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“Self-Directed Teams – Through a Coaching Lens”

What do a giant ball of yarn and a tent pole have to do with successful Self-Directed Teams...? This week, at the 5th Annual “Building an Inclusive Community” Conference in London Ontario, The Coaching Lens had the pleasure of delivering two interactive sessions about what makes “Self Directed Teams” succeed. So what exactly is a Self-Directed Team?  It’s a two part answer:  A group of highly…

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June 10, 2017
Aha! Leadership Moments / Conflict in the Workplace / Conflict Resolution / Leadership / Leadership Skills / Uncategorized / Values and Beliefs

An Aha! moment about Beliefs and Assumptions

As a leader, I have a firm belief that I should never ask anyone to do something that I would not be prepared to do myself.  So one Saturday when I had asked Anna, one of my team members, to come in to work on something with a tight deadline, I decided that I would go in as well to give her a hand. Imagine my…

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January 13, 2017
Agile Leadership / Character Strengths / Coaching Skills / Leadership / Leadership Skills / Tilt 365 / Values and Beliefs

Reflections on the power of Coaching and Agile Leadership…

As the year draws to a close we’re taking a few moments to reflect on, and to say thank you, for the Team Building, Tilt 365 and Agile Leadership workshops that The Coaching Lens Team had the honour to facilitate for you this year. We are always awed and grateful for the honesty and candour that our participants offer each other during these sessions.  We explore…

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December 29, 2016
Aha! Leadership Moments / Leadership / Values and Beliefs

Darren’s Story – An Aha! Leadership Moment about Authenticity

My friend, a professional hockey player, was driving us to a sporting event. At a certain point along the way, my friend spotted someone on the street – someone with all the appearance of a homeless vagrant.  My friend’s reaction surprised me. He carefully maneuvered through two lanes of traffic to pull to the curb, get out of the vehicle and connect with this person. Not…

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November 28, 2016
Aha! Leadership Moments / Leadership / Leadership Skills

How do you know it’s an Aha! Leadership Moment?

How do you actually know when you’ve had an Aha! Leadership Moment? For me it was walking away, shaking my head in awe at what just happened.  I was a recently-hired young supervisor in an information technology department, responsible for a team of ten programmers working on systems that automated a cereal plant.  For the life of me, I can’t remember the details of the problem…

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October 4, 2016
Values and Beliefs

Girls should be…

Girls should be seen and not heard?  You’ve got to be kidding.  Such a sentiment today seems ludicrous but as you will see in Darlene’s story, in 1950 it was a real belief system with insidious and strangling tentacles. Darlene was always excited when her Aunt Betty was coming for a visit. Aunt Betty was her favourite aunt who played games with Darlene and her siblings,…

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September 1, 2016