IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 16, July 2007, Circulation: 11,477


Angela

From the Editor

The
more we are grateful, the more we receive. Do you believe that?

In
any case, I'd like to practice some gratitude by saying thanks to our wonderful
proofreader
Kathleen Richardson. Hopefully
and probably you haven't noticed her work, because you won't know how many errors
she has caught and stopped! Kathleen is an important contributor to the editorial
team making life easier for me and reading more pleasant for you. We're also
looking for more people to play certain editorial roles. If you're interested,
please join the
volunteer
team
.


Our
President Natalie Tucker-Miller also shares some thanks
and an inkling of
the scope and intensity of the work going on behind the scenes at the IAC.

One
of our Certifiers, Barbra Sundquist, has contributed a very clear and useful
article about the most common coaching mistakes people make in trying
to get certified with the IAC. If you're on the certification track, or if you
just need a reminder about what masterful coaching is, this is a quick
and helpful read.

I'm
very pleased to be able to share an article from someone who is currently a
great source of inspiration to me. Anita Moorjani is a life coach who came extremely
close to death and who not only gained incredible insight into life, but also
explains her experiences in a very clear and accessible way. She has written
a special article for us about how her experiences have changed her coaching.
Click here to read about "Turning Life Around at the
Last Possible Moment
", for members only.   

And
finally, our Coaching Moments for July responds to the weather.

I
hope you're enjoying the summer weather or winter weather, wherever you are
and whatever the world is bringing us.

Cheers,

Angela Spaxman
Editor, IAC VOICE
Email:
voice@certifiedcoach.org

Web: www.spaxman.com.hk 






Natalie

Answers
from the President


by Natalie
Tucker Miller


president@certifiedcoach.org

This month, let's take a
moment (or two) to applaud the many people who contribute their time and talent
to the care and feeding of the IAC. 

Note: Too numerous to detail in one announcement,
so please visit the "Friends of the IAC"
page for a comprehensive list.

We continue to grow with
paid members and new certifications, and it's one of my personal thrills to
connect with the many of you who offer support, input and a continued commitment
to coaching. Since this is a membership organization, run on the fuel of volunteers,
it's important to me that these individuals are acknowledged and honored for
their beneficence!

To begin, a huge round of
applause for Angela Spaxman and her wonderful team of editorial assistants. 
Angela, in addition to being a member of the
Board of Governors,
has added wonderful flavor to the
Voice, the IAC's main means
of connecting and communicating with members and subscribers.  Her powerful,
clear and confident presence is more of an asset to the IAC than I am sure she
realizes. We can count ourselves quite fortunate to have her on the team, and
from the e-mail we receive on her behalf, I know the membership appreciates
her as well.  And although all board members have tasks outside their advisory
capacity, Angela willingly accepted this position which is above and beyond
the board commitment or expectation.

Some of the other committees
in which the
Board of Governors
are/will be involved include communications, public relations, strategic planning,
event planning, operations, outreach, international outreach, volunteer communications,
promotion and member benefits.  Big stuff.

Obviously, we are all very
excited as more of the initiatives take shape, increasing the viability and
the visibility of the IAC.  As Sebastian, from Disney's The Little Mermaid,
declared, "She's got legs, mon!"  If you're interested in being part of this
momentum, consider joining the
volunteer
team
.

On a final note, let's send
love and appreciation to the
Certification Board
These masterful coaches continue to give of themselves on behalf of the coaching
profession and the IAC. I can guarantee that even those of us involved in
the inner workings do not have a full understanding of how much they give. 
They have donated hours upon hours to the betterment of the IAC, coach certification
and the language of masterful coaching.  Clearly the pioineers of the IAC certification
process, they work to uphold the high standards that have become the IAC's trademark. 

Like I said, big stuff.




Masteries Teleconferences


IAC Board Members will be hosting two teleconferences with IAC
Certifiers to answer all your questions on the Masteries development
and implementation and to hear your feedback about everything related
to the Masteries and the IAC. Please join us on Thursday, July 19th,
9pm ET and Tuesday, July 24th, 1pm ET. The calls will last up to, but
no more than, one hour each.


