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Archive for the ‘Management & Strategy’ Category

Implementing document management technology can add efficiencies at every level of an organization. Document management enables a company to share important data and information saving time and eliminating the misfiling of critical documents. Adding automated workflow eliminates bottlenecks and speeds up common processes such as insurance claim resolution, purchase order approval, and time off requests, with built-in notifications and routing. With electronic document management, organizations can dramatically reduce operating costs by eliminating faxing or mailing paper copies, automating escalation and out-of-office delegation, and shortening cycle times. Here are 8 factors to keep in mind as you define your strategy.

1. Establish an enterprise-wide approach

Knowledge workers once accessed information from neat stacks or disorderly piles of paper on their desks, or from alphabetized folders. Information management techniques varied with each individual. Without an enterprise-wide strategy, employees may apply the same attitude to electronic documents, data and images – filing them away in folders on computers, often forgetting where they put them. Ideally, an enterprise-wide system will enable your staff to find a particular document or piece of information immediately – for reference, to kick off a business process, for collaboration, an audit, or for discovery in a lawsuit.

A well-designed information and document management strategy improves business processes, helps organizations meet compliance mandates, and fosters effective collaboration. It requires a holistic way of thinking that looks beyond classifying, archiving and sharing data, documents and electronic files. An IDC study showed that an enterprise with 1,000 knowledge workers wastes ,000 per week (.5 million per year) due to an inability to locate and retrieve information. Moreover, it’s been estimated that 80% of vital business information resides in unmanaged repositories, making effective utilization nearly impossible. Read the rest of this entry »

There are many different scientifically tested and proven methods in use for anger management and these are aimed at helping persons with a short-temper to control it and divert that energy into a positive channel instead of venting their frustrations in a negative and harmful way.

Uncontrolled anger, fits of rage, violent display of temper and negative response to upsetting situations are all signs of an angry person who is asking for help to deal with a behavioral issue and this should be extended through proven methods before the person turns reckless in behavior or reaches a violent stage.

The basis of anger management strategies is understanding what triggers off the unhealthy response to angry situations in a person and help them deal with his or her emotions in a manner that is acceptable to civil society so they can lead a regular, happy life, without disrupting it for others or ruining thier own chances at healthy living.

The simplest method that anger management strategies recommend include removing oneself from a situation that compels them to take violent action or by practicing time-out; this can be followed through the means of going for a walk on the beach or taking a car-ride to loosen up or even taking up a physical activity to release the tension and energy without affecting others around them.

Reading, music, sitting silently are all good ways to tune out of a frustrating and angry situation that are effective as anger management strategies besides taking up a sport.

While on the subject of healthy anger management strategies, we need to also mention the importance of recognizing that uncontrollabe anger is a problem and seek help to rectify a situation that is out of control without a very confrontational attitude with another person so the individual is held responsible for his or her feelings and subsequently, reactions to the situation. Thus, to identify the source of anger from within an individual and then work towards controlling the outbursts is a preferred anger management strategy for many counsellors to help persons experiencing sadness, envy, confusion, conflicting emotions like hurt and fear or even frustration.

Reflecting on past situations that were frustrating and caused the individual to react in a negative way is yet another healthy anger management strategy that helps them decide how they can incorporate changes in their behavior to learn from these undesirable actions and in turn avoid or cope better with a similar situation should it occur in future.

The last resort that counsellors designing anger management strategies recommned is confronting the person or facing up to the situation that causes an individual to react abrasively; first, the root of the problem and the reason for the anger has to be determined, then one can work towards finding a solution for controlling it in a calm manner. At times, the answer is a welcome one if an angry situation is faced in a serene manner as it turns out to be only a misunderstanding.

Contemplating the present reaction to a tense situation and options to change it form part of a healthly anger management strategy that is based on the principle of acceptance, which allows persons to identify, discuss and bring in change in the way they speak, deal or walk away from a potentionally negative reaction to a situation.

Thus, we find that learning about anger management strategies is a positive step towards desirable behavior and ways to check anger responses in a less negative manners; resources include reading books and material available on the topic and going online to learn ways to deal with anger through healthy anger management strategies.

Most people getting started in the foreign exchange business focus all their attention in learning a good Forex strategy, method or system. Most of them think that if they become able to make profitable trades they will become profitable traders and eventually trade Forex for a living… That’s where most of traders are completely wrong!

