Why me?

Why again?

Do you find yourself asking variations of those questions?

Then you’ll appreciate that Shlomo Vaknin has the answer. Really. And you can see it here: (more…)

by ken winston caine

The questions you ask and choose to explore shape the outcomes you achieve. The trick is to ask powerful questions.

They cut to the chase. They move you forward quickly and smartly.

Asking powerful questions is at the heart of “coaching” as it was developed by Thomas Leonard. And I’ve been collecting lists of powerful questions, or coaching questions, for 11 years — ever since I was first exposed to Leonard’s approach.

But simply being armed with a mile-long list of powerful questions does not make one a good coach. Or guarantee you magnificent, rapid, sustainable personal success. The good coach and the smart achiever know how to ask the right type of question at exactly the right moment.

Better, I think, to understand what a powerful question is, so that you can instinctively pose one when it is needed, than to have a long list of questions to sort through. (Though a list is valuable.)

So what is a powerful question?

The best explanation I have come across comes not from the world of life coaching or business coaching or corporate coaching, but from pioneers of The World Cafe process, Juanita Brown and David Isaacs.

They write, on their website, that a powerful question has eight defining characteristics: (more…)

by ken winston caine

Do projects always take longer to complete than you expect?

I know they often do for me.

Big Idea Coach Jim M. Allen has three cool tips for fixing that. I’ll share one of them here. He says, (more…)

by ken winston caine

It is a sin in the evolutionary process of God to try to suppress another’s creative spirit.
– Paramahansa Yogananda

I think so.

Yet so often we do it.

In fact, I’ve wandered in and out of the news business for 3-1/2 decades for this very reason. I have a love-hate relationship with reporting.

It can be such a force for good. And it can so inherently destructive. And a reporter doesn’t get to choose (more…)

I met Eliza on floppy disk in the early ’80s. This is a somewhat improved version. But Eliza is still just a computer program. You can definitely trip her up if you try. But that’s not the point.

She’s a darn good therapist. Rogerian analyst. Coach. And can help you sort through just about anything, any time, if you use her that way. Do. And enjoy her. She’s not just a novelty, but also a useful resource.

Simply click on “more,” choose your version and start talking to her. She’ll keep the conversation, and exploration going. Journaling doesn’t get any easier than this. Coaching doesn’t get any less expensive. (more…)