Posted by Seth Burgess on Sun, Aug 08, 2010 @ 02:33 PM
10 Steps to Becoming a True Equine Professional
The word "professional" is used in the horse industry by some folks who have little idea of what it means. Under the simplest definition "professional" means no more than getting paid for what you do. However, professional can also mean "adhering to a mode of conduct". It is in this second sense that "equine professionals" get into trouble. Here are ten modes of conduct that true "professionals" in the horse industry adhere to:
1. Professionals are good listeners and genuinely want to understand another person's point of view.
2. Professionals are good communicators who understand creative use of language to diplomatically convey their point of view.
3. Professionals are courteous and thorough. They follow up promptly on all tasks and communications. They use the words "thank you" often.
4. Professionals do not inflate their abilities and are honest in their dealings with people regardless of how they themselves are treated.
5. Professionals are genuinely interested in helping other people achieve their goals. They are ready to provide their expertise to help others be successful.
6. Professionals do not cover up mistakes, but are ready to apologize and make things right.
7. Professionals are careful to stick to their assigned role, and not over step their authority. They understand that the person who pays the bills gets to make the final decisions.
8. Professionals do not expect to have the perfect job handed to them on a silver platter. They understand that it is their job to make any job what it needs to be for the success of their employer.
9. Professionals are always on the lookout for win/win solutions. They understand that success is not built by one person winning at the expense of another.
10. Professionals are not resentful of other's success. They negotiate independently and accept the arrangements they make.
For more information on building a career in the horse industry, try The Career Game. It's free.
Posted by Seth Burgess on Fri, Aug 06, 2010 @ 02:20 PM
The Big Secret to Success in Equine Employment
There's a big secret in the world of equine careers that only the most successful people have discovered. Success is not primarily a matter of personal achievement or performance. Success comes from helping other people to be successful. Our society sends us the message that success comes through hard work and achievement. If only we are given the right job opportunity, we will be able to use our wonderful talents to get ahead. We see success as something that comes about by having a little bit of luck and choosing the right equine employer. We tend to view equine employers as little more than "enablers" who are supposed to be interested in our long term goals and help us become successful. Like many of the messages we get from our society, this one is a lie.
The big secret is that the ONLY pathway to real success in life comes through helping other people achieve their success. As we help the people around us with their success, our success becomes assured. To understand this dynamic, we need to realize that most of the people we associate with, including horse industry employers, are getting the same message from our society about success as we are. They think success is a matter of personal achievement. So, as we help them achieve their goals, they help build our reputation. Pretty soon our abilities will be in demand and we will have more opportunity than we can handle.
Performance is important. If we are not doing our job, our career will suffer. It is also true that some people refuse help, or don't give us credit for our work. However, when you ask the most successful people in the world what really made the difference in their success, many of them will tell you that their career turned around the minute they stopped worrying about being successful and started helping other people with their success.
For more help with building a career in the horse industry, spend some time with The Career Game. It's free.
Posted by Seth Burgess on Sun, Jul 18, 2010 @ 04:45 PM
4 Foundations for Getting Your Equine Career on Track
by Beverly A. Buncher
When my clients are wondering what to do first to get their lives or careers back on track, I often ask them how they are doing with the basics. As a life and career coach, who often works with people whose lives are affected by their own or someone else’s blocks, I call these basics The Four Foundations of Family Recovery ©, but truly, they are foundational principles for inner growth for anyone who wants to move forward in their life since they are about the relationships we have with ourselves and others. We coaches have a saying, “How you are in one part of your life is how you are in all parts of your life.” So, by starting with a check up on the basics, I help my clients get a handle on what is and is not working in their life and how to get things back in sync.
The Four Foundations© are:
1. Self Care. Often, when things aren’t going our way, one of the first things to go is self care. Sometimes this can be as simple as brushing your teeth, as routine as exercising 3x or more a week, or as fundamental as eating nutritional food to keep your brain fit.
