As you may have noticed with our Free Coach Training announcement, and our Manifesto, School of Coaching Mastery is shaking things up a bit.
One more change that we're making is that from now on, our regular students, once they're certified by us, will be licensedat no extra charge, to teach our coaching curriculum to whomever they want.
Why are we doing this? It's part of our mission to spread the value of quality coaching and coach training. We believe the days of huge coach training schools are coming to an end. In the future, people will seek out specialty coach training from coaches they admire, or they will be trained via universities or employers. Our Certified Coaches will be among those teaching coaching.
Plus, I won't be training coaches forever. I have other projects that I'd love to have more time for. I see my students picking up where I leave off to continue expanding the quality and value of coaching worldwide.
Are we licensing all our materials to our Certified Coaches? Pretty much, yes. However, we can't relicense the IAC Coaching Masteries(tm), so we are going to remove specific mentions of them from our teaching materials and will not renew that license when it comes due in December 2010. As you may know, we have philosophical differences with the IAC over the license, itself, anyway.
I had a school-wide conversation with my students before we launched the Free Coach Training Program and they feel fine about this change. Not all of them are interested in IAC Certification and dropping our license won't hurt those who do want it. We expect to continue to be a leader in prepping coaches who go on to become IAC Certified, even without the license.
This means that many of our Certified Coach Training Program modules will not be available after December 2010. If you've been thinking you want to work with us to become an IAC Certified Coach, you need to do it now. We have both recorded and live courses that specifically prep for IAC Certification. Watch for announcements about what's available.
I also will be doing just one more Certification Bootcamp weekend this Fall. If you missed the one we did in June, be sure to join this last one. It's for advanced coaches who are ready to step up and get certified, now.
Oh and speaking of certifications, we're adding an optional Certified Coach Trainer program to our Full Coach Training Program. It'll be just one path that will propel our 'graduate level' coaches toward leadership in the coach training profession. But whether they choose to take the CCT program, they will still receive the no-cost license to teach when they become certified by us. More on that later.
By the way, given that we're adding so much value to our coach training, we've decided to change the name to the Ultimate Coach Training Program. ;-)
I spoke to a member of Certification Bootcamp this morning about her Coaching Triads.
She called me because I sent her a rather cryptic message:
- Stop being 'nice'; start being honest.
- Dig deeper.
But maybe I should back up a bit and mention what a coaching triad is and how it helps you become a master coach. A coaching triad is a tool I dreamed up with one of my mentor coaches many years ago as a way for coaches to prep for IAC Certification. Triads provide learning on multiple levels and they are free. Three coaches get on a three-way-calling line or use a free bridge line. They each take turns being the coach, the client and the observer. After each coaching session, they talk about what they heard. Everybody learns - fast. This is an 'extra service' that Bootcamp members are using to prep for the live intensive - fast.
Back to the coach who called me. You see, someone (I thought it was her) from the bootcamp emailed me over the weekend, and asked how to tell a triad partner that her coaching was missing the mark. She also mentioned that she was having trouble coming up with a problem or goal to be coached on in every triad session. Hence my advice above.
It turns out I sent the advice to the 'wrong' coach, but it fit perfectly for her. And I can't find the original email from whoever sent it and I suspect it doesn't exist. (Imagine the theme from the Twilight Zone playing).
Those questions are common problems for coaches in triads until they start thinking like master coaches. Then the problems disappear like 'magic', because their thinking has changed.
We employ as many tools like these as possible so our student/coaches become master coaches faster. Certification, especially live certification, turns up the heat like a catalyst in a chemical reaction. Learning become almost instant.
I believe it was Leonard Bernstein who said that to achieve great things, it takes a plan and not quite enough time. So I suggest you plan to be a master coach faster. It's the surest way to coaching success. Once you start thinking like a master coach, you'll understand why.
Ready to achieve great things and become a master coach faster? There are 2 seats left at the early bird price for the live Certification Bootcamp intensive. Join us!
Oh, and if you're the one who sent me that email, you're answer is above.
I've talked to hundreds of coaches and nearly all of them say the same thing:
They see themselves equally as entrepreneurs and professionals. I'm not surprised.
DEFINITION:
Entrepreneur: Someone who starts businesses for fun. May or may not be successful.
Professional: Someone with professional training & credentials who offers professional services for a fee. May or may not be successful.
Coaches don't just wear two hats. You could say we have two brains, when it comes to running our businesses. One for the entrepreneur (Fun & profit!) and one for the professional (I'll learn everything I can to give the best results and I have credentials that confirm that.)
