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Letter from the Editor
 I was going through scraps of documents that I’ve saved over the years, taking the time to read some of them. One story stuck out, and I want to share it with you.
The Wise Woman’s Stone
A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.
The traveler left rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious.”
He continued, “Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone.”
Author Unknown
Unbridled generosity and selflessness are powerful agents of change. What will you give today?
Terry
Entelechy joins NHBSR
“What will we give today?” We at Entelechy collectively ask that question of ourselves on a frequent basis. Sometimes our answer is to speak at a local organization meeting. Or provide pro bono training guidance to a non-profit agency. However, this time we’ve gone big!
 Recently Entelechy decided to become a member of New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility (NHBSR). For a small business, it’s a big decision to join an organization that is not directly related to increasing our business revenue. But something happens to us as we work with our partners in the business community. We come to realize that just making money is not enough. It’s also important to support the efforts you see that will help improve the way business is conducted. There have been so many business-related scandals in the last few years that it causes one to wonder about the integrity, respect, and moral compass some of our colleagues have called upon when they made decisions in their businesses.
Being a small business, it has been easier for us to see the direct impact of our operational decisions on our employees and clients. Perhaps being too far removed from the direct application of policies and procedures has allowed some C-level individuals in larger companies to lose the human connection that actually makes all the efforts we put into our businesses worthwhile.
One of our team members, Joanne Casino, served on the board of NHBSR for five years and when she came to work at Entelechy last March, she educated us on the work that NHBSR is doing to promote socially responsible business practices. NHBSR (and I understand, all the BSR organizations) have a mission to prove that principles, people and profit are all interlinked. That making money at the expense of your own employees, or the health of the planet, or the relationship you have with your clients and vendors, is simply unacceptable. That by keeping the health of all those constituents in mind as you conduct your business can make our world a better place to be.
We are happy to have joined a community of like-minded individuals in like-minded companies and look forward to interacting with all of the members of the organization.
Lies About the CLO – An Interview with CLO Magazine
Last month, Entelechy’s president, Terence Traut (that’s me!), and Larry Israelite, author of Lies About Learning, were interviewed by CLO Magazine editor,
Kellye Whitney. We discuss the obstacles that training faces (and sometimes creates) within the organization and what we can do about them.
Read the article at http://www.clomedia.com/...leid=1812&zoneid=180
Coaching: An Act of NOT Giving
 In my experience with coaches, there exists an overwhelming desire to tell the coachee what to do. This, of course, is typically met with an equal and opposite desire by the coachee to NOT do as the coach suggests. I don’t mean that coachees overtly reject out of hand what the coach recommends; coachees tend to defend their approach or their action, or at the very least, explain why they did what they did.
Why this reaction? Why do we humans feel the need to explain ourselves, even when we KNOW that our actions may not have been the smartest?
As much as I think he’s been reading a bit too much of his own press, I do believe that Dr. Phil has a few incredible techniques. The one technique that I have admired most – and the one that seems to immediately turn around a seemingly hopeless situation – is a simple question. When his “coachees” are defensively trying to explain why they did what they did or why they are who they are, he asks,
“So, how’s that working for you?”
The question, “How’s that working for you?” cuts through the posturing of “why” and focuses on the real issue – results. Asked another way,
“Is doing what you’re doing getting you to where you want to be?”
If the answer is “yes, thank you, I think my approach is working quite nicely,” then there’s no amount of coaching, cajoling, or counseling that will convince the coachee otherwise.
If the answer is “no, that’s not getting me to where I want to go,” then an opportunity for coaching exists.
I believe that coaches would be more effective if they gave LESS of themselves (their insights, their perspectives, their “wisdom”) and act more as an objective mirror.
Do you agree? Do you disagree? Tell me what YOU think on the Coaching Blog at
http://coachingforperformance.blogspot.com/.
Please share with me your thoughts and specific examples and read what others have to say at
http://coachingforperformance.blogspot.com/. (If you prefer, you can also email your ideas to me at
ttraut@unlockit.com.) Stimulate. Be stimulated! Invite your colleagues and bosses to join the discussion by pasting the following into an email:
We’re talking about coaching – something that I know you have a passion about. Share it with the rest of us on BlogSpot at
http://coachingforperformance.blogspot.com/.
And Now, Something Completely Different
Reduce your email traffic by cutting and pasting the following into the next appropriate response:
I did what you told me...
I sent the email to 10 people like you said.
I'm still waiting for that miracle to happen.
For the truth about those emails and other urban legends such as Hogzilla, hand sanitizer, the 809 area code scam, or the dreaded headlight flashing gang initiation, check out
http://www.snopes.com/, the final word on what’s true and what’s baloney. And before you unwittingly contribute to the email cesspool by passing on junk email, check it out on
http://www.snopes.com/. (Note:
The Key is not listed on Snopes’ junk email list! Whew!)
Mailing and Privacy Information
You have received this email because you are in Entelechy's database of people that we've interacted with directly or indirectly or you've signed up for
The Key. If you've received this email in error, please click on
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to be removed immediately from our mailing database with our apologies. (If you have trouble with the optout link, please reply to this email directly and I'll personally remove your name.)
Send this email to your friends and colleagues who may be involved in training and the performance of others and could benefit from FREE performance tips, tools, and techniques.
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Terence Traut, President of Entelechy "unlocking potential"
ttraut@unlockit.com
phone: 603-424-1237
fax: 603-424-6361
http://www.unlockit.com
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