Coaching Conversations in 2025
Coaching Conversations with Tim Hagen, where we teach leaders and managers how to coach their employees. This is the ideal podcast for leaders, managers, and aspiring leaders to improve their coaching and leadership skills to create a more positive coaching culture within their teams.
In 2025, we're doing weekly podcasts on various coaching topics and strategies that will rotate throughout the month, as opposed to 2024 where the weekly episodes featured a monthly theme. Coaching Conversations will continue to have four episodes per month and we're going to sprinkle in masterclasses, which will be lengthier, workshop-style formats.
We also invite you to join the new FREE e-publication, the Workplace Coaching Times founded by Tim Hagen. This weekly newsletter contains expert insights on coaching strategies on specific topics like sales coaching, leading with empathy, and self-awareness techniques, and much more. We're a community of leaders, managers and coaches transforming workplace challenges into coaching victories—one conversation at a time. Subscribe here: https://coachingtimes.beehiiv.com/subscribe
Coaching Conversations in 2025
We Are All Full of Shit at Some Point
Imagine if you could unlock abilities within yourself to push past the status quo and truly improve your craft. That's exactly what we're delving into today, exploring the power of self-awareness and the value of continuous improvement. We reflect on how our journey to success isn't always a straight line and discuss the role of grit in shaping our path. We ponder on the importance of being realistic with ourselves, particularly about the efforts we invest and how that translates to our growth.
Ever wondered how you can cultivate grit, finding that burning passion and letting it fuel your growth? We examine this intriguing topic, sharing an inspiring tale of overcoming adversity and achieving success with the help of a mentor. We uncover the essence of self-reflection and the incessant quest for enhancement, leaving you with insights from Angela Duckworth's influential book "Grit." This episode promises to fill your mind with ideas on discovering your passion, nurturing grit and taking responsibility for your own learning and development. So gear up for a thought-provoking exploration of personal growth!
Welcome to Coaching Conversations
We have created a NEW and Innovative line of books called Workplace Coaching Books. These books use QR codes with embedded audio and video lessons speaking directly to the reader. Each book comes with assessments and journal based coaching pages where they document what they've learned and what they've applied. In addition each book comes with the self analysis link that prompts them to share what they've learned and what they've put into action leading to greater learner application a
Progress Coaching 360 is a dynamic leadership development system that equips managers and teams with powerful coaching skills through a blend of training, real-time practice, peer learning, and feedback. It combines expert-led instruction, a train-the-trainer model, group coaching certification, and monthly coaching pods where leaders practice, share wins, and tackle challenges. With built-in accountability and hands-on application using Coaching Cards and best practice sessions, Progress Coaching 360 turns coaching from theory into action—building a sustainable culture of growth, feedback, and performance.
Progress Coaching 360 teaches leaders how to coach and employees how to develop coachability skills. This unique combination helps build great workplace cultures.
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You know, when you've been doing coaching and working with people and also being coached, you know. The one thing I've really learned more than anything is that we're all full of shit At some point in our life. We are full of shit when we think about self deception and not telling ourselves the truth. How often do we have situations where somebody gets a job that somebody went for and the person who didn't get the job says they weren't qualified. The interview wasn't fair. Rarely will you ever hear somebody say you know what? You was more qualified candidate. Let me give further context Salespeople. Now, I'm a salesperson as well, so this is not just picking a part of vertical industry and disparaging it. Yet people don't hit quota because they don't practice. Sales reps, for the most part, are full of shit. The people who really practice get better. You know what we always hear in our business Gosh, if we only had time. If you're not going to practice your craft, whether it's service sales, what have you? Leadership, handling conflict? Guess what happens? You're not going to get better, you're going to maintain status quo. What you do not practice, you maintain status quo. So think about that. The reason being at the heart of everything is self-awareness, looking in the mirror and really being honest. All of us present company included, at some point in our life or, sadly, on a regular basis. We are full of shit Every one of us at some point in our life.
Speaker 1:I share this podcast episode with you because I'm reading a book called Grit by Angela Duckworth. I've read it. I'm now listening to it for a second time on audacity. I love it and she talks about we hire for talent, yet we don't cultivate skills. Now I'm paraphrasing some of her teachings that what she has found is that the most successful people are the ones who have grit, passion and perseverance over a lengthy period of time. It's that simple.
Speaker 1:Now I think about teaching leaders how to coach. For 31 years, I've had people, up until about five, six years ago, saying why don't you do something different? I said because I know the industry needs this. Now, sadly, the pandemic has been very good to us. If leaders are not coaching, we're basically saying to people I don't have time for you, I'm not going to schedule time for you because I'm so busy, but please don't quit the company. Now, if I'm being sarcastic in terms of my tone, I am. I'm sick of arguing with people why they need to coach, why they need to practice their craft as a salesperson or as a service person or as a leader.
