business coach

Uncovering Client Blocks & Toe-Dipping Into Inner Child Work

March 22, 2019 by Joanna Lindenbaum Leave a Comment

I had the honor and privilege of coaching a volunteer named Joni. She brought a real doozy of an issue to our time together, and I demonstrated how to very quickly and very effectively:

Laser right in to uncover underlying blocks and obstacles
Connect the dots and create crystal clear awareness on life-long patterns
Do preliminary yet powerful Inner Child work to support clients to make better choices
Ask masterful breakthrough questions that open up new possibilities for clients
Create a safe and loving, yet bold and activating coaching container.

So, in lieu of an article this week, I’m including something even more rich with teachings and golden nuggets: the recorded demonstration of me coaching Joni for 25 minutes and then, along with community on the call, breaking down the Coaching Skills that I used.

You can access the recording here.

You’ll learn a LOT, and be so glad you did! (One participant said is was as PERFECT a coaching session as one could be!)

Coaching Demo with Joni

Once you listen, I’d love to hear your thoughts and takeaways and questions. Please head on over to the The Coaching r(E)volution and share a post!

Your Positive Thinking is Harming Your Clients

March 15, 2019 by Joanna Lindenbaum Leave a Comment

I know, I know – Positive Thinking is a good thing. I admire and have learned a lot from those who naturally have a positive outlook on life. For better or worse, I did not grow up in an environment that modeled any kind of positive thinking. In fact, quite the opposite. I grew up with two immigrant parents whose own parents had survived the Holocaust. My parents trusted no one, always expected the worst, and because of their own trauma, they were perceiving a constant threat of annihilation. It was kind of like living in Catastrophic Thinking Central.

Needless to say, my proclivity towards the negative (& my neurotic quirks!) speak for themselves!

In my early 20s, I learned about the power of looking through more hopeful and happier lenses, and I’ve been dutifully working on my own positive thinking ever since. I find it powerful and very helpful.

BUT.

And this is a HUGE “But”…

What To Do When a Client is Pissed Off Or Overly-Demanding

February 15, 2019 by Joanna Lindenbaum 1 Comment

If you are in the business of working with human beings, no matter how amazing you are, a moment will come when a client will get pissed off at you, judgmental of you, or overly-demanding.

It can at first feel really icky. You can feel like you’re not doing a good enough job, like you need to give more and more, and like other professionals are doing a much better job than you. You can also find that you don’t know what to do next with the client.

This Coaching Standard Does More Harm Than Good

February 8, 2019 by Joanna Lindenbaum 1 Comment

Over the summer, I had a private session with a client who had been in session with her healer the week before.

My client was telling me that her Healer had intuited that she needed to go to the beach for a week. It sounded like a good idea to my client because she trusts this healer’s intuition, yet she told him she was feeling stressed out and pressured because she just couldn’t figure out how to make a week away that month fit with her life.

Love

January 11, 2019 by Joanna Lindenbaum 1 Comment

Yes, you heard me right: whether I’ve been working with my client for years….or even if we are just at the very beginning of our coaching relationship and I don’t know my client that well yet…first and foremost, I am always going to love & honor my client.

One of the Biggest Traps Coaches Fall Into

October 5, 2018 by Joanna Lindenbaum Leave a Comment

Let’s talk about the difference between coaching & consulting, and how this distinction radically affects your client results and your business.

I’ve seen a trend happening over the last 6 or so years: coaches, teachers and healers are doing less & less coaching, teaching and healing…and more and more consulting.

In other words, practitioners have been shying away from the coaching principles of:
READ MORE

My Worst Client Case Study + How You Can Learn From Yours

September 27, 2018 by Joanna Lindenbaum Leave a Comment

Just like everyone else, I’ve had some doozy client situations. What has really helped me become better and better and better as a practitioner is being willing to look closely and assess carefully client cases that aren’t working so well…even if it’s uncomfortable – almost painful! – to do so! (This is why in my coach trainings, we always have Client Case Clinics to look at the stuff that comes up).

I thought it would be valuable for you if I shared my Worst Client Case Study, and what I learned from it. Here we go!:

A Not-So-Secret Ingredient to my Coaching Secret Sauce

September 13, 2018 by Joanna Lindenbaum Leave a Comment

My first business coach, who in so many ways was truly a wonderful coach and mentor, taught me a lot about boundaries. She was the first person to really open my eyes to the dangers of over-giving and allowing yourself to be treated (or treating yourself) like a doormat.

I will be forever grateful for all she taught me in this area. I really learned how to respect my time and respect my boundaries because of it.

But.

And this is a big “but”.

I was scared to post this….

August 30, 2018 by Joanna Lindenbaum Leave a Comment

In lieu of a full blog post, I wanted to share with you a recent post I wrote on Facebook.

I was scared to hit post on it because I know it’s a little controversial….
and I wasn’t sure if it would trigger some people…
but I ultimately decided to post it because I feel so strongly about it.

It’s about coaching & coaching skills & ethics & so much more.

You’ll see it got some attention and a lot of folks commented very passionately on it.

Here it is: https://www.facebook.com/joanna.lindenbaum/posts/10155812738623437

Would love to hear your thoughts!

The Danger of Some Coaches…

June 1, 2018 by Joanna Lindenbaum Leave a Comment

Here’s a coaching, facilitation, teaching (and marketing) tool that I live by:

It is vitally important to reveal yourself, your imperfections, your not-so-great outcomes, and your not-so-happy qualities to your clients, students and community.

The transformational industry is FULL of gurus who seem picture perfect. They have “perfect” businesses; they apparently learn their lessons very quickly; they apparently don’t make mistakes; they apparently don’t really have sh*t happen to them

This is damaging to their communities – and specifically to their clients.

Because as a coach or practitioner, if you don’t consciously reveal your imperfections to your clients….they can make the mistake of believing that things happen perfectly for you.

And that essentially means that you become, in my opinion, a very, very dangerous role model.

Because no one is perfect, no one’s business is perfect, no one’s health is perfect, etc.

But your clients believe that if you – their coach or leader – don’t have frustrations, don’t have obstacles, don’t have hardships, that they should be able to attain it too.

And that’s a setup for failure, for frustration, and for unhappiness.

When I am with my clients and students, I never hesitate to share about my not-so-great moments, my not-so-great launches, my not-so-pretty feelings (yes, I get jealous and negative sometimes!), and my sweaty armpits (always happens when I facilitate!).

Of course, I share only when appropriate and only as much as is necessary to make the point: that I am human, just like my client is human, and we are bound to have imperfect lives and businesses. And this is as it should be.

When we are coaching or facilitating, we need to remember that when we show that we struggle with some things, that things don’t always go according to our plans….we are giving permission to our clients to not be so hard on themselves, to not be so self-judgmental, and to not think something is very wrong with them because they haven’t achieved enough.

This is the ONLY way real growth can happen. And this is the ONLY way real movement towards goals can happen.

And quite honestly, this is the only way real self-love can deepen (& I believe that at the core of ANY coach’s or practioner’s job, this is one of the most sacred).

When I train practitioners in Sacred Depths Coach Training, we spend a full module just on how to support clients through the Myth of Perfection. In addition to the inner work tools I share with my coaches on this, I also always share this important principle:

Remember that when you are someone’s coach, teacher or facilitator…you also bear the responsibility of being their role model. And being a role model doesn’t mean showing up as an image of perfection.