Posts Tagged ‘Advanced Coach Class’

Posted on August 26, 2009 - by Jus

105 | Creating Action

I have too much action in my life right now.  I am looking at all the balls I am trying to keep in the air and trying to work out how to prioritise, create structures and coordinate all the actions that I have going on in my head so that I can systematically get through them and closer to my goals.  I feel like an action figure without all my limbs right now.

I am not really someone who needs to create action – I think sometimes I need to limit it.  I am working through how best to create some structures to help me do that, along with my coach who has been really helpful at helping me to uncover why I am “never satisfied’ and even when I complete a bunch of really great actions – I am still only focusing on what is left to do, not celebrating what I have achieved already.

Which brings me to tonight’s lesson – part two of Creating Action.

Reflecting on this has been interesting, because so much of what goes on in the world is about creating actions.  If I want my child to clean his room – the quick way to do that is to tell him to do it, effectively giving him no choice or context (the why) in order to illicit the action I desire from him.  Then at the other end of the scale, in my day job as a marketer, we spend the better part of the day discussing how to create the very best context possible – through experience and storytelling – to illicit an action from an audience… that could be anything from buying, subscribing, logging on, voting, advocating or any number of other ‘desirable’ engagements marketers and brands seek every day.

But even in that last example, there is no success in just creating the context, filling the audience to the brim with all the benefits to them, the promises of the outcomes they seek… without pointing them in the right direction – towards the action you hope they will take.

Whether it’s a ‘buy now’ button on a webpage, or a form to fill in to hear more from that brand, or a URL on a piece of merchandise that you can take away to look up later, or giving you the tools to share that experience with your friends… illiciting action needs to be somewhat directional.

So how do you find the balance as a coach – the theory of a coach is that the client comes up with their own actions, right?  Most people with a brain in their head can tell you the most logical, or shortest, or most effective way to get from A to B.  Logically outlining the actions to get from where you are now, to where you want to be should be relatively simple.

But we are humans.  And therefore complex.  The actions that are valuable to one person are not valuable to another.  Which is why I believe a coach’s role in creating action with their clients is to uncover the CONTEXT – the values of that person, their strengths (and their weaknesses) and what they may actually need to take away from their life in order to pave the way for these new actions and the big goal.

This made me think about my son and all the other parents with children who try every way they can think of to get their children to take the actions that are right for them… eat more vegetables, do their homework, play outside instead of watching TV….  Perhaps there is value in taking the time (and let’s face it, it takes time) to help that child to uncover their own context.  What kind of person do they want to be?  Fit and healthy?  Smart and capable?  Let them identify what values they hold for themselves, and identify their own strengths and weaknesses.  Then they are in a position to commit to the actions they need to take to be that person.  They want to be fit and healthy?  Then they commit to eating well and staying active – if one of those is a weakness they have identified, then maybe they will ask for their parent’s help to keep them on track… meaning they are welcoming the ‘reminders’ (aka nagging) as a support to help them be what they want to be.

Hmmmm.  Something I am going to try out on my son this weekend.  I am sure there is an age threshold for this theory, but I would be interested in seeing whether this is a method of motivating kids into action without use of bribery, rewards or oodles of positive reinforcement.

What do you think?

Posted on August 14, 2009 - by Jus

Confidently Me

In a moment, I have part two of one of the most inspiring topics to date in my course.  It’s centered on the issue of “confidence” as a coach and how crucial this is in being the very best coach one can be, and the impact confidence not only has on the coaching client, but on the coach’s business.

In writing my biography this week for my website, I started to really doubt myself and my ability to be ‘taken seriously’ by potential clients given what I perceived to be large holes in my experience or credentials.  I found writing my biography really difficult, because the experience I have when it comes to parenting and children is not from formal training, it is from blood, sweat and tears… from doing it all on my own as a single parent for the past 6 years.  Does that give me the right to work with parents in the capacity as a coach? ……

The confidence class cleared that right up for me.  The very best thing that I can be for my clients is ME.  The most confident and self-assured version of me.  Because I do not plan on being all things to all people (or all parents, for that matter) but if I can stay authentic to myself and my passion, I will naturally attract people that can see the value in that.

