Earl R. Smith II's Blog, page 67

Coaching Breakthroughs – Eureka Moments

Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com This series of articles will focus on ‘eureka moments’. Over the years I have had many. Most came with the help of mentors and coaches. Building teams and businesses can present many opportunities to stub your toe and learn great lessons from the experience. You can learn how [...]

The Essence of Leadership

Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com Given all the articles, book, lectures and discussions about leadership, you might hope that CEOs – particularly young ones – might have some idea about what it means to be a leader and, more particularly, what it means for them to be a leader. Such hopes founder on [...]

Leadership Coaching – Making a Difference

Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com Are you a Chairman of a company or a CEO? Are you finding it difficult to find solutions for the problems faced by your organization? Are you confused about what you should be doing? Maybe you could benefit from a bit of my leadership coaching. A good leadership [...]

Coaching Breakthrough – Serial Failure

Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com As a well established coach with a reputation for getting results, I get approached by all sorts of potential clients. Most of the challenges that the engagements focus on deal with the personal limitations of my client. It’s rare that we focus on the technology underlying an entrepreneurs [...]

Coaching Breakthrough – Cognitive Dissonance

Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying. It is [...]

Coaching Breakthrough – Seeing What Was Not Seen

Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com How often have you suddenly realized that what others clearly saw missed? It happens to all of us and is particularly unsettling when it is something of importance. I encounter this kind of situation regularly in my coaching engagements. They present a particular challenge that most coaches miss [...]

Coaching Breakthrough – Realizing

Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com Sometimes breakthroughs come in pairs. By that I mean that two of my clients seem to reach similar realizations at almost the same time. I always wonder when this happens. Specially when the coaching engagements are ostensibly focused in significantly different areas. This happened recently. The first engagement [...]

Coaching Breakthrough – Seeing What Was There All Along

Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com You think you see. But do you really? Look again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That was how one of my early mentors once challenged me. I was dealing with what I thought was the problem before me. It was frustrating because I couldn’t seem to make any progress. So I wandered [...]

Coaching Breakthrough – Coming to Terms

Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com One of the most difficult challenges in any coaching engagement is helping a client come to terms with the implications of behaviors that are blindly habitual or unconsidered. It doesn’t have to be a big issue. Sometimes it is a small thing that is done without thinking. At [...]

Coaching Breakthrough – First Steps

Dr. Earl R. Smith II DrSmith@Dr-Smith.com Dr-Smith.com In this series I have been writing about some of the major breakthroughs that my coaching clients have managed. While it is true that most of my coaching work involves slow and steady efforts towards major successes, it’s those successes that make the efforts truly worthwhile. The truth [...]