IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 27, June 2008, Circulation: 12,405
June 19, 2008
Kerch
From the Editor
Making connection in a great universe, like the readership of the VOICE, requires careful attention to the tone and message of a publication. We think readers want to find what they’ve grown to expect. We also believe writers for the VOICE want not only to share their stories and information, but also to challenge you to grow. If we’ve missed the mark on this, please let us know.
Nina East’s Tidbits column this month is about Mastery #1 – Establishing and maintaining a relationship of trust. Her work set the theme of this issue.
The beginning of trust is connection. And each article in this month’s issue of the VOICE seems to be about connection. From President Angela Spaxman’s letter comparing the IAC to a MAC! to Jennifer Croft’s marketing piece. We have a new chapter in Mexico, D.F. and a new volunteer coordinator. And Janice Hunter’s Coaching Moments piece is a breath of fresh air; a powerful, uplifting message for coaches and clients alike.
Note: Last month we released a new member benefit, Voluntary Life and Health Benefits. We should have mentioned that the plan is only available to coaches in the U.S. That’s not a very good way to build connection. I am committed to better quality control in the future.
Did you notice the slightly new mast head and the Table of Contents for the VOICE? We want to make the publication easy for you to navigate and easy to find just what you’re looking for. Let me know if it works for you. Send me an email.
Angela
From the President
When people ask me about the IAC's place in the world of coaching, I say we are the Mac as opposed to the PC. We're smaller, we're progressive and we're design-oriented. Our aim is to create a platform (a coaching certification system) that encourages people (coaches) to innovate (learn in whatever way works best for them to coach masterfully). Our customers (members) are eager to be different—in spite of occasional compatibility problems (many people have not yet heard of the IAC)—in support of a better way of doing things (a coach certification system that is welcoming to all while promoting excellence, innovation and learning). While our platform is different, we are still aligned with other coaching organizations in that we champion the coach approach and high ethical standards, just as different computer platforms advance humanity’s ability to think and communicate.
This month the IAC Board of Governors has been working behind the scenes on issues that may not be very interesting or inspiring, but are nonetheless critical to our advancement. We've been improving our technology, clarifying operating policies, making connections with potential supporters and creating project teams. I'm very grateful to all the volunteers for all those little pieces of time, thought and energy that go into creating this organization.
Vice President Parker Anderson and President Angela Spaxman get some fact time at CAM 2008.
We've also been “sharpening the saw.” In April a group of IAC Board Members and former Board Members attended A Conversation Among Masters conference in North Carolina, U.S. It was a delightful treat to meet each other in person and strengthen our connections throughout the wider community of experienced coaches. I personally gained some major insights regarding the power of connecting on an energetic level. And some of the connections we made are already adding energy and value to our organization.
Caroline Rhodes from Scottsdale, AZ, United States recently passed her Step 2 Exam and became an IAC Certified Coach!
Announcing a New IAC Chapter in Mexico
IAC Chapters are a great way to make connection to other coaches in your area. Find people who share your commitment to the Coaching Masteries™ and people with whom you might join to improve your skills.
We’re pleased to announce that Alberto J. Calderón, MSC has taken on the role as Chapter President for the new IAC chapter in Mexico, D.F. For information about upcoming chapter meetings, contact him by phone at (52-55) 5674-3859 or by email to moreglobal@prodigy.net.mx. And visit the new chapter on the web at www.iacmexico.org.
Check the IAC site to see if there is a chapter near you. Or contact Kerri Laryea for information about how to start one.
New Help for IAC Certification Practice
We have added the Note Sheet to the IAC Coaching Masteries™ E-book. It has the same information as the original Masteries E-book, but the format will make it easier to evaluate your coaching sessions.
Both documents are available in the same package—free for members! Click here. (Another good reason to join the IAC!) To buy the E-book and get the Note Sheet too, click here.
by Nina East
In last month’s issue of the VOICE I shared some insights about the differences between the IAC Coaching Masteries™ and some earlier definitions of coaching skills. We received great feedback on the issue—and a request for more information about the Masteries. So, as promised, this is the first in a series of articles which will explain each of the Coaching Masteries™ in greater detail.