To join one of the calls, please send an e-mail to:
certification@certifiedcoach.org
with "Masteries Teleconferences-July 19th" or "Masteries
Teleconferences-July 24th" in the subject line and we will send you the
telephone bridge number.




Five Most Common Coaching Mistakes


by Barbra
Sundquist, IAC-CC

Recently
someone asked me, "What are the five most common mistakes people make
on their IAC certification tapes?" I thought about it for a moment, and
then counted off in no particular order:

  1. talking too
    much

  2. rushing to
    solution

  3. accepting at
    face value

  4. holding back

  5. telling,
    rather than asking

This
is my list. Other certifiers may have a slightly different list. But if
I could wave a magic wand, this is what I would love to hear:

  1. more silence

  2. seek to
    explore, not to solve

  3. challenge
    assumptions

  4. say what
    you're afraid to say

  5. ask, rather
    than tell

1. More silence

Silence
is a very powerful coaching skill. Nine times out of ten if you stay
silent your client will eventually say something thoughtful or
revelatory. They are using the silence to process their thoughts or
access their intuition. That takes time, so don't rush them. The other
benefit of allowing more silence is that you are less likely to
interrupt or talk over your client.

Exercise: Make a big sign that says "WAIT" which stands for "Why Am I Talking?"

2. Seek to explore, not to solve

Jumping
in too soon with advice or solutions is the most common mistake of new
coaches. Most clients do not want your solution, at least not at first.
They want you to help them explore all facets of their issue. If you do
that, the 'solution' or next step will present itself naturally.

Exercise: practice asking only exploratory questions such as:

  • "How do you
    feel about it?"

  • "What have you
    tried already?"

  • "How did that
    work for you?"

3. Challenge assumptions

Part
of a coach's role is to challenge client assumptions, excuses or
self-limiting beliefs. By doing that, we broaden their possibilities.
And isn't that what coaching is all about?

Exercise: Listen for and challenge assumptions. Here are some examples:


Client says…

You respond…
"I couldn't…" "why not?"
"Everyone
knows…"
"who's
everyone?"
"Of course x
is true"
"who says?"
"I know that…" "Is that a
fact or an assumption?"

4. Say what you're afraid to say

Whether
you call them inklings, intuition or "that little voice in your head",
they're there for a reason. Don't be afraid to share those thoughts
with your client. They often lead to breakthroughs.

I'll
give you a personal example. When I started coaching I was very strong
in some respects, but one thing I didn't do was challenge the status
quo with the client. I was a little too polite. As a result I wasn't
coaching to my full potential. And I wasn't giving my clients what they
deserve.

That
changed the day I finally said what I was afraid to say. My client was
complaining that his wife was so negative. What immediately popped into
my head was "that's ironic, because you're one of the most negative people I know".

In
that moment I had to decide whether to keep coaching at the "nice chat"
level or to go deeper. I decided to take the plunge. Of course, I
didn't just blurt out what was in my head. That would have been hurtful.

Instead,
I said, "There's something that I'd like to share with you, but it
might be hard for you to hear. Do you feel up to hearing it today?"

When
he agreed, I said "It's interesting to hear you talk about your wife's
negativity. Because my experience of you is that you are quite often
negative, too."

We
ended up having the most productive coaching call ever. In fact, he had
a major breakthrough. From that point on, I was a changed coach.

Exercise:
Listen for that little voice in your head and be fearless in sharing it
with your client. Then notice how you feel about your effectiveness as
a coach.

5. Ask, don't tell

Coaching is primarily about asking, not about telling.


TELL

ASK (better)
You need x. What do you
think you need?
You're an
introvert.
Are you an
introvert?
You're
obviously feeling better.
How are you
feeling?

 Exercise:
Record and transcribe a short coaching session. Then rewrite,
converting "tell" statements into "ask" questions.


