Win-Win Partnerships: Be on the Leading Edge with Synergistic Coaching

Everyone has Ideas; Discover how to ignite creativity and achieve amazing results. Everyone has Power; Learn how to harness individual strengths and create synergy. Everyone has Potential; See how a learning relationship will take yo further than you ever dreamed of going alone.

Any one who is trying to succeed and develop their talents in these days of downsizing, right-sizing, cost-cutting, and turn-a-profit-or you re out the door is looking for an answer. The answer lies in our relationship with our core partners the people all around us who can coach and help. We must in turn have the ability to coach and support our core partners to help each other, and create synergy in our organizations. Lasting success requires partnership with our associates and the key players in our lives. Win-Win Partnerships is a practical guide book for anyone who wants to coach or be coached.

In a time when everyone is moving faster, trying to do more with less, and with high technology creating the virtual relationship we need the skills and training to build learning relationships, and engage others in productive dialogue. This is what the authors call coaching. It is the art of facilitating the flow of information, stimulating creativity, and building honest consensus. Coaching skills and values revitalize and rejuvenate the relationships in small or large organizations and even in schools and families.

Today, lasting success will depend on building win-win relationships. We will need to learn the art of working closely with our partners and teammates. These partners can help us develop our vision and clarify our perceptions. In turn, we can help them be open to new possibilities and be flexible in their perspectives. In today s challenging environment, it is simply too dangerous to believe that we will remain successful by doing the same things that once brought us success. Change is the name of the game. To succeed over the long haul, we need to change before our present methods stop working for us. Partners will become important in helping each other deal with change. Many people resist the growth and development process, especially when our old methods have worked in the past. But partnership can provide support for the change process. The human qualities that will bring us success and happiness involve innovation, empowerment, and consensus. We will be effective as we create synergistic coaching that is open, honest, respectful, and spontaneous.

Good coaching partners help each other improve their performance, flexibility, and persistence. A coach doesn t worry about what you can t control. Instead they focus on the next opportunity or deal (win or lose). A coach focuses on the goals, and the actions. They understand the difference between calculated risk and dumb chance. Coaching looks at each opportunity or problem as a learning experience. To coach is to find people s passion and help them excel at work, at school, and even in the family. We wish you success in building win-win partnerships.

Steven J. Stowell, Ph.D. is the founder and president of the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness. He is the co-author of The Coach, Creating Partnerships for a Competitive Edge the first research based book written on Coaching; Leading Groups to Solutions, A Practical Guide for Facilitators and Team Members; Teamwork, We have met the Enemy and They Are Us;Ahead of the Curve, A Guide to Applied Strategic Thinking. Steve has published articles in Development and Training, ASTD, ASBA, and Executinve Excellence Magazines. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with his wife, Debbie, and their four children.