How does the InSideOut Initiative empower school communities. What is the goal of purpose-based athletics. How can transformational coaches impact student-athletes’ development. Why is creating a culture of belonging important in sports.
The InSideOut Initiative: Revolutionizing High School Athletics
The InSideOut Initiative (ISOI) is spearheading a national movement to transform the landscape of high school sports. At its core, ISOI seeks to redefine the purpose and value of athletics in educational settings. But what exactly does this entail?
ISOI’s primary focus is on empowering and equipping school communities to implement purpose-based athletics. This approach goes beyond traditional notions of sports as merely competitive endeavors. Instead, it emphasizes connecting student-athletes with transformational coaches within a culture of belonging. The ultimate goal? To foster social-emotional and character development in young athletes.
Key Elements of the InSideOut Approach
- Purpose-based athletics
- Transformational coaching
- Culture of belonging
- Social-emotional development
- Character development
Through its evidence-based InSideOut System and Philosophy, ISOI encourages school communities to reframe the educational value of athletics. Rather than viewing sports as an end in themselves, this approach positions athletic activities as catalysts for developing human potential in students.
The Science Behind InSideOut: A Systematic Approach to Sports Culture
ISOI’s approach is not based on mere intuition or anecdotal evidence. The organization has published “The Science of InSideOut,” a comprehensive report outlining five key elements that form the foundation of their methodology. But what are these elements, and how do they contribute to creating a purpose-based high school sports culture?
Five Key Elements of the InSideOut Approach
- Redefining the purpose of sports
- Developing transformational coaches
- Creating a culture of belonging
- Fostering social-emotional competencies
- Promoting character development
These elements serve as the basis for future longitudinal evaluations. These studies aim to measure outcomes associated with social and emotional competencies, individual and organizational behavior change, and the implementation process of the InSideOut approach.
Measuring Impact: ISOI’s Reach and Ongoing Research
The InSideOut Initiative has made significant strides in its mission to transform high school athletics. But how far-reaching has its impact been, and what ongoing research is being conducted to validate its approach?
Since its inception, ISOI has developed, evaluated, and implemented its innovative blueprint for systemic change across 17 states. This wide-reaching approach has served numerous school communities, catalyzing cultural change in both education and interscholastic sports.
In 2020, ISOI took a significant step forward by launching a three-year systems-level longitudinal study. The primary aim of this research? To measure the role of interscholastic athletics in the development of students’ social-emotional skills and character. This ongoing study promises to provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of purpose-based athletics in shaping young lives.
The Faces Behind InSideOut: Leadership and Expertise
Behind every successful initiative are the individuals who drive it forward. Who are the key figures leading the InSideOut Initiative, and what expertise do they bring to the table?
Joe Ehrmann: A Multifaceted Leader
Joe Ehrmann stands as a pillar of the InSideOut Initiative. His diverse background includes roles as an author, coach, All-American football player, and former professional football player. Ehrmann’s accolades are numerous, including:
- Member of Syracuse University’s All-Century Team
- Baltimore Colts’ Man of the Year Award recipient
- NFL’s Ed Block Courage Award recipient
- Named “The Most Important Coach in America” by Parade Magazine
Ehrmann’s wealth of experience in both playing and coaching football, combined with his commitment to character development, makes him an invaluable asset to ISOI’s mission.
Jody Redman: Innovator and Thought Leader
Jody Redman brings a different but equally crucial set of skills to ISOI. Recognized nationally as a speaker, facilitator, author, and thought leader, Redman specializes in:
- Strategic planning
- Organizational design and transformation
- Leadership development
Redman’s passion-driven approach to innovation has led her to focus her professional career on creating cultures of belonging through system-level interventions. This expertise aligns perfectly with ISOI’s goal of transforming school sports cultures from the ground up.
InSideOut in Action: State-Level Implementations
The InSideOut Initiative’s impact is not just theoretical; it’s being put into practice across various states. How are different regions implementing ISOI’s principles, and what success stories have emerged?
Wisconsin: Creating a “Purpose-Based” Sports Culture
Wisconsin has taken significant steps towards adopting the InSideOut approach. The state has launched a partnership between:
- The InSideOut Initiative
- Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association
- NFL Foundation
This collaboration aims to create a purpose-based sports culture throughout Wisconsin’s high schools, aligning with ISOI’s core principles.