Mastery #1 – Establishing and maintaining a relationship of trust
On the surface, this seems fairly simple. An essential element of any coaching relationship is a feeling of trust between the coach and client. Without it, the communication is often awkward and the client may not share important information or expectations, which virtually guarantees the coaching will be off-target and less effective.
Clients come to coaching to experience personal growth, discovery and transformation—whether in their own lives or relationships, as part of an organization or in business. One of the most important things the coach must do is ensure a safe space and supportive relationship in which this can happen.
Keeping track of your masteries
If you haven’t already done so, download the Masteries E-book. Having it at your fingertips will help you become more familiar with each of the masteries, making it easier to recognize when you are using a specific mastery and how effective that use is.
Pretty straightforward, right? Well, yes and no.
While many behaviors that might demonstrate this mastery may be natural to coaches (active listening, assuring the client, being inviting), there are also some key places where coaches go astray.
Establishing and maintaining a relationship of trust is about the environment you create in which the client and coach can explore, question, discover, create and develop sustainable systems. The desired effects are that the client is open to sharing and receiving, the client perceives the coach as their personal advocate, and the client sees, or begins to see, transformation and growth as manageable.
To continue reading, members click here. To join the IAC, click here.
About the Author: Nina East is the IAC’s Lead Certifier and the author of PersonalGrowthEnthusiasts.com. As a coach she helps personal growth professionals turn creative edge thinking into practical tools and resources, and helps other coaches master the art of coaching. Find her on the web at www.MyMentorCoach.com.
The IAC is pleased to introduce Kristi Arndt, PhD, IAC-CC, our new Volunteer Coordinator. We want to find the position you’d really like to work in, so Kristi will be contacting every member who fills in the volunteer form on the website.
Log in, check out the list of kinds of help we’re looking for or fill in the box at the bottom if you have expertise you think we need. Kristi will call you. You’ll make at least one new connection. And that’s what this is all about.
Do you have financial expertise?
The IAC Finance Committee needs you.
Not everyone understands the ins and outs of finance and the IAC needs a few good people who do.
If you are—or if you know—a financial professional such as a CPA, CFO or financial planner, etc., who would be willing to volunteer about 8 hours a year to help make long term strategic financial decisions, please email Jean Gran, IAC Treasurer at jean@jeangran.com.
You won’t be responsible for day to day financial operations of the organization but we will appreciate your expert financial advice.
Quarterly meetings of the IAC Finance Committee are held by phone on a bridge line.
5 Ways to Improve Your Marketing by Jennifer Croft
Whether you’re a first-year coach or a seasoned veteran, the following tips can help improve your marketing.
Make Conscious Choices Every decision you make in your coaching business, whether you realize it or not, markets your business. The scope of your services and products, your pricing, your voice mail messages, your flexibility, your responsiveness, your physical location, your friendliness, your availability, your employees and partners, your openness, your payment policies, your email signature, your demeanor…everything!
Even the most subtle marketing can have an amazing impact, outperforming any direct mail piece, display ad, or pay-per-click Internet campaign. From today forward, consciously factor marketing into every decision you make.
Target The Clients Who Are The Most Likely To Buy Now One of the most important, deliberate decisions you can make centers around who’s going to buy your services and products. All coaches have potential groups of clients who could hire them. And many coaches make the mistake of marketing to too many types of people and businesses. Savvy coaches, on the other hand, target only the ones who are the most likely to buy now. It might seem counter-intuitive, but the smaller your target market, the better.
For example, if you’re an Executive Coach, you’d be more likely to land clients if you specialized in women who had reached a glass ceiling in the telecom industry than if you offered your services to every middle-level manager in the U.S. Similarly, if you’re a Life Coach, you’d be better off targeting overachieving pharmaceutical reps who work twelve-hour days than marketing to everyone who struggles with life-balance issues.
By choosing a niche and emphasizing your specialty, you’ll build your business more quickly than if you position yourself as “all things to all people.”
Introduce Yourself When you’re ready to approach your target market, you can take advantage of some of the most inexpensive and effective marketing available by giving away samples of your work. Volunteer your expertise, offer a complimentary 30-minute consultation or distribute free assessments and checklists. Let people get a sample of what you do, and they’ll be sure to want more!