She even made mention of a coach she knows who only coaches in the nude.  With face to face clients too, not just on the phone!  This is a man who is authentically himself and commited to his own unique style and he attracts clients that love that.

To help me to cement that, Angela Bird set us the task of describing how I can add value to people’s lives with my coaching business…. and by that she means the service my coaching business provides, not “me” per se.  And to make that even more specific… what are four things that are uniquely me and ’special’ about my service?

So here is where I am at with that very helpful challenge:

My coaching business adds value to my clients’ lives by:

• building confidence in their own parenting ability and style
• equipping them with positive family structures to assist them to be the parent they have always wanted to be
• providing them with the tools to achieve life/work/family balance and make room for themselves as a priority
• enabling access to on-going parenting skill and perception development so they can remain proactive in their parenting

Four things that are uniquely me and ’special’ about this?

ONE | The program is founded on the belief that every parent intuitively has the answers to their own value-based approach to parenting.  I will not be telling clients ‘what to do’, but helping them to build confidence in their own parenting intuition.

TWO | The program doesn’t rely on just me as a coach, it also provides way and means to connect with likeminded parents through workshops, teleseminars and group coaching.

THREE | My passion is to empower parents with a coach-approach to their lives and their families, that doesn’t necessarily require a early-childhood degree, or credentials as a ‘child expert’ – I just need to be the best coach I can be!

FOUR | The program taps into some of the best and most reputable knowledge of “parenting experts” as a platform from which my clients can build their skills and confidence as an intuitive parent.  They get all that wrapped in the package of a passionate coach who is there to support, empower and inspire them to be their greatest version of themselves!!

Posted on August 13, 2009 - by Jus

Commitment to Milestones

The lack of posting on my blog is usually a sign that I am juggling many areas of my life, over-commiting myself and attempting to achieve a number of things all at the same time.

This past couple of weeks is no different.  Since starting with my peer coach, I have felt hyper charged in the bid to launch my business, even if only as a ’soft launch’ and start to gather the momentum and experience I know I will need in order to be in a position to quit my day job in June 2010.

That’s “the goal” if you like and it’s a biggun.  For many years I have talked (a lot) about getting out of the industry I have spent over a decade with and working for myself in a business that satiated my emotional needs as well as my financial and intellectual needs… it’s always been fear that has held me back and I am determined not to let fear stand in my way any longer.

You know how some people kind of live by the seat of their pants?  Live each day as it comes and rarely let more than the next 24 hours occupy their minds?  Well… that’s definitely not me.  I am a planner.  I goal setter.  A future-focused over-thinker.  By the time I get to a situation, I have generally considered almost every possible problem or issue that could arise and have made moves to anticipate these.  It comes from being a strategic personality I guess… or maybe that is euphemism for control freak…!

So in planning for the big goal of June 2010… I have started to set some key milestones.  At the same time, I have just finished the class on Goal Setting and although I didn’t necessarily learn anything new about the way I set goals, I did learn a bit about how much I often stress myself out by scoping out every last detail of what I need to do to reach that goal and giving them timeframes… which in turn overwhelms me and panders to the perfectionist in me…. which ultimately holds me back because I then get stuck in the frame of thinking “how could I possibly launch that, do that, tick off that milestone… unless I finish all the steps first?”

Sometimes it would do me well not to plan so much.  To just set a date and commit to the milestone being finished by that date and then using whatever resources I have available to achieving it.  Not disimilar to the way I have always managed people in my teams over the course of my career… when delegating, I set the task in the form of a ‘desired outcome’ and be clear about the expectations with respect to quality, boundaries and the deadline.  Then I set that person off to achieve that outcome in whatever way they feel is best.  If I was to prescibe the path or means by which they achieved the outcome, they would simply become ‘order takers’ and not show any initative of their own.

