The Single Most Important Thing for Global Executive Coaches: Readiness to Recognize and Work with Life’s Surprising Opportunities

Recently I coined the term “Proactive Resilience©” from a lifetime of challenges turned into opportunities. Decades of preparation in international leadership, social science research, power relationships, intercultural mindfulness, systems theory, neuroscience and other disciplines helped, yes. So did a difficult early family, time spent in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, teaching university, being a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and going through various certifications and creating Advantara® Global Institute’s Global Executive Coach Certification Program - see http://www.advantara.com/] have also gone into the mix.

But I’d have to say it’s the “who I am,” especially my hope and curiosity, that have translated into a core attitude of “what’s next to learn?” that have been critical in my life and work with global executives. That simple question is the single most important alchemical element in my coaching and also in my personal life. Not only have I been totally (and, fortunately, positively) surprised at the far reaching impact of my coaching engagements and educational programs for global executive coaches, but in my personal life, totally unexpected miracles have happened!

In 2005 I was invited to move to England and live in a friend’s “extra” mansion in England’s West Country; my ancestors had emigrated from here in 1659 and I’ve always felt a strong connection to the landscape. For years I’ve had some excellent colleagues and friends here from previous presentations at ICF Conferences and Chapter meetings from the late 90s onwards. This area became a base for working with clients and educating coaches worldwide (including Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, Oceania). But there were some unexpected opportunities as well.

The biggest surprise of all was that, having been quite happily single for many years, I married a retired British man of Scottish and Cornish ancestry. This even came with membership in an ancient Scottish clan of Viking origin (Gunn)!

Has it all been positive or easy? Let’s just say I survived a 4.5 year debilitating illness in the 90s, found my own cure online and got my life back with little help from traditional medicine, which was frustrating. More recently a colleague published a book the outline of which bears an uncanny resemblance to one I presented to his publisher 2.5 years ago. So, no. But – remember Proactive Resilience©? Stay tuned!

While continuing my Global Executive Coaching career, I ‘ve renewed my interest in singing and performing traditional British and American music and writing poetry (recently published in Rick Hansen’s (Co-author of Buddha’s Brain ) Wise Brain Bulletin (http://www.wisebrain.org/WBB4.11.12.pdf p 17). I was invited to join a group of English poets and asked to host a poetry café at The Brewhouse in Taunton Somerset this Spring. I sing and play at folk clubs and singarounds all over Southwest England with my husband (singer and fiddler) in our trusty Motor Caravan! A screenplay is next and a Hollywood producer likes my idea. What’s next?

Hannah S Wilder, MA (Harvard University), PhD (MIT), MCC, Master Team Coach, and Master Certified Global Executive Coach©, Host of The Global Executive Coaching SIG

Pull up a podium

The ICF is looking for speakers for its 16th Annual International ICF Conference that will take place this September in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. If you are an interactive speaker with something to say, you really should consider this opportunity!

The ICF International Conference draws more than 1,000 coaching professionals annually. They want to learn. They are eager to share ideas and opinions. They like to network. And they are the perfect audience for your presentation.

If you want to take advantage of this opportunity, you will want to start getting your materials together now. Proposals will only be accepted until Monday, February 7.

A few words of advice: you must include a link to a video stream (perhaps YouTube, your personal website or other website) that illustrates your skill as a presenter and your engagement with an audience. Proposals submitted without this will NOT be considered.

Ensure that your proposal is interactive. This is a biggie—Conference Education Steering Committee members (those who will review your proposal and ultimately select or deny your proposal) want to see sessions that are energetic, lively and involves everyone. They want to see a session that will allow attendees to “live in the moment.”

Your proposal should encompass a session in which you have experience. You need to be a subject matter expert in the content you propose to offer. For instance, you don’t want to propose a session where you will teach people how to use social media when you yourself don’t regularly use it. Your session should be around something you know about and you believe others will want to learn about it too.

The ICF is accepting proposals until 12 a.m. midnight (New York) on Monday, February 7. You can learn about the application process, as well as other criteria, here.

Have you ever spoken at an ICF International Conference? What was your experience like?

Budget Busters

Need an easy way to trim your coaching budget? Instead of doing without, there is a painless way to cut costs that you may have overlooked…and it’s as simple as being a member of the ICF.

 

To grow your practice and better serve your current clients, you might already be considering the options of purchasing new software, assessment tools or subscribing to a coaching magazine this year. If that’s the case, do NOT do so until you check the available discounts offered by the 14 current ICF Resource Partners.

 

Not familiar with the Resource Partners? They are organizations that have partnered with the ICF to offer substantial discounts on their tools and services. These organizations specialize in everything from virtual office software to professional indemnity and public liability insurance and even office supplies. In other words, they have the tools you need to build your business!

