IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 32, January 2009, Circulation: 12,734
January 8, 2009
Linda
From the Editor
Happy New Year to all of our subscribers! As we turn the page on another calendar year I am excited about the new developments in the IAC and in the VOICE.
In her President's report, Angela introduces several new members of the Board of Governors.
We have a new name for an existing column – Certification Tidbits has become The Inside Scoop – Lessons from the Certifiers, and Nina East delivers another helpful installment there today about Mastery #4 – Processing in the Present.
Tools for Coaching Mastery is a brand new column, which will feature the voice of IAC's Licensees. This month, Andrea Lee takes us deeper into Mastery 7 with some insightful questions and an audio excerpt from Barbra Sunquist's Coaching by Example CD set.
Barbra is also one of our featured authors this month, with an article that busts through three common barriers to certification. Our other feature article is from Signature System Coach Kathy Mallary. Wondering what choosing a coaching niche has to do with cheesecake? Kathy blends it all together.
In her first Coaching Moments column of 2009, Janice Hunter reminds us that whether we're reviewing our progress from last year or setting goals for this one, our best and shiniest plans can never predict the shape that life will take as the year unrolls.
We're presently working on updating the submission guidelines for the VOICE, and once they're ready we will post them on the IAC website. For now, please note that we will eagerly welcome your article submissions for the February issue (please submit by January 19th) and the March issue (please submit by February 16th).
If you have something to share about masterful coaching, building and marketing a coaching business or traveling the road to certification, please email me and I would be pleased to help you develop your article.
I hope that you enjoy this issue of the newsletter. If you do, we'd love to hear why. And if you don’t, please send your feedback and help us to improve.
We are very excited to welcome five new Board Members to our organization.
They are all talented individuals with strong coaching experience and diverse backgrounds that will add significantly to our strength as an organization. To give you an idea of the diversity, we are welcoming Yoram Gordon from Israel, Joan Johnson from Australia and Mike Goonan from Generation Y! Three of our new members, Bob Tschannen-Moran, Yoram and Joan have roots going back to Thomas Leonard and our founding. Our new Board Members Sue Brundege and Mike come from other coaching schools helping to broaden our perspective. I am very proud that we have attracted such talented and diverse leaders to the IAC and I expect you will start to see the fruits of their contributions very soon.
As we welcome the new with anticipation, we are also saying good-bye with gratitude. The IAC you see today is largely the result of efforts by three of our Board Members who have completed their terms and are stepping down.
Our Past President Natalie Tucker Miller now closes a chapter on her massive contributions to the IAC, and she will continue to work with the Certification Board. Diane Krause-Stetson served us intensively over four years on the Board contributing to all the crucial changes we made during that time. Diane is moving on to even bigger things as the President of the Coach Initiative. Our faithful and inspired Treasurer Jean Gran is completing her term to take a well-earned rest from volunteer work. While her work happened largely behind the scenes, it has been vitally important and she has laid a strong foundation for others to build on.
I believe the best way to thank volunteers for their contributions is to support the continuing expression of their vision. I hope you will join me in committing to support the continuing growth and development of the IAC as a measure of appreciation to those on whose shoulders we stand.
OK, so you’re keen to get your IAC certification in 2009, but you perceive some barriers to getting those two passing tapes. Here are some suggestions to help you out.
Barrier #1:
I don’t have any paying clients to tape coaching sessions with.
Solution:
The tapes that you record for IAC certification don’t have to be with paying clients. You can coach anyone and submit those tapes. Many coaches record sessions with their buddy coach or triad partners. In fact, coaches make very good subjects for certification tapes because they tend to be very “coachable” (i.e. open, articulate and eager to take action).
Don’t know any coaches you could ask? Try attending a local coaches networking meeting, joining an online networking site such as Mastery Coach Exchange, or posting an invitation on a coach discussion board such as Coactive Network, NewCoachConnection or CoachTalk.
