Darcy Luoma Coaching and Consulting

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Your Perspective is Not the Only Perspective

By Nancy Turngren 

I recently flew on an airplane. Normally, that’s no big deal. But in the year 2020 things are different! 

This photo is me on the E Concourse at O’Hare International Airport – one of the busiest in the world. I’ve flown one other time during the pandemic and purposely avoided O’Hare because I assumed it’d be too crowded for my comfort level. Suffice to say, my assumption wasn’t close to accurate.

We often walk into situations where we assume what is going to happen. We have an idea in our mind of how things are supposed to be. Due to COVID-19, we are seeing things from a new perspective, and our assumptions are often wrong. We don’t personally have past experience of a pandemic, so we can’t use our experiences to base our thoughts and/or behaviors. 

But perspectives and assumptions aren’t just present in global pandemics.

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Now is the Time for Listening

I recently presented a virtual training on coaching skills for managers. One of the activities focused on listening. For two minutes, the manager just had to listen to their partner and then repeat back what they heard. Sounds easy, right? 

Well, there is one comment I hear every time I do this activity. Can you guess what it is?

“It was so nice to be able to talk and just be heard.”

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Stop Asking the Wrong Questions

We have encouraged you to bring your inner coach to work. Wondering what that means? Worried that you need to be ready to teach everybody how to do their jobs and call all the plays? Not sure how to do that given all the additional challenges in the world right now?

Good news, coaching is all about getting other people to help you do the work. With my clients, I don’t need to figure out exactly what they need to do. My job is to help them figure out what they want or need to do next.

And if you are coaching at work, you get everyone else to problem-solve and innovate.

How does this happen? By getting curious and asking lots of questions.

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What Your Team Can Learn From Our 90-Pound Foster Dog

Of all the accolades I’ve earned in my life, I’m particularly proud of an award I received last month.

Along with my daughters, we were named “Foster Family of the Month” from Fetch Wisconsin Rescue.

The girls have been asking me forever to get another pet. So in the middle of quarantine, when they were homeschooling and missing their friends and activities, they asked me again if we could get a dog. After watching our poor 14-year old cat tolerate them dressing her up in homemade face masks, because “they were sooooo bored!”, I finally agreed. 

With a caveat. That we get a foster dog.

A few weeks later, Sirius arrived. As in Sirius Black. He’s a one-and-a-half year old, Great Dane/labrador mix. Overnight, the girls became responsible for a 90-pound dog that was experiencing severe separation anxiety and had significant behavior issues. 

But he was also incredibly sweet, and we all fell in love with him immediately!

Suffice it to say, the work we did in between me agreeing to get a dog, and the day that Sirius arrived at our house, is what led to being Foster Family of the Month. Does that maybe surprise you to hear that the recognition was earned because of what we did before he even arrived? Read on.

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Questions are Often the Answer

text reading questions are always the answer graffiti of black lives matter protest female focused message

 

I’ve been coaching business owners, executives, and managers for almost twenty years now. In the last few weeks, there’s been a common theme with nearly every coaching client.

I’m not sure what I should do.

What should I do about reopening, social distancing, and overall safety? What should I do to support my employees and colleagues who are hurting? What can I do about the injustice that I see in my community? Should I send my kids back to daycare or summer camps now that restrictions are lifting?

People don’t want to do the wrong thing. They don’t want to say the wrong thing.

No answers. Just questions.

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