Whit Mitchell Archives - Price Associates

ZOOMED! How to Make Your Next Call Memorable

What are you looking at during your Zoom calls?

How do I look….is my hair working today…what are others wearing…what books are on their bookshelf….why are they not showing their face…..I love their artwork….who keeps walking by in the background….I hear people speaking…turn on your mute.

Albert Mehrabian developed a communication model, which demonstrated that only 7% of what we communicate consists of the literal content of the message. The use of one’s voice, such as tone, intonation and volume, make up 38%, and as much as 55% of communication consists of body language.

Working InSync and Price Associates Join Forces

Whit Mitchell, CEO and Founder of Working InSync, is pleased to announce that he has joined forces with Price Associates, bringing his years of executive coaching and team building experience to the team. The two companies have been working closely together on client projects for over 12 years. They will go forward operating under the Price Associates brand.

“Having been a crew coach, I strongly value teams, and working with the Price Associates team has been an excellent fit,” said Mitchell. “Our work together over the years has provided enhanced value and opportunity to both Working InSync and Price Associates clients. The Price team has a strong bench of knowledge and diversity, and I am proud to be a part of it.”

“We are very excited about this merger,” said Ron Price, CEO of Price Associates. “After our years of working together, it was a natural next step to officially join forces. Whit has brought a wealth of experience to the team at Price Associates, and I am honored to partner with him in an official capacity.” Read More

7 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Executive Coach

By Whit Mitchell

I was recently called by a young, first-time CEO of a software company in Boston who was looking to hire an executive coach. She announced that she would interview others and me, and then make a decision. I told her that I had some questions to make sure it was the right “fit” before agreeing to work together. She had 30 minutes for the call.

She told me a bit about her personal and organizational challenges, followed by questions for me about my process, my fees, stories of my past successes, my work with new CEOs and new mothers, and length of time working together. These were all questions that would be important for me to share and her to learn. However, the call ended with, “And what questions should I have asked?” I had opened the conversation with a request to interview her so I could better analyze her situation and understand the key outcomes she would want to achieve during our work together. Unfortunately, there was no more time left for these questions.

A Direct Approach to Resolve Conflict with a Coworker

By Whit Mitchell

It probably won’t surprise you that in my line of work, I tend to do a lot of team conflict resolution. Coworker disagreements and conflict are common in most workplaces, as we attempt to blend a variety of personalities, preferences and behaviors into a single team.

When I get a call that two colleagues are not working well together, I have a process that I follow—and it’s produced successful results over the years. I start by having both parties complete the TTI Success Talent Insights Assessment, which measures their behaviors (the “how” they do something) and their driving forces (the “why” they do something). I have each of them take this assessment before I even meet them. I take a look at those two reports, and I can pinpoint with accuracy what’s going on, even before I hear the whole story.

What Not to Do in 2019

By Whit Mitchell

At this time of year, there is no shortage of people telling us what to do to make the next year a success. I’m going to take a slightly different approach and tell you what not to do.

Don’t set goals that sound good.
Instead of shooting blindly ahead, now is a great time to look back on 2018. What worked well for you this year? What didn’t work so well? What could have gone better? And what can you change to see success? Don’t fall into the trap of setting lofty goals that look good on paper or sound good when you say them out loud. You may miss reaching them in if they aren’t realistic, or if you don’t have a passion for achieving them. Think SMART when setting goals, and make sure they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.

Are You Meeting the Needs of Your Team?

By Whit Mitchell

When you think back on your life, can you pinpoint what helped shape who you are today? Perhaps it was a person—someone who saw greatness inside of you and helped you discover your worth. Maybe it was a profound experience—something that helped you discover the value of life and those around you. For 11 young athletes back in 1982, one of those life-shaping times occurred during Dartmouth freshman crew, class of ’86. I was their coach, and they were my team. My experience coaching those freshmen was one of the richest in my entire sports coaching career.

The Four Commitments of Inner Circle Coaching

By Whit Mitchell

My favorite method of executive coaching (and by far the most impactful for my clients) is called Inner Circle Coaching. It is a team effort that relies on feedback and partnership from a leader’s inner circle to help that leader see his or her blind spots, and to create long-term success and changed behaviors.

Why do it this way? In order to create change, I’ve found that it is extremely effective to involve the people who work directly with the leader I am coaching. The leader’s inner circle has better access to the leader, which gives them invaluable observations. The person being coached chooses five or six people as their inner circle—bosses, peers, direct reports, colleagues. These are people whose opinions matter to the leader. Read More

Are You in a Leadership Rut?

5 Ways to Break Old Habits and Shake Things Up

By Whit Mitchell

Many of us have experienced times in our careers when work seemed stale and personal progress slowed. This can be particularly true for a leader, especially if you’ve been leading for a while. Leaders can find themselves sticking with a single leadership style, instead of adapting and trying new approaches. But the pace of change demands that leaders continue growing. Those who don’t will find themselves in a leadership rut.

Not only are technology and consumer needs constantly evolving, but so is the workforce, with new generations entering the workplace who demand to be managed in a different way. Leaders need to engage each of their employees and help them reach their full potential, and adaptive leadership is the way to do it. Read More

Creating a Common Goal

In this short video, Executive Coach and Team Dynamics Specialist Whit Mitchel talks about Teamwork. He discusses why this leadership skill is important, offers ways to assess your present teamwork capacity, and talks about the four phases of teamwork.

Make Your Team Better with DISC

By Whit Mitchell

Why do people lose their jobs? Managers hire for skill, but they rarely fire for incompetence. Instead they fire because of bad behavior.

“Bad” behavior comes in many forms. It can be behavior that the manager doesn’t understand, or a reaction to a recent responsibility change or a promotion. What if you had a tool to understand employee behavior? What if that tool could even help you anticipate where an employee might succeed, where an employee might struggle, or where conflict on the team might appear? Well you do, and it’s called DISC. Read More

12 3 4 5 6 7

5 Ways to Break Old Habits and Shake Things Up

OUR THINKING