I love being an entrepreneur. It's loads of fun. I bet you do too. And I bet your inner professional held you back until he/she was convinced you'd done what it takes to be the best you can be. Not always fun - but worth it, if you want to be a professional with integrity. And necessary, if you want to be a professional who succeeds.
You see, to your inner professional, practicing your profession without the appropriate credentials is as terrifying as walking down the red carpet stark naked!
- Or performing brain surgery without being a doctor.
- Or flying a plane without a pilot's license.
There's no getting around this, if you see yourself as a professional. So, if you're a coach who wants more clients and you're trying to do it without training and certification (the coaching profession's recognized credentials), then your inner professional is just trying to save you from disaster and humiliation.
You can thank it for that.
Your inner entrepreneur doesn't get this. It's busy running a cool business and it doesn't have time & money to spend on more training. And anyway, coaches don't really need certification, right?
Actually, according to a number of studies (See Coaching Sherpa), professional coaches without training & certification earn less, become successful more slowly, and/or drop out of the profession after a couple of years.
No surprise, eh?
You've got to get your inner professional and inner entrepreneur talking to each other. They need to work together so you can have the fun, ease and profits you planned on and the integrity you require.
Fortunately for you, there's something that will make both your inner professional and inner entrepreneur very, very happy.
It's called Certification Bootcamp. It's for practicing coaches, only, and it's short on both time and money, long on fun, and high on quality, value and results (Listen, I'm a professional, too).
The premiere edition of CERTIFICATION BOOTCAMP is coming up in a few weeks.
IT INCLUDES:
- 10 TELE-WEBINAR CLASSES
- 4 TELECONFERENCES
- 1 LIVE EVENT
You can customize it and take only what you need.
It's fast and fun and priced so low, even your inner entrepreneur will love it. If you jump in quickly, you inner professional will breathe a sigh of relief and will finally, FINALLY, let you succeed like you know you are meant to.
NO MORE GOING NAKED.
This program is only open to a few good coaches and it's already filling, so if you're at all curious, check it out right now. Your inner professional will thank you.
If you have more questions, call us at +1-877-224-2780
Artifact From the Future:
On April 1st, 2014, the International Association of Coaching released its new IAC Coaching SupremaciesTM, the intellectual property on which its elite IAC Certified Coach designation will be based, going forward.
Reached for comment, current IAC President, Thomas J Leonard, often called the ‘Father of Coaching' and recently brought back to life via advancements in cryogenics said, ‘I'm pleased with the improvements in coaching during my absence, except for all The Secret hoohah... With the release of the new coaching supremacies, I'd say coaching has reached about 13% of its full potential.' Mr. Leonard founded the IAC in 2003 with the mission to ‘Improve the Quality of Coaching Worldwide'.
Here are the Five IAC Coaching SupremaciesTM:
1. Is Completely Transparent: The Certified Coach is so honest, straightforward and highly evolved that in many cases, he/she has achieved complete invisibility. This negates the need for pajamas while coaching by phone. The advantage of transparency is that the supreme coach gains complete trust from the client, who often is unaware that the coach is even there. It also aides in Supremacy #2.
2. Really Sees the Client: The Certified Coach doesn't rely on client truthfulness. That can come in short supply. Rather, the supreme coach can view everything the clients says and does, electronically, physically or metaphysically, 168 hours per week and coaches the Truth, not some story about the truth. For the geographically or metaphysically challenged coach, a new iShadow App for iPad can be purchased from iTunes for 99 cents. A copycat version for droidPad is also available for free from Google.
3. Is Utterly Silent: The Certified Coach has mastered the skill of silence so completely, he/she doesn't have to say anything. Ever. And the client is then coached, well, supremely. Supreme coaches say this advanced skill set speeds up the coaching process by at least 10 fold. When contacted for comment, Coach Mattison Grey had no comment.
4. Creates Outcomes by Thinking: The Certified Coach has mastered the Law of Attraction (or Principles of Attraction, if you prefer) so thoroughly that he/she merely has to think and feeeel what the client really wants and the client gets it, pronto. This is casually known as the genie-in-the-bottle skill. No need for poky structures, systems or environments to do the work. That's so 2010.
5. Coaches Beyond Enlightenment: The Certified Coach knows that every level of advanced consciousness carries with it its own peculiar dysfunction. Whether it's complacency, absence of boundaries, severe financial woes, or how to feng shui a cave, even enlightened clients, now estimated to make up at least 50% of all coaching clients, need their own version of a kick in the pants now and then and the supreme coach knows how to deliver it.
