Roots of Prosperity_Strategy+Business

Very interesting discussion on economics and country development.

In the history of economic success, no two countries have ever followed identical paths. But there is a universal pattern nonetheless: Nations rise out of poverty when elements of a thriving business sector replace the previous economic system.

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Creative Commons: Enabling the next level of innovation

Another great discussion on Innovation to The Next Level

Here’s a thought experiment: try to imagine what it would have been like to create Google before the era of the Internet and open standards. You would probably have had to pay millions of dollars to create the necessary software on a proprietary operating system. The effort would have required a huge team of people taking many years. Since Google is a search engine, it most likely would have been given to the phone company to design and run. If you were using X.25, the international networking standard (the Internet equivalent of its time), you would have been charged for each packet of information that you sent or received, in a network in which each network operator had a bilateral agreement with every other network operator. This total project probably would have taken a decade, cost a billion dollars, and not have worked very well.

via Creative Commons: Enabling the next level of innovation.

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How to Get Fruits in Coaching

The fruit here is for the someone who is being coached, i.e. the coachee. Or the client or whoever that is on the receiving end of a coaching relationship. i will touch on how to be a good coach i.e. for all coaches that is coaching someone. Allow me to explain a little bit about “a coach”.

A coach is definitely someone who has gone through a coaching certification, earned MBA, accumulated vast knowledge and know-it-all character and driving a sports car to see his clients so he can impress how successful he is. WRONG! Be careful with this kind of coach. A coach is not a title, the real coach is in the behavior. Just like http://robinsharma.com conference title, “Lead without Title”. So you don’t have to achieve all that to act like a coach.

How to achieve a nice or i called here fruits in a coaching relationship. In my previous post “Purpose of Coaching”, i highlighted the need and types of coaching relationship. Perhaps you can check on the blog listing for that title. Now i want to share with how to make it fruitful especially for the informal coaching type.

I have a client that have a perfect coaching relationship. This guy operates a small creative design company with less than 10 people in his company. his background is creative directing and he is a very talented creative director. he is also a very good communicator. when i first met him, we were in a online marketing workshop. i was there to evaluate my friend, but pretend to be a participant and this client of mine was a real participant. We shook hands but nothing else. My friend who conducted the workshop was trying hard to “sell him” his service, i distance myself because i am not there to sell anything.

After the workshop ends, we passed by each other and say goodbye. We exchanged our card (just like any other occassion and we do it as a courtesy instead of looking for business) and we said each other goodbye. He called me and texted me few times to meet. I was curious because we didnt really didnt exchange much about ourselves during that session. I met him few days after that over teh tarik and we clicked very quickly. Since then we are friends and happen to be in a fruitful relationship. How does that happened?

A beautiful coaching relationship starts with values in each other. As a coach, we need to be bigger than ourselves and the person we coach. We need to treat them as friends 1st and it must be done naturally. people know when we fake something, we need to do something genuinely. of course, sometimes it may take our time to get to know people because in current world, people usually make contact because they have economic reasons behind it. Shoo away with such approach.

In my case, when i first met him we just talk a little bit about the workshop we attended. Later, of course he realized that i wasnt there for the program but i told him i was there to refresh my memory at the same time. So it is a win-win thing. We chatted for 2 hours about work, politics and other things, but nothing about business. But after 2 hours, “what you can do for me?”, he asked me. i told him, “You called me, what you have in mind?”. Only after that we talked business. “my domains are marketing, strategy and management”. i told him. anything more than that, is too much to ask and i dont thing i can do it.

Secondly, most coaches or consultants are overly proud about themselves. When a client post some doubts and issues, most of us tend to give quick answers without thinking. we always showed the clients our knowledge prowess to impress, but many failed to realize the client is there not to see a circus in action. they called us to solve their problem and be the someone they need to talk to. Thats exactly what i did, non-committal and distance myself from any financial discussion. i acted as a friend and a coach rather than consultant. i despise the word consultant, because it carries such a negative image. but heck, we cant change the world so lets change ourselves.

Thirdly, i think the fact when he saw me seriously interested in him and his problems he feels we should meet again. I always tell the world that “ideas are free and it should be shared”. I said this because while i agree that ideas are very unique processes, it needs someone to take the axe to chop the tree. If you only “think” of chopping the tree but unable to create “the axe” to help you chop, it is as nothing. Nothing get done, so no one is benefiting from the “thinking”. That’s where i also always said, while imagination is powerful than knowledge, you need the knowledge you can do a powerful imagination. With knowledge you can make multiple references and points and you can see in totality. It is crucial.

So, when i was with this client i suggested few things for free and willingly. i didnt even put any clause that this ideas are mine and he shouldnt copy it. In fact, in one creativity management book i read many years ago, one of the ways of being creative is to imitate. once you are able to imitate, you will enhance it with your own style. That is innovation. big ideas stem from small action, but still it is an action. therefore if you are going to have a coaching relationship you need to get yourself accessible and also accumulate knowledge as much as you can.

Fourthly, when we decided we would like to have a business relationship, i quickly told him that i will make it as professional engagement. Simply because i have a responsibility to carry and if he doesn’t agree with it, we shouldn’t proceed and lets remain friends. I take a lot of efforts to make sure i deliver what i am supposed to deliver, and usually i stretched it a bit. people like to receive small gifts and a little good surprises.

When i was designing my proposal for him, i went to his office and quietly took some pictures. no one knows. And later i put it in the proposal and make some comments about it. i also took note what i observed and no one knows what i was doing there. so all of them are naturally “themselves” when i was there. When i make comments, i am very careful not to hurt or simply criticize. it has to be constructive and backed with facts and also reccomendations.

The good thing is about this client, he confesses very early that he is a great creative director but he needs more assistance on management. So whenever i make comments and reccomendations, he is willing to listen and we discussed it over and over again until we reach an agreement. When we agreed, we also look into the risk so we can anticipate it earlier.

The conclusion is, to bear fruits in coaching, the coach needs to be a human 1st rather than act snob and waiting for the coachee or student to submit themselves 1st. i think if we were to always wait for someone else does “it” 1st, we will not have peace and we will not have lasting business relationship. if the proof of the pudding is in the eating, the proof of bearing fruits in coaching is in the doing! 🙂

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