Category — About Eco Conscious Coaching

Today’s post is looking into the abilities to harness power from the ocean without destroying it, harming it, changing it significantly, or otherwise impact it. When looking at this approach, it becomes obvious that the current discussion about the Gulf oil spill and all the consequences our previous activities in the oceans have had are relevant.

Instead of using the ocean as our garbage collector, i.e. the plastic patch in the Pacific, the place we run the risk of spilling oil that we otherwise refine and burn to send the CO2 into the atmosphere from which it rains down onto the ocean together with other chemicals and harms its organisms. I addition, the CO2 leads to an increased speed in glacial melting, which I turn reduces the salt content of the oceans, potentially impacting many of the species living there.

Today I invite you to take a look at new options, including Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, Wave Action energy generation, the Wave-power-Station, which, if applied everywhere could cover 40% of current global power demand, and an idea now being put into reality off the North Sea coast of Germany – the Ocean Wind Park.

I hope you enjoy and learn from what the video shows and let many other people know about this and other content here. Please comment and let me know what you think

Coaching has been around for some time now. I am not talking about the sports coaching, but coaching in business and as a profession to help other people. Though we are stills struggling to come up with common definitions, we can clearly state that it has established itself as a professional service available to individuals and organizations, for profit and non-profit alike.

Opportunity

For those people who are already coaches, like me, it is always a goal to become a better coach, gain more knowledge and provide a better service to the clients. At the same time, when coaching is the activity that put money in the wallet and bread on the table of the family, it is important to explore how to increase fees, find new combinations of services, potentially through webinars, teleclasses, group, coaching, etc.

When we explore part of the ever growing literature, here is some of what can be found:

As corporations recognize the need to retain good employees, the ability to develop coaching skills in managers becomes a necessity (Ellinger, Ellinger, & Keller, 2003; Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002; Hunt & Weintraub, 2002).  Three empirical studies have explored the role of a coaching manager in an organizational setting.  Using critical incident analysis to determine triggers and outcomes for coaching, Ellinger (1999) explored these incidents with managers within a learning organization to assess the overall impact of coaching as a performance improvement strategy

Olivero, Bane and Kopelman (1997) found that coaching when augmenting a training program increased productivity by 80%.  This finding supports the contentions made by Conger and Benjamin (1999) and Goleman et al.  (2002) that training alone is ineffective in sustaining behavior change.  While there were a number of potential explanations for the dramatic change in productivity, Olivero et al. (1997) contend that two coaching aspects contributed most to the change–goal setting and public presentation.  The coaches supported clients in setting goals that were challenging, measurable, assignable, realistic, and time-bound.  There was also a feedback loop for providing guidance to behaviors that were addressed in the training. 

Possibility

The benefits from coaching relationships are endless.  Though it may not happen instantly, those who have been in this life changing, but challenging, working relationship can attest to it.  The success of the coaching relationship may take months to establish, as well as gain the trust (Osborne, 2008).

However, the benefits of training programs are sometimes difficult to sustain when returning to work.  Managers return to their jobs and are confronted with the challenges and the day-to-day obstacles that prevent the application of the new skills. Issues can also arise when managers return to work and are faced with new or unexpected situations. 

 Admittedly, we want to be better than pure training programs and want for our students, clients, and coachees to have lasting changes in their life, their behaviors and their professions. To achieve these goals it would be wonderful to have a place all coaches could call home, could find what they need to improve themselves and use as a forum to discuss cases, get to know new approaches and tools and generally improve the profession. Some schools and organizations like ICF offer these forums, but they don’t really take care of the members because their focus lies in different areas. A partnership of professional and certified coaches has come together to develop and offer such a place for all coaches. The company is called Innovision Global. Though the new home for coaches is still under construction, you can already take a peak at what will be at http://www.innovisiongloballlc.com

Unlocking the Future

What we also recognized it the fact that coaching has been moving, like many tings, form the United States into the world, reaching the shores of Asia and especially Europe. The concept is better known and many individuals interested in coaching have taking certification classes with US coaching schools. In some cases some offerings are also available in the countries of the European Union.

With the transfer of the profession should come a transfer of modern technologies and the application of local languages. To make this possible, a team of certified coaches has come together and created “The Coaching Academy Europe”, one of the first organizations to offer interactive, online coaching certification training with Master Coaches present every minute of the training. Importantly, the system is licensed by one of the most successful coaching institutes in the United States and offered in local languages, beginning with English, German, and Spanish. In the long run the goal is to expand to man more languages. The developing website can be reviewed at http://www.coachingacademyeurope.com.