2. Being a Loving Person. This one can be less obvious but its lack in your life can be just as insidious and certainly just as important in its own way. Being a loving person means:
a. Treating others with dignity and respect even when they are acting badly (doing so without becoming a doormat becomes evident in foundation #3)
b. Treating ourselves with loving-kindness even when we are operating at less than our best
c. Not doing for another adult what they can do for themselves
d. Saying what you mean and meaning what you say without saying it mean
3. Setting boundaries for your own well-being. Boundary setting is difficult for a lot of people. It means:
a. sometimes having difficult conversations with people
learning how to say no when you mean no and yes when you mean yes
b. learning how to say no when you mean no and yes when you mean yes
b. knowing what you can and cannot tolerate in your life and learning how to communicate that to the people who are important to you at home and work
c. being able to stand by your word – not only in your commitments to others but also in your commitments to yourself
e. not making idle threats or giving empty ultimatums, but rather, getting to a point where you are good for your word and people know that if you say something, you mean it
4. Getting support. For many people, getting support will be the most important of the four foundations because without support, they won’t be able to achieve the other three. Supports can include:
a. Friends and Family members
b. Therapist, Life Coach, Minister, Riding Instructor, Colleagues
c. Support group (12 step, therapy, or coaching group)
d. God (or whatever you call your Higher Power)
e. Prayer and/or Meditation
f. Church, mosque, synagogue
Often, when I first bring up the 4 Foundations©, my clients wonder how this is related to their goals. But when they begin to look more closely they get it. These four principles of taking care of yourself, being loving to self and others, setting boundaries that feel right to you, and getting support to live your best life and live up to your principles, are all about getting your act together in relationship to yourself, others, and your God (if you have one). By getting clear in these fundamental relationships, other things begin to gain clarity. You start to know what you want, what you stand for and where you want to go with your life and your career. You see yourself as someone who is effective in their own life and in relation to others and so you begin to be able to transfer this sense of effectiveness into the choosing and achievement of your goals as well.
For me, being a coach is being someone who knows how to ask the questions that can help my clients move forward in their lives to become who and what they want to be. If you think you could benefit from having a coach to help you take your next best steps, give me a call and let’s talk! Or, if you know someone who you think could benefit from working with me, please share my name and number with them!
In the meantime, thanks for reading and see you next time!
All the best,
Coach Bev
Beverly A. Buncher, MA, CEC
Family Recovery Coach (AKA The Empowerment Coach)
Author of the forthcoming book Family Recovery 101: The Four Foundations of Family Recovery©
www.theempowermentcoach.net
(786) 859 4050
About the author:
Coach Bev works with those whose lives or careers are stalled and helping them find their way to a saner, happier life. A horse mommy, she has spent many hours visiting barns, grazing horses and watching horse shows. She is skilled at helping her clients move past the blocks in their paths to live the lives they most dearly want to achieve.
Posted by Seth Burgess on Fri, Jul 16, 2010 @ 04:14 PM
Are You Stalled in Your
Personal Life or Career?
by Beverly A. Buncher
Perfectly sane people sometimes experience obstacles in their ability to move forward in their personal life or their career...
Have you ever felt stalled? Helpless almost? So caught up in your own fears of what the future holds that your decision making capabilities don’t feel as reliable as they usually are? There are two primary areas that this phenomenon falls into.
Stop for a moment and answer these questions:
1. If you are feeling down, is it keeping you from taking care of your responsibilities to the people and situations in your life?
2. Have you lost interest in the little pleasures of life?
3. Are you sad most of the time?
4. Do you lack the motivation to make things better?
If you answered yes to any of these questions and your feeling of being stalled has lasted for more than 3 months, chances are you need to see a doctor, get a physical and check things out with a therapist to get the help you need to get your life back on track.
On the other hand, if what you are experiencing is a feeling of being stalled in your personal or career decision making abilities and could use some help in sorting out what you really want to achieve and how to get there, what you really may need is a coach. Coaches are trained professionals who know how to help their clients gain clarity in their lives around their goals and dreams and then go after them to make them real.
I’m a coach, certified in empowerment coaching, which means I help empower people to “unstall” their lives or careers and get things going. Here’s how:
It all starts with a complimentary session. At that session, the client brings me three things they would like to change through coaching. These three things need to be actionable goals. In other words, not about feeling better, but about doing or achieving something. Often, people come to a session with a goal like “I want to get my finances in better shape” or “I want to meet and marry my soul partner” or “I want to find a better job.” I’ve also heard goals like “I want to improve my jumping” or “I want to find a new career” or “I want to write publish my first book.”
But, what happens when the client sets a goal and simply doesn’t do it, doesn’t follow through on what they say they most want to achieve?
Believe it or not, this happens often in a coaching relationship. Hence the need for a coach. When it happens, coaching begins. Some of the tools the coach uses include activities that help the client build on past successes, exercises that allow the client to speak with the parts of herself that don’t want to do what it takes, and being an accountability partner to the client to help the client stay on track.
If you or a friend could use some help deciding on your life or career goals and/or sticking to and achieving the goals you set, give me a call! We can set up a complimentary consult to see if coaching and the way I work as a coach are for you!
In the meantime, thanks for reading and see you next time!
All the best,
Coach Bev
Beverly A. Buncher, MA, CEC
Family Recovery Coach (AKA The Empowerment Coach)
Author of the forthcoming book Family Recovery 101: The Four Foundations of Family Recovery©
www.theempowermentcoach.net
(786) 859 4050
About the author:
Coach Bev works with those whose lives or careers are stalled and helping them find their way to a saner, happier life. A horse mommy, she has spent many hours visiting barns, grazing horses and watching horse shows. She is skilled at helping her clients move past the blocks in their paths to live the lives they most dearly want to achieve.