Powerful Leadership Through Coaching

12Coaching for Engagement

To trust life, you must trust others; and to trust others, you must trust yourself.

—Bhagavad Gita, Sanskrit Hindi scripture

Winning lottery tickets. Pots of gold at the end of rainbows. Total employee engagement. These are things that we seek after but that most of the time seem out of reach. Companies that fail to encourage ongoing growth and development for their employees will lose their best people.

Many people feel frustrated, discouraged, unappreciated, and undervalued at work—with little or no sense that their voice is being heard or their contribution being recognized. They may say:

• “I’m not making a difference.”
• “I’m in a dead-end job and have no passion or purpose for my work.”
• “I’m afraid. I am fearful I might lose my job.”
• “I’m stressed out, burned out, and exhausted; I have no time for recharging my batteries.”
• “I’m micromanaged and suffocating at work.”
• “I’m feel beat up to hit the numbers. The pressure to produce is unrelenting.”
• “With a spouse who doesn’t understand, and kids who don’t show appreciation, home is no better than work.”
• “I can’t change my current situation. I don’t even know where to begin.”

Have you ever heard comments like these? Perhaps you’ve said such things yourself.

These are the voices of people at work—millions of executives, leaders, managers, supervisors, workers, professionals, teachers, and families all over the world. There is a lot of pain in people’s lives. Many feel lost, overwhelmed, and full of ...