 
 

About
the author: Barbra Sundquist is an IAC Certifier and Certified Mentor
Coach who enjoys demystifying the whole certification process. To
pre-register for Barbra's brand new 11-CD IAC Masteries self-study
program, please go to www.BecomeACertifiedCoach.com  

 

 


Turning
Life Around at the Last Possible Moment

B
y Anita Moorjani

I have been a life coach since January 2002, coaching
people to live their best lives and motivating them to turn their lives around.
However, by far the greatest achievement of my own life has been in turning
my own life around when only death seemed imminent.

In February 2006, I had end-stage Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
The cancer had spread throughout my body, my organs were failing and I was
already in a semi-comatose state being kept barely alive with piped nutrition
and oxygen. The doctors had told my family that this was the end and that
I only had a few more hours to live.  What followed can only be described
as a miracle for which I will be eternally grateful. No one knows exactly
how to explain what caused my health to turn around in just a number of hours,
leading to a total recovery with no trace of cancer cells to be found in my
body and no permanent damage to organs. (The full story of my cancer and healing
can be read on my website at:
www.anitamoorjani.com).

Needless to say, this experience has caused me to
completely change how I view life and reality as well as how I live my own
life. It has, of course, also completely changed the way I conduct my coaching.

To read more about how Anita's
experiences have influenced her coaching,

click here
. (Members only)






 
Anita Moorjani is a Life Coach based in Hong
Kong and can be
contacted at anita@power1.org, or telephone (852) 2369 1234. 
Her business website is www.power1.org.

 

 




"Coaching Moments" takes a
thoughtful, and sometimes lighthearted, look at how coaching
can be interwoven into our daily lives. 

When the heavens open
by Janice Hunter

I'm sitting at our wooden
table, my hair wrapped in a towel. Driving rain is drumming against the window
in sheets, rushing down our road in torrents that have turned the front lawn
into a boggy water feature and the pavements into streams. In all my life, I
have never seen rain like this in Scotland, not even in winter.

Ten minutes ago I was standing
on the terracotta tiled steps of our recessed front porch, watching the water
bouncing six inches off the ground and pounding the roof of our car, parked
in the drive a few feet away. As I stood, mesmerised by the sound, my bare feet
getting splashed as the gutter above started to overflow, the overflow became
a cascade and our front door became the dark entrance to a secret haven behind
a waterfall. My young son joined me, his eyes huge and longing to venture out.
"Off you go then." I said. "Just take off your tee shirt first…."

He stared at me in amazement,
stripped down to his football shorts, then ran squealing around the car, splashing
in the pond that had once been the drive in front of our garage. He stood giggling
under the gushing gutter hopping up and down and flapping his arms, pretending
to sing in the shower. I looked on with longing.

My husband brought him a
warm towel when he came in shivering but beaming, dripping pools onto our wooden
floor. "You should try it Mum!!!" So I did.

I ran out of the kitchen
door onto our back patio, lifted my face to the heavens, raised my arms, smiled,
turned a slow spiral and got soaked to the skin. Surrounded by the dense green
of rain-battered bushes, hair clinging to my face, the rain streaming down my
cheeks like a warm shower, my T-shirt and jeans growing waterlogged, I stood
sodden in splattering, gushing water up past my ankles. A prayer rose unbidden
as I looked upwards and tasted the rain. Breathing in the heavy perfume of rain-drenched
branches, soil and air, I felt connected to life itself, alive, lucky, blessed…

A hot shower, some warm
towels and a change of clothes later, I'm sitting at my laptop, thinking, as
I write, of parched lands where the rain never falls and of flooded fields,
farms, villages – even city streets in wealthy countries – where wild winds,
rivers and tidal waves have washed away life itself.

For some, the gift of childhood
wonder is a luxury in the struggle for survival.

Janice
Hunter is a writer, teacher and IAC certified coach who
currently specialises in homelife coaching – helping people
create authentic, spirit filled lives and homes they love –
and in supporting coaches on their certification journeys.
She lives in Scotland with her husband and two children.


contact
Janice@LovingtheDetails.com




IAC Certified Coach


Congratulations to
Kristi Arndt from Lombard, IL, United States who
recently passed her Step 2 Exam and became an
IAC Certified Coach.




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