At TiBC we offer prospective clients free strategy sessions to help them explore in detail how they can improve business results. We seem to be getting pretty good at it too, as we convert a very high proportion of these prospects into long term clients. They tell us this is because our strategy sessions genuinely deliver value, enabling them to step back from the day-to-day and focus on those things that will make a real difference to them, the people around them and their business. It sounds simple, but it’s the sort of stuff that otherwise never seems to make it to the top of the list for a lot of leaders.

In addition to the value prospective clients get from strategy sessions, they gain an understanding of how our services can help them change and grow their business. For our part, we also get a clear understanding of their situation and whether we think we can add value. If we don’t think we can help, we say so.

We recently reported back to the VP EMEA for a global IT firm on strategy sessions we had completed with some of his senior people. He was very enthusiastic about the results. He told us he had gained real insight into the major challenges facing his team, how aligned their effort was to his overall objectives, and where he needed to accelerate their success in addressing the key issues.

Strategy sessions represent a high level of commitment to prospective and existing clients, with no guarantees that we will get a return on our investment of time and know-how. We think it’s worth it though, as we develop long-term and mutually productive relationships with the people and companies we do end up working with.

Much of the value of coaching is lost to business due to overly restrictive practices around confidentiality. However, coaching can be an extremely valuable source of management information.

At TiBC we produce coaching review reports, which summarise certain content from coaching programmes. They are aimed at helping client companies: 

• Measure the success of coaching engagements
• Identify where else coaching can add value
• Highlight key issues/themes for the business moving forward

This approach enables organisations to use coaching as a powerful business tool for change and growth. It also helps to initiate discussion around issues and insights that might otherwise be hidden or seen as undiscussable.

Without question, the default position should always be that coaching discussions are confidential to the participant and their coach. However, it is appropriate and beneficial to share certain information, as long as the participant gives consent and the business has a positive and legitimate use for it.

It should be clear what sort of information can be shared (broadly speaking, keep it about professional issues and steer well clear of anything personal), and consent should only be sought and given for specific written information, to be shared with named individuals (usually, line management and HR).

We have found that coaching participants are generally very enthusiastic to share information in this way. It gives them an opportunity to discuss performance and alignment with their boss, to promote their achievements and value to their boss and the organisation, and to contribute to discussion on wider business issues.

Clearly, a lot of the content of coaching discussions has to remain confidential. However, where the coaching focuses on accelerating success for the participant and their business, properly managed information sharing can add huge value.

Effective marketing involves engaging potential customers with the value of what you offer. Most people, including me, don't naturally do this though. We tend to tell people about the features or process of our product or service. Maybe we do this in an attempt to prove that we offer something of real substance. Whatever the reason, we don't grab people's attention in this way.

The thing is that most people aren't interested in features and process, at least not at first. In fact, a lot of people can be put off by too much of this sort of thing. Nothing kills my enthusiasm faster when buying a laptop, for example, than endless lists about gigabites, RAM and graphics cards. I don't really get technical lists and find this sort of information boring.

Value, on the other hand, isn't boring because it speaks to the individual about how a product or service can overcome their problems, meet their needs or fulfil their aspirations.

A great way of demonstrating value is through telling stories, and the best stories are told by the people who have been there before. Think about the reviews from previous customers that you get with online shopping sites. These ‘stories’ are great for demonstrating the value of products and can be far more useful than technical specifications in deciding what to buy.

We asked our clients for their stories about the value they get from us. We learned a huge amount about our own services and our clients got value simply from telling the stories. They gained further insights, made connections they hadn't made previously and found the whole experience very positive.

They also enjoyed it. Let's face it, people love telling stories.

If you want to understand something about the value of coaching, take a look at the client outcomes on our website. The stories here focus on the difference our programmes make for people and for businesses. They're interesting as well.

This question struck me recently because I was presented with quite different explanations of what mind maps are. I have used mind mapping for over 25 years very successfully. I treated it as a more intuitive and creative way of organising and presenting information. Wikipedia describes it:

‘Mind maps are used to generate, visualise, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid to studying andorganising information, solving problems, making decisions, and writing.’

Someone I met recently gave me a very different definition of mind mapping. They said:

‘Mindmapping is important because it engages the intuitive, deeply creative, emotional part of your brain. It's not about organizing your material (although that may be a by-product of some mindmaps) - it's more about remembering, making new connections and getting excited.’

The first approach focuses on organising information and the second approach focuses on generating ideas – basically, a kind of personal brainstorming.

Both approaches are useful and I am trying to use the second approach more often. In particular, I am allowing myself to doodle as well as write. It has made quite a difference for me, raising my interest in and enthusiasm for certain tasks which I had been treating as routine and quite boring, such as writing plans and reports. It has also helped me come up with some fresh ideas.

I mention all this because it is an example of how small and simple changes can have a big impact. It’s also an example of how easy it is to get stuck in certain behaviours without questioning their value or whether other behaviours might be more productive in certain situations.

Oh, and I suppose it's an example of how easy it can be to change when the mood takes you.

The picture by the way is supposed to represent my mind.