Have you taken your eye off the ball on coaching

Have you taken your eye of the ball on coaching in business?
It goes without saying that sports gold medallists have a coach, so too championship and grand final winners. Yet when it comes to business we often feel as if it's of no merit to have a coach! Is it just easier to keep an eye on the ball when there's a real ball involved I wonder? In this post for Future Purchasing, for whom I'm an associate, I invite you to consider the benefits to be obtained if you do have a coach, even if it is for the more mental activities we do when in the office.

For more on the coaching I personally offer do see here.

Another post for FP that aligns with this post, is about the similarities between parenting and procurement.

Professional Magazines - in Pending or to Action?

There was a time in the past when the professional magazines (Speaker, Supply Management etc) would drop through the letter box and would magically make there way to the To Read pile. The problem with that, of course, was it never got read. 3, 4, ok perhaps, 7 years later I'd decide to have a tidy up and they'd end up in the bin. The intention to read them was always there but it never quite happened.

These days with the support of Social Media it seems to be easier - perhaps because it's now more than just words on a page. People, and what they have written, become alive via blogs, videos and tweets. I can ask qualifying questions and I can get replies.

Take for example last month's National Speakers Association (NSA) Speaker Magazine:

• I followed all the speakers who are on twitter who will be speaking at the forthcoming NSA Convention - I wont be there but perhaps their tweets will share some of the same hints and tips.
• I will also be following the convention hashtag #nsa12 from 14-17th July.
• I followed on twitter or facebook those people who's article had resonated with me 
• I shared with those people what I specifically liked about the article
• I started a dialogue with those who replied - who knows where that will go 
• I was inspired by Dan Thurmon's video using juggling knives as an example of how to cope with overwhelm - see also @danthurmon
• I just loved Richard Hight's art on the stage - see also @visualmpact

In the past using articles in Supply Management I've connected with people on LinkedIn and had conversations about potential work.

With my recent move into using Pinterest I even now have a place to keep favourite blog posts and inspiration videos for reference later.

If I receive the magazines to further my continuing professional development then it certainly didn't work in the past. These days I'm learning, I'm inspired and I'm taking action.

How are you using those professional magazines for your continuing professional development?

PS: It would help tremendously if those with web site makes their twitter and facebook contacts details easy to find and magazine publishers provide sufficient information in articles to find the people the article is about.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Sowing the seeds for continuing professional development in Purchasing

Speaker Magazine picture Source: mynsa.org via Alison on Pinterest