Coach Approach Blog

The warm Indian Ocean embraced me as I slipped into its waters, my friend's snorkel snug around my head. Below me, a kaleidoscope of life unfolded, a living tapestry of color and movement. I giant sea turtle glided just below me, in a world I never would have imagined if I had kept my face above water. Schools of fish darted like liquid rainbows, weaving through coral gardens that pulsed with life. Nearby, a ray fluttered like a celestial dancer, its wings rippling effortlessly. And a dark (harm…

When I think of conflict, I feel my stomach tighten and I see images and hear sounds of heated arguments. It doesn't feel good. 

That's probably because a lot of the time, we don't fight very well. 

The Destructive Path of Conflict

When conflict is hurtful, it's because it usually includes these traits:

• Personal Attacks: Instead of focusing on what needs to change, people start attacking other's characters, using blame and shame to dominate.
• Lack of Empathy: we stop getting curious to und…

In coaching, powerful questions can shape the conversation, deepen insights, and create transformative shifts for clients. These kinds of questions can't be planned because they're in direct response to what the client is bringing in each moment. However, we can certainly explore the kinds of questions that are most likely to be powerful. 

At the Master Certified Coach (MCC) level, the art of questioning is about:

• tuning into the client with complete presence and awareness
• following the cli…

At Awaken Coach Institute, we believe that reaching the level of mastery in coaching is about more than just techniques and credentials—it’s about fully integrating who we are as humans into our coaching practice.

In fact, we teach with the MCC (Master Certified Coach) level in mind from the very first day of our Level 1 course. There's a vast difference between transactional, behavioral, performance, and achievement-based coaching and the transformational depths that we enter as senior coaches…

Friendships have been tricky for me. When I was a kid, I often felt awkward and I experienced being ostracized. When I was a young adult, I made great friendships, but often felt I was masking myself to appear more extroverted, fun, and interesting. I never really liked partying and being in loud crowds, and I didn't even consider work friendships. 

Now that I've been coaching for a loooooong time (wow -time flies!), most of my deepest adult friendships are thoroughly supported by being excelle…

I had a coaching conversation recently that I left feeling "ick" about. Something in me knew I hadn't served my client well. This was an amazing person with so many clear strengths, and they were in pain because of really difficult situation.

I focused on the person's qualities and the choices before them, and after I hung up the call, I thought, "Shoot. I totally missed it. This person needed me to just stay with them in the pain a little longer. They don't need fixing or changing or even empo…

We have some pretty exceptional alumni in the Awaken coaches community, and I love this writing from one recent grad, Nick Patrick - https://Nickpat.com. He's such a kind, thoughtful person, and I'm not a bit surprised that he's built a beautiful coaching practice and has already achieved his international ACC credential.

At Awaken, we talk a lot about integrating light and dark, accepting and welcoming all parts of ourselves, and moving beyond praise or criticism. Here's what Nick has to say i…

My friend Suzanne Lucas (aka the Evil HR Lady, and who is hilarious) told me this story: 

"In fourth grade, a classmate's mom came in with brownies to celebrate the child's birthday. There were two covered pans of brownies.

Now, there is pretty much nothing I won't do for a brownie. Brownies are amazing. I love brownies with my whole soul. 4th grade Suzanne was no different.

But then the mom took the tinfoil off the brownie pan to display coconut frosted brownies. What type of evil person would…

It's been an interesting ride for me to have lived outside of my home country for half my life. I find that I can often see things from a variety of perspectives, and it sometimes baffles me when I see people getting outraged by one viewpoint or another (even though I do the same often enough myself). 

Take the Olympic opening ceremony in Paris.

Some people saw it as a gorgeous, joyous, festive, contradictory, messy, over-the-top, oh-so-French tribute to love, inclusion, solidarity, diversity,…

I've loved receiving coaching from my buddy Lisa Pachence, MCC, who's an executive coach for overachievers. She's so great at helping people have a great life, and she's agreed to write this guest blog. Lisa writes: