Life Coaching Skills - Rhonda Hess

Archive for 'Life Coaching Skills'

This is Me Being Personal with You…

November 22, 2011 | Read 18 comments and join the discussion

I’m big on delivering value so most of my posts get right into how to make big progress in your biz. In fact, one of my colleagues, Erika Kalmar, said about my post last week… “Wow, this is not a blog post – this is a course! Others pay a lot to get this info you’re sharing here, Rhonda!”

So, it’s not my usual style to talk a lot about myself in a blog post… but here in the states, it’s gratitude time with Thanksgiving this Thursday… so I wanted to reveal a bit more about me.

My greatest teachers…

You. I’m so lucky to serve heartful, brilliant people like you. I’m so honored that you read my blog, share your thoughts and allow me to shine some light on your path to greatness. From you, I’m continually learning to let go of attachment, value diversity, and listen more deeply. Enlightenment!

My life partner, Seth. He’s contributed so much to my well being and Prosperous Coach by researching for me, managing cash flow, editing my content, and continually coaching me to stay true to what’s most important.

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Topics: Life Coaching Skills

Experiencing Empathic Overload? 6 Ways to Recover Your Center

March 30, 2011 | Read 17 comments and join the discussion

These are tough times for empaths. In a world hammered by tsunami and nuclear disaster, political unrest and economic crisis – feeling the feelings of others can be super overwhelming and painful. (I say this with the deepest respect for people who have directly experienced these disasters, whose suffering is in a whole different class.)

I believe that what’s going on in the world right now is one of the reasons why the field of coaching has burgeoned. It takes a conscious act to stay in balance in these times. And coaches remind people to stand in their power, hold their center and direct their actions with integrity.

Empaths, who have empathy in spades, have naturally gravitated to coaching as a career. I’m in that subgroup and attract a lot of clients who are too. If you are an empath, chances are you lose track sometimes of where you begin and end.

Even if this never happens to you, I bet some of your coaching clients can relate and it’s helpful to be aware of the unique challenges that empaths face.

It’s More Critical Than Ever to Regain Your Center

Experiencing Empathetic Overwhelm The world needs empathy – and here’s the paradox. For empaths, when the world is most in need is exactly the time we most need to take care of ourselves. We need a strong daily practice to recover our center, boundaries, and vitality. Then we can serve from strength.

Here are 6 ways to recover your center:

Go on a media diet. I’m not just talking about the news. Turn off anything that has an on-off switch. Give yourself a rest from all that frenetic input. If possible do this for a few days or weeks, or at the very least have sacred times to be completely unplugged every day while you’re awake.

Go outside. Become a cloud, bird or plant watcher. Spring is a great time for this, but nature calms your nervous system anytime you tap in there. Cultivate an appreciation for natural beauty and let it influence your mind, body and spirit.

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Topics: Life Coaching Skills

Read More About Abundance, Coaching Skills

The Essence of a Great Coaching Question

August 17, 2010 | Read 2 comments and join the discussion

I’m just back from three extraordinary days at the Rocky Mountain Folks Festival in beautiful Lyons, Colorado. John Prine closed out the festival with a set worthy of the national treasure he is. A lot of great lines from the old poet, but here’s the one that’s still rolling around in my head:
gathering coaching questions wisdom at Folks Fest

It’s not really a question if you already know the answer.

That’s true about the most powerful coaching questions.

Learning to draw out your client’s wisdom rather than impose your own agenda is one of the foundations of coach training. Is it time to refresh that lesson? It’s so easy to get caught up in the task list and learning curves, and forget to lead with curiosity in a coaching session.

No matter how insightful you are (and you are insightful!) the most impactful moments in coaching are drawn out of your clients themselves. There’s no formula for those moments.

That’s why open-ended questions generally work better than yes-or-no questions in coaching. They leave the field open to the unexpected. The conversation can go in any direction from an open-ended question, and that leaves space for the magic to arrive.

Coaching magic can be courted, but it can’t be forced. No list of “canned” coaching questions holds the key to that transformational shift your client is on the threshold of.

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Topics: Life Coaching Skills

Coaching Clients – Can We Want Too Much for Them?

March 10, 2009 | Read 3 comments and join the discussion

Many years ago, Thomas Leonard, founder of the first coach training school and the “father of life coaching,” said:

Never want more for your clients than they want for themselves.

That woke me up! I began to examine my motivations and set healthier boundaries for myself with clients.

Have you ever sensed that you might want too much for your clients?

Most coaches fall into this trap on some level, until they let go of their desire to effect change on their clients, and replace it with an understanding that what is best for the client is only what the client is ready to commit to change within themselves right now.

We can never know the path of another person. If we react protectively, anticipating our client’s pitfalls and mistakes, are we keeping them from valuable experiences that may bring success more quickly? If we jump in to solve their problems and salve all their hurts too vigorously, will we somehow take away their power?

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Topics: Life Coaching Skills

Read More About Co-Creative Relationship, Coaching Skills

Seven Powerful Coaching Questions

December 22, 2008 | Read 1 comment and join the discussion

I am fresh from a mastermind retreat with established coaches and brimming with excitement and gratitude. You know how it feels to be energized by powerful conversations? The rich relationships and collaborative learning are even more valuable when we harvest the gems and use them to transform our mindsets, habits and results.

The moments with the biggest impact in my retreats are when powerful questions get asked at just the right time. The right question can do more to motivate a coaching client into playing a bigger game than reading a whole bookshelf of inspirational books or attending several ‘how to’ seminars. Why is that? Questions, when phrased and timed well, entice us to go inside and look around the many rooms of our heart-mind. We emerge knowing ourselves better than we did before.

Here are seven great coaching questions to ask your clients, or yourself!
1. What do you want?
2. What’s holding you back?
3. What is it costing you to continue holding back?
4. How do you want to change your mind’s programming on that topic?
5. What new habits will you put in place to fortify your new mindset?
6. What is the most meaningful action you could take now?
7. What new skills or support systems will ensure your success?

These are just simple coaching questions. But even the most successful coaching clients will get continual value out of these kinds of questions. The right question can help anyone zoom past obstacles and into a power zone of action and attraction.

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Topics: Life Coaching Skills