The Coaching Caravan

International Coaching Week (ICW) is a weeklong global celebration of the coaching profession held annually during the first full week in February.  It is a designated time each year for coaches and clients to educate the general public about the value of working with a professional coach and to acknowledge the results and progress made through the coaching process.  Coaches around the world offer a variety of activities and pro-bono services in their local communities to share what coaching has the ability to do.

We South Africans are known for our innovative approach and triggered by the annual challenge issued to us all by Madiba (Nelson Mandela) to contribute 67 minutes as a way to celebrate his birthday and with ICW 2011 in mind, in June 2010 Anne Heslop – a member of the Board of the Gauteng Chapter of ICF - shared her vision of how these two events could be brought together for maximum impact.  And so the Coaching Caravan was born! – “Making a difference in the lives of others, one coach, one person and one coaching conversation at a time!”

The dream was to mobilise as many coaches as possible in South Africa to give 1 hour of their time during International Coaching week, to coach a person who would not normally have access to coaching.  This was the way that we, as coaches, could spend the 67 minutes doing what we do best.

A Coaching Caravan logo and website was created and we invited both ICF and non ICF members to participate.  Sponsors were asked to register projects on the website and volunteers were asked to register with the project that appealed to them.  The ball was rolling.  And then the Coaching Caravan grew arms, feet and wings and became so much bigger than any of us could have imagined.

International provider of Webinars – WebEx a division of Cisco - made a generous donation of 2 weeks of their very sophisticated and successful webinar services over the period and with that came free calls and training for the facilitator of the service – that was me.  What was a dream for South Africa was within our reach and started to become a reality.

Nine very generous people from our community gave of their time and talent, hosting webinars on a variety of topics.  We were able to reach people not only in South Africa but also extended North beyond our borders to include other African cities as well as Singapore and New Zealand...  I was the recipient of the training as to how to operate the back end of the service and in a short time entered a steep learning curve that was challenging, exciting and stimulating.

To name just a few of the projects that benefited through the coaching offered by our volunteers aboard the  Coaching Caravan:

•  Coaching Matrics to Success;
• The Amy Biehl Foundation;
• Heartworks;
• Diepsloot Youth Projects; and
• Mothers2Mothers.

At one point I read on one of the social networking websites that coaches in the United States were thinking about what they could do for their clients in coaching week. 

I posted Anne’s vision:

International Coaching Week: Boarding the Coaching Caravan in Africa

When Monday dawns, the Coaching Caravan will be ‘pulling out’ for its epic pilgrimage around Sub-Saharan Africa with many, many excited, passionate travellers on board. We do believe in the potential for transformation in the lives of others through coaching and we want to write our collective signature on the potential of this awesome continent. One of the cornerstones of our profession is generosity, so we will give of ourselves and our skill warmly and abundantly, without any expectation, for this week.

A gentleman contacted me to enquire how we did this. I wasn’t sure what he meant and so he further explained that he tried something along those lines in his community but the coaches wanted to know what was in it for them in monetary terms.  This started a discussion among us.  The conclusion was that in countries where there was low unemployment and where things generally go well – people may have lost their compassion for one another.  This was so sad for me and on the other hand made me feel so proud of our country and our people. May we South Africans never lose our compassion for one another.

The Coaching Caravan was a huge success – I am sure the pebble (coaching conversations) that was thrown into the pond will continue to ripple through Africa for a long time to come.

We, ICF Gauteng Chapter, were nominated for an ICF Global award for the work we did during that week.  I had the privilege to travel to Las Vegas in September 2011 to receive this award.  This in itself was such an experience. I had the opportunity to share publicly in a forum of some 140 ICF leaders from over 50 countries, what we had done and to read aloud some of the testimonials from those who had benefitted.  There was such generosity in that room and I lost count of how many people came to me during the 4 days of conference, wanting to know how we did it and to express their admiration for what we had accomplished.

A young man from Japan came to me and said that he wanted to start a project like this working with people affected by the earth quake.  We have stayed in touch and I shared as much detail as I could about how we did this.  Their chapter is working hard to launch their first project this year.

I was also contacted by the Singapore Chapter and they too are starting their project this year.

How wonderful that a dream that started in South Africa, spread into Africa is starting to move into the rest of the world.  What a privilege it has been to be a part of this amazing journey.  It was only possible because more than 100 coaches gave generously of their time and talent during that week – and not just 1 hour.  Some coaches flew around the country at their own expense to touch the lives of fellow South Africans. How proud I am to be South African and to be part of a great nation. We have many problems AND we have people with huge hearts that open each year at the request of our esteemed and special leader – Nelson Mandela – and give in unique and unselfish ways.  As coaches we will again this year – 2012 – be climbing aboard the Coaching Caravan to continue “Making a difference in the lives of others, one coach, one person and one coaching conversation at a time!”

