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Jacque Small Articles

Written by: Jacque Small

Getting to Gratitude - Click To Read Article
In celebrating Thanksgiving we are reminded to be grateful and appreciative. Reminding ourselves is useful because it seems gratitude is an elusive state of being. Cultivating more of it would be hugely beneficial. Imagine what it would it be like to be consistently grateful? What would be possible for you?

Relationships are a Brilliant Place to Learn - Click To Read Article
Relationships are a Brilliant Place to Learn Ever notice how it’s the people we’re closest to who push our buttons. What if we considered them a mirror for our own growth and learning? What usually happens is we look at the other and judge: we don’t like what they’re doing. We think ‘They hurt me,’ or ‘I’m jealous’. We have judgments about how they handle money, or parenting. We don’t like how they deal with children, extended family, how they approach sexual intimacy, their work focus (or lack thereof).

Improving Our Relationships - Click To Read Article
As we delve further into the realm of relationship it is apparent we can have wonderful intentions and clarity of how we prefer to be in relationship and still be challenged by situations that come up with our partner. When things are going well it’s much easier to express yourself in a loving way and be appreciative of your partner, however when conflict arises it’s challenging to love without conditions. Culturally, often by parents, we have been conditioned to withhold love toward someone who is exhibiting behaviors we don’t like. Often when someone does something we don’t like we let them know about it in the form of a verbal reprimand, nagging, or silent withdrawal of affection.

Relationship Intentions - Click To Read Article
February is here and it's Valentines Day. On this auspicious day many of us buy our sweethearts a gift, do something special or go out for dinner. We celebrate the day treating our loved ones with special care. What about the rest of the year? How do you treat your loved one?

Intention: Is Your Life Magical? - Click To Read Article
At the beginning of the New Year we are bombarded with the concept of making resolutions and goal setting to try and make the things happen that we have decided we want.

Resolving Unmet Needs in Relationships - Click To Read Article
Relationships can be disappointing. Often we look for something from others and don't receive it. At work this might be having a job well done or consistently achieved business goals go unrecognized. In personal relationships it could be our partner is not expressing love in the way we want to receive it. When we deeply desire or need to receive recognition or love and it doesn't happen, we feel hurt and conflict arises.

What does Personal Development have to do with Leadership? - Click To Read Article
I am reading a book by one of my former teachers Gail Gibson, founding faculty member of the Certified Executive Coaching Program and Masters in Leadership Program at Royal Roads University, entitled "Who You Are is How You Lead" In the book Gibson presents a model which identifies awareness, choice and personal responsibility as attributes of Conscious Leadership, and these attributes are supported by trust and courage. The results are support for people's growth and the development of effective organizations occurring simultaneously.

Who Needs Personal Development at Work? - Click To Read Article
While trends in the past few years have advocated bringing your whole self to work, the prevailing culture in many industries still expects employees to leave their personal stuff at the door and stick to business when on the job. It seems the move toward openness has been brushed off the side of the desk in favour of leaner operations, especially with the current economy. This kind of ‘fluff’ just doesn’t impact the bottom line that much. Or does it?

Taking the Mystery Out of Self-Improvement? - Click To Read Article
I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started doing personal development work in 2001 after leaving my corporate position. I wasn't even aware how important it was to ask myself the question "Am I happy?" I have come a long way since then and want to clear up some of the mysteries around personal development and self-improvement. In this two article series I will summarize what personal development is and the perspective from which we can best undertake this work. In the second article I will examine the benefits of personal development in the work place.

Are Emotional Hot Buttons Stopping You from Taking Vacation? - Click To Read Article
In August almost everything shuts down for most of us to take a vacation. How many of you are feeling guilty and anxious about taking time away from your work or business?

Flexibility: The quality of a good leader - Click To Read Article
A lot has changed in the world from a year ago when I started this series of articles and nothing has changed. The third most important issue raised at the chamber dialogue session was flexibility of management.

Resolving Your Business Finance Emotional Hot Buttons - Click To Read Article
One of the areas that perpetually pushes buttons in business is finances. Whether you are a micro-enterprise owner or hold a position in a large company, the decisions you have to make about finance can cause huge emotional reactions. Money is a hot topic for most of us and our conditioning around it impacts how we view it and the results we get.

