Summer 2009

Summer Break

Like many of you, I will be taking holidays during the summer before returning in the fall with a broad range of new activities. Though there aren’t any official functions slated in July and August, I do intend to be in and around Prague, albeit less than usual, so please stay in touch.

Coaching4Success (www.coaching4success.cz)

At the request of many the Self-Assessment workshops will be repeated in the fall.

“Each person has his or her own vocation. The talent is the call. There is one direction in which all space is open to you. You have faculties silently inviting you there to endless exertion”. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Are you contemplating a career transition? Do you need to take stock, broaden your perspective, build confidence and gain clarity, and a clear sense of direction and desired financial rewards?

Whether you want to carry out your current job more effectively, go for a promotion, size up new career options, take the plunge and go freelance, or set up your own business, this Self-Assessment Workshop will help you through the process by supporting, inspiring and challenging you to clarify your game plan and take action.

Its objectives are to teach you to:

• Identify professional strengths and weaknesses
• Identify your working style
• Identify your interests
• Match your skills and interests with job positions
• Identify areas for training

Dates & Time

• Part I September 1st, 17:00-20:00
• Part II September 21st, 17:00-20:00

Registration

Registration closed

Cost

1 500CZK + VAT per workshop (includes refreshments)

For more information about the Coaching4Success program and workshops please visit www.coaching4success.cz

Smart leaders should use the crisis to get ready for the future

Even though the economic crisis took many emerging countries such as the Czech Republic by surprise, smart leaders should have been prepared for rough times and should be now in the position to deploy skills and take advantage of the market resettling… click here to read the full interview

Summer Coaching Tip: Have you made your September 1st resolution?

While visiting the United States recently, I was invited to attend a meeting of Retail Merchants Associations.

During the meeting we were asked to share one or more summer goals as well as the strategies we would use to achieve them. “Summer goals?” I thought to myself. Don’t people usually make resolutions for the year in January?

But then how many of us are able to keep our New Year’s resolutions anyway? Maybe one reason why we find it so difficult is because we’ve chosen the wrong time of year. 4000 years ago, the Mesopotamians celebrated the New Year in March, following the spring equinox. Egyptians, on the other hand, chose September to begin the New Year, something that for us has become a back-to-school tradition.

The concept of making resolutions is itself a paradox: If we had the discipline to keep see our resolutions through, we wouldn’t need to make them in the first place. Moreover, making resolutions that most of us expect to break anyway is clearly irrational.

However, setting goals is quite different from making resolutions. It involves making a plan and following a prescribed timeframe. The beauty of setting a summer goal is that it can last as long as the next equinox and then be easily measured and evaluated. Or why not set new goals in the fall, when most of us come back to work refreshed and relaxed after the summer holidays?

This fall, I suggest focusing on one area of improvement over the next three months and breaking your larger objective into smaller, more manageable sections. Each week, choose a smaller chunk of your overall goal and stick to it for the entire week. Then, at the beginning of each subsequent week, evaluate your success.

Because setting goals involves reviewing and revising, you may find that your objectives change quite often. Some aspects of your overall goal may become more or less important, while others may disappear as new ones emerge. Finally, make sure to send updates to the people that these changes may affect.

Setting concrete and realistic goals will sharpen the clarity of your purpose. However, the realization of any goal takes sound planning as well as a lot of discipline.

What are your goals this fall?