New York: Section One Athletics Embraces InSideOut
In New York, Section One Athletics has partnered with ISOI, the NFL Foundation, and the New York Giants to implement the InSideOut approach. This initiative seeks to redefine the culture of high school sports in the region, emphasizing character development and social-emotional learning alongside athletic achievement.
Indiana: Building Sustainability Through the IHSAA Foundation
The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Foundation has taken proactive steps to ensure the long-term sustainability of the InSideOut approach in their state. Under the leadership of Matt Wolfert, the IHSAA Foundation has integrated ISOI principles into its core operations, demonstrating a commitment to purpose-based athletics that extends beyond short-term programs.
Addressing Critical Issues: ISOI’s Response to Child Maltreatment
The InSideOut Initiative recognizes that its role extends beyond just transforming sports culture. How has ISOI responded to critical social issues affecting young athletes?
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ISOI has joined forces with other national organizations to address a pressing concern: child maltreatment during periods of isolation. Recognizing that coaches are often among the most trusted adults in a young athlete’s life, ISOI has taken steps to raise awareness about vulnerable children who may have suffered maltreatment when isolated from usual sources of help.
ISOI’s Approach to Child Protection
- Raising awareness among coaches and athletic staff
- Providing resources for identifying signs of maltreatment
- Emphasizing the role of coaches as mentors and protectors
- Collaborating with national organizations to amplify the message
This initiative underscores ISOI’s commitment to the holistic well-being of student-athletes, extending its influence beyond the playing field and into crucial areas of child welfare and protection.
The Future of High School Sports: ISOI’s Vision and Ongoing Work
As the InSideOut Initiative continues to grow and evolve, what does the future hold for high school sports under this paradigm? How is ISOI working to ensure the sustainability and widespread adoption of its approach?
ISOI’s vision for the future of high school sports is one where athletic programs serve as powerful vehicles for character development and social-emotional learning. To achieve this vision, the organization is focusing on several key areas:
Expanding Reach and Partnerships
ISOI continues to form partnerships with state athletic associations, NFL teams, and educational institutions. These collaborations help to expand the reach of the InSideOut approach, bringing purpose-based athletics to more schools and communities across the nation.
Ongoing Research and Evaluation
The three-year longitudinal study launched in 2020 is just the beginning. ISOI is committed to ongoing research and evaluation to continually refine and improve its approach. This commitment to evidence-based practice ensures that the InSideOut methodology remains effective and relevant in the ever-changing landscape of high school sports.
Professional Development for Coaches
Recognizing the crucial role that coaches play in implementing the InSideOut approach, ISOI is investing in comprehensive professional development programs. These initiatives aim to equip coaches with the skills and knowledge needed to become truly transformational leaders in their athletes’ lives.
Advocacy and Policy Change
ISOI is working at the policy level to advocate for changes that support purpose-based athletics. This includes engaging with educational policymakers and athletic governing bodies to create systemic changes that prioritize character development and social-emotional learning in high school sports programs.
As the InSideOut Initiative continues to grow and evolve, it remains committed to its core mission: transforming lives through purpose-based sports. By redefining the role of athletics in education, ISOI is not just changing how we approach high school sports; it’s shaping the future leaders of our society, one athlete at a time.
InSideOut Initiative l Home
Skip to content
INSPIRING, CATALYZING AND EQUIPPING SCHOOL COMMUNITIES TO TRANSFORM lives THROUGH PURPOSE-BASED sports
The InSideOut Initiative (ISOI) is a national movement that empowers and equips school communities to implement purpose-based athletics by connecting student-athletes to transformational coaches in a culture of belonging, for their social-emotional character development.
Learn More
2022 Mid-Year Report
Now in its 7th year, the InSideOut Initiative continues to develop and implement effective strategies and publish their evidenced-based findings as they help reclaim the educational and social-emotional value of youth and high school sports.
LEARN MORE
A Systems Level Approach to Create a Purpose-Based High School Sports Culture
The Science of InSideOut is a recent publication outlining the five key elements that make up InSideOut’s approach. This report will inform future longitudinal evaluations, measuring outcomes associated with social and emotional competencies, individual- level and organizational-level behavior change, and InSideOut’s implementation process, including Communities of Practice (CoPs).
