Well, anyone who is ‘out there’ knows how much things are changing. With management structures being flattened, there isn’t always a next rung to reach for. Luckily, the reality of success is that it isn’t something fixed. It isn’t rungs on a ladder, and it certainly isn’t carved in stone.

Quite the opposite.

The reality is that we each get to define our own goals. If you’re defining your own goals, you’re also creating your own definition of success. And this, if you’re willing to give it some thought, can be extremely rewarding.

You may need to think a little differently about your approach to career development. To begin with, try asking yourself a few questions.

How do you define success in your career?
Has that definition changed as you matured?
How far away are you from it today?

At Epiphany we’ve coached thousands of people in many companies and at a variety of levels. It has been amazing to see the multitude of different answers we get to these questions. One thing we’ve learned: There’s no one right answer; everyone has their own definitions for growth and success. It’s a very personal decision. For some it’s the type of work they want to do. Some define it by the impact they want to have on others, and for some it’s a title or salary. It could even be a combination of these things

Even though the answers vary, the key to career happiness and success lies in knowing yourself, knowing what you want, and then taking steps to make your vision real. You will need an intentional, well-thought plan with defined career goals. Let your core values, strengths, and vision be your guide. What are you passionate about? How do you want to see your career progressing? What do you value most? And finally, when all is said and done, what do you want to have accomplished.

Yes, there are a lot of questions in there. But without questions there are no answers.

If I may, one last parting thought: It’s difficult to be happy in life if you aren’t happy in your career. They are one and the same, all just part of how we spend our allotted time here. It’s the grand juggling act we all face, the trapeze walk of modern life. It’s too many analogies crammed into one sentence.

So then, how will you define success in your career?

First let me say that there are a lot of great teachers, trainers, and consultants out there. They offer an invaluable service, but one that is very different from coaching. Not only are the goals different, but the means of achieving those goals differ as well. Obviously what follows is not the whole story. Nothing is ever this simple and the lines are often blurred. A great teacher will coach, and a great coach will teach.

And now on with the generalizations…

Teachers, trainers, and consultants are involved in a process that is primarily one-way. They transfer their knowledge to the student. The student might ask questions but by-and-large the curriculum isn’t going to change. This is because they enter the picture with a fixed goal: teach the student a needed skill. In any training program students lose about 75% of the information almost immediately. They quickly lose most of the remaining 25% if not given a chance to practice it. It’s rare that the student ends with anything beyond the basics.

Coaches, on the other hand, participate in a fluid two-way process customized to each individual student. The coachee meets with the coach and describes their specific issues and needs. A plan is devised and the lesson is practiced in real time, in an actual business setting. This is experiential learning versus classroom learning (which could probably be a blog topic all on its own). Additionally, coaching is ongoing. The coach follows up with the coachee to make sure they’ve practiced what they have learned. Together they reflect on what worked and what didn’t. Teaching is involved, but equally important, coaches listen, observe, and provide feedback. They share knowledge and experience relevant to the individual’s current situation.

Art and inspiration?

Coaching is the art of inspiring and energizing, empowering and motivating. It’s the art of helping students realize they have a vision, and inspiring them to achieve it. Students call the shots. Coaches help them do so in a way that builds on their core strengths and values. With guidance students become more conscious of their choices and find what truly inspires them.

Coaching is a very different and extraordinarily powerful means of supporting clients. Combining a philosophy of empowerment with a process of ongoing support, coaching has been shown to be an extremely effective form of human development.

Return on Investment? Immeasurable.

However, if you really want a number, according to The Manchester Consultancy’s 2001 study of executive coaching, the typical ROI is about 500%. Not too shabby.

Reading the article really confirmed what we have found in our work with thousands of leaders and reaffirmed the important message contained within the Relationship Intelligence Model created by Epiphany Coaches.  It’s not about being ‘mean’ per say…it is about being direct and candid with the people you work with.  It is about letting people know what you expect of  them, letting them know when they are doing well and when they are not, it is about not letting people flounder in ambiguity regarding how their performance is being measure or whether or not they are meeting company expectations.

From our perspective, creating a nurturing, creative and prosperous culture has everything to do with communicating well, communicating often and communicating candidly.  People want to be treated with respect and kindness…but more than that they want honesty and candor about the fact that they are contributing to the organization in a positive way, that they are valued.

