The Bridge: Building Coaches, Connection, and Curiosity

In this, our 29th episode, we close season one and look back over the journey so far. A few memories, a few observations, and some important summaries of what the takeaways we hope you carry with you from our first season. We'll be back at the first of 2027 after we take some time to refit, retool, and realign the podcast for the future. Have a great fourth quarter to 2026 and join us ready to fly...

When trouble comes it can be a challenge to keep your head and not give in to panic. In the 1990s, Lufthansa Airlines and The German Aviation Association developed the FOR-DEC model for just such situations. The great new is: it's not just for airline pilots. It works for leaders and coaches, too! Contact us at: taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com

The Imposter Syndrome - it can make you miserable, steal your joy, and worst of all rob the world of your voice! In this episode Taylor takes the lead in sharing ideas and a strategy to overcome this imposter. Contact us at: taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com

COGS is a model for quickly bridging a general conversation into a focused, productive transformational interaction. In this episode we discuss the role of blockages in problem-solving, what a problem really is, and how COGS can facilitate this smoothly and naturally. For a pdf reference guide to COGS contact us at: taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com

Leadership can be lonely; so can helping leaders. In this episode Taylor explores the value of peer coaching and how you can benefit from it. Things like: the vulnerability gap, the difference between a hired coach and a peer, how do you get started, and more! Contact us at taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com

The unspoken assumptions we hold about ourselves and others can become obstacles to transformative communication. In this episode Taylor shares a strategy to reframe assumptions and clear the way for transparency in our interactions and getting somewhere in our collaboration. Contact us at taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com

In this episode we learn the rules of North America's most popular game: Name Names & Nurture. It is a game none of us have received coaching in, but every one of us is an expert at. Contact us at: taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com

What would you think if someone suggested to you that the most creative thing you could do is absolutely nothing. Jerry Seinfeld built a successful television show around "a show about nothing". While we are not advocating quite the same thing, it is true that in certain situations laying down your tools and allowing your brain to consolidate input can lead to valuable insights and solutions. Foll...

In this episode we explore a tremendous tool for discovering your client's "map of the world". Rebecca West once observed that we don't have conversations, all we have is intersecting monologues! SMART Listening gives you four MI_TY Questions that help you identify what your client means by what they say and a five level analysis tool to decode the Size, Movement,Attention, Reaction Style, and Tim...

What happens when you come to a place in coaching where the transformational conversation just gets "stuck"? This episode identifies the four "stalls" that occur in transformational conversations and the four personalities you may encounter, along with strategies for moving them forward. If you have struggled with the "awkward pause" that sometimes rears its head in coaching conversations where th...

G.K. and Taylor explore the balance between praise and challenge in coaching conversations. We cover the 4 Types of Coaches/Leaders, having those hard conversations with underperforming reports or clients, reframing our mindset toward challenging people we are coaching, and how Positive Psychology supports healthy challenges, and the power of focusing on the person rather than the problem. Contact...

In this episode Taylor and G.K. investigate Shadow Coaching, which is a mindset that includes contingency planning and making room for unintended consequences. We will explore the yin/yang nature of success, using the FOAMI model in contingency planning, and how to strike the balance between naive optimism and paralyzing skepticism. Contact us at: taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com

In this episode we discuss the eternal challenge of coaching in the midst of all the time and resource challenges leaders face. We cover basic strategies, "how to's", and the value of selecting the precise outcome you want to coach someone towards in order to save time and increase effectiveness. We also explore how the coaching mindset makes coaching more organic to your leadership style. Contact...

The episode marks the final discussion of The Pinch Package, a model for renegotiating expectations and roles in relationships and keeping them fresh and alive. In this episode we talk about how to set up and navigate a "Pinch Meeting", where new information is incorporated into the relationship, new expectations are negotiated, and our roles in relation to each other and/or the organization are m...

In this episode Taylor and G.K. continue sharing The Pinch Package, a key tool for understanding and keeping relationships current and dynamic. We talk about why relationships that were once vibrant can cool over time; the four dysfunctional responses to a "Crunch" and how "Planned Renegotiation" is a more effective strategy. For a free pdf of The Pinch Package, contact us at: taylorsbridgecast@gm...

This episode introduces "The Pinch Package", a model for understanding and maintaining strong relationships. A challenging assertion is made: We don't make commitments to each other, we can only be committed to the roles we play in each other's lives. Taylor and G.K. discuss the part roles play in relationships and the dynamic of renegotiating expectations in the key relationships of our lives. Co...

In this episode Taylor and G.K. discuss the key differences between individual coaching and group coaching. Group coaching is not facilitating, presenting, keynoting, or group training. It is navigating transformational conversation with more than one person at a time. Key points covered are: group vs. individual coaching dynamics, unique demands of group transformation, the Self-Disclosure Loop,...

In this episode, Taylor and G.K. discuss the sales gremlin called Objections. For many people objections are things to be feared. In truth they are vital and valuable allies to salespeople and negotiators. Objections reveal the fears and concerns the person you are negotiating with is holding. Sometimes they are merely ways to slow down the conversation and to keep control of it. Even more valuabl...

In this episode Taylor and G.K. discuss making our way through those sensitive conversations including grief and loss. Coaches - while not masquerading as therapists - have many opportunities to help people at sensitive times in their lives. This episodes offers tips and experiences that we hope you find helpful. Contact us at taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com

Conflict is a part of life. Most people are uncomfortable confronting and resolving conflict and choose to ignore it or bury their heads in the sand and hope it goes away. Conflict rarely goes away or resolves itself on its own. This episode considers ways to turn conflict into a product conversation. Contact us at taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com

In this episode Taylor and G.K. discuss best practices in selling professional services. Nothing happens until someone buys what you have to offer. We talk about the mindset of ethical selling, what motivates clients to pay for our services, and how to take the resistance out of selling. Pay special attention to TEA (Think, Emote (Feel), Act) vs EAR (Emote, Act, Rationalize) Contact us at taylorsb...

Most coaching conversations start with a story—but the real issue is often hidden beneath it. In this episode, Taylor and G.K. discuss the power of Discovery Questions : intentional, open-ended questions that help uncover a client’s motivations, frustrations, resistance, pain points, goals, desired outcomes and decision-making strategies. Used well, Discovery Questions reveal the “Question Behind...

Taylor and G.K. discuss the contrasts between coaching and mentoring or teaching. Both serve valid roles in transformational relationships, yet a coach much be aware of when either is being actively engaged in. Contact us at taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com

In this episode Taylor Steinke and G.K. Self explore coaching through curiosity. Rather than a hard structured interview where the person being coached is subjected to an arbitrary agenda scripted by the coach, what happens when you scrap the agenda and focus on the person and their challenge. Agendaless does not mean no structure. The spine of the conversation - from the coach's point of view - i...

Taylor Steinke and G.K. Self discuss strategies for keeping long-term coaching clients engaged and the coaching relationship productive. We talk about ways to keep the process from growing stale and how to avoid pitfalls like moving from coaching to being buddies, and devolving from outcome-focused interactions to weekly social calls, etc. Contact us at taylorsbridgecast@gmail.com