Anne-Marie Sevenster, Member ICF Gauteng Chapter.

Are You in Love With Your Coaching Business?

The below post is by Jayne Warrilow, a 2011 ICF Annual International Conference speaker. Watch for posts from other 2011 conference speakers on the ICF blog over the next several months.

Many people have talked about the importance of loving what you do for a living. Yet for many of us, the reality is quite different. Yes, we love the coaching but what about our business? Somewhere between our dreams of achieving our ambitions and the practical realities of actually running a coaching business, we lose our passion. We lose touch with the very thing that could lead us to success and instead find ourselves chasing the money, or simply following the path of least resistance. If this is you, rest assured its never too late to fall back in love with your coaching business.

As a business owner you have a tremendous opportunity to embrace what you do with passion. You are truly without limits. If you are like most coaches you probably became self-employed because you liked the idea of more personal freedom. You wanted to be your own boss and had some great ideas you wanted to try. In the early days, I bet you were full of passion and excitement. All you could think about was your business - it was an exciting time. However since then, you will have been through a lot. You've worked hard and will have received some level of rewards. Your love of the business will have ebbed and flowed. Ask yourself now, are you still in love with your business? Is it time for you to rekindle the flame?

Passion is key. It acts as the rocket fuel to success and propels those who would otherwise slip into mediocrity to the top of their field. Here are some suggestions for you to reconnect with your original passion:

1. Get present: You are unlikely to achieve success if you lose yourself within your business. Too many coaches work so hard and such long hours that they forget to sit back and enjoy their success. Get present. Bring yourself into the now and realise everything you have accomplished since the day you first began.
2. Know your why: Remind yourself why you went into business in the first place, what were your original dreams? Get back in touch with your initial motivations to remind you of the bigger reasons behind what you are trying to achieve.
3. Discover the magic of flow: Think about the energy you bring to your business. You are giving off certain messages via your energy whether you realize this or not. Your personal energy is fuel for your business. Don't allow anyone or anything get in the way of you being who you know you can be. Find your flow!



Jayne Warrilow

Set your performance meter high. Great quality of service, impeccable integrity and a caring attitude towards your customers will always attract referrals and repeat business. If you follow these suggestions your clients will notice and they will begin to reflect your passion back to you. If you do this right you won't be the only one to fall in love with your business, your customers will too.

Jayne Warrilow is CEO of Resonant Coaching, specializing in advanced level training for coaches. Jayne’s powerful work which she has successfully implemented in the C-Suites of global organizations, integrates a holistic, energetic approach into coaching ultimately leading to resonance, to the next level of mastery and beyond. For more information: www.resonantcoaching.com.

Key Take-off Points - When Building Your Coaching Practice

For many coaches, starting your own practice can be a lot like a plane on a runway. You have chosen your course. (I want to be a coach.) You have done careful preparation taking on all the fuel and supplies you think you will need. (Taking great training and setting aside what you think is enough time and money.) You may have even fastened your seat belt in anticipation of a bumpy ride. And there you sit at the start of the runway. (Ready to commit to do whatever it takes to start your own coaching practice.)

With engines blaring, you start to move down the runway. (You commit to get out there and find some clients.) You notice you are moving quite slowly at first but the speed is increasing. It's exciting. (This is the early stage in your practice building where you are full of hope and expectation but you haven't really accomplished anything yet.)

Halfway down the runway, engines still roaring, you notice things are speeding up, there is a lot of activity but you haven't gained any altitude. (This is the stage of your coaching practice when you have been running around telling people about coaching, offering sample sessions to folks that either aren’t interested or can’t afford it. Yet you remain hopeful.)

Three quarters of the way down the runway, you have expended a ton of energy, the engines on the plane continue to roar, you are running faster than ever, and yet, you have still not gained one inch of altitude. (This is the stage in your practice building when you may start to wonder, "Am I ever going to make it? Am I cut out to be a self-employed coach? I have been running around doing everything I can think of but I still have no clients. Maybe this is a really bad idea.")

While the particulars of this experience are as diverse as the individuals involved, this is an incredibly common and problematic moment in the journey into the atmosphere of building a viable coaching practice.

In reality, there are some planes (lovely, well-trained, well-intentioned, deeply committed souls) who, despite their best efforts, will not get off the ground this time.

If this is you, the kindest thing that can happen is for someone to point out that it doesn't look like you are going to make it off the ground this time. (So you can cut your losses, learn your lessons, adjust your plans, get a temporary day job so you can build up new reserves and try again later.)

However, even for the really well-prepared, highly-determined future coach who has done everything right, (taken great training, paid attention to the marketing, found a niche, put in the hours, asked for help along the way, worked past their limiting doubts and fears, etc.,) this is a critical moment in their takeoff. Because if you falter, if you do not fully commit to going the extra mile, putting in the last bit of energy, finding your way past your mounting anxiety - you will not get off the ground.