Being ‘candid’ beats out being ‘nice and wish washy’ any day of the week!

Heather Clarke

Epiphany Coaches Inc., a global leader in business and professional development, today introduced the RQ Relationship Intelligence™ Program (RQ), a new approach to building more successful individuals, teams and organizations.

RQ enables businesses to evaluate their existing internal organization, to focus on strengthening working relationships among key stakeholders and to harmonize workplace engagement. The end result is a healthier, more focused work environment and improved business performance.

“In today’s complex 21st century work environment, relationships play a more critical role in guiding business than ever before,” said Cheryl Breukelman, founding partner at Epiphany. “Corporate culture has shifted bringing with it new norms of transparency, accessibility, authenticity and trust. Relationships are at the heart of this change and building them effectively impacts everything our clients are doing.”

RQ’s methodology and collaborative process is customized to take on business’s most pressing challenges including leadership change, business strategy, workplace productivity, employee retention and professional development. One of its key components is the RQ model that provides a framework of five key elements to determine the issues, exercises and tools that best support successful business relationships. Another is Epiphany’s unique Relationship Diagnostic tool that identifies the strengths and opportunities to enhance relationship skills.

“We spent thousands of hours listening to the highest performers and leaders in technology companies talk about their challenges, hopes, fears, and dreams in order to design the RQ program,” added Breukelman. “It was apparent that what was once a nice-to-have skill, ‘relationship building’ is now integral to business success and productivity at every level in the organization.”

Epiphany’s RQ model enables clients to achieve measurable results across a wide spectrum of performance indicators, from increasing sales and market share, to increased employee skill and capability levels, to solving workplace problems. Sagging sales, a production team that can’t get along, or the entire workplace struggling to cope with change – all can benefit from improved relationship skills. The RQ Relationship Intelligence™ Program meets those challenges.

Epiphany Coaches Inc. is based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and is a global leader in professional development and coaching specializing in improving individual, team and organizational performance. The agency’s RQ Relationship Intelligence™ Program (RQ) specializes in improving and strengthening internal relationships in order to solve business problems, generate new business ideas, and accelerate results. The Epiphany team is comprised of highly trained experts with a wide variety of commerce and technology experience.

For more on Epiphany, please visit http://epiphanycoaches.com

Watch a child with a Smart Phone for more than a few seconds and you will know beyond any doubt that communications have changed forever. Interconnectedness exists on a level never before witnessed. That child has access to a pool of information and shared ideas that stretches far beyond their circle of close friends.

Interconnected.Communications.Access. These words bring us to one uniting concept; relationships.

Plainly there has always existed a relationship between company and employee. But the nature of that relationship is evolving. Openness, accessibility, authenticity, trust, and transparency are becoming the new norms. Cloud culture (a term borrowed from cloud computing) is based on these concepts and the embracing of the new connectedness that technology has given us. It can be terrifying when viewed from the ‘play your cards close to your chest’ culture that drove the corporate thinking of yesterday.

It doesn’t have to be.

Would it surprise you to know that virtually every major business problem has a relationship based solution? Not hitting your numbers? Let’s dig in to what is causing that bad business outcome? Most of the time there is a relationship fix. Building relationships impacts everything our clients do and is the focus of our recently launched RQ Relationship Intelligence^TM Coaching Program.

It’s been said that we’re taught most of our social skills by the time we’re five years old. After that, we’re pretty much left to our own devices. Even though they’re called social skills, it’s rare that people think of their daily interactions as something requiring expertise. Rarer still that the ways we act, react, and interact are thought of in terms of something we have the power to change.

“The boss picked me out of the crowd, asked me a question. I felt cornered.”

“I know my job really well. I have good ideas, but I don’t like speaking up in meetings.”

“Management is about to make a half million dollar mistake. Should I stick my neck out? Should I say something?”

“How do I promote innovative behaviour and teamwork in my team?”

That’s where RQ Relationship Intelligence comes in. Epiphany coaches help people learn the social skills needed to thrive in today’s cloud culture. We show people how to enjoy and embrace who they really are, even at work. We help them become the people they want to be, to accept themselves completely, and to achieve their goals and goals of the organisation.

