The Coaches’ View

We are off to a fast start in 2008, and wanted to take a minute to recognize some of the accomplishments of our team in 2007:

Kathy Baske Young received the YWCA Women of Achievement Award in Business for the Roanoke Valley in Virginia.

Tim Link completed a Graduate Certificate in Evidence-Based Coaching from the Fielding Graduate School.

Doug Leland published his second book, “Alone in the Allagash,” available through Amazon.com.

Doug Silsbee signed a contract with Jossey-Bass for his second book, “Presence-Based Coaching,” due out in October, 2008.

Marcia Reynolds received her Psy.D in organizational pyschology and her thesis focused on high-achieving women.

DJ Mitsch was named Chair of The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Womens Forum, and will also be facilitating a class in team coaching for Columbia University in 2008.

Barry Mitsch was named an adjunct instructor for North Carolina State’s evening MBA program based in Research Triangle Park.

The Pyramid Resource Group is expanding its name far and beyond the reach of the Triangle. In light of tomorrow being National Boss Day, Pyramid was featured, in addition to the News & Observer, in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Boston Globe.

Here are the respective links to the articles:

Boston Globe-
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2007/10/boss_day.html?p1=MEWell_Pos2 

Chicago Sun-Times-
http://www.suntimes.com/business/casualfriday/599978,CST-FIN-casual12.article

This past sunday the News & Observer featured DJ Mitsch in a story for National Boss Day. The story appeared in the work and money section. Click here to read the article.

Newsweek recently ran an interesting article about 11 women leaders who made it to the top while facing obstacles and their biggest fears. Click here to read more.

 
Check out yesterday’s Career Couch article in The New York Times to read what D.J. Mitsch has to say about helping newcomers find their way in a new job.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/jobs/07career.html 

Harvard Business Review featured an article entitled, Women and the Labyrinth of Leadership, this month which we offer as a link here for further review. The findings in this research support what we have found in recent coaching initiatives for women - - that the “glass ceiling” catchphrase used to describe a failure to promote women is outdated.

What we are finding is that women are in a complicated maze of choices and demands and sometimes they opt out of key roles to focus, temporarily, on other life demands. This article is worth the read…. More importantly, the concepts are worth a deeper conversation for your company if you are facing the same factors in managing women who are loyal and key talent!

For more information on how we work to coach groups of these women (individually and collectively) around specific organizational goals, contact us at dj@pyramidresource.com or Barry@pyramidresource.com

DJ Mitsch interviewed with Rick Smith, Editor of WRAL Local Tech Wire, one of the leading newswires in the Triangle. She talked about her different coaching techniques and how she works with a variety of individuals and companies on leadership and teambuilding.
Click image to watch video.

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The Raleigh Chamber is celebrating 15 years of serving women in business with four luncheon sessions per year that are targeted to provide professional skills and inspiration.

Author and Coach Laura Berman Fortgang spoke about “Now What? Finding a new direction for your life and work at any age.” Mitsch introduced Laura as a friend and colleague, as the two are considered pioneers in the professional of coaching.

Mitsch said her intention for this coming year, is to work with the chamber and her committee to find the speakers who address the hottest topics for what’s on the mind of women who lead. She hopes to build the list of attendees to represent the highest level female leadership in the area’s companies, and to advance women’s interests in this area as a result of the work of the committee this year.

Among the speakers being considered for 2008 are Sara Blakely, creator of Spanx and on the board of Virgin Interprises, and Marci Shimoff who bases her speech on the book and movie, The Secret. Marci is featured in the film. Look for a note on the blog about upcoming events!

I personally subscribe to the idea that we all have a soul blueprint, a purpose in our lives. As coaches, we are trained to listen for this purpose and to convey our clients to a level of joy and personal satisfaction through the discovery the concept.

What we have seen as a company is that the thousands of people we have worked with over the past fifteen years continue to inspire us with the courage they exhibit as they continue to take steps to fulfill their dreams and live and serve in the most meaningful ways.

I am proud to be a coach and colleague with professionals who have pioneered this profession, those like Laura who have worked side by side with our coaches in noncompetitive ways to pave the pathway. I highly recommend the book, “Now What!” if you are entering a life transition.

Barry and I invited our 17 year old daughter to attend the event today and this was also a great message for a young woman who is entering college and ready to carve her own path to success.

The Cary Chamber of Commerce recently sponsored the 5th Annual Honor a Teacher Program at the Koko Booth Amphitheatre. This year, 22 Western Wake County Public School teachers were honored with $1,000 awards and trophies from sponsoring businesses.

The Honor a Teacher Program was created by Barry and DJ Mitsch of The Pyramid Resource Group, Inc., a corporate coaching company based in Cary. The first teaching award in Cary was the Discovery Award, established in the 1990’s by business leaders Ralph and Daphne Ashworth. Inspired by the Ashworths, Barry and DJ created the Clara Knoll Teaching Award in the year 2000 to honor Barry’s grandmother who taught for over 40 years in New Jersey. Clara passed away in 2005 at the age of 106.

The Honor a Teacher Program was established to encourage other area businesses to recognize public school teachers. As of this year, $112,000 has been awarded by businesses such as Progress Energy, SAS, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Time Warner Cable, KB Homes, and AT&T. The awards ceremony has become a premier event on the Cary Chamber calendar and this year over 400 people were in attendance.

“Teachers have the most difficult yet most important job in our community. We hope this recognition can help inspire our best teachers to stay in the profession,” said program co-founder Barry Mitsch of Pyramid.

Companies interested in being part of the program can contact Tiffanee Gwaltney at the Cary Chamber, 919-467-1016.