The YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit’s I Rise Family Empowerment Program

For more than 15 years, Dr. Sandra Schiff has leveraged her experience as a consultant and life coach in her role as president of Health Mate, Inc. Dr. Sandra Schiff concurrently holds a part-time position as a life and career coach for the I Rise Family Empowerment Program (I Rise) with the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit.

Established in partnership with the United Way of Southeastern Michigan, the YMCA’s I Rise program supports employed parents by giving them the tools they need to accomplish their personal goals. Participating parents receive child care services while attending the YMCA’s numerous forums and life coaching sessions.

At the start of the program, personal and career coaches conduct an initial phone call with participants to identify their overall objectives. The coaches then follow up with bi-weekly phone calls to monitor each person’s progress. Complementing these sessions, the YMCA offers monthly forums that cover informational and inspirational topics such as resume building and career growth. I Rise also provides needs-based child care subsidies to help parents move closer to their goals

Tips for Active Listening

Sandra Schiff, PhD, has extensive experience in career, leadership, and life-transition coaching, helping clients to reach their personal and professional goals. Among the skills Dr. Sandra Schiff emphasizes is active listening.

With so many distractions and responsibilities, many people have trouble staying involved and in the present moment. For instance, leaders in business settings might find it difficult to give a co-worker’s viewpoint their full and undivided attention. As a result, misunderstandings can take place and leaders’ effectiveness decreases. However, by implementing several techniques, individuals can improve their active-listening skills.

For instance, when in conversation, the listener should look interested in what the speaker is saying. Some ways to do this include making eye contact and turning one’s body toward the speaker. The listener should set cell phones, reports, and other distractions aside so as to better focus on the speaker’s message.

Another key part of active listening is to focus on the speaker’s ideas without leaping to judgment or allowing one’s biases to get in the way. A person’s feelings toward a topic often act as distractions, to the point where listeners can miss ideas the speaker wants to communicate. Similarly, the listener should avoid interrupting, instead allowing the speaker to continue while saving relevant questions for pauses in the conversation.