A Forex strategy, method or system it’s just an instrument to determine when a price or market conditions offer a good investment opportunity. The way we manage money is what determine if we’ll get rich or go broke trading those opportunities.

Read the rest of this entry »

Abstract
The paper discusses three sales management strategies that are currently used. Each of the strategy is analyzed in details. The entity advantages, disadvantages and practical application are discussed for each of the strategies.

Introduction

Nowadays the world economy becomes more and more complicated because it becomes more and more global. As a result this leads to the development of an unparalleled competitiveness. Naturally in such a situation it is extremely important for survival in the market to remain competitive that demands to use the most advanced technologies, including not only technical aspect but managerial as well. It means that a company that uses the most advanced and most effective management strategies can be more competitive and has more chances for success. It is especially important when the company deals with the sales management.
The sales management is one of the most significant part of any company’s work since it is due to sales management the company can finally sell its products or services to customers and the general success of the company greatly depends on the effectiveness of the sales management. Consequently, it is absolutely necessary to know well recent trends and strategies that are used nowadays by the most successful companies that would permit to realize what strategies are the most perspective what are their advantages and disadvantages and finally it would be possible to define what strategies may be used in the future or in what way the current strategies should be modified in order to be the most effective. In terms of this paper three sales management strategies would be basically analyzed and discussed. These strategies are: Establish a Never-Before Sales Quota, Establish and Build a Team Selling Program, Employ Advanced Prospecting Technologies. Read the rest of this entry »

Use Competitive Intelligence to Develop Strategic Hyperlinks

Use the Yahoo Toolbar for Aggressive Intelligence and Making Backlinks

A lot of of us use the Yahoo toolbar and it’s alternatives and plug-ins, but have you employed it to construct hyperlinks to your website or verify on your opponents again back links? Let’s see how easy this can be.

Initial, be certain that the “page rank” alternative is enabled in the Yahoo Toolbar. Once activated, you can use it to ascertain the keywords and phrases that your competitors are utilizing. This is a speedy and uncomplicated approach to see what your rivals are undertaking. You should analyze these outcomes however. Appear to the search phrases of web sites that are profitable or rank extremely just before you act on integrating individuals newly observed keywords into your site’s Seo program. Far more comprehensive analysis on your rivals Search engine optimization methods can be observed on KeywordSpy.

Another essential tidbit of info that this device can give you is a record of sites that are sending visitors to your rivals! Left clicking on the Search engines web page rank device will available up a drop down assortment, then click “backwards links”. A new Google window will open up which will display you it’s list of indexed websites who are linking to your competition web sites. A lot of of us have employed this application to verify our own sites’ back hyperlinks, but have you tried this one?

What to do following? Do your individual analysis of these web sites that are directly linking to your competitor(s) website. If any of these sites have access registration forms, fill them out. If they have forums, register for forum access, create a profile, and think about actively participating in their discussions. If it occurs to be a weblog website, I consider you know what to do with that as well.

This is all component of a strategic link constructing system or frequently identified as back linking. Yes, this is a manual hard work, and need to be maintained. But the research engine spiders will reward you for your energy!

Is the Iphone Boom a Business Boom?

We all know how the iPhone frenzy has grabbed popular imagination since it was first announced in Jan 2007. With its cool feature set, slick appearance, powerful computing capabilities, beautiful display and intuitive touch navigation, this poster boy of the mobile generation has captured the imagination of gizmo freaks and tech phobics alike. To get some measure of iPhone’s success, one only needs refer to Tim Cook’s (Apple’s COO) recent statement at a conference – he said that the company had “really good confidence” the company would hit 10 million iPhones sold by the end of 2008.

According to a research from IDC, 70 percent of those polled who own, or plan to purchase an iPhone in the next year, consider it to be for both personal and business use.

Considering the vast proliferation of iPhones in such a short span, it is natural that all those who own a iPhone would want to extend its use to business as well. And it is no joy carrying around a Blackberry and iPhone in either pocket. All that does is to exert extra downward pressure on the belt. It is no wonder then, that iPhone’s usability in a business context is a raging debate nowadays. That is still a secondary question, because the fact remains that present and future end users of iPhone see is as something they want to use for business.

The Bad News

Unfortunately for corporates, iPhone was created mainly for the meatier consumer market, and never really meant to be a business tool.

What Obstructs “iPhone for Business”

- It’s mainly a PIM

- Third party applications not supported

- Lack of Exchange Support

Mainly a PIM – iPhone mainly has PIM(personal information manager) capabilities (email, contacts, calendars, calendars, notes) and not meant to be used for team collaboration, which requires the ability to share and work togather on information.

