CorporateCoach

Editorial: How to keep yourself fresh

There are two articles in this week's newsletter.

In one I describe the negative impact of a rotten corporate culture in which ethics and values have become distorted.

It is not necessarily that any incorrect instructions are given. Rather, that people operate under the understanding that some values and priorities are the norm.

Tradition has it that Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered as a result of Henry II uttering the words "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?".

It is claimed that Henry did not intend this as an instruction, he was simply expressing his exasperation after Becket excommunicated him.

But the mood of the court was that whatever the king asked for he was given.

In the other article, I review Andrew Halfacre's new book "First Know What You Want".

How do we keep ourselves fresh – constantly renewing our purpose, reviewing our goals and maintaining our motivation? And how do we do this without getting trapped in a safe sense of safety and comfort, where we get to hear what we want to hear?

As coaches, we should have a personal coach, or a mentor, with whom we can review our own activities and progress.

I am a member of two mastermind groups. One is formal, with members who have no direct involvement in my business or personal life.

The other is smaller, informal, and in this one we are closely involved in each other's personal development and business growth.

This gives me two different perspectives on my life and business. Further, my involvement indirectly in the progress of some 15 other people exposes me to other situations and enables me to test out other ideas.

Richard Winfield works internationally, coaching and facilitating directors and boards: helping them to make progress by bringing structure and clarity to their thinking.

Latest articles

Coaching Notes: The Ford Pinto and corporate culture

At the turn of the 1970s, the top brass at Ford set out to come up with a car that weighed less than 2,000 pounds and cost less than $2,000.

Their answer turned out to be the Pinto, a sporty little thing with just one problem: in rear-end collisions, its gas tank had an unfortunate habit of exploding.

That fault would eventually make the Pinto one of the most notorious cars in history but no-one at the time dared report it to the company's formidable CEO.

"Hell, no" claimed one Ford engineer. "That person would have been fired." As the cigar chomping boss Lee Iacocca was fond of declaring: "Safety doesn't sell." [more]

Review of "First Know What You Want"

Albert Einstein and Aldous Huxley were in conversation and one asked the other: "What is the most important question in the world?"

He paused and thought, then replied: "Is the Universe friendly?"

According to your personal response to this question you will live your life as a paranoid or a pronoid, that is one who believes that the world is set up to benefit you.

You can imagine the difference in life outcomes. [more]

Invisible Coaching
Join the Invisible Coaching Facebook Group to keep abreast of ideas and people.

YouTube videos about Invisible Coaching

During the promotion of the Invisible Coaching workshop I produced three videos to explain the concepts that I would be teaching. [more]