Linda came to me after a successful career in the corporate world. She was facing a period of change in her life and she was a little nervous about it. She needed some help on a personal level, and she thought the PCFP (Personal Change Fitness Program) would help professionally as she moved into the next phase of her life. Linda took the initial change fitness assessment and her change fitness scores were at the higher end of [...]
The mystery of things I recently purchased a book about famed Australian artist, Margaret Olley. In that book I read these words, penned by Lou Klepac; “if we stopped judging objects by their practical usefulness, we might discover the mystery of things and not be restricted by the logical, practical world in which we strive to survive physically.” Those words arrested me and invited me to reflect. What does he mean by ‘practical usefulness’ and the ‘mystery of [...]
We need to be willing to change. Change is the essence of life. Those words aren’t mine: they come from American psychiatrist Dr. Gordon Livingston. After listening to people telling him their woes, and his favourite therapeutic question was, “What’s next?” Good question. What's next? I listened have to many painful stories hen I delivered anger management programs in the NSW prison system. But we all have our stories to tell. Everyone has been let down by someone, [...]
My new friend has been teaching me. Wicket is a 12-year-old, one-eyed rescue dog who joined our family about 15 weeks ago. It was love at first sight – a perfect match. He wanted to be special, and we had a lot of love to give. Perfect. But Wicket has challenged some of my deepest assumptions about the world. I can’t think of anyone else who’s been able to do that so well, so quickly, and with so [...]
The aim of The Change Gym is to change how organisations approach change. Arguably, the current dominant approach reflects Kotter’s 8-step change model. Whilst we acknowledge the contribution that Kotter has made to knowledge and the importance of what is in this model, it is what the model lacks that is, at very least, of equal importance. The dominant approach is essentially a management model – create a state of urgency, put together the right team, create and [...]
Written by Dr Steve Barlow Freedom’s an interesting concept, and it’s not always what you’d expect or easy to define. I spent some years delivering anger management coaching to maximum security prisoners. Contact with around 3 thousand men over 7 years revealed that some found their freedom in a place of incarceration. For some, coming to jail was the best thing that ever happened to them. A Paralympic athlete once told me that getting cancer set him free. [...]
Slaying Dragons, Changing Lives by Dr Steve Barlow You may not have realised it, but there are connections between coaching and dragons. I’m referring to those dangerous and fearsome dragons of European mythology; the kind that guard hordes of gold and precious jewels and attack anyone who dares awake them. There’s also a connection between coaching and knights. I mean the kind of knights who stand guard outside strong castles where fair maidens are captive in tall towers. [...]
We all know that human behaviour is complex - get people involved with change and you'll soon discover that. Some embrace change and see it as a challenge and adventure, but, unfortunately, many see it as a struggle, something to resist, and something to avoid. Do you ever struggle with change? Does it stress you? We live in a rapidly changing world with lots of uncertainty, and it's hard to stand out, to compete, and to truly succeed. [...]
In the year 1972 a new book entitled “Limits to Growth” appeared in the bookstores. At the time, this book aroused a great deal of interest. It focused on what happens when exponential growth meets finite resources. Its main thesis was that economic growth can’t be unlimited because it is fuelled by limited resources. A coach, and anyone who works closely with people, knows what it feels like to run out of resources. A client may come to [...]
The Link Between Uncertainty and Success A light breeze blew across the Tweed River one warm December evening in 2006. People stood at tables drinking, laughing and telling tales of the year that was all but done. A middle-aged stranger made his way across the crowded balcony and gave me some very disturbing news. He was a seasoned investor and he offered me one piece of free advice: sell all your shares. He said a crisis was coming. [...]