Sorry Third Party Developers – iPhone runs on a custom built operating system called the “iPhone OS”, and at this point does not allow third party applications to be built & installed on this native OS. Users are restricted to applications prebuilt into the system (mail, sms,  calendar, photos, etc). This meant no special business centric applications could be created to make use of iPhone’s computing & display capabilities and internet-ability.

No Exchange Support – The gravest ommision was a lack of support for MS Exchange, which meant that users could not view even the most most elementary business information – business mail, contacts, tasks, and calendars, on their iPhones, what to speak of advanced collaboration. The only way to achieve this was complicated and unreliable workarounds.

The Good News

iPhone’s Business Friendly Features

- Rich Safari Browser

- Web 2.0 Applications Allowed

- Internet Friendly

- Recent Apple Announcements

Hurray for Web 2.0 – The good news is that they allowed a small window, through which an elephant could be pushed. Soon after its launch, Apple announced that it would allow third party web applications supporting web 2.0 standards, to run on iPhone though its rich Safari browser. This effectively meant that iPhone could be part of the web 2.0 revolution, and access all the rich applications therein.

The Safari Browser – iPhones web browser Safari, is a full web browser with the works. It is light years ahead of the custom made web browsers of traditional corporate handhelds like Palm’s Blazer browser, Blackberry browser, etc. It is not just comparable to a desktop browser, but is a desktop browser. This allows iPhone to ride high on the current web 2.0 wave, rather than just being a bystander.

According to AT&T and Google, iPhone generated 50 times more search requests than any other mobile handset.

Internet-ability- iPhone allows internet access through wi-fi or wide area EDGE networks. One important prerequisite for a mobile to be an effective remote collaboration tool is the willingness and comfort level of users to use the device for web access. With no little thanks to the large display & the safari browser, the iPhone has been a huge success as a device for web access. The iPhone increased the average wireless data usage as much as 30 times higher than on other phones.

Apple finally Awakens from its Slumber – Only lately has Apple has woken up to the previously ignored aspect of business usage. This was largely caused by the hue and cry raised by the media and users over its frustrating lack of business friendlyness. Even as I write, there is news of iPhone finally offering Exchange support, and an iPhone SDK (software development kit) which will allow programmers to develop applications specifically to be installed on the iPhone.

But these new developments are not just in their infancy, but even foetal stage. It will be some time before these new applications find their feet, an truly provide trouble free functionality to businesses.

Exchange support at this time is issue riddled and works only for companies that support Exchange 2007 or Direct Push on Exchange 2003. Moreover, this and the launch of installed applications for iPhone wont take place until a firmware update slated for June 2008.

Webapps to the Rescue : HyperOffice as a case in study

Amongst the first companies to regonise the oppurtunity presented by iPhone for rich business applications was HyperOffice. Already well experienced in the web based business collaboration domain, they developed HyperOffice for iPhone, an iPhone specific version of their flagship product, HyperOffice.

This allowed business users to use almost the entire feature set HyperOffice right from their iPhones. Rather than an isolated personal information manager, HyperOffice allowed iPhone to be used as a dynamic collaboration tool through which users could access the company intranet, share contacts and calendars, plan projects, share and edit documents, schedule meetings, & many other things.

They also realised early on that a major pain point for users looking to use iPhone for business was a lack of Exchange support. HyperOffice allows users to get past this hurdle easily by acting as a bridge between Exchange and iPhone. It allows users to receive information directly from Exchange, or access Outlook information (mail, contacts, calendars, tasks) right on iPhone, with or without Exchange. No matter where users access mail and other information – Outlook, iPhone’s email client or on any other web device, information is automatically synched. Users always get updated information.

Using Collaboration Software to Stay Ahead of the Curve

Unless you are pigskin guru, Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots, or even Academy Award-winning director-duo, Joel & Ethan Cohen, keeping your team on the same page as your vision can prove to be more difficult than learning several languages at once. A team consists of individuals, each with their own unique talents. If coordinated properly, your team can exceed quotas and surpass modest goals; however, without air tight organization and strong lines of communication, striving for success is only a practice in frustration.