Improving Sale Effectiveness - Click To Read Article
Improving Sale Effectiveness • How many of you out there are great at sales? • How many of you find it very easy to call people and make appointments with prospective clients? • Have you ever found it difficult to ask for what you want to be paid? • What are the stories that go on in your head that get in the way of you being better at sales?

Conflict, Politics and Back-stabbing, in and out of Meetings - Click To Read Article
• Do you have conflict in your meetings? • Are there people in your workplace who are in conflict? • Are there people in your workplace who back-stab or undermine each other? • Is this all being done in the name of politics? In this article we will explore a common situation in many organizations and how your behaviour in and out of meetings can be used to solve this problem.

Master Your Game: 1001 Heart to Heart Hugs - Click To Read Article
Have you ever decided to do something that was a little odd, but nonetheless followed through on it; then learned some big lessons? The story that follows is something I did on a whim, just to see if I could do it. I had no idea how profound it would be for me, or the impact it would have on others. This crazy idea occurred on my journey to living a balanced game of life. I wanted to move from needing to be in control of everything, to living life with a sense of ease. In golf it is about having a great pre-shot routine, then just letting the swing rip and letting go of the results. This is the secret to working in "the zone." Enjoy this story. Each hug represents one swing at the driving range of life to master my game.

Managing Emotional Hot Buttons in Meetings - Click To Read Article
Preparation and planning for facilitation of an effective meeting is the first step. You can find resources to guide this process in Masterful Meetings a series of articles written in 2005 on my website under Newsletters.

Master Your Game: Enhancing Your Mental Game - Click To Read Article
You have a target, and have been working on consistent focused action. The technical part of your swing is now coming together. You are starting to feel a sense of confidence in what you are doing, but the results are less than expected given your hard work. Results are not just about the physical skill or the technical knowledge. Being able to consistently score depends on your mental game. In this issue, we discuss the four areas of the mental game: • Having a winning attitude • Being centered emotionally • Being positive, and • Playing in the zone.

Master Your Game: Providing Effective Feedback - Click To Read Article
Great managers understand the value of providing feedback and its impact on high performance. Feedback is any communication that gives your employees information about how you perceive them and their behaviour. This article will assist you to recognize barriers that might be preventing you from providing feedback. You will also learn guidelines for providing quality feedback to support those around you to take their performance to the next level.

Master Your Game: Designing an Effective Meeting Agenda - Click To Read Article
An agenda planning session should occur prior to every meeting. Just as an architect wouldn't dream of showing up at a construction site without a well-thought out design, facilitators need to create their own blueprints for each session. Meetings can be a waste of time and energy if no one is prepared and participants are forced to make decisions without adequate information. Last month, we discussed meeting management styles. This month, we discuss the effective agenda. Use The Agenda As A Strategic Tool

Visions: Aiming for Your Company's Success - Click To Read Article
Great, after reading my previous newsletter - Visions: An Aerial View of Your Ideal Golf Course - you now have a personal vision. Let's move on to creating a compelling vision for your business.

Focusing on Your Game Plan - Click To Read Article
To win any game, including the game of business and life a Game Plan is vital. This article takes you through the process of creating a weekly Game Plan to set you up to win on a consistent basis.

The Journey to Your VISION - Click To Read Article
Now that you have defined your vision for the coming year, lets' look at how to move toward it. We are going to cover establishing targets and overcoming hazards.

Traing; Less or More - Click To Read Article
The fourth Article in this series is focused on creating valuable learning opportunities. The previous article was Flexibility, The quality of a good leader. I am going to focus on, are you getting value from your investment in training?

The Value of Vision - Click To Read Article
What's your vision? Do you have one for your business? Is it aligned with your personal vision? Having a clearly defined vision, increases the odds you will bring your desires to fruition. Ask any successful business person and you will find they started out with some sort of a vision. Working closely with entrepreneurs provides me with an insider's view of what happens in their operations. Those most likely to succeed are the ones who have a clear vision, a picture which resonates deeply.