Classes will start in early October and allow established coaches to decide if they like to become master Coaches in the system. At the same time people interested in coaching can become certified for extremely affordable fees. Even the in-person option through traditional onsite training is offered in a compressed format, keeping cost low while quality of training and systematic consistency are high.

Togetherness

The graduates of ‘The Coaching Academy Europe’ are invited to join the new home for coaches at Innovision Global and learn for the best coaches and the best materials and tools as they build their businesses. At the same time the diversity and cultural mix will provide a global home for all coaches, rather than a place for US nationals. Together in training, certification, and through a common membership, we will be able to take the next steps in the development of the coaching profession.

This post has been provided by my good friend Debbie Zachry

20 June 2009 

Plan Designed by Leading Architect to Revive Staggering Economy-
As the market recession rolls on, the housing industry is one of the many trades at a standstill. Founded by distinguished architect Edward Mazria, Architecture 2030 is a “One Year 4.5 Million Jobs Investment Plan” to help America invest in green homes building and revamp present homes to make them more energy efficient.

A place to start

Mazria claims that the private building division is the biggest solution toward enlivening the United States economy and creating green jobs, as the industry accounts for about 10 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. Construction produces demand in every division of the economy such as wholesale, retail, distribution, manufacturing, constructing, banking, development and professional services; utilizing expensive products such as rubber, steel, glass, insulation, lumber, electrical appliances, heating/cooling appliances, fabrics, paint, windows, tile and metal.
Apart from tax credit incentives applied to first time home purchasers, the $787 billion stimulus funds didn’t do much to support the housing market; causing many American residential home builders to feel the impact of layoffs. The Architecture 2030 Plan entails energy efficiency incentive grant offerings to “buy down the interest rate” on home mortgages used to buy new energy efficient homes or to remodel exisiting homes, proposing a 1 percent full interest rate buydown for a new home that uses 50 percent less energy than present energy standards, or a home energy modification that would lower energy consumption of an already existing residence to 30 percent below current requirements.

For example, if your mortgage interest rate quote is 4.75 percent, the plan would offer an interest buydown which would lower the interest rate a full percentage point, to 3.75 percent. The Architecture 2030 Plan is one of intelligence and fervor which may possibly guide the way out of America’s lingering recession; we can only wait to see how the Obama Administration and Congress respond to this powerful proposal.

Finally, and maybe to some extent due to the global challenges we all currently face global warming is accepted as a fact of life by the vast majority of all people. A lot of business establishments and entities have started to express their interest in this phenomenon. The concern is how all these impacts can affect not just our generation but the future generations as well.

It starts with the place we spend a considerable amount of time each day, assuming we are lucky enough to still have a job. Creating an office or a workplace that is not just functional but green is a challenge for most people. Here are a few ways that you can start to help your company/business to switch to green.

Steps to start switching green:

• Have an Eco-friendly office space- I know how much you are longing to have the best set of furniture for your office, but you don’t have to worry. There are a number of furniture companies in the market right now that can provide you with a wide variety of exquisite furniture using recycled materials. There is definitely no harm in trying.

• Avoid the use of lead in your office- Go natural! You don’t need to paint furniture’s and offices with those lead containing materials, because aside from destroying the environment, it will also harm your health as well. If you want to decorate your office you can go for pictures and added ornaments that are eco-friendly as well.

• Switch to using eco-friendly office materials- Nowadays mouse pads, clipboards, binders are now made of recycled materials. These materials are now made of old computer motherboards and circuits. Though they may be a little bit pricey, but always bear in mind that being eco-friendly can definitely help and that is beyond price.

• Switch used papers into new and reusable ones- a lot of companies are very guilty of using too much paper, offices and hospitals for example use to much paper even for just a few scratches. It may seem a bit expensive to hire a recycling company. But this would be a good option, you can ask them to collect all the used paper that you have and recycle them, this way it would be cheaper and you are also saving the environment.

• Switch to refillable inks- computer inks are like water for a growing company, so it would be best to use those refillable inks. This way you do not use up much of those plastics that are used when you buy the brand new ink cartilages. You can also save much because it will then be cheaper and at the same time you’re saving the environment.

With the “Switch to Green”- program, which more companies are now taking part in, it won’t be long till we will be able to change the fate of our depleting ozone layer or the unpredictable weather caused by global warming.

So if you would want to be certain that we all have a realistic chance to survive this global challenge and save our Mother Earth, not just for us; but for our children; - then take the steps I have listed for you, and begin your own Switch to Green.