If you are enrolled in a training program, ask your instructors for suggestions. And don’t overlook your fellow students: they will likely be just as keen as you to link up with a practice partner.
Another option is to ask family, friends and colleagues if they would be interested in being coached, or if they would like to refer someone. You can say something like, “I’m working towards my coach certification. Normally I charge $X for a 30-minute coaching session, but I’d be willing to coach you for free (or a reduced rate) in exchange for letting me record the call.” And don’t be shy about asking – remember, you are giving them the gift of coaching!
Barrier #2:
I don’t have a way to make recordings.
Solution:
For years I have been recommending Audio Acrobat for making mp3 recordings. AudioAcrobat is great (it’s the service I use) but it costs $20 a month.
Here’s a free alternative: Calliflower is a new service that gives you a free bridge line and mp3 recording of your call.
Barrier #3:
I did my coach training using the 15 Proficiencies, and now the IAC is using the IAC Coaching Masteries™. Do I have to relearn everything?
Solution:
No, you don’t have to relearn everything. You can relax. Think of the IAC Coaching Masteries™ as being a big umbrella, under which most coaching models fit comfortably.
The skills you learned with the 15 Proficiencies (or other coaching models) will serve you well in the IAC certification process.
Not convinced? Consider for a moment the Mastery titles – such as Clarifying; Engaged Listening; Inviting Possibility. Doesn’t that sound like what most coaching schools teach? They may call the skills by different names, but the ideas remain the same.
So my question for you: will 2009 be your year for adding IAC-CC after your name? I sure hope so!
Barbra Sundquist, IAC-CC is a Certified Mentor Coach and former IAC certifying examiner. Barbra is re-opening her popular IAC certification membership program in January 2009. This program provides live classes, practice partners, feedback and assessment for a low monthly fee. To find out more, click here: http://www.becomeacertifiedcoach.com/join.htm.
3 Tips for Deciding on a Coaching Niche (or a Cheesecake)
by Kathy Mallary
In over 10 years of training, mentoring and working with coaches, I have yet to see a truly successful coach who didn't have a niche.
A niche is a position, activity or area of the market that particularly suits your talents and personality or that you can make your own. Ideally, your niche is where your passion and expertise intersect with the needs and wants of an existing target market.
Consider the benefits of claiming a niche for yourself:
It helps you position your business so that your ideal clients can find you more easily.
Your marketing is more targeted, which saves time and money.
It's easier to develop solution-based products and services for a target market that share a common agenda.
Positioning yourself as an expert gives you pricing leverage.
A niche differentiates you from other service providers.
Your business is more profitable when you focus on the products and services that your niche most wants and needs.
Quality referrals are easier to get when you tap into the natural professional and social networks in your niche.
Clients in a niche market are more likely to invest money to resolve their issue.
It significantly reduces the competition when you focus on a niche, because you're not trying to compete in the larger market.
Niching attracts pre-qualified clients so that you don't have to spend time cold prospecting or pitching your services to people who aren't interested or motivated.
If having a niche is clearly an advantage, why do so many of my own clients complain that they can’t find theirs?
Looking at a client's website recently, I realized that the problem isn't that she can't find her niche; it's sitting on the tip of her nose. Well, all the clues are right there on her computer screen, anyway.
Everything about her website, from the style and color of the site to the words she uses to describe herself and her business, appeals to some visitors, has a neutral affect on others, and has a negative impact on a few. That’s how a niche is born.
But she doesn’t see the niche that’s forming around her organically, because she’s in “shopping” mode. She’s trying on different niches. This one’s a good possibility, but maybe the next one will be better…
The problem isn’t that she doesn’t know what her niche is; it’s that she hasn't DECIDED.
That's a big problem, when your niche is RIGHT THERE, but you can't decide.
It's like cheesecake.
You know you love the New York cheesecake with a twist of lemon and a side of warm chocolate syrup; that's the cheesecake you would BE if you died and came back as a cheesecake. (Well, that’s the one I’D be, anyway!)
