Creating Empowerment & Assertiveness

Do you ever yearn to feel more in control of your destiny and not feel obligated to satisfy others’ needs, demands, or wants?

Empowerment and Assertiveness are alternatives to feeling victimized, powerless, and exploited. Imagine having the confidence and skills to manage those difficult situations with much more ease than you have today.

It is possible to develop the mindset, skills, and techniques to empower yourself to set appropriate boundaries, and assertively express your opinions.

You can create the feeling of being in control of your life, your environment, and those difficult-to-handle situations.
One can learn to be empowered and act assertively through a coaching methodology that focuses on:

• Self worth and self esteem
• Wisdom to make choices aligned with your desires
• Minimizing the victim mentality when others try to overpower you
• Being able to speak up for yourself
• Shifting your limiting beliefs to full recognition for your unique talents

Why is coaching effective?
It focuses on your individual mindset, strengths, and limitations that we all set for ourselves.
It is well-paced to stretch your behavior change relative to where you are and where you want to be.
It is personalized.
When working with a professional coach, you are able to change in ways that would not normally take place.
With your coach, you have a guide, a partner, and an advisor who helps make the change process manageable yet challenging.

No one is non-assertive all the time. However it is possible you have a characteristic style that causes you to feel as though you want to think and act differently.

If that is the case, then our Empowerment and Assertiveness Coaching Methodology may work very well.

Actual Case Scenarios:

Chris was a very competent but shy service professional. She moved along nicely in her career based on her individual competence. However, when she took a real inventory of how she was leading her life, she had to admit that there were specific signs of feeling victim to circumstances and over-accommodating to others. She seldom asked for what she really wanted, and often gave in to others’ requests. Having tried reading books and going to an Assertiveness workshop, she realized that she had limited success. Once she started working with her coach, life changed. She gained an understanding of her patterns of behavior, her fears, and in particular, the toll over-accommodation played in her life. Through working with her coach, Chris learned how to shift her belief about herself, practice appropriate empowering actions, and found the key to becoming the leader of her life. Her coach guided her through a process that was well paced for what she was willing to change. She now owns the empowering and assertiveness skills to navigate her life in an optimistic, caring, and diplomatic manner.

Andy was a skilled finance professional. He moved up the ladder of success in large part based on his sound technical knowledge. Then he found himself in a leadership position where he had to manage an entire department. When he had to give corrective feedback to his employees, he became anxious and foggy in his thinking. In high level leadership meetings, he was very nervous about giving bad news, even though he was only the messenger. Doing stand up presentations caused him to shake inside. In reviewing the other aspects of his life, he felt better in family situations but really didn’t have the level of assertiveness he wanted. He tried assertiveness training and found the information valuable. It was difficult to put into practice. When coaching was suggested, he embraced the idea of working one-on-one with a professional who could provide guidance, help him to appreciate his strengths, and assist him in finding the way to true empowerment. This leader is enjoying personal prosperity and is equipped to manage the varied difficult situations that are encountered in life.

About the author:
Diane Allen, PCC is a professional certified coach, leadership development consultant and founder of the Strategic Leadership Academy (www.strategicleadershipacademy.com). She has spent the past twelve years helping senior leaders and middle managers create success by building their personal and organizational leadership skills. To start your own empowerment journey, please request our two valuable empowerment tools:
1. Self-coaching Empowerment and Assertiveness Model – This valuable model will help you better understand the mindset and skills needed to harness your individual personal power, and, 2. Investing in Myself: Six Pitfalls to Avoid when Practicing Personal Empowerment and Assertiveness, and put “Empowerment Tools” in the subject line.