Not only that, but these are items most people plan to invest in anyway—might as well be budget savvy and take advantage of the discounted rate.

Current ICF Resource Partners and what they offer:

• Virtual office software (5050Biz)
• Voluntary life and health benefit plans (Annuity Managers Agency, LLC)
• Online audio services (AudioAcrobat)
• Books to expand your knowledge base (Berrett-Koehler)
• Coaching magazines and/or journals (choice, Coaching at Work, International Journal of Coaching in Organizations)
• Assessment tools (CRG)
• Fitness and wellness insurance (Fitness and Wellness Insurance)
• Journaling platform software (JournalEngine)
• Payment processing and e-commerce solutions (Practice Pay Solutions)
• Office supplies (Staples)
• Online management system (The Coaches Console)
• Professional indemnity and public liability insurance (Westminster Indemnity)

For specifics on all Resource Partner discounts, click here.

What product or organization is not on this list that you would like to see one day? 

Happenings from the January Board Meeting

Dear ICF Colleagues-

The global ICF Board held a very productive meeting on January 22, 2011 covering a broad range of topics. I wanted to give you a brief summary of what the Board did with more details to follow.

2011 Global Board of Directors

Recognizing the importance of communicating clearly and effectively to our members in a multi-lingual environment, the Board approved a formal policy for the translation of documents that will take effect on April 1, 2011 and provides for (1) refreshing the current Spanish, French, German and Portuguese micro web sites at least once each year and updating key documents as needed; (2) translating member survey questionnaires into our four primary languages other than English; (3) translating the monthly member updates along with the monthly President's column from the Coaching World newsletter, and relevant press releases.

In the credentialing and program accreditation area, the Board approved two policies dealing with the definition of "Mentor Coaching" and the reinstatement of credentials where they have lapsed or expired. The Board wishes to thank the many member volunteers who have worked on these policies through the Credentialing and Program Accreditation Committee, as well as the many other policies and procedures they are continuing to work on related to enhancements to this program area.

In terms of developing future leaders from within ICF's ranks, the Board approved in principle a proposal to create an ICF Leadership Institute, with a pilot program to begin sometime this summer subject to the approval of a business plan and adequate funding being available. The Leadership Institute proposal is based on the Harvard University Graduate School of Education model for Management and Leadership. It will have a Steering Committee and Advisory Board made up of ICF members and led by global Board members Damian Goldvarg and Cheryl Vermey, respectively. More details on applying to be a participant or subject matter expert presenter will be made available in the coming months.

The Board also approved Chapter Leadership Ethical Guidelines that were developed in a collaborative effort by the Membership & Community Committee and the Ethics and Standards Committee. These Guidelines give more clarity about the high standards of ethical and professional conduct that we expect of our chapter leaders (presidents, board members and committee mebers) and how chapter members can hold their leaders to those standards without the need for micromanagement from the global organization. The Guidelines also recognize that resources are available from global, such as mediator assistance, when needed.

I also reported to the Board on a program being developed called the Diversity and Multicultural Awareness Group. Starting in February, I will host a series of calls where all ICF members can come and discuss the challenges and ways to meet them so that ICF can be a model of inclusivity for all international member organizations. I expect that many global Board members will also want to attend these calls and to hear first-hand how we can work together to build on the strengths we have with nearly 18,000 members in 104 countries around the world.

Ed Modell, PCCPresident, International Coach Federation

Marketing 101: What first impression do you make?

A lot of first impressions are made when meeting somebody in person. But today, more and more of those first impressions are no longer through a personal contact, but online: We meet people and future clients on networking platforms and we are often found via our websites and social media profiles.

What do people see when visiting your social media profiles, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.? What is their first impression? Are they seeing the real you? Does it reflect your value?

Here three tips to help you make a difference:

1. Make a critical review of your social media profiles: How do they look? Do they include all relevant keywords, a brief but good description of what you do and offer? Did you include customer testimonials? How about your photo? Do you have a professional head shot?
2. Does your website, blog or online business card have its own domain name? Or do you have it hosted with another provider? Although sites such as wordpress provide free hosting, a personalized domain name is much more professional than a generic subdomain.
3. What about your e-mail address? Sending e-mails from an address like yourname@yourbusiness.com is perceived as much more professional than any hotmail, gmail or yahoo address.

Don’t forget however that in-person meetings also lay the base for the future. Typically you leave or exchange business cards. What do they look like? Are they well printed? Do you have an attractive design and a professional layout including your contact details, and links of your social media profiles?

First impressions count, and will set the bar for how much money you can demand for your services.

Make a good impression and you will stand out!

Next time I will give you a list of what should and what should not be included in your social media profiles.

Claudia Seeger is an expert in marketing, communications and new media. She is Marketing Director at an international high-tech company and Executive and Business Coach at Tall Trees Executive Coaching.