The coach works with each client to equip him or her with the tools, knowledge and opportunities to become more effective as a leader and as a person. Coaches guide their clients to discover their passions, find best opportunities and harmonize with the other members of their team.

There are six major principles of coaching in the attached document.

Experiencing stress for many of us can be traumatic. Often, self-doubt will creep in and we find ourselves second-guessing all of our decisions or feeling hopeless and constrained by our circumstances. When feeling over-burdened with strain and anxiety can lead to depression or lowered self-esteem. The following are tips to cope effectively with stress.

Everyone feels slightly uncomfortable about networking; yes, even those people who profess to love it. In this handout, you will learn the nine steps to effective networking. If nothing else, this handout will increase your comfort level around networking.

That’s how long it takes for a person to form a first impression. First impressions matter; good first impressions build trust and confidence with clients, employees and peers -- whether you are on the phone or at the front door or passing by them in the hallway. With every new encounter you make the other person makes a judgment about how you look, how your voice sounds, your eye contact and the firmness of your handshake. Follow these six steps to make a good first impression.

Learning the steps of leading change is easy; what is hard is developing a character of integrity and respect. In the end, leadership comes down to honesty, a confident will and the ability to build strong relationships with your direct reports, peers and other leaders.

The State of Michigan has suffered more than any other State in the U.S. in terms of high unemployment and home foreclosures.  With this backdrop of economic gloom, many employers assume that their workers are "just happy to have a job" but in reality only 53% of employees actually feel this way (Monster.com and The Human Capital Institute). 

There are several reasons for this low morale.

• A CareerBuilder.com survey of 4,400 workers found that half of American workers say they have taken on more responsibility because of a layoff, while 37% say they are handling the work of two people.
• This same survey found that 34% of workers are spending more time at the office and 22% are working more weekends.
• One in five workers are "highly disengaged" and the drop in employee engagement has reduced workforce productivity by 3 - 5% (Corporate Leadership Council 2008).
• The downturn has exposed a severe skills gap among managers in how to engage employees - 63% are now rated as ineffective (Corporate Leadership Council 2008).

As companies look to the future, they expect the job market to begin to turn around.  Even in Michigan there will be a significant gap between the amount of labor needed and the amount available due to the delayed retirement of older workers.  Eventually these workers will retire and there will be fewer younger workers to fill their places. 

It is critical to engage and retain these younger workers so that they can ultimately assume leadership positions in their organizations. 

The attached article outlines simple and low cost ways to keep morale and productivity up with these young workers.

Purpose for the Coaching for Leaders

• Provides objectivity, honesty, candid feedback and guidance.
• Makes self-development a priority.
• Ties individual efforts to business objectives.
• Teaches internal partnership, trust and understanding.

The Coaching Relationship

• It is a joint responsibility - between you and your employees, your clients or your customers.
• Needs to be tied to business objectives and improvement targets.
• Facilitated by open-ended questions, honesty and joint problem solving.
• Translates individual insight into action.

Confidentiality

• Coaching may involve sharing confidential information.
• It is important the leader can trust that the information will not be shared inappropriately or without approval.
• If information needs to be shared, there is an agreement regarding what, when, how and with whom it is shown.

Are you an executive who has difficulty leading change?

Lentz Leadership Consulting liberates your leadership potential to motivate and inspire your employees.

The good news is that leading and communicating change effectively is a skill that can be learned.  Lentz Leadership Consulting works with executives in banking, manufacturing, insurance and especially healthcare to solidify these critical skills.

Are you having these problems?

• Working in a highly political and toxic environment?
• Building credibility and trust with your workforce?
• Transforming a culture with low morale?

I can help you by:

• Managing important relationships with people who can reward you.
• Creating trusting collaborations that build on mutual respect.
• Transforming to a culture where people want to come to work everyday and come with a passion for their work.

My services include:

• One-to-one coaching services
• Senior team alignment
• Team coaching
• Leadership development workshops. 
• For further information on what these services include, see Business Services and Healthcare Services.

Sydney Lentz, Ph.D. has been a GM executive, an organization development consultant, an executive coach, an adjunct faculty with Oakland University's School of Business and School of Nursing.  She has published numerous articles on leadership and healthcare transformation and has presented on these topics nationally and internationally.  Sydney has the accumulated knowledge to find the right solution for any client need. 

Changing the way leaders communicate.