Painstaking measures can be implemented such as strict company policies. A task manager could assume the “big brother” like presence and lord over his team, but more than likely these tactics will strain a team’s chemistry. These are old school tactics. In order to establish and maintain the infrastructure necessary to keep your team running on all cylinders towards that finish line, you simply must look to the industry giants for inspiration. What do they have that you don’t have? Well, aside from seemingly limitless capital, the big boys also have hundred thousand dollar servers that support a vast computer network.

Technology has advanced every aspect of our civilization and why should it be any different when it comes to business. Collaboration software has been developed to provide you with simple-to-use tools that will help your business team or work group efficiently delegate tasks, share information and communicate ideas in real time. Gone are the days of cubicles and office buildings,collaboration software gives you the freedom to achieve a common goal from the comfort of your own home. Because there is a shared online workspace, communication is centralized in a forum easily navigated and accessed by your teammates.

File sharing is as easy as uploading, dragging and dropping a file from one folder to the next while thumbnails and detailed descriptions reduce search times when dealing with backlogs. Some software offerings go as far as enabling the ability to create and delegate tasks via email, thereby allowing mobile users (i.e. Blackberry’s or iPhone’s) access to get work done when at the disadvantage of not being near their pc or mac.

Collaboration has taken task management to new heights while maintaining a simple yet comprehensive interface. To survive in this new economic tundra, you are going to need every tool and advantage to keep your team ahead of the curve.

Establishing Selection Criteria for Contract Management Software

Once you’ve determined that doing a better job of managing contracts is a priority and that the best solution is off-the-shelf software, the next step is to establish selection criteria.

ASP OR CLIENT/SERVER?

You’ll need to consider whether client/server architecture, in which users access the system directly, or ASP, in which they access it via a web browser, better suits your needs. There are plusses and minuses to each.

Advantages of web-based programs include portability and, sometimes, price (particularly for organizations with large numbers of read only users).

Disadvantages include security, speed and screen display.

If you purchase a turnkey solution that you host yourself, you have to be capable of working with hosted web-based software.

If the vendor hosts your data, security is a prime consideration. And should you ever want to get your data back, be sure that the supplier will return not only your source documents but also the meta-data derived from those documents.

Access speed can be an issue because of the vagaries of the Internet. The speed of screen refreshes can be problematic for data entry, sorting, searching, and reporting functions.

Web-based programs offer limited control over how information is displayed. And users may find the inability to easily access pop-up and multiple windows simultaneously and move windows out of the way awkward.

Advantages of client/server programs include security, speed and screen display.

Client/server software is not as universally accessible. But commonly used remote desktop technologies like Citrix, Virtual Server, and Terminal Services make distance computing practical. Access speed is more consistent and dependent only upon factors that are under your control (the traffic on your network, for example). This is important if most of your users will be manipulating data.

Your initial investment in client/server software may or may not be higher, depending upon the proportion of your users who are read/write. If you’re comparing client/server models to hosted ASP solutions that charge monthly fees, remember that those fees are ongoing and are often based upon the number of records in your database. As your database grows, so do your costs.

With client/server systems, security is not an issue. Your data is never out of your hands. You’re storing it and controlling who sees and works with it.

Client/server systems also offer much better control over how and where information appears on the screen. This can favorably affect ease of use.

PROPRIETARY DATA STORAGE FORMAT – A RED FLAG

Danger, Will Robinson! Whether you choose ASP or client/server architecture, be sure that the system will store your data in a standard, non-proprietary format. Any proprietary format should raise a red flag.

For one thing, you may want to work with your data from the backend, either for reporting purposes or to tie into other databases.

Infinitely more important, however, is the ability to move your data out if necessary. You may never need to get your information out of the system, but you must be sure that if you need to, you can!

FEATURES & FLEXIBILITY

When you think about features, keep it as simple as possible. Ask whether a program meets your basic needs.

When you evaluate a product, be sure that it will store the specific information you need and that you’re comfortable with the way in which it allows you to view and retrieve the data. Consider whether there layers of complexity that you don’t want.

Flexibility is particularly important with packaged software. Is the program too narrowly defined, or not targeted enough? If the software is intended for general business use, is it agile enough to accommodate your specific requirements?

EASE OF USE

How friendly is the user interface? How complete and accessible is the documentation? Is training needed for all users? Or optional for those wanting a jumpstart?

BUDGET

What costs are involved in implementing the software? Does the vendor charge for help with installation? Is user training required, and, if so, what are the costs?

