it matters whether a doctor can listen actively, collaborate with others, and communicate effectively. He also shares why he believes that STEM should include art to become STEAM.Mo Kasti knows that when it comes to the “expert culture” of the healthcare industry, soft skills can be the hardest ones to teach. However, neglecting them is not an option - in this context, they can literally save lives. That’s why his work aims to combine clinical skill with emotional intelligence to ensure the best possible patient experience. Coaching may have arrived late to the healthcare industry, but as Mo explains, it has the potential to transform it. Find out about Mo’s progress so far in his mission to put humanity back into healthcare and hear more about his plans for the future integration of coaching into this industry by listening to the full episode.

A candid conversation with Janet M. Harvey, CEO of InviteCHANGE, bestselling author, and former president of the ICF. In this episode, Janet shares personal insights from her journey in the coaching industry, including the challenges she faced as a fearless leader preoccupied with pursuing “the creative burst.” Janet’s passion lies in helping create healthier organizations where people feel confident to step into their gifts. Here, she explains to Coaching.com CEO Alex Pascal why she believes this is more important than ever and how her project inviteCHANGE has been designed to achieve that objective.Another topic Janet addresses is the need for coaches to work on themselves so they can successfully work with clients. She explains what “ethical maturity” means to her practice and applies lessons from her own training as a private pilot to the topic of coaching development. If you’ve ever wondered how to respond in a coaching emergency, she has tips for you!Janet believes that pre-pandemic, many companies lacked “love and soul.” During this discussion, she explains why certain companies are struggling to retain their workforce after the catalyst of COVID-19. She also reflects on the need to create our own myths to replace those that no longer fit our changing world.Listen in to learn more about the limits of coaching and the need to actively invite - not just passively accept - change.

Executive Coach, development activist, and entrepreneur Nankhonde Kasonde-Van Den Broek shares her vision of the future of coaching in Africa.In this episode, Nankhonde explains why the pathway to achieving results with a coaching client looks different on the African continent. Nankhonde also talks about the cultural complexity around how people work and live there, believing it’s necessary to understand this in order to have a richer coaching engagement that’s capable of sustaining transformational change.COVID-19 caused radical and intense trauma on a global scale, shifting everyone’s experience - and Africa was no exception. In conversation with Coaching.com CEO Alex Pascal, Nankhonde shares her belief that the pandemic proved there is no straightforward developed vs. developing country binary - and there is no monopoly on wisdom.According to Nankhonde, the seemingly overnight organizational focus on wellbeing has actually been “a tornado in the making.” Since global warming represents an ongoing variable, she talks about what she believes will be required to create workplaces that human beings can continue to thrive in.This episode is a great opportunity to learn more about what coaching looks like in an African context. Nankhonde is part of the coaching community there, and she’s committed to making information more available so that global colleagues can enter into conversation with Africa’s theories and models. Listen in to learn how she implements coaching models that are steeped in heritage, culture, and tradition - and how she plans to make them accessible to audiences all over the world.

Hal Gregersen, bestselling author and Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Leadership at MIT, joins our CEO Alex Pascal to explain why he believes asking questions to be the key when it comes to tapping into our inquisitive creativity. Could questions be the answer? Hal certainly thinks so. In this episode, he explains why the most effective global leaders are more likely to be asking questions than answering them. In these times of rapid transformation, Hal proposes that openness and self-reflection have become superpowers. He also justifies his belief that questioning is key to making the world a better place. Acknowledging that change processes often don’t work or don’t end as we expect them to, Hal suggests that the most effective method of implementing transformation is by changing individuals. In conversation with Alex, he shares his suggestions about how to help clients accept the invitation to change, even when it goes against their natural instincts.Since Hal is an expert on innovation, Alex takes the opportunity to ask him how AI may be used to augment human capabilities of questioning. Hal has some fascinating ideas about how to interact with this leading-edge technology so that it provokes new forms of creativity.Listen in to discover the qualities that today’s leaders need to succeed and find out how to get to the right answer by asking the right questions. 

Raven Solomon - global diversity, equity, and inclusion thought leader - is this week’s guest. She’s also an author, podcaster, educator, consultant, and keynote speaker. Raven joins our CEO Alex Pascal to share insights from her extensive expertise with the coaching community. In their conversation, they discuss the advantages and challenges that a diverse workforce can represent, focusing on the implications this has for coaches. Diversity and inclusion are often spoken about interchangeably, but in this episode, Raven explains their distinct definitions.She shares her belief that it’s not enough to have differences present; the differences must also be leveraged, valued, and cultivated.Raven also talks about how organizations can move from diversity to true inclusion by “doing the work” of introducing equitable policies, practices, and procedures. She warns that organizations that fail to prioritize this work could struggle to attract and retain talent.Generational differences continue to be a hot topic of discussion, and Raven takes this conversation as an opportunity to clear up some of the stereotypes commonly attached to Baby Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Z. She also tells Coaching.com which stereotypes she believes are most accurate and how they may have originated in the way people were raised.Listen in to learn how coaches can help leaders harness the strengths of every team member of their diverse workplace.

Learn from the insights of Tendayi Viki, Associate Partner at Strategyzer and an award-winning innovator in his own right. As coaches, we hear a lot about innovation from our executive clients. In this episode, Tendayi explains how innovation interacts with long term value creation - and the implications this has for the coaching industry.Tendayi understands what’s required to achieve a successful innovation. Here, he explains to Coaching.com CEO Alex Pascal why a great product or technology isn’t enough to fulfill his strict criteria. He also shares his perspective on different business models and how they can help ensure innovations are both profitable and scalable.Having experienced a pivotal moment in business history in Silicon Valley 2009-2010, Tendayi knows firsthand what differentiates startups from already-established businesses. He takes time in this episode to debunk some myths and misconceptions about what it means to be a startup, and he also advises coaches on how they can effectively support different kinds of companies.Many coaches have observed a trend towards more decentralized business models and wondered how this shift might require us to adjust our practice. Tendayi has invaluable advice for coaches who are involved in this process so they can nurture more innovative ecosystems.Listen in to find out how you can facilitate the necessary conversations to balance innovation, transparency, and sustainability in all types of organizations. 

A flavorful conversation with Mort Aaronson: surely the only Fortune 200 CEO who has both transitioned into coaching and written his own cookbook?In this episode, Mort, who is now a renowned coach mentor, offers insights from his long and varied career, explaining both how and why he has followed such a unique path to success.Mort explains how he discovered a drive to coach when the human side of the business world overtook the thrill and the hunt of corporate America for his attention. He also shares personal stories, such as how the deaths of three loved ones forced him to reevaluate what really made him tick - and make some serious lifestyle changes.We may perceive remote work culture to be a relatively new phenomenon, but during this discussion with Alex, Mort reveals his extensive hybrid history - and it began in the 1980s! As a pioneering digital warrior who used to travel 220 nights of the year, he is the perfect person to ask for their take on the modern workplace.Mort is currently in the process of converting his cookbook, Toughest Table, into a book about business, so Alex makes sure to ask him about his inspiration in this episode. To find out how this fascinating coach and cook has transferred knowledge from the boardroom to the kitchen and back again, check out their full conversation.