Learn More
CHILD MALTREATMENT DURING THE PANDEMIC
Coaches are among the most trusted adults and mentors in a young athlete’s life. We are joining with other national organizations to raise awareness about the vulnerable children who may have suffered maltreatment during the pandemic when they were isolated from usual sources of help.
WATCH THE VIDEO
The InSideOut Initiative (ISOI) is a national movement that empowers and equips school communities to implement purpose-based athletics by connecting student-athletes to transformational coaches in a community of belonging for their social-emotional and character development. Through the evidence-based InSideOut System and InSideOut Philosophy, school communities redefine and reframe the educational value of athletics and activities as a catalyst to develop the human potential of students.
Impact
ISOI has developed, evaluated, and implemented its innovative blueprint for systemic change across 17 states, serving school communities to create cultural change in education and interscholastic sports.
In 2020, ISOI launched a three-year systems-level longitudinal study to measure the role of interscholastic athletics in the development of the social-emotional and character development of students.
Learn More
Team
Joe Ehrmann
Joe Ehrmann is an author, coach, All-American football player, former professional football player, Syracuse University alumnus, and recipient of myriad awards and honors, such as Syracuse University’s All-Century Team, the Baltimore Colts’ Man of the Year Award, the NFL’s Ed Block Courage Award Recipient, and “The Most Important Coach in America” by Parade Magazine.
Read More
Jody Redman
Jody Redman is a nationally recognized speaker, facilitator, author, and thought leader on strategic planning, organizational design and transformation, and leadership development. She is a passion-driven innovator who has focused her professional career on creating cultures of belonging through system-level interventions.
Read More
See the Whole Team
News
Wisconsin Seeks to Create a “Purpose-Based” Sports Culture
The InSideOut Initiative launching in Wisconsin in partnership with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, NFL…
Learn More
The New York State Public High School Athletic Association, Section One Athletics Seeks to Create “Purpose-Based” Sports Culture
The InSideOut Initiative launches in partnership with Section One Athletics, NFL Foundation, and the New York Giants SEPTEMBER…
Learn More
Faces of InSideOut: Barney Ehrmann
Barney Ehrmann is the InSideOut Initiative’s Movement Leader and Trainer, and is responsible to provide strategic leadership…
Learn More
InSideOut Best Practices: Indiana’s IHSAA Foundation Builds Sustainability
When Matt Wolfert stepped into his first day on the job as IHSAA Foundation president in August 2017, the organization rolled out.
..
Learn More
You cannot create a movement; You can only prepare for one.
A word study from my seminary days seems more relevant today than ever. The assignment was to contrast two Greek words for time:…
Learn More
Virginia High School League Recommits to InSideOut Work: Post-Pandemic Momentum Builds
“This opportunity is significant for us and we’re so grateful for the support of the Washington Football Club, the NFL…
Learn More
Get Connected
Join Our Mailing List!
Be sure to sign up for the InSideOut email list to receive information, articles, and best practices from the InSideOut team and transformational school communities across the nation.
Impact – InSideOut Initiative
Since its founding, the InSideOut Initiative has been proud to partner with 20 NFL markets across 17 states, working with school communities to create transformational change in interscholastic athletics across the country.
The InSideOut Initiative is not a program, it is an evidence-based, multi-year partnership that aligns school communities around the educational and prosocial value of Purpose-Based Sports by:
- Connecting Student Athletes to Transformational Coaches
- In a Culture of Belonging
- For their Social-Emotional, Character Development.
The InSideOut Initiative develops the Five Competencies of Transformational Leaders and Coaches; self-awareness, self-management, relational development, social awareness, moral and ethical decision-making, equipping them with the skills and resources necessary to positively impact the social-emotional, character of their student-athletes.
InSideOut States
View the map to find the NFL teams partnering with the InSideOut Initiative.
Click on a state for details
- Phase 1
- Phase 2
- Phase 3
- Phase 4
- Implemented
- Longitudinal Study
Reports
The Faces project seeks to profile and feature transformational leaders—individuals living the InSideOut Philosophy and implementing the InSideOut System in their daily interactions.
The project serves two primary purposes: To highlight the great work being done by transformational leaders, and to help aspiring leaders develop best practices and find ways to apply key strategies in their own school communities.