Making this critical call, whether to cut the engines and lean on the brakes before you crash and burn, or keep your engines blaring and go for broke - is never easy. It is not a decision you ever want to make rashly or simply on your emotions. (Because everyone is scared at this point and if you let your fear make the decision, you will never get off the ground. And if you let pride or blind ambition make the call, you may be risking far too much.)

Pilots call this point on a runway V1, the agonizing point after which you are fully committed to take off because you don't have enough runway to safely slow down. In launching your coaching business, this point when you are three-quarters of the way down your launching runway is definitely the time to check your fuel (how much reserves do you have left), check your speed (what you have learned to date, what is working for you so far, does it look like you are going to make it, etc.). Most importantly, it is a critical time to check in with a few other experienced pilots (fellow coaches) who have been down this runway many times before and can help you make a good call.

It is exceedingly hard when a good coach has to put the brakes on a dream they have to build their own practice. However, if they do it right, they will survive to try again another day and they will be much wiser. (Most successful entrepreneurs have many failure-to-launch stories. Wisdom comes from experience and experience in business is just another word for many past mistakes.)

However, the biggest sadness I encounter is when I see a future coach who definitely has what it takes, who has done enough of the right things and who you just know can succeed - give up on their dream, just because they ran out of faith. (Usually right before they are about to take flight.)

It is only in the last little bit of the runway that you get enough wind under your wings to begin to gain appreciable altitude. And once you are off the ground, the sky is the limit.

Bottom line is, getting a business off the ground is rarely easy. It will usually test everything you have. You don't want to give up prematurely and you also don't want to ride a losing venture right into the ground.

Don't try to be a proud, lonely hero. Reach out and learn from a few others who have come down this runway before. (They are all around you and are usually happy to help.)

Steve Mitten CPCC, MCC
2005 ICF President
President ACOACH4U.COM
http://www.acoach4u.com/

THE PROBLEM WITH SELLING COACHING

Coaching is a beautiful calling. Everyone who does this work, loves it. New coaches love their training and immediately recognize the power of a coaching relationship in assisting others to make important changes in their lives, careers and businesses.

For clients, once they try coaching, they love it too. Many studies have shown that over 96 percent of the people who try coaching are very happy with it. Most clients will stay with their coach for over six months and some never leave. When you take coaching into organizations it routinely generates returns on investments of 500 to 700 percent.

Further, more and more clients are becoming aware that certain types of changes are very difficult to accomplish on their own. These bigger, “adaptive” changes are rarely achieved through books or “one-size-fits-all” or “drive-by” training solutions. Rather these types of changes benefit from individualized attention. The support of a good coach can facilitate crucial shifts in perspectives and an overcoming of limiting beliefs. A coaching relationship can provide the feedback, accountability and support needed, over sufficient time, so that new knowledge and intentions can be translated into new behaviour. This is what coaching excels at.

So if coaching is such a valuable and effective service, why do so many coaches struggle to fill their practices? The simple truth is that coaching is still a relatively new service that most people have never tried, and people are hesitant to purchase things they don’t understand.

This will change in time. It has improved noticeably over the past decade. However, if you are currently trying to build a successful coaching practice, I encourage you to minimize your pain by:

• Not trying to sell generic life coaching, business coaching, career coaching, executive coaching, etc.
• Identifying an existing niche–a specific group of people with an existing set of challenges.
• Finding out what the people in your niche are struggling with–the acid test is to find what percentage of them are actually spending money now to find solutions or achieve specific outcomes.
• Finding out how you can easily create relationship with them. In person? Through writing or talks or workshops? Online, through social media, newsletters or by optimizing a website to the keywords they type into Google? Remember to market in the vocabulary they speak about the challenges they face and the outcomes they seek. (Coaching is just the way your deliver your solution.)
• Making it easy for them to experience coaching, understand its benefits and how it contrasts to the current solutions that are not working well for them.
• Communicating why you are the best solution provider. Ideally you want to highlight three compelling reasons/strengths.

If you follow some of these hard-earned lessons (from the thousands of coaches who have walked this path ahead of you) you will find it much easier to attract clients. Hopefully, you will more quickly arrive at that lovely place where you can enjoy doing what you love, while earning a comfortable living.

Yes, coaching is a beautiful calling, and a great service to the world. Wherever you are on your journey, please take good care of yourselves. Do your homework, get well-trained, pay attention to the marketing, and know that there are many who have faced the same challenges you face.

They did it. You can too. Keep believing, and know you are not alone on this path.

Steve Mitten CPCC, MCC served at the 2005 ICF President and runs ACOACH4U.COM