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Mattcla Group Blog

A collection of articl​es, ideas and stories about Leadership, Coaching and achieving business and career goals.

3 Things Our Clients Taught Us During COVID

December 2021
  1. Humans have amazing resilience.   In the face of tremendous personal and business challenges, our clients have overcome these obstacles, leveraging the clarity of purpose that the pandemic brought. We have worked with them to successfully launch new businesses, expand their services to positively affect the lives of others through the pandemic, ideate and develop new products, and even start new careers. All while reacting to never before experienced change around them; truly inspiring.
  2. Vulnerability is a superpower.   Not a traditional attribute applied to great leaders in the past, those leaders that admitted fears, challenges, and openly engaged their employees, colleagues, and customers to discuss them through the pandemic,  created a 'next-level' set of relationships. Thus enabling real and lasting trust, superior collaboration, and ultimately the ability to not just survive but thrive through this period of constant change.
  3. Pay Yourself First.   With sincere apologies to David Chilton (author of 'The Wealthy Barber'), what I mean here is that never has the light been shone brighter on the need for all of us to take care of ourselves first, so that we can take care of others. People and organizations have experienced a series of gut punches over the past 2 years and thus are broken to some extent as a result of this pandemic. The actions and attention required to feel safe and well and to recover are therefore on a different and unprecedented level. How can we as leaders, expect our Teams to continue to deliver at the same or (given the period we have been in) even more elevated levels at some point when we establish the new normal of the hybrid office? When we ourselves need to raise the bar on self-care to ensure we can do so? We need to drastically invest in our own physical and mental well-being in order to lead, inspire and enable our Teams post-pandemic. A shifting of effort and focus from the traditional leadership development and coaching curricula we are used to, to the inclusion of programs, coaching, and skills development related to taking care of oneself as a leader will be critical in the new corporate world.

Why Coaching is Even More Important During a Pandemic

        April 2021

  1. The Reflective "Mirror" :  A coach helps us identify what we want, ideate a path forward, try some things to put it into action, reflect on what we learned, and then continue this virtuous  cycle as we develop new ways of leading, working and thriving, with positive results. 
  2. Stress Reduction : Professional coaching techniques are scientifically proven to reduce stress.  It is very difficult to have empathy, think creatively, control impulses, and make effective plans when stressed. Coaching, as a stress reducer, allows people to access more creativity, empathy, and resilience, all of which are critical right now to allow more than coping, but leading to striving and even better, thriving. 
  3. Cognitive Improvement: Coaching helps people process what is going on. This is an unprecedented time with little to compare and thus  it is exceptionally difficult to process and make sense of. Without proper and focused processing during this time , we run a high probability of either crashing when it is over, or sublimating our worry, fear and stress into health issues, low energy, low performance, and other negative impacts. When we are aware of and permit ourselves to feel and share our true feelings and concerns, we move the energy through and stay steadier and more able to cope both during and after. Many of our clients have told us that now more than ever, they need the support of coaching in order to do this effectively.
  4. Enabling Resilience: Coaching helps people find their own resilience and capacity, even when there are externalities we are not in control of.  A professional coach is keenly aware of the need to  to focus on the client, not the issue. When people are tuned into themselves through coaching, they see more possibility and find more internal resilience, which elevates a  stronger sense of control.
  5. Lets not ignore leaders. Coaching Leaders pays dividends across the organization; research shows that leaders have a potent impact on the  'vibe' and 'feeling' of their organization. When they are calm, emotionally regulated, thoughtful, patient and focused, those around them feel more able to respond more thoughtfully as well. This will most likely lead to permanent changes for individuals and orgs. We know coaching is one of the most effective ways to help people navigate change. Since we’re not going back to “business as usual” after this period, a Coach can help a client better identify and express their own needs, desires and boundaries as things change.
  6. Employee Retention: It is more critical than ever to retain and develop top talent. We’re going to need extraordinary thinking and performance to help any type of organization not only get through this but become stronger. Clearly this crisis has uncovered the urgent need for business and leaders to adapt, innovate and focus on what is really important. Coaching helps develop people’s leadership strengths and confidence, and is also a proven retention strategy.
  7. Mindset: Coaches help people get unstuck and find a clear path, moving out  of fixed patterns or mindsets. Surviving and thriving in this time requires an adaptable brain that can respond with flexibility and creativity, while still being thoughtful and applying logic. Coaching helps people identify so-called 'blind spots' and limiting beliefs and move into a open , growth mindset.
  8. Purpose: Today, people are thinking about purpose and meaning more than ever. Without support with questions of meaning, life/work purpose, and important values, we risk losing the lessons learnt. Coaching can help us powerfully reflect on what we are learning about ourselves.
  9. Embracing Change:  Making real change is disruptive to the system, and we need support to make major changes. A Professional Coach can help clients successfully plan, and progress through  life and work changes during this chaotic period. 
  10. Coaching is an investment that pays strong dividends: The companies and individuals that will be most successful in getting through this time,  are those that focus on what is important and the path to get there, maintain aa growth mindset, limit the toxic impact of stress, and continue to be flexible and agile.  Coaches drive 2-3x the performance lift for those people who have them. This crisis has the clear potential to make us , as leaders, business owners, and individuals, stronger. Never has this been a better opportunity to take advantage of a professional coach!

Coming Soon : Engaging Your Customer and Employees 

Feb 2022

Check back soon for a discussion about how engaging your Team has never been more important than at this time, for your organization's success!

Contact Us to Schedule an Initial Consultation or Coaching Session

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We invite you to contact us to discuss your  objectives, requirements, challenges and opportunities. 


Your initial consultation is FREE and you will receive a written summary of our recommendations to help your business.


Let's start a conversation about how Mattcla Group can help you transform and grow your business, develop your leadership skills, engage leaders and  teams,  to achieve your desired outcomes. 


We look forward to enabling your success!


Piero Fusco

Principal, Mattcla Group

(416) 882-1627

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