Fast Coaching®
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Origins of Continue & Begin Fast Coaching®
I developed Continue & Begin® when lecturing mature students in management studies.
One-to-one tutorials were enlightening. I found to my surprise even the most self-assured, assertive and apparently confident managers harboured anxieties and self-doubt about personal performance and capability. I discovered that only a few of my students were skilled at celebrating their successes.
For many, their critical inner voice was hard at work undermining their achievements and skills, suggesting frailties hidden from others, and re-running internal videos and audio tapes of things they wish they had said and done at work and things they wished they hadn’t said and done. ‘What other people think’ was a thread through much of their internal processing. Many of my students were outstanding at personal criticism. I clearly remember during coursework assessment giving one manager a ‘Distinction for Self-Flagellation’.
Trust began to build between tutor and student. Managers’ personal masks fell away, and the real person emerged. Tutorials became honest and hidden anxieties surfaced. “What if I fail?” and “I can’t do this” were phrases I heard often.
I determined to embark on a programme of ego-strengthening. The origins of my strategy lay in therapeutic work I was studying at the time. I began each tutorial with Enforced Celebration. I asked each management student to highlight their professional and personal achievements since our last tutorial and to make a note of these successes. I was ruthless in demanding adherence to ‘celebration’. The effect was dramatic. Students’ physiology changed, their facial expressions, posture, breathing patterns, minor motor movements, skin tone and language patterns, all changed as they began to acknowledge their achievements and recognise how talented they were.
For some, we considered “What would happen if?” and an early version of Can’t to Can Belief Busting® evolved. For others, we explored what eventually became known as their Structure of Well-Done-Ness®.
Confidence was manifest! Students began to think of professional development built on a platform of personal confidence. Grades improved. We won Awards! We were onto something…
Confidence and Motivation
People with low self-image tend to have low motivation. Fact.
When I was facilitating tutorials with management students the more they spoke about the burdens they were carrying, the pressure of work, their employers’ emphasis on continuous improvement in everything they did, and the stress levels they were experiencing, so their physiology and posture changed downwards, their breathing reduced in frequency and volume and their language became focussed on negativity. They were concerned about failure.
For some, their employer’s expectations evolved into (perceived) threatening demands, followed by layer upon layer of additional task. This is not a fertile environment in which to explore personal development and growth!
Asking people with low belief about self to take on significant personal change is a recipe for disaster.
This is why Continue & Begin Fast Coaching® is structured the way it is. We start with mandatory celebration – an emphasis on identifying and enjoying examples of recent personal success, no matter how trivial.
We build up Continue To successes until the coachee’s ego is strong and the physiology, posture, breathing patterns, and language has changed to one of personal empowerment. It is critical to the success of the Begin To stage that the ego is strong enough to take on new ambitions. Without this in place the coachee is hamstrung by self-doubt and scepticism about the realism of new ambitions.
Paolo Cimbri Global Retail Director HELLY HANSEN GROUP
What if there was a way, the silver bullet, the solution to the ever-existing challenge; how to tap into and unleash our and our people’s full potential? Perhaps a magical method that can be effortlessly applied and never fails? Perhaps something that anybody could use and share for the benefit of the people we care about? Well, that method exists, it’s called Continue and Begin Fast Coaching®; I have used it for years and it never failed me, at work, at home and in my personal sphere. Thank you, Nick, for enriching mine and the lives of those I care of around me.
Alan Bartrum Senior T & D Consultant HENRY FORD ACADEMY
Listening to the Continue and Begin Fast Coaching® model can’t help but make you realise the most effective methods are the simplest models to deliver. Continue and Begin Fast Coaching® has the ability to transform how we manage our teams and ourselves by offering a robust and effective method. Nick Drake-Knight has added an extra layer of effectiveness with the delivery of Continue and Begin Fast Coaching®. No more laboured ‘feedback’ sessions and certainly no more ‘shoe pie’, let’s celebrate what we and our employees are doing well and then identify how they and we can be even better! This course has transformed our curriculum team, focussing us on the successes before identifying how we overcome the challenges businesses face.
Simon Parrott CEP Manager VOLVO CAR UK LTD.
Nick is the perfect combination of expertise, original thought and an enthralling communicator which is why the new audible version of Fast Coaching is the perfect way to develop your coaching skills.
Kimberly Allen, PhD, BCC, CFLE Associate Professor NCS UNIVERSITY
It is no secret that people do better when they feel better - we could all benefit from growth techniques that focus on what we do well. In this engaging audiobook, Nick Drake-Knight clearly details how to help people achieve their goals by building on existing strengths and asking insightful questions.
Michael Herraghty L & D Manager (UK&I and Europe) LLOYDS REGISTER
Nick helped us deliver a learning solution which in turn was transformational in realising the potential of our customer facing people. That product was Continue & Begin Fast Coaching®. It is simple to learn, easy to use and is highly effective in people development. I use Continue & Begin® myself with the teams I manage. I have also trained many managers in my time with Virgin Media to use Continue & Begin®. In both cases I have seen and received positive feedback on the benefits realised. I would highly recommend Continue & Begin® as an effective people development tool.
James Lucas Q A Officer SOUTHERN HOUSING GROUP LTD
If you think you know coaching, then Fast Coaching is for you. It boils down the essence of what great coaching can be and gives you the techniques and language to help get the best from people, by motivating them from the inside.
Katie Woods-Ruddick Head of HR PX GROUP
This is a practical and easy applied coaching method, which delivers real results. Full of examples and helpful tips to support the development of your coaching skills, this is a go-to audiobook for professionals at all levels.
Steve Chuter Managing Director BLUE 52 CONSULTING LTD
Continue & Begin Fast Coaching® is an outstandingly simple and effective approach to improve both your operation’s performance and develop your management’s leadership skills. I was a client of Nick’s when I managed a national kitchen and bathroom showroom business of 100+ outlets and was so impressed with the way my management team embraced the approach and our improved performance that I was delighted when I had the opportunity to become a licensed trainer for the Continue & Begin Fast Coaching® system.
Astrid Davies Managing DirectorADCL, Business and Career Mentor
I first came across Continue & Begin Fast Coaching® when I saw its impact upon struggling families. It seemed a powerful tool, able to engage the seemingly unengageables. It was only when I was fortunate enough to be able to be trained in this coaching approach, that I learned its true power. That is - its elegant simplicity. It speaks to the human need for recognition and praise and uses this to undermine coachees' preoccupation with the negative, the failures, the glass-half-empty. In doing so, it helps individuals turnaround situations where they felt powerless, into circumstances where they have hope, ambition and achievable goals. This is a simply beautiful product and I use it often. Every client loves it. 100% recommended.
Emma Prunier DirectorMOMENTUM TRAINING
As a Continue & Begin® Trainer for over 10 years I have used this fast coaching model in many industries. I love to see the obvious changes in people’s behaviour when they realise the effectiveness of the approach. The methodology is straight-forward, easy to grasp and logical. I hear many success stories of how this has worked with individuals and teams.