Speaker 1:Employees, quit complaining about benefits and pay. You want to increase your pay? Don't rely on a company. Rely on yourself. Ask yourself honestly what am I doing outside of my job to raise my game, to increase my certifications, to increase my learning? What does that next interview look like? Where somebody says I've got to have this guy or gal because you know what they have? Grit. They are pursuing excellence on a regular basis. Now I'm going to say it Ask people, wait for the company to train them. At the end of the day, at some level higher, low most of us, if not all of us, have been full of shit. We just are.
Speaker 1:You know, I was a 0.7 grade point average in college. I was a semester away from getting kicked out of the UW school system. I had every reason why it wasn't me. And then I had a great counselor, dr Carlton Beck, say what do you want to do? I said I have no idea. He said all right, what's your passion? He goes I love volleyball, so let's get you into a PE class for volleyball. I'm like huh, I don't want to be a physical education teacher because that's okay, let's get you into some things you enjoy and I'll never forget he found a way to get people back into school, yet to have fun. So my association with this thing called school right a 0.7 grade point became a little bit more fun and pleasurable. And then he said well, what do you like to do? I said, well, I'd like to teach Like what? Well, you know physical education, fitness, but I don't want to be a school teacher. He said okay. He said where would you do that? I said I don't know, but I like the corporate world. So a lot of people don't know this about me. I am the first person to start a new now, or fitness program at Northwestern Mutual almost 40 years ago. As a junior in college I made almost $35,000 a year.
Speaker 1:Guess what I really fell in love with Entrepreneurship. See, our evolution is a squiggly road. It's not a straight line. Now, for those who accomplish it on a straight line, good for you. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Most people don't find their passion, and if you don't find your passion, how are you going to have perseverance over a period of time? If you kind of don't know what you want to do, then we all lose sight of our passions. We come up with reasons like well, I have kids and I started to family and you know I'm so busy, we're full of shit, you're full of shit. And the less shit we're full of, the better things they're going to get. Because what I found out when I went and interviewed with IBM I went from a 0.7 to a magical 2.2. You needed a 3.8 to get into the program. Think about people helping you out. And I'll never forget Jerry Vite.
Speaker 1:My boss was boss at IBM. He said your grades are deplorable. Why would we hire you? That was his first interview question. He's looking out the window on Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee, wisconsin. I told myself I'm not going to answer until he turns around. I got to have eye contact so he knows I'm sincere. He turned around and I said, jerry, I can give you a million reasons and if I can have permission to say it openly. And he said go ahead. I said they're all bullshit. The fact is I had fun, I partied. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I think I'm getting closer.
Speaker 1:But when you look at my grade point from a 0.7 to a 2.2 in less than a year, I've kind of fallen back in love with school. I love adult education, I love coaching, I love training. I'll make you a deal. I sealed the deal, by the way. He said what's the deal? I said any semester I go below a 3.5, you fire me on the spot. I'll never forget it. I was terrified. I sound confident now. I wasn't what I offered it and he looked at me just stunned and he goes you got it In two and a half years on a college internship at IBM. He never once asked me for those grades. He could see how hard I was working. Yet I always brought him my grades. I made a commitment.
Speaker 1:I started to develop grit. 31 years later I'm preaching the gospel of leadership coaching. Now are there parts of my life where I'm like Jesus? I should have more grit. I should lose weight Absolutely. Grit is passion and perseverance over time. It's maintaining a sticktuitiveness, a relentlessness to go from point A to point B, to point C and so on.
Speaker 1:All too often people wanna go from point A to point Z and they wanna skip the steps. If it worked that way, everybody would be doing it. Yes, there are people who can do that. It's rare. Some people are naturally talented.
Speaker 1:Think about this for a second. If you have someone working for you that's naturally talented and you have someone who comes in at the same level of talent yet they weren't naturally talented but they told you a story, a narration of here's what I do to continually get better which person would you hire? See, we look at resumes. All this person's smart. They've got talent. This is a great salesperson. Let's hire the resume. If they're so great, why are they interviewing with you? It's because there's certain parts of their prior experience where they're full of shit. So think about yourself, think about people around you, think about, hopefully, what I've said and hopefully I've triggered some thought. I know it has with me. When I'm listening to Angela Duckworth's book. I'm looking in the mirror, thinking, yeah, that's an area I need to explore more and I've kind of ignored it, meaning I'm kind of full of shit. Good luck.