Profiles
Harrison High School
West Lafayette, IN
Jerry Galema
95 Coaches | 950 Student Athletes
I have seen changes in our coaches — sideline decorum, leading their team in team meetings after a loss has been different.”
– Jerry Galema
Teach the Goals and Purpose Common Language
Jerry Galema from Harrison High School and Ryan Walden from McCutchen HS met with the school board to share what they are doing with the InSideOut Intiative. The school board was very intrigued with how much the two ADs have accomplished thus far and are 100% supportive.
A week after the meeting, one of Jerry’s teams was defeated in a high school tournament. The superintendent was there and came up to Jerry after the game saying, “you got beat, but the other team’s coach seems very transactional.”
Create a Collective Transformational Purpose Statement
Jerry hosted meetings for all of his coaches to work together on developing a collective transformational purpose statement. The coaches picked the core values that they wanted to use and used the artistic skills of some of their coaches to develop an acronym and design for the collective transformational purpose statement that is centered around Harrison High School’s logo.
Currey Ingram Academy
Brentwood, TN
Kelly Fish
20 Coaches | 41 Student Athletes
I love the tangible takeaways of InSideOut. One specific strategy I brought back was having my coaches create leadership purpose statements.
Our collective goal is to memorize them and live by them.”
– Kelly Fish
Our collective goal is to memorize them and live by them.”Lead coaches through the development of Individual Transformational Purpose Statements
Kelly used ISOI’s “Why Do I Lead?” worksheet to lead all of her coaches through the process of creating their own individual transformational purpose statements. Kelly explained, “Our goal was to each have a purpose statement that we could memorize and live by.”
Create a Collective Transformational Purpose Statement
A collective transformational purpose statement is being developed within Currey Ingram Academy’s athletic program and will be used to revamp the program’s mission statement.
Northfield High School
Northfield, MN
Joel Olson
132 Coaches | 965 Student Athletes
Don’t be afraid to not know the answer and don’t run away from the hard decisions.
– Joel Olson
They never get easier, but always think about “What is our purpose?” When you can go to bed at night knowing that you made the right decision because it was in the best interest of the kids in our program you know you are living out of your purpose.”Collectively Define Success
At Northfield High School, coaches participate in a mid-season meeting to review how they’re doing according to their collective transformational purpose statement. The coaches then have a postseason meeting to tie it all together. Every Friday, Joel sends a Google survey to every in-season head coach. This Google survey includes five questions: 1. What is going well? 2. What is not going well? 3. Are there any kids you want to highlight? 4. How are you doing? 5. Is there something I need to look into for you?
Create a Coach’s Job Description based on the Definition of Success
Joel embedded the four ISOI key questions into interviews for new hires.
It allows him to learn more about a potential coach’s background, why they want to be a coach at his school, what they value most about coaching, how they coach the whole person, and what are the top three things they would communicate with parents and athletes if they got the job. Joel and his interview team take this information to determine if a coach is a good fit for their program and amongst their colleagues.
Share Your Journey
To be highlighted in the Faces publication, please fill out this form.
From the field
Todd Vesely
Executive Director Athletic Department, Fort Worth Independent School District
The InSideOut Initiative is a vital tool in helping our organization help young people. The purpose of athletics is to develop young people, to enhance their life experience and to give them opportunities that they would have never had without athletics. The Initiative guides and supports this quest.
InSideOut has made a difference, a powerful difference in our coaches, our students and our entire organization. Special thanks to the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL Foundation for their support to FWISD Athletics.Josh Corey
Football Outreach and Community Relations Manager, Tennessee Titans
Implementing the InSideOut Initiative had been very beneficial in our state by bringing educational stakeholders together to start the conversation on how to change the culture of interscholastic athletics. We have been very encouraged and impressed at the level of support and buy-in from school superintendents, school boards, administrators, athletic directors and coaches across Tennessee.
The stage is set for us to bring meaningful, impactful and sustainable change that will aid in the growth and development of student-athletes throughout our state.Dr. Billy Haun
Executive Director, Virginia High School League
The InSideOut Initiative is having a tremendous impact on the lives of student-athletes in Virginia.
Our collaboration with the Virginia School Board Association, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, and the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals and the partnership with the Washington Football Team has been critical in helping foster purpose-based athletics programs that support the social-emotional and character development of our more than 190,000 participants.InsideOut Best Practices
To celebrate the work being done by InSideOut partners, we highlight their values-based leadership and culture-changing efforts here on the blog.