But there are all those other cheesecakes on the menu winking at you provocatively and flaunting their impossibly exotic flavours … and the waitress is asking (again!) "What would you like?" and you say to yourself, "Maybe I'll like one of these other cheesecakes even BETTER…"
And suddenly, you hear yourself ordering the caramel pecan turtle cheesecake. It sounds so strange coming out of your mouth, you can't even imagine what it is you just ordered. For a second, you feel giddy. And a little confused. Ah, but then your friend (the one you're having lunch with) says, "Hey, I thought you didn't like nuts!" Oh, right! I HATE NUTS! What was I thinking?!? So you get the waitress back and you say, "Uh, actually, I'd rather have the New York cheesecake." And just saying it makes you feel better; you're back in the groove again. The New York cheesecake is YOUR cheesecake, you can taste it already…
It's not enough to know; you have to DECIDE. And deciding on a niche is where a lot of folks get tripped up, especially when there are soooooo many possibilities. So let me offer a bit of advice…
Three tips for deciding on a coaching niche (or a cheesecake)
1. Put the menu down. You don't need to look at every possible flavor combo. Look at what's right in front of you; look for what’s already in your heart. Ask for more of what you love.
2. Trust the groove. That's what your niche is; it's the groovy place where your business thrives. You'll know when you're in it; it just feels right. It feels like home.
3. Ask a friend (or your coach!) to remind you as often as needed: NO NUTS.
Bottom line: Stop worrying about finding a “better” niche. DECIDE and see what happens.
Kathy Mallary, the Signature System Coach, works with personal and professional/business coaches who want to learn how to make money with their own signature coaching system. Discover how to build a thriving one-of-a-kind coaching business at www.spiritspring.com.
by Andrea Lee
IAC Coaching Mastery #7: Helping the client set and keep clear intentions isn't a 'seasonal' mastery, one that you turn on or off in summer or winter. But it does seem to find its way into many coaching sessions at the beginning of the calendar year.
It makes sense doesn't it, since the new year is the traditional time to review what's gone before, and clear the way for what's wanted next?
In the following short audio clip, Mentor Coach Barbra Sundquist shares insights into what transpired during a coaching interaction in which Mastery #7 was employed.
Are you confident in your ability to speak up to your client when they stray from their intended goals?
When your client says one thing about their intentions, yet their actions tell you something different, what might you wonder (not assume!) about your client?
How much of your client work centers around celebrating success –when they achieve a goal, for example – and what other ways might you add value to the coaching interaction?
The audio clip above is excerpted from 'The Coaching By Example 9-CD Series,' produced by Andrea J. Lee of Multiple Streams of Coaching Income. The series features 55 audio tracks of demo coaching and commentary with Mentor Coach and former IAC certifying examiner Barbra Sundquist. To find out more about how the CD series can support your mastery of coaching and your journey to IAC-CC certification, click here: http://www.learncoachingbyexample.com. And for your IAC member discount, log into your member page and scroll down to the new member benefit.
by Nina East
Mastery #4 – Processing in the Present
This month in The Inside Scoop, we continue with our journey through the Masteries, focusing on Mastery #4 –Processing in the Present.
If you have not already done so, I encourage you to download the Coaching Masteries E-Book. Having it readily available 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. (Please note that an updated version of the e-book will be released during the first quarter of 2009. Watch your email and the VOICE for announcements.)
If you have been following the VOICE, you may recall that in the May 2008 issue I addressed Mastery #4 to a small degree. The reason I introduced #4 early on is that it is one of the Masteries that coaches have been struggling with the most. The Certification Board has discovered that when coaches understand this Mastery, they can generally demonstrate it very well. When they do not demonstrate it well, it is typically because they do not understand what it means.
Processing in the Present represents the leading edge; the next evolution of coaching skills. When you examine other coaching skills or models, you will not find a skill quite like this one. While it may be challenging to grasp at first, I assure you that once you master it, you will come to relish using it as it can help you zero in on what is going on for the client much faster, and provide a rich resource for the client.