IAC Eurasia Chapter President, B. K. Ramalamabananananda, who lives in Mumbai, the current epicenter of professional coaching, and who specializes in coaching Bollywood starlets said, ‘These coaching supremacies are really nothing new. Indian saints have been performing such feats for centuries, so why not coaches?'
Want to stay abreast on the future of coaching? Join our IAC virtual chapter and get this free white paper, plus more goodies. No joke.
Coach Natalie Tucker Miller just returned with some amazing insights from last week's Shanghai Coaching Conference.
School of Coaching Mastery's own Dean of Students, Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC, just returned from her visit to China as keynote speaker for the 2010 Shanghai Coaching Conference. As former President of the IAC and the current Lead Certifier for the IAC, Natalie was a natural choice to keynote for this first ever live IAC coaching conference.
But more than that, Natalie is one of the best examples of a great coach that I know. I'm sure coaches in Asia loved just being in the room with her!
It wasn't easy catching up with Natalie to do an interview, but I knew that our readers from around the globe would be curious to hear about the enthusiasm and desire to embrace coaching mastery that Natalie encountered in Shanghai.
Here's what she told me:
JS: Natalie, thanks for doing this interview. What surprised you most about Asian coaches and the Asian coaching industry?
NTM: Asian coaches are so very interested to be on the leading edge of coaching! It's very inspiring to recognize how much we can learn from one another and that coaching opens those doors of sharing and possibility. The very nature of coaching encourages this as no other profession ever has, and it allows coaching's trademark "win-win".
Coaches around the globe see coaching as a way to bring about positive change for humanity, and there may be no place where that is more evident than in Asia. There is a great desire to help others, and improve the conditions of people's lives and work. There do not seem to be borders for the coaches who recognize these possibilities.
JS: Wow, that's truly inspiring! What stood out for you in terms of the attitudes of Asian coaches toward certification and training?
NTM: There is a powerful desire to achieve high levels of mastery in coaching. The coaches I spoke with in Asia want to know what the requirements for coaching mastery are and what needs to be done in order to fulfill those requirements. They seemed very interested in understanding the nuances of transformative coaching outcomes and learning what it takes to coach at that level.
JS: They sounds like high achievers! No wonder there is so much happening in the Asian coaching world. Describe the people who attended this coaching conference. What were they curious about? What kinds of questions did they ask and what did you tell them?
NTM: It was truly an international conference, with Asian representation as well as coaches from Europe, Australia and North America. There were certified coaches, coaches curious about certification, owners of coach training programs and representatives from companies who either shared their coaching success stories, or wanted to know what to expect by including coaching in their employee support programs.
Since this was based in China, there was a lot of interest in how and even if coaching skills could be applied cross culturally. What was concluded was that, when applying high coaching standards, cultural differences do not inhibit the process. There is great interest and support for the IAC Coaching Masteries® as a model for global standards.
JS: What do you see as the future of coaching in Asia and elsewhere?
NTM: I believe we will see a unifying of global coaching standards and a continued trajectory of professionalism in coaching. And as a huge success for the IAC, I think we'll see more live conferences hosted by the IAC.
Also, there are many Asian corporations bringing a coaching culture into their companies and this will continue to grow to all sectors of business, large and small. As China continues to grow as an economic and business center, there is great potential for coaching to grow there as well as all around the world. There are far more similarities than differences among people and this conference reinforced that for me in a big way!
JS: Thanks again, Natalie, for being the great leader that you are. I know our coaching students feel blessed to get to work with you!
If you have a pasion for coaching mastery and want to train with one of the very best, you can do so very affordably and from where ever you are in the world. Natalie with be teaching IAC Coaching Mastery 7 starting April 6th via live tele-webinar. Join Mastery 7 here.
We also have a limited-time special opportunity for new members of our Full Coach Training Program and Certified Coach Training Program where they can work with a certified mentor coach for three months at no extra charge and Natalie is one of our mentor coaches!
Want to know more about how you can work with Natalie? Call 1-877-224-2680 or email here to make an appointment with one of our enrollment advisors.
You could say that all coaches are in the business of success.
Our clients hire us to help them succeed at big goals, life dreams and personal growth. Good coaches know they transform their client's lives, so it's only natural that every coach wants to feel successful with their own goals and dreams.
Just like our clients, we coaches have our own personal definitions of success.
My definition of success is that I get to be my best self, doing work that I love, that is changing the world for the better. Oh yeah, and I get paid for that! I know I'm succeeding when I'm lit up daily and having fun most of the time.
To reach this level of success, I had to learn and relearn my vision of myself and how the world works. I then had to practice thousands of hours to master this new way of seeing, being, and doing. Along the way, I had to craft a business that would support me while I spread this thing called 'coaching' that seems to change everything.