Nowaday’s companies have been very keen in protecting the environment. A lot are geared to changing how companies and their programs can help the environment. We have been hearing a lot of news about how different companies can in some way affect our environment and have not been keeping in mind the safety of the rest of the people. This is why green leadership was established to save the environment and spread the news on how to still continue being a successful company and at the same time be conscious about the environment.

In the lean and green leadership era, initiatives seek to increase and enhance executive discussion and awareness around the ways IT organizations can reduce energy drain and impact business gain by consolidating storage systems, embracing efficient computing practice, and introducing power-saving techniques. In this program leaders will examine ways to address the accelerating energy demands and rampant waste of data center power, along with methods to increase IT yield and data productivity.

A press release dated April 16. 2008 stated that the new BPM forum study finds that IT curbing has failed to curb data center energy consumption despite the increasing number of those concerned. Despite the stated concerns and priorities for making data center operations more environmentally friendly, still only a few organizations have any specific plans in place. Most IT managers give their operations failing grades in reducing energy consumption. Data center energy consumption continues to rise due to rising energy costs amid increasing environmental concern over global warming. Nearly half of IT managers surveyed say that their organizations have run out of energy resources in the past.

BlueArc is a leading network storage company focused on high performance and scalability, and on making environmentally responsible computing both possible and cost-effective.  The company also has the ability to drive server consolidation in reducing complexity, lowering the total cost of ownership and cutting power and cooling expenses at the same time. They have helped companies expand ways to explore, discover, research, create, process and innovate in data-intensive environments. Replacing complex and cost-inefficient and power-hungry products with high performance and environmentally beneficial scalable and easy to use systems is one field that BlueArc has been involved in.

BlueArc has conducted a study assessing issues and opportunities presented by green computing and ways to address accelerating energy and performance demands and perceived waste in the data center. The findings reflect responses from more then 150 IT professionals in an online survey completed February of 2008. The study revealed the following:

• Three-quarters of respondents gave their organization a C grade and found them to be worse in their ability to control IT energy consumption.
• There were no specific plans in place for the data center for almost two-thirds of the respondents.
• About 20 percent of those polled spend more than a million dollars annually on IT energy consumption and 8 percent spend more than 10 million.
• Another 20 percent of respondents set goals of 5 percent energy reduction or less and almost two-third had set goals of 25 percent reduction or less.
• Last year, almost half of those spoiled IT energy consumption increased in their organization and even in their cost of energy.
• And finally, forty-six percent of respondents reported that they had run out of space, power and capacity.

The study gave an overall result which pointed to a gap between what IT leadership knows, what it needs to do, and what it has accomplished to date in terms of environmental responsibility. (Derek Kober, Director of BPM forum). Derek also said that in polling the marketplace and talking with industry leaders, they have heard that there are opportunities for those who deliver on the environmental promise to also save substantial cost and drive revenue opportunities through more efficient and enhanced data performance practices.

The BPM, better known as the Business Performance Management Forum, is a new management mantra that is aimed at bringing business gain to the value chain through enhanced trading partner visibility, flexibility and new levels of verifiable sustainability which applies across the entire demand and supply ecosystem of global corporations.

 Its current programs have been unifying, focusing and controlling complexes which are globally distributed and highly synchronized value networks in turbulent, unpredictable times. They also require real-time operational insights down to the product level, accurate sourcing and sell-through intelligence, and relentless dedication to eliminating waste and realizing new efficiencies in all areas of the go-to-market process.

At the same time these programs have followed the economic, social and regulatory dynamics and are putting real pressure on global companies to be both “lean and green” in their product sourcing, logistics, transportation, distribution and operational practices as well.

Now that there is a growing number of organizations and programs such as the ‘lean and green initiative’ and BlueArc, people have high hopes that these newly formed programs will inspire other individuals and companies to follow in their footsteps. They are role models in environmental preservation.

For anybody interested to find out about some other aspects of this topic, feel free to review a recent article at http://tinyurl.com/dfurmc

We only have one earth, one environment and one world, and if we all work to save, conserve, and use environmentally friendly programs and processes, our children and future generations will have a more sustainable environment than what we are creating if we don’t act in a conscious “Green-Leadership” approach.

I invite everybody using computers, working with data centers and computing-intensive fields to join the movement and become eco-conscious pioneers, so that we can leave the world a better place without loosing any of the comforts and benefits of modern technology.

Axel Meierhoefer & Marie Saycon