Welcome to the 33rd CoffeeCAST with Stephen Hayward of Project X.  OK, so I have been busy and have not had a chance to record a CoffeeCAST.  So I got up early this morning, brewed a pot of coffee (Starbucks of course) and recorded some thoughts that I hoped would be of interest. Toda

If you have read any of my blogs, you will realize how keen I am on learning new things.  My partner, Harvey, used to asked people who were looking for work, "what have you learned new in the last year?"  Indicates lots of things about their openness to new ideas a

Important elements in coaching are great listening and encouragement.  Good listening is very encouraging.  Often we mistake praise for encouragement.  When we tell somebody what a great job they have done, we think we are being encouraging.  However praise is maki

How do you see yourself in relationship to the life, the universe and everything? I mentioned previous the importance of having a balance in one’s life among the five tasks life presents us.  One that is often neglected until one is older is the spiritual task.   

Often things are not going the way you want in a personal or business situation, I have a suggestion that always works.  The metaphor that helps me is from golf.  Often when my game is gone to pot, I start to tinker with my swing or some new technique.  When I really be

How would somebody who wants some coaching retain a coach?  The answer varies with the organization.  However I have some ideas based on my experience.  The simplest way is to retain somebody to help with a specific issue.  Often some planning issues is great start

I would like to give an example of a coaching relationship that lasted many years and we became very good friends later.  The person had just taken over a large systems department that was very dysfunctional and lack support in the rest of the organization.  He also was not

Anybody who has taken one of my consulting skills sessions knows how much importance I place on the warm-up.  In any interchange between people, I believe that everybody must get psychologically get in contact before business can be done.  The approach I find that is effecti

I was reminded by David Maister in his Masterclass about Dale Carnegie Courses, which he thinks still has the same value today as thirty years ago.  I also agree.  My wife, many years ago, took a Dale Carnegie Course and really benefited from it.  I went to a classes th

This will be the first in a series I plan to create on the ideas of coaching.  I believe this activity has been the most satisfying part of my consulting practice over the years.  The work often comes many forms and can be a short term involvement or one that lasts many year