Design A Marketing Plan To grow your coaching business at a steady pace, design a plan that details how much time and/or money you’ll devote to marketing. Stick to the marketing plan, even in busy times. And in slower times, ramp it up!
Track All Of Your Marketing As you spend precious hours and dollars on marketing, track all of your efforts and investments. For instance, if you launch a website, install a hit counter. If you place an ad, measure the response. If you join a networking group, evaluate how much new business originates from it. Chances are, if you paid to have your house cleaned or your lawn mowed, you’d check to see whether you got your money’s worth. Do the same with all of your marketing.
Conscious choices, narrow target markets, free samples, marketing plans and results tracking—give one or all of these marketing tips a try, and you’ll soon see how much easier it is to obtain and retain clients.
About the Author: Jennifer Croft has 25 years experience in marketing and is the co-author of Search Engine Optimization For Coaches: 101 Tips. She specializes in writing website content that can attract search engine referrals. Visit her website at www.searchenginecoaching.com.
"Coaching Moments" takes a thoughtful look at how coaching can be interwoven into our daily lives.
Birdsong ~ by Janice Hunter
Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. ~ Kahlil Gibran
I woke very early today, too early to start clattering and clanging in the kitchen so I grabbed a book, a pen and spiral bound notebook and wandered out into the garden, heading for the table, sipping the glass of blueberry juice I’d poured for myself.
I laid my books on the table, the blue and white tablecloth dew-damp under my sleepy arms, and I sat there thinking ‘These birds are reallyloud!’ Cheeping, cooing, chirruping, whistling, trilling, tweeting, chattering…I slowly started to single out each songbird’s soaring celebration of a new morning.
The sun, burning off the last few patches of mist, cast shafts of light through the laurels, turning web-hung droplets to twinkling crystals whenever the fresh morning breeze rustled the branches, dark green against a clear blue sky.
I breathed in the fragrance of moist earth and caught the scent of the mock orange blossom by our back door. Feeling more alive than I had for months, I thought about writing some morning pages, hoping to explore and dispel the shadows that have been settling round me.
I opened the notebook, half heartedly fiddling with my pen as I sat listening to the birds, Soon I would hear the sound of distant traffic; the humming of an aeroplane across the sky; the faint clattering of cereal bowls and spoons; the sound of kettles and radio alarms carried on the breeze. I put down the pen and leaned back in my seat, unwilling to leave the moment even to capture it.
A big fat bee came buzzing around the bushes by my feet and made me smile! I hadn’t seen one for months. So many tales of the bees disappearing; with them would go the soundtrack to my childhood garden memories of damp grass and daisy chains, dandelions and buttercups.
Suddenly, a flash of red and a choot choot choot – a robin, on the fence behind the berberis bush. He stopped, looked at me, bobbed his head three times and flew off.
And I knew, knew then as I know now, with a certainty that leaves no room for fear or doubt: I was meant to write this piece. I was meant to write. I was meant to wake up early, to love that bee, to be that robin, to share with you the beating of my “winged heart” on a grateful spring morning.
And you were meant to read this. For without the life and the breath and the experience you bring to these words, they would only be pixels on a screen. Like the bee, you touch the lives of strangers, you’re woven through the fabric of a million memories, you create moments that leave the world a better place. You and I – like the robin – have a message to bring, a song to sing in the eternal dawn chorus.
Today, as you choose to wrap your heart around the moments that make up a life, how will you share your precious gift with the world? You were born with talents, you’ve worked hard to build skills, to create connections – but they’re just the channel. You are the gift.
About the Author:
Janice Hunter is a writer and IAC certified coach who lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. She specialises in homelife coaching (helping people create authentic, spirit-filled homes and lives) and also enjoys supporting other coaches through her writing and collaboration. www.sharingthecertificationjourney.com
Janice has compiled all of her Coaching Moments pieces from the last two years into a free 46 page ebook, 'Coaching Moments: a Collection of Articles about Coaching in Everyday Life' which can be downloaded here or from her site.
We'd love to get your feedback on any issue related to the IAC. Do have any questions, concerns, encouragement or ideas for improvement regarding anything we do including membership benefits, certification, the VOICE, the direction of the organization, or anything else at all? Please send an email to feedback@certifiedcoach.org. Please help us improve.
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