It’s Kind of Like Coaching Poolside or Chairside; Coaching In The Moment or Another Time
Coaching can be intimidating to both novice and experienced leaders. For the recently trained manager, there is pressure to provide good coaching to their team, but uncertainty and fear about how to do it correctly. The truth is that bad coaching is better than no...
It’s Kind of Like Elastic Band Coaching; Stretch, Aim, Release
The goal of coaching is to motivate others and expand their thinking and skills. While feedback is a corrective exercise, coaching is a tool focused on growth and development. I liken the act of coaching to stretching and shooting an elastic band. The psychological...
It’s Kind of Like Using a Flashlight in the Dark; Coaching for Clarity and Ownership
When Coaching Works Best Coaching works best when you are confident that your direct report has the answer but lacks the clarity and confidence to act on their own. In this relationship, you can boost their ability to make these calls independently by establishing...
Coach or Consultant: Who is doing most of the talking?
Coaching Versus Consulting Coaching is an overused term in business. Whenever a team member struggles to keep up or presents in a way that is frustrating to others, the advice is, “They just need some coaching.” In practice, coaching occurs on a spectrum between...- It’s Kind of Like Beachball Coaching; Bouncing Back Ideas & Resisting Advice Giving
I once coached a CEO when one of their VPs interrupted to ask what colour the boss wanted the office painted. The CEO offered their opinion and then refocused on our conversation. I responded, “Do you really feel that picking out paint colours is a wise use of your mental energy as CEO?” Their counter was, “I don’t stop to think about it much. If someone asks me for my opinion, then I give it to them.” Oh, the double-edged sword of leadership. Senior leaders must become exceptionally good at making decisions with limited data and be comfortable just making the call. Overusing this style can create a check-in culture where the team becomes overly reliant on the boss’s opinion and hesitates to move without consultation.
Rob Luke, BSc, MA
Rob Luke is a highly sought-after advisor to CEOs and Founders who are leading through periods of rapid business growth or navigating through significant change. Over the past 10 years, Rob has worked with 75+ businesses across 16 industries and has supported CEOs, Founders and Boards through business restructuring, stabilizing core culture while scaling fast, CEO/President selection, finding and integrating key leadership talent into existing teams, and advising on change plans & communications.
Prior to co-founding Allen Leigh, Rob held various leadership roles within the public and healthcare sectors and was responsible for implementing large multi-stakeholder change and quality improvement initiatives. In that environment, Rob managed the performance of over 1,500 healthcare professionals. Rob has delivered over 3,000 leadership assessments, has worked with more than 500 senior leaders, and has managed 30+ organizational change, development, and leadership projects in industries such as hospitality, retail, technology, healthcare law, accounting, construction, manufacturing, and non-profits.
Rob has his Master of Organizational Leadership and is certified in more than 30 individual and organizational assessments.
Jessalyn Hanna, BA, CHRP
Jessalyn Hanna is our in-residence Executive Coach and co-founder of Allen Leigh Consulting (ALC). For the past 10 years, Jessalyn has coached hundreds of senior and emerging leaders across 16 industries including healthcare, retail, non-profit, academic, manufacturing, technology, and government.
Jessalyn’s focus in coaching is to provide leaders with the thinking space to reflect on and process current business challenges, supply practical tools to support and leverage their personal style, and bring a fresh perspective to help critically shape their thinking and experiment with new shifts in style to achieve greater impact.
Jessalyn also leads our Assessment Centre and is certified in 20+ global assessments and provides a unique practical perspective in using assessments to accelerate individual/business growth and bring critical insights into the hiring process.
Jessalyn has her BA from the University of Guelph and is a Certified Human Resources Professional and Kolbe™ Consultant and has accumulated the required professional hours and is finalizing certification with both CTI and the International Coaching Federation.