Individuals often hire a coach to improve some of their workplace behaviors. Modifying these behaviors can help a person keep a job or increase their potential to make it to the next level in the organization.

Lisa came to coaching since she felt that she was reacting too strongly to individuals and situations in the office. Her reactive behavior was causing her and her coworkers unnecessary stress. She wanted to learn how to respond appropriately during office interactions.

One of the ideas that Lisa generated with her coach was to first respond via email or voice mail to co-workers whenever possible. This manner of responding allowed her to think before responding, edit her tone and give a more positive response. Lisa also came up with the idea to visualize a big stop sign when she felt herself start to react. It was a reminder that added some fun to the process.

Another way Lisa learned to interact with more ease was to work on her listening skills. By listening more and not jumping quickly into the conversation, she acknowledged and respected her employees and their input. The employees felt that she heard them and they could state their ideas without feeling ambushed.

As a result of the changes, Lisa began to relax, enjoy her job more, and realized a new sense of calm while interacting with others on the job. The other employees began to notice the change, which led to improved relations and trust amongst her co-workers. Lisa realized that her behavior had a huge impact on those who worked around and with her. She kept her new skills intact by utilizing affirmations that reinforced her new behavior.

John wanted to learn how to manage his time a little more wisely. He felt that the daily interruptions from his employees kept him from accomplishing the tasks he wanted and needed to complete. First, he had to learn to say no assertively and look at his belief system around his need to take care of everyone but himself. One of the structures that he decided to establish was to separate time for his own work and time for his staff. During the times that he truly could not be disturbed, unless it was an emergency, he put a Do Not Disturb sign on his office door.

John discussed his new policy with his employees and made it clear to the ones who came to him the most that he was still available but that he needed this new way of operating to accomplish his own tasks. As a result of these changes, John felt more in control, and completed his own work tasks in a more timely manner. His employees now had some guidelines and respected Johns need to accomplish his tasks without excessive interruptions.

Another area that John wanted to work on with his coach was learning to delegate. He knew that he had a big presentation coming soon and was feeling stressed about getting everything accomplished. Normally, he would spend a great deal of time preparing his PowerPoint presentation. After realizing that he could use his preparation time in better ways, he delegated the task to one of his employees. By letting go of the need to control that part of the process, John gave a much better presentation and understood that he could not and did not have to do it all.

In what ways would you like to improve your performance at work? Take an inventory of those categories and pick one to review. What changes can you put in place to help move it forward? Start today to make a difference in your work life.