InSideOut Best Practices: Indiana’s IHSAA Foundation Builds Sustainability
When Matt Wolfert stepped into his first day on the job as IHSAA Foundation president in August 2017, the organization rolled out…
Learn More
Recognition Event: Transformational Leaders & Coaches Celebration
On November 25, 2017, the Minnesota State High School League hosted the Transformational Leaders & Coaches Celebration,…
Learn More
InSideOut Best Practices: Houston Texans Coach of the Week
To celebrate the work being done by InSideOut partners, we’re highlighting their values-based leadership and culture-changing…
Learn More
InSideOut Best Practices: Woodridge Local School District in Ohio
We love hearing directly from leaders implementing InSideOut strategies in their programs and learning about how becoming an…
Learn More
InSideOut Best Practices: Tippecanoe School Corporation in Indiana
It’s always great to hear directly from leaders implementing InSideOut strategies in their programs and how becoming an.
..
Learn More
Improving School Culture Through Education-Based Athletics
As AD at Hibbing High School, I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to work with many transformational leaders. This year, we…
Learn More
An insider’s view helps to achieve better results in coaching and therapy
The combination of coaching with therapy in my case gives a phenomenally effective result when working with clients from the business environment. Any strategy session demonstrates this to the fullest. It has cost me so many years to do business myself to now look at all this with an insider’s eye. Having experience “on the other side” greatly simplifies the work, especially when I can no longer be attached to it and allow myself to be in a non-expert position.
In this sense, this insider experience helps both in building trust and just in everyday work, because the dialogue easily expands to wider contexts. You can not only discuss the features of relationships, but also their specific applications in relation to corporate business processes, the business processes and skills themselves, immerse yourself in management reporting or strategy, which is important in dialogues within the financial or sales environment, or when moderating boards of directors.
And the people there are very different, almost like different races. They just think differently. And they have such different interests that they are ready to defend that systemic family therapy in this aspect throws up many parallels.
And when I draw parallels, I remember how much earlier I was centered on myself and even the very idea that I could be wrong caused me a strong rejection.
Moreover, the same idea of being wrong in work was perceived by me as completely normal – that is, I made mistakes, taking them into account and correcting them in that context, but in my inner space I was infallible. I was wrong then, I saw it and thought that I just didn’t try hard enough or didn’t know how to do something. But I didn’t even have ideas about the importance of my internal state or some kind of brain settings that were knocked down in childhood. And this is a real case.
Now I encounter this effect almost daily from the outside and observe the division of clients into four clearly different categories:
– The first are logical .
They take into account all kinds of KPIs and formal decision-making rules. They only trust facts and proven recipes. Even with an outwardly relatively calm attitude to risk, they almost do not take it in their work.
– The second are emotional and inconsistent . They also take into account any business mathematics like P&L, but rather on an emotional level. For them, the concept of “inner world” sounds far from meaningless words and they are actually interested in what is happening inside their own “I”. They, like children, can be driven away because of their failures, but at the same time they are more adaptive. And at the same time, formal logic and a career are very difficult for them.
– Third aggressive . They may or may not know formal logic, be or not be emotional, but they have an inner desire to dominate with all the ensuing consequences.
– Quadruple passive . They are no worse, just living in their inner world, where they are definitely better off than outside.
At the same time, they can be practically brilliant people, but they often find themselves in an exploited position. And this is not only about autistic effects, but about something that is beyond their rational interests.
This difference is very clear in the literature you read. When I listen to what has been read over the past year, I hear that the first group reads mainly professional literature, while the second group does not refuse fiction either, with many additions that are interesting in themselves for anthropological purposes, the third reads success stories and business literature, and the fourth is narrowly professional and fiction.
Everyone gets their own development track and this is important. Especially when it turns out for several times to solve a problem that has not been solved for years. Just the right questions, general context and great interest.
Best,
/ok
You can see your life story and do a quick personal history review and a structured autobiographical interview.
If you are interested in understanding your situation or learning how to work better with your own states, sign up for a consultation.