So why do I find it so difficult to use this theory with my own milestones?  Define the outcome, establish acceptable expectations for quality, boundaries and the deadline and then let myself get there in whatever way feels right as I go through the process…. rather than meticulously planning that process and freaking myself out with how many steps are involved!

To that end, this is me, setting milestones in the form of outcomes.  And I plan on holding myself to these, so stay tuned for updates!

Milestone 1
Outcome : my brand is established/launched and I can begin to market myself.
Expectations : Includes launching my business’ website with even the most basic of content (minimum 1on1 coaching and 1 workshop service) having business cards printed and newsletter subscription service, so that I have the foundation from which to build and grow between now and June 2010.
Deadline : August 23rd, 2009

Milestone 2
Outcome : facilitating workshop confidence.
Expectations : doesn’t matter what format the first workshop is in (live or teleclass) so long as it’s conducted and feedback is recorded for future learning.  Doesn’t matter if the attendees are paying or not.
Deadline : September 10th, 2009

Milestone 3
Outcome : one on one coaching confidence.
Expectations : involves at least one ICA peer coaching client and at least one non-ICA peer coaching client for a minimum of 12 sessions per client, with feedback sought and received.
Deadline : November 8th, 2009

Posted on August 3, 2009 - by Jus

The Coaching Process

Tonight I will be taking Part 2 of the Coaching Process classes and last week we were asked to reflect on what our own coaching process might look like from the client’s point-of-view.

I have to admit, I really loved doing this as it brought all of my strategic and ‘experiential design’ experience to the table and allowed me to apply it to my new business venture.  It took me no time at all and I am really really happy with the outcome.  It will be interesting to share in tonight’s class and hear other’s feedback…  I debated whether to post it here in the public forum, but decided against it as I think I should keep some things as my own intellectual property.

In short though, I have constructed a process that looks at:

a) The emotional journey of the client – from base state of ‘curious, hopeful, skeptical’ through to the end state of ‘breakthrough, elation, achievement, success’ that takes into account the natural ebbs and flows as the client faces setbacks, doubts, challenging perspectives and underlying automatic commitments.

b) Then it profiles the Coaching Process from the perspective of the Client, outlining what they can expect to be supported with across the course of their journey, and

c) The Coaching Process from the perspective of the Coach, including the tools that may be most beneficial at each stage of the journey for the Client. 

b) and c) naturally intersect but this helps me to define the way in which to communicate the process to the client without confusing them with “coach terminology”.

I am really looking forward to using this to assist me to develop my Coaching Model (for assessment purposes as well as for the success of my coaching business) and to guide the copywriting for my Welcome Pack for new clients.

Posted on July 30, 2009 - by Jus

Wow, so much reflection, so little time…

This week I managed to squeeze six classes and two trial coaching sessions (where I was the client) in to my normal work/family/life… *phew*.  It took a lot of juggling, but it’s part of my goal to ’break the back’ of my coaching study, which will not only help me to stay motivated, but will get me a little bit closer to feeling comfortable enough to start to try to coach people…

But with that level of activity comes a whole lotta reflection.  I feel like my mind has expanded two-fold this week alone…  let me recap with:

THE TOP 5 THINGS THAT HAVE CHANGED MY THINKING THIS WEEK

ONE | during a class, another student made a comment that was completely changed my perspective on how to ask for, and give effective feedback… she said that she asks her clients “What do you want more of from me?  What do you want less of from me?“  It’s so simple and yet so powerful to frame feedback in this way, rather than from a place of judgement such as what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’.  I am going to use this feedback tactic in so many areas of my life.

TWO | someone, somewhere, somehow made the declaration that for a human to feel empty is a bad thing.  If someone said to you “I’m feeling empty, talk to me” how would you respond?  Would you try to fill them up with positive feedback and reasons not to feel empty?  Or would you recognise that perhaps that person had just made room for something new in themselves and you had an amazing opportunity to talk about yourself with that person without fear of judgement?  That, I guess, is a roundabout way of explaining that as a coach (or a friend, or wife, or mother, or colleague for that matter!) to master power listening I must approach a client with a sense of emptiness in myself.  Clear myself of thoughts and feelings and opinions and make room for something new – my client’s perspective.