FUN in the workplace... - Click To Read Article
Is FUN as waste of time or is it a necessity to increase productivity? If you and your employees are not having fun it is costing you money in all sorts of ways that you would likely prefer not to think about. Having fun is a necessity. Fun creates a good feeling inside of us a sense of euphoria. When we smile and laugh our brains produce a chemical serotonin that gives us this feeling of well being. Exuding this kind of energy is highly attractive for others; they may want to start hanging out with you.

Clarifying Your Intention - Click To Read Article
As we get closer the end of the year we start to cast our thoughts and desires toward the coming year. Want to have a full sense of enjoyment and satisfaction in life? Then you need to know what you want to experience. What outcomes would you like to be participating in?

Finding Satisfaction at Work - Click To Read Article
Do you feel ho hum about your job? Maybe you are dissatisfied or feel undervalued. If you're not engaged at work, the impact is low morale and poor productivity. And that may prompt you to consider resigning, hoping to find more satisfaction and fulfillment in another position or with another company. If you're an employer, your staff may not be engaged - their enthusiasm is waning and you don't know how to turn the tide.

Visions: An Arial View of Your Ideal Golf Course - Click To Read Article
Are your goals taking you where you want to go? How do you know? Read your vision! Don’t have a vision? Write one now and you will have one to read next year.

Visions: A Success Story - Click To Read Article
Are you feeling overwhelmed or confused about what to do next? No time for yourself, let alone take a course and then have to implement the learning. You and Paul have a lot in common, here is how Paul used his vision to get unstuck and playing a new game.

Play Catch with Communication - Click To Read Article
An associate and I facilitated a dialogue session for the Delta Chamber of Commerce on the attraction and retention of employees in the workplace. The dialogue session uncovered five areas that influence employees in the workplace. They are: • Communication • Attitude • Flexibility • Opportunity to Learn • Fun This series of five articles will focus on each of the five areas from the dialogue session. Let’s begin with communication. Communication, in particular interpersonal communication, is the foundation for creating excellent organizations and great places to work.

Master Your Game: Taking Aim Pays Off - Click To Read Article
What if you hired a personal golf coach and started going to the driving range regularly to hone your swing? Your goal will be to consistently hit the green in regulation to lower your handicap. With sufficient practice, and by taking consistent action toward this goal, I bet you will accelerate your learning in perfecting your game. It works in golf, you say, but will hiring a coach help me in other aspects of my game?

Master Your Game: Meeting Effectiveness - Click To Read Article
Excellent meetings are productive, engaging, and synergistic; participants emerge from these sessions filled with great enthusiasm, energy, and a greater clarity of purpose. Effective meetings facilitate collective decisions that people will actively support by following through and taking action. Unfortunately, not all meetings are effective. Meetings can be energy-draining, time-wasting and costly.

Master Your Game: Facilitated Meetings - Click To Read Article
Great meetings don't happen by chance they happen by design. Successful meetings are well thought out and well planned events. The sense of having a successful meeting is dependent on an appointed group member, a chair or facilitator, taking active responsibility for all aspects of the meeting from preplanning to evaluation.

Master Your Game: Meeting Process Design - Click To Read Article
After establishing and communicating the agenda to participants (see previous issues), the second step to conducting an effective meeting is designing the meeting process.* Designing the process means considering the meeting objectives, the scope of the topic, the discussion stage for each topic and the available time. Specifically, this article discusses strategies for managing the group size, thinking activities and discussion time.

Master Your Game: Group Decision-Making Processes - Click To Read Article
You've outlined a tight agenda and designed an effective meeting process. The next step is to move discussion forward through efficient and effective decision-making. This article explains six decision rules and their appropriate uses.

Master Your Game: Reaching Greater Success - Click To Read Article
I hope you had as great a summer as I did. I have been busy finalizing five years of research for this next series of articles. But no need to feel sorry for me, this research was done during leisurely strolls on the golf course. The next four articles are focused on reaching greater success in our lives. I would like to share a personal experience and use my golf game as an analogy for the principles. We will explore: • Establishing your target - what do you really want to achieve? • Your technical game - what do you need to do to get to the target? • Your mental game - how important is who you are on the results you generate? • A consistent swing - what habits will assist you to achieve success?