Share
how not only to filter information, but also to benefit from its flow — Education on vc.ru
The fact that readers’ interest in non-fiction literature has increased significantly in the past few years has been reported by publishers, marketers, and Internet ratings. This is quite understandable: constant work on oneself is the trend of our time, and in the desire to become the best version of ourselves, we strive to fill the mental and spiritual space with meaningful, developing information leading to self-knowledge. It’s no secret that no matter how smart a textbook is, live communication with its author always enriches much more. Non-fiction provides the very opportunity to interact not with a dry theory, but directly with an accomplished personality, with its philosophy and success story. At the same time, the task for the reader is not to drown in a sea of information, absorbing tons of other people’s knowledge, but to extract the maximum meaning from the book.
And, importantly, to be able to apply them in your life. How? With the help of certain tools of communication with the author, the text and oneself.
7062
views
90% of startups cease to exist due to the fact that the main carrier – the author of the idea – considers it self-sufficient and does not want to adapt its own vision to the needs of customers. The generator itself worked out a brilliant idea as much as possible and enough. Now he faces the next goal – to receive a reward for his labors, efforts, practical efforts. The thought that these works may not be very necessary for a solvent buyer does not occur to a startup. Therein lies the key contradiction. After all, it would be logical for him not to close himself within the framework of his own request and interests, but to go beyond them and find out what people breathe, what needs need to be satisfied, and why spend so much time on something that no one asks you about and, perhaps, will never ask you?
But the bearer of the idea promotes his stubbornness (and entrepreneurship implies consistent perseverance over a long period of time), as a result of which he encounters a wall of misunderstanding, exhaustion of resources, and in most cases the idea remains misunderstood and unaccepted in order to be developed and live its own life.
There is what is called a “wall” in the marathon, a mental obstacle generated by the wrong distribution of forces and the mistakes of the preparatory stage.
Usually the “wall” covers the runner when there is not so much left to the finish line – approximately at the 38th kilometer. The pace at this distance may not fall, but the athlete finds himself in a mental trap, assuring that the finish line will never come. Muscles refuse to obey, fatigue sets in such that it is easier to lie down and die. All this is akin to the failure of a startup.
Demand, on the one hand, can be born from a direct appeal, a request for a service or help. And on the other hand, from observing the space, the ability to isolate the real needs of customers from the information noise.
One day I noticed that my daughter, due to her naivety, considers it almost her duty to take the initiative and work ahead of the curve, coming to the aid of someone who needs it: she tries to suggest something to her classmates, add, pass on, and so on.
After these observations, I realized that it was time to talk to her, because I myself am convinced that it is necessary to help only in those cases when they sincerely ask. So I explained to my daughter: if they don’t ask, then it’s not necessary, the need for your help can exist exclusively in your picture of the world, and people simply don’t need it. And do you know how it ended? Once we were approaching the Slavyansky Boulevard metro station and saw a beggarly dressed woman loudly begging for alms. The daughter looked at her and said: “Mom, she is not sincerely asking for help, otherwise she could go, for example, to school – at least there you can earn money for food in the school cafeteria.”
Books for me are also a kind of personal startup, a way to promote my own innovative ideas and discoveries. Writing, subsequent design and publication of a work is a real production, quite complex and very reminiscent of the launch of a project with its scaling from concept to circulation.
I treat my book “The Inevitable Process of Exploring Space” exactly as a product, because I care if it gathers dust on the shelf in the store or if it is bought up like hot cakes and translated into different languages. Yes, I want my book to be a popular, useful and high-quality product, so I carefully listen to what people around say about it, what moods prevail and what thoughts it is important to convey to people today.
Since December, I have literally plunged headlong into the writing process. The manuscript is read by a tutor (asks questions to the text), mentors watch (also ask questions), producers evaluate. Almost every one of them, after reading the text, was interested in the same thing: “Will there be assignments for the chapters?”
– Assignments? I rolled my eyes in surprise. “This is not a children’s book. This is a Book, a serious work, for successful people who have reached their ceiling and are looking for new ways for development. What other tasks? What, readers should feel like schoolchildren who are obliged to do “homework”?
In general, I decided that assignments were an extra tool for my serious and complete book, and I easily parted with the idea that I would also have to become a tutor.
But recently, one of the producers again brought me back to this topic:
– Christina, such a book implies that the reader will be able to immediately apply your findings, your experience to themselves. Look back at your life and try to analyze it with the tools you give the reader. If after each chapter you offer him tasks: exercises, tests, questions, then your work as the creator of a unique concept will be more effective.