THREE | when there is silencein a conversation, how do you feel?  Awkward?  Uncomfortable?  Like you need to fill the silence with speaking?  I’d be interested in hearing if anyone knows of a culture in which silence is revered and cultivated (ok, so Buddhism is an obvious one that comes to mind) because I’d like to see if that culture’s reasons are similar to the reason I need to learn to be comfortable with silence as a coach… essentially if I can do this, I will be using a very powerful coaching technique, equivalent to the ability to ask powerful questions.  You see, my clients will more than likely not be comfortable with silence, and so if I can create silence, they will more that likely feel the urge to fill that silence and in doing so will share more of themselves with me, perhaps some of what they may have held back otherwise. 

FOUR | this week it became clear to me that the work I do in my current role is going to come in very handy as I work towards building my coaching model and process for my business.  In my day job, I work with strategies for taking a given audience on a journey from indifference, to insight and into action.  It’s a journey that is designed for marketing clients and therefore the actions are usually purchase, log on, subscribe, invest, etc.  It will be this same strategic thinking and journey design that will help me to build my coaching model and a powerful tool for delivering results for my clients.  That really excites me!  While it’s not a complete change in my thinking, it’s a change in the way I can utilise existing thinking for my new pathway.

FIVE| also this week I had a few interceptions from the universe (one was actually an argument with my husband – a very productive one because…) that brought me to uncover and completely commit to my niche for my coaching business.   In order to get there, I had to dig deep and ask myself the reasons why my previous niche thoughts just weren’t sitting right with me and then really give some thought to what I am passionate about and will derive emotional fulfillment from if I pursue it as a career.  Where did I arrive?  I plan on empowering instinctive parents to create positive family structures to raise happy, healthy and balanced kids.  (Big thanks goes to my new peer coach for helping me with that elevator pitch!)  Stay tuned for much more to come as I build the business and take it live.

So there you have it – a week of reflection and massive broadening of my thinking horizons.  I’d love you to make a comment about what you experienced this week that changed your thinking…!  Go on, don’t be shy.

Posted on July 21, 2009 - by Jus

104 | Goal Setting

I thought my class about Goal Setting was going to be pretty straight forward, probably because I’ve never really found that I have any problems in setting goals for myself, or my determination to achieve them.  However it was a really great class, mostly due to my new favourite ICA Trainer – Michael Moniz.  This guy has such an incredible energy and such a brilliant way about him, he brings a lightness to his Life Coaching when it can be so very easy to get all heavy when it comes to exploring issues of goal setting or barriers to achieving these goals.

So why was my goal setting class so great?  Well I learned a few things… specifically:

a) how to work with someone whose goal is to work out their goals…!
b) how to spot an overachiever, a goal-setting master who may not be as masterful at moving into action towards those goals… and how to have that conversation with them.
c) how to work with someone that is incredibly lost and apathetic about everything
d) how to help a client create goals that are aligned to their personal values, and how this inspires and motivates them more.

One of the things I loved about Michael was the way he explained his method of deflecting that loaded question “what do you think I should do?” or “what would you do in this situation?”… because a life coach’s role is not to offer advice, or even situational guidance or their personal opinion, a great life coach will help the client to arrive at their own conclusion.

We’ve all grown up with the SMART rule of setting goals, but recently I undertook an exercise as part of a magazine I read regularly called Empower.  In their goal setting tool, they explore this method of goal setting:

spEcific	Write specifically what it is you want to achieve by a specific date.
Meaningful	How will you feel once you have achieved your goal? Make it powerful.
insPiring	Why do you want this goal? What is the motivating factor that will help you get what you want?
pOsitive	Write your goal in terms of what you DO want instead of what you DON’T want.
oWn it!	Your goal needs to be about you, not about changing someone else.
prEsent	Write your goal as if you have already achieved it (eg. ‘I weigh 64kg’ instead of, ‘I will weigh 64kg’).
Realistic	Ensure your goal is realistic in the timeframe chosen.