Master Your Game: Establishing Your Tactical Game - Click To Read Article
After establishing your target, it is imperative that you establish a strategy. Here are four factors that have assisted me in executing my strategy: • Taking action • Being focused when in action • Learning from the action and adjusting for the next one • Being persistent.

Master Your Game: A Consistent Swing - Click To Read Article
You've established your target, perfected your technical game, and enhanced your mental game. Time now to focus on a consistent swing in this final Enhancing Your Mental Game article. Consistency in performance comes with discipline. Train yourself by focusing on: • Supportive daily habits • Consistent actions • Follow through on commitments, and • Results tracking. Develop these to super-charge your game. Achieve your results faster with a lot more fun.

Master Your Game: Introduction - Click To Read Article
Welcome to the first edition of Master Your Game, a monthly newsletter distributed by Catalyst Business Coaching. The objective of Master Your Game is to assist you in being the best you can be in whatever game you choose to play. When you master your game you will feel a greater sense of joy and success.

Marter Your Game: Put a Shine on Your Leadership - Click To Read Article
As business owners, leaders and managers, we play a huge role in the collective health and wealth not only of our business, but of society. The quality of our leadership directly impacts the people in our organization and ultimately the financial results. The more successful we are personally, the more successful our organizations will be, increasing our ability to create greater abundance in society. Each of us has a choice about our ability to make a difference.

Master Your Game: Expectations That Generate Results - Click To Read Article
Practicing the three steps of setting expectations will reduce your frustration as a leader and will increase the probability of achieving your desired results.

Master Your Game: Leveraging "Who" and "How" - Click To Read Article
As a leader, you will turbo charge your organization when you shift from a narrow focus on processes and results (what you are doing and the results you need to achieve) to transforming the players in your team (who you need to execute these processes). Leaders with great communication skills have the power to shift people's self-perception and improve their potential. When you understand who your people are and are able to assist them to be brilliant in how they undertake the business processes, success will follow.

Master Your Game: Performance Management - Click To Read Article
Having a performance plan and honing your coaching dialogue skills will help you with your performance management role. As a leader, managing the performance development of your team is critical to attaining the success you seek. A good performance development system, executed expertly, will assist your team to grow and develop to meet the goals and objectives that you will evaluate them against.

Master Your Game: High Performance Teams - Click To Read Article
Many organizations talk about teams and teamwork but few really know how nor take the time to build teams. This article is the first in a series about teamwork. It explains the difference between a group and a team and outlines how dynamic teams lead to future success and growth.

Master Your Game: High Performance Teams Self-Assessment - Click To Read Article
Last month, I talked about the difference between groups and teams. (See September newsletter.) I also discussed the many benefits of teams. For another important reason for improving your teams, look no further than the bottom line. When a team does not perform its task, the opportunity costs are great. Poor team results, missed deadlines, members not committed to the outcome, stress and frustration, unproductive hours - these are some consequences of poor-performing teams. How much are these worth to you? The good news is, with professional coaching, it is possible to convert your groups into teams. Furthermore, you can boost your team's level of performance from good to great. High performance teams mean mutual commitment that leads to innovative outcomes and measurable positive results.

Master Your Game: Foundation of High Performance Teams - Part 1 - Click To Read Article
This is the third article in the series on High Performance Teams. Now that you've conducted your self-assessment, here are some suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of your teams. The first three category areas are discussed here. The last four categories will be covered in the next Master Your Game.

Master Your Game: Foundation of High Performance Teams - Part 2 - Click To Read Article
This is the fourth article in the series on High Performance Teams. Now that you've conducted your self-assessment, here are some suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of your teams. The first three category areas were discussed last month. The last four categories are covered here.

Keeping the Glass Full - Click To Read Article
As you know, I have been out of contact for several months. Events happen in our lives over which we have no control and we do our best to respond. Such was the case for me, and as I re-establish my connection I want to share with you what I have learned.

Attitudes are Contagious - Click To Read Article
This is the second of a five-part series about attracting and retaining employees. The areas of focus are: 1. Communication 2. Attitude 3. Flexibility 4. Opportunity to Learn 5. Fun This article is on attitude. In a dialogue session at the Delta Chamber of Commerce, someone made the point that management attitude needed to change and that managers needed to walk the talk.





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