When we first started working with Matt Brown, the owner of Kent based n-fuze, in a business coaching capacity in January 2017, one of the first tasks was to identify some outcomes that Matt wanted to achieve. 

Inevitably there were many outcomes on the list, some short term but also some longer term. One outcome in particular however really stood out and caught our attention. 

There are a number of myths associated with working with a Business Coach. 

The first is that a coach is only used by ‘underperformers’ who are struggling!  The reality is that many successful people from all walks of life use coaches.  With the exception of Bubba Watson (apologies non-golf fans) you would be hard pressed to find an elite sportsperson who doesn’t use at least two performance coaches.

Let’s start at the beginning. What exactly is Emotional Intelligence?

Well, Emotional Intelligence (EI), or emotional quotient (EQ) is generally described as an individual’s ability to recognise and discern between feelings and behaviours.

Ok so it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but ‘Cognitive Neuroscience’ is one of the buzz phrases more frequently linked with coaching, because of the important role it is argued it can play.

We’ve had several requests for coaching conversations recently which have focused on how to approach and structure one to one reviews or catch ups. How do we ensure they are useful, timely and not just a tick box exercise?

So, we’ve come up with a few pointers that we find useful to consider when preparing for a one to one.

The ability to set and deliver objectives is an integral part of the role of a manager, be that interpreting the strategy of the business and turning it into something tangible that the team can deliver on, motivating your team to set their own objectives and to be accountable for them, or of course, setting your own personal objectives.