And the win-win? Everybody benefits – the employees, the company, the customers.

Real innovation most often comes from within the company, from people who know the business. But how do you access that spirit of innovation, how do you nurture it in your team?

The circle is complete. Connectedness. Communications. Access.

Relationships.

It all starts with something so simple: a conversation.

Some of the questions that arose this week that led to my somewhat weird take on this topic were…What competencies should I be honing? What are the qualities that show up in the best leaders? What are companies looking for in great leaders? If I don’t possess those particular skills can I learn them? Should I be spending my time assessing my weaknesses and working to improve these?

My first question back to these leaders is “What kind of a leader do you think you are? And then…”Is that the kind of leader you want to be?”

I don’t know about you but I have encountered all sorts of amazing leaders throughout my career…the thing I have noticed most about these leaders is that they have very different skill sets and they are not perfect!!!! They are really great at some things and not so great at others…what makes them truly inspiring is that they know this about themselves and are willing to be transparent and share their strengths and weaknesses with their team. They also are humble enough to surround themselves with people who are more talented than themselves thus creating stellar teams.

I’m not sure that great leadership is about developing a prescribed set of ‘desired’ skills…the leaders that I most admire are the ones that are genuinely interested in having an impact in their chosen field, and in the world in general. They are visionary about where they want to go and have the ability to get people excited about following that vision, and they consistently demonstrate that they genuinely care about the people around them.

So…sometimes my butt does look big in these and that’s just the way it is! Would love to hear other perspectives!

I had the amazing opportunity to reconnect with a colleague of mine yesterday, Katie, who is a coach/facilitator extraordinaire! We collaborated on and co-facilitated two teambuilding sessions for a large corporate client. At the end of the day, as we rode the train back home, we were still reveling in the excitement and energy that was conjured up during the day. This energy not only came from the teams that we had engaged with, but also from the shared passion we both have for the kind of work we do and the kind of impact we want to have in the world. The brilliance and richness of connecting in such an honest and authentic way around a shared vision and purpose gave us the energy and commitment we needed to show up fully for our client…and to continue dreaming up opportunities to get more of this in the future. This “blissed out” (Katie’s expression) experience renewed my commitment to seek out and maintain connection with the right people, the people with whom I can truly show up as myself…warts and all!

As a leader it is so important to have people to connect with in an honest and authentic way. People who you can share your dreams with, your fears with, your frustrations with…it is through this kind of connection that you can regain energy and excitement and passion for what you do. Being able to be connected with someone in this way is like a release valve…not only can you release pent up frustrations or fears that may be holding you back, but you can release a renewed commitment and vision and passion for the future.

Who do you need to connect with?

One very accomplished female executive has been on the fast track for almost 20 years. She has accomplished much, worked all over the world, upgraded her education and very quickly climbed the corporate ladder. She is a highly sought after and credible leader in the organization. She now has a young family and her priorities and goals have changed. Once work was her first priority and personal relationships took second place…now there is a shift for her. The professional side of her and the personal side of her are suddenly in a battle for supremacy. She has always been a ‘builder’ in her career. She has thrived on the energy that comes from building something from nothing. She recently accepted a role that is more about ‘maintenance’ and yet has a great deal of flexibility that meets her personal need to be there for her family. She is content in her role yet she knows it is not as challenging a role as she would ideally like. Staying on the fast track would increase the challenge, increase the pressure to perform and increase the hours of work. Professionally she loves all three of these components, yet personally she knows she would be sacrificing a lot. She believes that her company expects her to continue her pursuit to the top; after all, she has a reputation, and the company has invested a lot in her! Her struggle is this…if she decides to step off the fast track and ‘hang out on the platform’ for a while, will she still be seen as a valuable leader? Or, will she be washed up? Will she be passed over for future opportunities? Will her rail care be fatally stalled? She loves the company and thrives on constantly challenging herself, however her family life is important too. Is it possible to satisfy her current personal needs without sacrificing future professional opportunities?

We all know of companies who say they value work/life balance. Do they really? What is the level of authenticity in that statement? How do companies demonstrate that family values are important to them? If executives decide to take a detour off the fast track does the company support them and welcome them back with open arms when they are ready to hop back on the train…or are they branded with no chance to catch the train at the next stop?