UPGRADE PATH

Is the system scalable? Can you start small and upgrade to a larger version later? An upgrade path allows you to leverage your investment in time, money, and knowledge of the software.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Look for responsive technical support. Make sure the supplier will provide personal responses to technical questions. Check references. Has the software been relatively trouble-free? How effectively does the vendor work with customers to solve any problems that do arise?

ROI

Evaluate the payback period. Packaged software priced at less than ,000 that does not require consulting services offers a favorable price/value relationship even for many small companies. Although you may not be able to project ROI with great accuracy, it’s intuitively clear that your new system will begin to pay for itself as soon as an automatic reminder prevents payment of a penalty or enables a timely notification — even the first time you retrieve a contract record from your database instead of sending your law firm to research its files.

CORE REQUIREMENTS: A SAMPLE LIST

Summarize your core requirements in a brief list. Here’s a sample of criteria you might use. Just add sub-points to the list where necessary.

1. Easy to use
2. Priced within budget
3. All charges (software, installation, implementation, training) knowable up front
4. Stores the data you need to store in a way that makes sense for your organization
5. Provides visibility into key contract provisions
6. Supports automatic alerts (visual and/or via email)
7. Includes a way to store or link actual contracts, notes, and related documents
8. Simple to administer in your environment
9. Offers robust security that doesn’t interfere with ease of use
10. Responsive, responsible technical support

AN EXCELLENT BEGINNING

Outlining the criteria for your contract management system is, of course, just the beginning (although it’s a good one). Implementation is still ahead of you, and designing and building your database is not a trivial project. But knowing what you’re looking for in contract management software will go a long way toward making sure you choose the product that’s right for you.

“Online Tutoring – An Educational Revolution “

The present scenario of educational system requires a transformation process to assure and promote educational services at your doorsteps with a world of possibilities and to create a global, learning collaborative platform dedicated to the advancement of education.

Online tutoring is a highly flexible, convenient method of learning and allows you to work at any place, with an Internet connection and at your own pace in a real time technology aided with VOIP, interactive voice, text chat and a two-way white board together with file sharing, image uploading and remote access 24/7 to a growing collection of web resources. The online learning process is going to bring out an educational revolution in the near future. So, why restrict our child to traditional classroom teaching ; instead make them learn all multimedia tools and give them an alternative means for gaining knowledge. This collaborative learning process open up new avenues for students to think, ask, discuss and learn in a better way and excel as an all rounder. The potential benefits of these online educational services are burgeoning to make every child – a global student and assure learning process to be easier, fun and result oriented.

Online tutoring sites provide a pool of qualified personal tutors who are trained, vetted and screened to be the best among masses. This is a feasible option for learners who can study according to their daily commitments, focus on testing and feedback and simultaneously preparing for the competitive exams. It also promises to cater to the problems faced by students to pursue higher studies and make learning quite effective and interesting. Certainly one should appreciate the benefits of E-learning , as it could add value with various inter activities, case studies or facilitating online discussions for students of present age.

Coaching, Coaxing or Counselling – the Power of Executive Coaching

Three clients in the space of a week asked me if I’d seen the Harvard Business Review article by Steven Berglas on “The Very Real Dangers of Executive Coaching (June 2002).” One client was particularly interested in my reaction to the article’s contention that coaching services provided by people who were not psychologically trained, experienced or skilled, could be destructive. It was only later that I realized our discussion around that issue had parallelled the coaching process. He set the agenda, I asked questions, we switched from a discussion about the article to a discussion about our coaching relationship and reaffirmed our “permissions” to communicate with each other at any time if either of us were not satisfied about how things were progressing. My client made a final observation about the spontaneous fear that surfaced as he’d read the article being possibly associated with a negative experience he had with a school counsellor in his teenage years. It is unlikely that he would have otherwise made that connection simply by reading the article. It took the coaching process to help him identify his feelings of disquiet and how he might address them constructively. The coaching had made a difference.

What is coaching? Corporate Coaching (with executives or others) is defined by the International Coaching Federation as “an ongoing process driven by the client which focuses on taking action towards the realisation of goals or desires.” These goals might include business improvement, leadership, workplace change, career , work/life balance, or personal development. I have coached both clients who wanted unashamedly to focus on themselves and those who were focused on job performance, organisational transformation and team relationships. Many, of course, make the appropriate nexus between self development and people skills, leadership and change because they’ve decided that if they work on themselves, the rest will follow.

Why get a coach?We live in an era where we are time or resource poor. It is common nowadays to commission external providers of service. Engaging a coach however is not like engaging a domestic cleaner who performs the service for us.