“I should have listened to my mentors from the very beginning,” I thought, already realizing that I almost joined the ranks of unclaimed geniuses. “This is what the market is asking for, so you must definitely respond.”
I have decided to address questions to my imaginary future reader at the end of each chapter. Having started practicing the format of such a correspondence interview, I suddenly caught myself thinking that I really like this activity. As it turned out, it’s not so easy to convey the essence of what I’m talking about through artistic images with the utmost laconism and concreteness in a few resonant questions.
But the very word “tasks” somehow strained with its official sound. I think that’s why I initially rejected the very idea suggested by my teachers and producers.
– Maybe, instead of “task”, use other options that reflect the coaching process? – suggested Ekaterina Inozemtseva, who owns almost all the secrets and techniques of writing a book.
Having adopted all available resources of the “great and mighty”, she came up with variant after variant:
– questions to herself;
– five minutes of internal dialogue;
– self-coach;
– mastering the inner space;
– time to think;
– dialogue with yourself…
– Of course, this is coaching! – it dawned on me. All insider information that is conveyed in the book is important to convey to the reader through his experience. And coaching is famous for asking the right questions to bring out the answers the person already has. You just need to look a little deeper and fully imagine the process.
This is how a new term in writing was born –
COACHMENT (from “coaching” and “mentor”) is a fragment of the book that becomes a tool for transferring insight from the author to the reader through questions.
At the same time, there can be a great many such fragments and paragraphs, and not only in a book. Friendfeed articles, just comments, casual conversations, and so on – all this is also coaching, food for thought, a message from outside. But in order to fully master the space, it is not enough just to receive confirmation of its existence – it is important to ask ourselves questions about how relevant the information heard or seen is for our own experiences and goals.
I named this space exploration tool COUMENT – from “coaching” (in the sense of the ability to ask questions) and “commentary” – any information that can create additional value.
Reading books is not just development, but development with getting deep insights on an ongoing basis.
Do you remember how long it took us to analyze the ideas of the works of great writers in literature lessons? Why? Because exposure to ideas and concepts is a growth factor.
It is difficult to imagine the process of growth without reading conceptual books and not streaming information about Samsara. It is no coincidence that the most successful people who have reached the heights, as a rule, are well-read and educated.
But you can read in different ways. There are by no means a few who have swallowed 100 million books and even memorized them. Such people talk a lot, pour out quotes, but they themselves are not really capable of doing anything. And so everyone instinctively bypasses them.
How to avoid the syndrome of an excellent student? Maybe introduce a tool that will allow you to turn the books you read into coment ?
Asking the right questions and commenting means receiving information literally from the surrounding ether: from any life situation, any image, film, any spoken or written word.
The point is to listen to the space and absorb it. Understand key signals and respond to them through the lens of your values and goals. And if necessary, then update the system of values, depending on the transformation of time and space.
I have a perpetual, that is, eternal subscription (in reality, up to 100 years) to a wonderful resource – the largest electronic library of Samarri non-fiction books – Smart Reading. In addition to the rather attractive format, I like that the creators of the library offer to pass tests after reading the summary of the book, allowing the reader to understand how much he has mastered the material. On the other hand, the resource serves as an excellent basis for the development of the coach himself, who, like any good psychologist, must in turn undergo psychotherapy himself, otherwise the principle of freshness and renewal will be violated.
The next level of mastering the text in non-fiction books is understanding the material given through your experience, goals and value system.
It’s one thing to read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, it’s another thing to ask yourself questions from your own experience to understand what level I, the reader, am at.
Coaching today is one of the most expensive development tools. A session with a coach starts from 50,000 (and this is a beginner coach), and, as a rule, communication is not limited to one meeting. For a qualitative solution of a business problem, at least 5-6 sessions are needed. And to solve life situations, coaching can last longer.
At the same time, psychological tasks are time-consuming. Just as a healthy child cannot be born before nine months, so many results are achieved through maturation, a sequence of certain processes. For example, reading books keeps the nervous system at such a speed of development that any complex change in problem solving can occur much faster and without the intervention of outside specialists. To do this, it is important to ask questions about your experience, goals, and value system.
