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This page includes a number of articles and newsletters. Any piece on this page may be downloaded and reprinted in its entirety, provided that the copyright and contact information at the end remains intact, no changes or deletions are made without explicit written permission, and a copy or description of the use is provided to me at ds@dougsilsbee.com. Thank you for respecting this request.
Change Letters, 1994-1997
Published Business Articles
Greenland Essay
New Additions
Working with Subtle Habits is written for coaches. The article goes more in depth into mindfulness and habits for coaches. First presented at International Coaching Federation and International Association of Facilitators conferences.
About Habits and Self-Observation
is a brief piece written for my clients. The article describes the nature of habits,
and the principle of self-observation, and is relevant to anyone
interested in development. A more expanded and recent version, including more on somatic self-observation, is here.
Change Letters, 1994 - 1997
This first set consists of letters were sent to clients and colleagues in the mid-1990’s as occasional newsletters written to describe change “from the inside out.” I sought to articulate for myself and others what I was learning experientially about major change. They are reprinted here.
Letter 1 (10/1994) describes the process of leaving a business I had co-founded to go out on my own.
Letter 2 (02/1995) talks about creating on-going change and renewal, and the nature of mastery. Some of the concepts in George Leonard’s book, Mastery, are discussed here.
Letter 3 (09/1995) describes moving our family from a small town in North Carolina to Asheville, the reasons for the change, and the experience of letting go of a dream that had become limited.
Letter 4 (03/1996) discusses taking up the saxophone, and how taking any leap into a new thing requires a shift in our sense of ourselves.
Letter 5 (03/1997) is about the building and opening of Bend of Ivy Lodge, our retreat center in North Carolina.
Letter 6 (11/1997) discusses the challenges of self-care and staying excited about a vision when the novelty wears off!
Published Business Articles
The following articles, among others, were published in a variety of business journals, including Inside Business Online, Broker Agent News, What Works in Teaching and Learning, Manager’s Intelligence Report, Customer Service Newsletter, Curriculum Review, and Virginia Journal of Education.
Establishing a Coaching Relationship with Subordinates distinguishes between performance management and developmental coaching, and suggest strategies to optimize the possibilities of true coaching with your subordinates.
Problems as Coaching Opportunities: Asking Artful Questions identifies issues with traditional approaches to problem-solving, and suggests question-asking strategies to engage employees more in thinking and solving problems.
Connect With Your Employees by Conquering These Leadership Challenges invites any leader to be more mindful in your relationships, and suggests some simple strategies for doing so.
Using Creative Feedback Strategies to Develop Self-Correcting Employees explores a number of unusual ways to provide feedback, with the goal of encouraging your people to become more self-correcting.
Develop Your Employees Through Questions, Not Answers
suggests that answering employee’s questions can lead to dependency, and that using skillful questions encourages self-reliance and builds capabilities.
Bringing Mindfulness to the Helping Professions was written for helping professionals, and describes both the benefits of cultivating your own mindfulness, and some practical approaches
for doing so.
Greenland Essay
Lastly, an unpublished essay, with photos, on a July 2005 sea kayaking trip to West Greenland describes the visceral, inspiring, and humbling experience of being a human witnessing massive geological and climate change.
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