Coaching enables the services of an impartial facilitator,

· not a friend (who can get offended),

· not a boss (to whom you may not want to display frailty)

· not a mentor (where a power imbalance may exist or career may be the primary focus) and

· not a therapist (who is oriented to work with deficit and dysfunction).

Coaches are engaged because of their capacity for objectivity and certain skills that we (or others close to us) may not have. Coaching is often subtle, yet direct, confronting yet affirming, provocative yet non judgmental, intimate but not tender; ultimately empowering of the client whilst constantly calling for rigorous self examination.

Coaches must be aware of their own baggage, be aware of their limitations, must work within the highest ethical standards and dare not seek to work with others in order to work through their own issues. That is not to say that coaches ought not seek to improve themselves. Most of the impressive coaches I have met, have coaches themselves.

Is everyone a candidate for coaching? Coaching can support the development of those who are highly motivated and also those identified for coaching who may not otherwise be enthusiastic candidates for change.

To coach the so called “uncoachable” the coach has to help the client identify their reasons for maintaining the status quo, what homeostasis does or does not do for them and therefore what they stand to gain or lose by letting something go. If you think this sounds like a process with a psychological underpinning – you’re right. I believe that a good life coach or corporate coach has to work within a knowledge framework that goes way beyond ethics and empathy. That coach has to understand cognitive dissonance, defence mechanisms, patterned behaviour; be able to tolerate ambiguity and welcome, even foster ambivalence at times.

Importantly also, the professional coach must have the insight and the humility to know when they have a client who should be referred elsewhere, perhaps because of burnout, excessive anxiety, clinical depression, mental illness or severe concurrent stresses that may be impinging on work performance.

There is undoubtedly far less stigma, and even arguably more prestige associated with consulting a coach than a therapist. If one considers that 20% of the population will experience some depression in their lives, then it is surely on the cards that some individuals who want or would benefit from therapy find their way to a coach. Can one manage a dual role? Can a coach be a therapist? I say yes, but four criteria must apply. The coach:

· has to have the expertise to do both

· has to be clear on which hat he/she is wearing and when

· has to have a client contract that allows for it (or the client has lost control of the process)

· must not be breaching an understanding with the person or company who has paid for the coaching; for example, a coach being engaged by a company for leadership coaching but spends all their time helping the client manage their grief over a failed relationship or a looming child custody battle with their ex-partner.

Choosing a Coach Obviously word of mouth helps but as a prospective client, you should be clear about the questions you ask someone being coached and what outcomes they have sought or you may find that you’ve inadvertently engaged a personal fitness trainer or a business strategy specialist when your objective is to develop your emotional intelligence!

I would recommend that a responsible coach meet with a prospective client at least once on a no fee basis to determine the ‘fit”. The fit is not purely or even about, likeability.

To establish a coaching partnership, both parties must be confident they have:

· sufficient rapport to work together

· shared understanding of the goals and the process

· negotiated the frequency, cost, duration and format of contact time (how often, how long, minimum charge, ratio of face to face, email and telephone etc)

· resolved issues around confidentiality, personal and corporate goals and progress reporting (absolutely critical where the economic buyer of the coaching is not the coaching client) and also

· the circumstances under which coaching might adjourn i.e. at what point might it be acceptable for one party to express a desire to discontinue.

I attended an international coaching conference some weeks ago and met some fantastic people. Many were undoubtedly highly skilled; all excited about making a difference but to whom? Many had solid backgrounds in marketing and business. I can only hope they coached people in marketing and business. Some were personal trainers, some touted themselves as life coaches. A few had business cards that testified to this but when I chatted with them over coffee it became clear that they had been a financial accountant or a Reiki instructor some four or five weeks previously. In other words, some of these people were in transition themselves and saw coaching as a way of reinventing themselves.

Coaching can be a wonderful tool, a source of competitive advantage for organisations, a retention strategy, a change management strategy, a stimulus for visionary leadership and a way to increase emotional intelligence in an organisation.

We have examples all around us of coaches who’ve enabled their charges to achieve more than they did when they were still competing – Jose Higueras who coaches Pete Sampras never achieved Sampras’ stature as a player – and therapists and counsellors may not have experienced divorce, depression or eating disorders but are able to help clients with those life issues. In other words, the coach does not have to have “been there” to be credible and helpful, but the coach has to know how to help clients work out where they want to go and facilitate a process that helps get them there in good shape.