I found this to be really helpful (in addition to SMART of course) because what it builds for you is a goal that might look something like this:

It is the 31st of October 2009 and I feel so proud.  I am vegetarian and attending the gym twice a week.  I am seeing at least one friend socially once per week.  I have completed a quarter of my life coaching course. I feel inspired and healthy.  Because when I am happier in myself, I am happier in my relationship.

Isn’t that powerful?  And empowering!!

So for my Goal Setting reflection exercise, here are my answers:

Think about a goal that you have set for yourself in the past.  Did you achieve your goal or not?

I have set so many goals in my time, this is hard to answer.  Usually when I set my mind to something, I achieve it – it’s all in the commitment vs trying thing – if I am commited, I absolutely achieve it 100% of the time.   My 101 List is an example of my willingness to set goals and perserverence to achieve them.

In light of the points we looked at in the course, why do you think you had this outcome?

The process I have of setting goals for myself, identifying what needs to be done to achieve it, monitoring any obstacles that may present themselves and celebrating my achievements is fairly innate in my character – but seeing them all written down as a structured “goal setting and achieving” process made me realise that this is also exactly why I have had so many successes in my life and, as my mother would say, always landed on my feet.

How can you keep your goals foremost in the front of your mind?

For me it is all about writing them down and diarising tasks or appointments as stepping stones to help me achieve them.  Simple as that!

Posted on July 19, 2009 - by Jus

103 | Creating Structures

Today I did a class that is part of the Advanced Coaching Module and it was about Creating Structures for my coaching business.  What that means is creating some upfront systems, standards and policies that are designed to manage a client’s expectations when they agree to hire me as their coach.  It was a really interesting discussion, particularly hearing from the class leader – Michael – who shared with us a lot about how he structures his coaching relationships and the boundaries he puts into place.

I still have another class to take in this subject, but for now, here is my reflection piece:

What structures are you going to put in place that will direct the logistics of how you work with clients?

For me, I think it’s important to outline clearly the areas of fees, or specifically the different coaching packages I will offer including what is included in each and the costs (creating expectations about what you get for your money) and it will also be important to create guidelines around appointments; scheduling, rescheduling, cancelling, being late and any associated policies.  It will also be crucial to be clear that a new client is signing on initially for a minimum of 12 weeks (3 months) and then we will evaluate their need to continue at that juncture.

That sort of thing will be made clear in my Welcome Pack to clients, but I think I will also need to develop guidelines for myself to ensure that I can identify when a client may need a different coach, or therapy instead, or when they are not moving forward so that we can take the time to discuss why that might be.  Being clear on when to have a discussion with a client about whether this is the right time in their lives for a life coach will be a significant thing for me to create some guidelines for myself.

Additional guidelines I will need to create as part of my business plan will be how I will advertise for new clients, how I will incentivise referrals from existing clients, how often I will follow-up with ex-clients and how I will market myself to prospective clients.

What will be your client’s most common questions?

I guess I won’t know this until I commence coaching people, but I would think that I will need to be clear on the following in my Welcome Pack FAQs:

What is coaching?  And what it is not.
How can coaching be effective over the phone rather than in person?
What credentials I have.
How soon can the client expect to see results?
An outline of what to expect from your first coaching session.
What some of the benefits of coaching are.
How to know if you can benefit from coaching right now.
Logistics such as how long sessions are, how they are conducted, how payments are made, appointment/cancellation policies etc
Short-term vs long-term coaching benefits.

Perhaps my readers can tell me, what would your most burning questions be for a new life coach you were considering hiring?

Five years from now, what difference could it make to your coaching practice to have standards you commit to and meet for your clients?

Very simply, this is what will establish credibility and respect as a professional coach.  That can only have positive ramifications for any income stream I choose to develop for my coaching practice.