From the Coaching Masteries E-Book: "Mastery #4, Processing in the Present, is demonstrated when the coach is attentive to the client, processing information at the level of the mind, body, heart and/or spirit, as appropriate. The coach expands the client’s awareness of how to experience thoughts and issues on these various levels, when and as appropriate. The coach utilizes what is happening in the session itself (the client’s behavior, patterns, emotions, the relationship between coach and client, etc.) to assist the client toward greater self-awareness and positive right action."
The two key words in this Mastery are "processing" and "present."
Nina East, IAC-CC is the IAC’s Lead Certifier and the founder of PersonalGrowthProfessionals.com. As a coach, she helps personal growth professionals turn creative edge thinking into practical tools and resources, and helps coaches master the art of coaching. For even more insights about improving your coaching skills, visit www.CoachCamps.com.
"Coaching Moments" takes a thoughtful look at how coaching can be interwoven into our daily lives.
Foil ~ by Janice Hunter
‘…We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.’ ~ T.S. Eliot
I never know who I'm going to be in January. Sometimes the New Year infuses me with dynamic energy and renewed determination. Sometimes the old year haunts the new, leaving me deeply introspective and longing for nothing more than profound simplicity and clarity. Last year's roller coaster ride has left me feeling weary and buffeted yet believing even more fervently than before that everything is fuel for coaches and writers. All life is learning. Capturing and filtering moments for this column remains a blessing, a constant reminder to stay open and connected and to be grateful for the life-affirming insights I find in the most unlikely of situations.
The other day, I dropped a roll of metallic kitchen foil before I could tear off a piece to line the grill pan. Cursing under my breath, I watched it unfurling like a broad silver ribbon before I could catch it. (Now, if this has never happened to you, I suggest you try it just once!) The beautifully smooth, wrinkle free, neat, tidy tube of shiny, delicate foil, which starts off wrapped snugly around its cardboard core, has to be rolled back up by hand.
I can never, never get it back tight, smooth and neat. Holding the tube at both ends, I wind and roll, roll and wind, but no matter how carefully I do it, I always leave crinkles and the rustling roll that was once tightly, mechanically wound and smooth becomes fatter and uneven at the edges. It rarely goes back into its cardboard box, you know, the one with the saw-like cutting edge. Nor is it ever as easy again to smoothly tear off pieces along the cutter.
But that day, I found myself smiling, then grinning as I rolled up the metallic foil, knowing it would end up crumpled and squashed. It reminded me of me.
Every time I pick myself up from a disappointment or a fall, or an unplanned life detour, I'm never the same. As long as I can still do what I was created to do, does it really matter if I never fit back into the tidy constraints of the original ‘box’, a box that was precision cut to contain something perfect and unused, leaving no room for untidy growth, movement or change?!
If we tumble out of our ‘boxes’, if we've fallen or ‘failed’ or made a break for freedom and found ourselves travelling, unravelling out of control away from our cores, we don't want to be wound back up tight and constrained in the same way ever again. Or even worse, scrumpled up into a ball and binned because we no longer fit some artificially constructed notion of perfection. If we roll out of control and need to be gathered up and rescued, it’s nice to be valued despite the wear and tear or because of the wear and tear; it’s even more empowering if we're the ones doing the rescuing.
All journeys expand the layers of our awareness just as our flaws increase our learning and our wisdom, making us ‘bigger’, richer people – like the roll of metallic foil getting fatter, more crumpled, more interesting as it’s gently reeled in and furled back around its never changing core. We may spiral back to where we started on our journeys, often feeling frustrated that we’re back at the same place – but it never is exactly the same place if we’ve learned and grown along the way.
Janice Hunter, IAC-CC 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. Contact Janice at www.sharingthecertificationjourney.com or lovingthedetails@aol.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.
Your Feedback
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