How do you define coaching success for yourself?
If you could use some help with your definition, I've put together our top 3 most popular ebooks into one free 'Coaching Success Kit':
- It starts with 'Become a Coach!', an ebook designed to help the new coach get started in this booming industry and it includes 8 hours of recorded coach training, plus a side-by-side comparison of some of the top coach training schools.
- Next, there's the Coach 100 Business Success ebook, with tools to get you started with one of the most effective processes for filling a coaching practice EVER (while becoming a masterful coach, at the same time).
- Finally, there's the Seven Secrets of Mastery Certification ebook, with tools and tips on how to inspire yourself and achieve an elite coach certification. It includes a quiz that will help you determine, once and for all, whether you even need to get certified.
If you know how to coach masterfully and you know how to fill your practice with clients, then you have what you need to achieve coaching success, however you define it.
Coach Michael Jay Sullivan left this unsolicited comment about the Coaching Success Kit on Facebook last week:
"It's amazing how transformative for me Julia's free Coaching Stuff in a box has been. Better than some of the paid training I've gotten."
I love unsolicited testimonials; they are usually the most honest!
By the way, please tell us how YOU define coaching success, in the 'comments' section, below.
We're adding some major upgrades to our students' experiences at School of Coaching Mastery.
One new change is that Dean of Students, Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC, is taking a more active role in orientation of new students, as well as answering questions for ongoing students and helping them stay on track with goals like IAC Coach Certification. Natalie of course, is an amazing coach and master instructor (She's leading our Mastery 6 Clarifying module, this month.). She's also past President and current Lead Certifier for the IAC. This month, she's speaking at the Shanghai Coaching Conference, too. Busy lady! But not too busy to meet personally with new coaching students to help them get off to a fantastic start with their coaching careers.
The second change is one that Curriculum Coordinator, Dee Taviner, has been hard at work on for months. It's a new membership and content management system that is really slick. We are SO excited about the possibilities that this new system adds for our students. Plus, we're adding a whole new way to play for coaches who want inside coaching knowledge, but don't need or aren't ready for a full-service coach training school. We're almost ready for a few beta testers. Please stand by...
And speaking of Dee Taviner, I can't help but mention our ongoing Study Groups. There are so many ways a study group can enhance your career (just ask Natalie), but that topic deserves its own blog post. I DO want you to know that in addition to Dee's Seven Secrets of Certification Student Group, talented SCM coach/student, Heidi Courtney, is now leading the Coaching Co-op Study Group.
The first meeting of the IAC North American Virtual Chapter offered amazing insights to members into IAC Coach Certification and what it takes to pass it.
Our guests, Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC, (Lead Certifier for and Past President of the IAC) and Elizabeth Nofziger, IAC-CC, (Certifying Examiner for the IAC)* went through the 9 IAC Coaching Masteries(tm) one by one and pointed out common mistakes and simple solutions to each one. The resulting audio recording is a 'must listen' for anyone who is thinking about qualifying for this highly respected coach certification.
To welcome our 100 new members, I wrote a free white paper called, 'How to Become an IAC-CC'. I based the content of the white paper on observations of how the coaching industry and the role that coach certification plays in it, has changed over the years and I included lists of tips and 'do's and don'ts' that I've compiled in my years of teaching and mentoring coaches to become IAC Certified Coaches.
It's not too late to join the IAC North American Virtual Chapter. Everyone who joins will get links to both the free White Paper and the audio recording of our first meeting.
As an additional gift from School of Coaching Mastery, for a limited time, members of the new chapter can also save on a new 8-hour coach training program with Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC, Elizabeth Nofiziger, IAC-CC, and me, called 'Certified Coach: Master What the Certifiers Are Looking For'.
Join the chapter below to receive the white paper on how to become an IAC-CC, the audio recording of the certifiers, and a coupon code to join the new certification program and save.
* Disclosure: Natalie and Elizabeth are also instructors and certifiers for School of Coaching Master.
Jan O'Brien, IAC-CC, is the latest coach that we have helped get certified.
I talked to Jan by phone yesterday, because I knew our readers would be curious about how she did it and what it was like. Jan is one of the 25% of coaches whose applications are passed by the IAC Certifiers. She's also one of an even smaller number of coaches who pass on the first try. I wasn't surprised to hear that, because Jan is a wonderful coach. And as I said in our interview, it's a big accomplishment and now she's a member of 'the club'!
What follows are a few excerpts from our conversation and then the entire 23-minute recording, so you can listen in. There also is a link at the bottom to a new SCM program called, Certified Coach: Master What the Certifiers Are Looking For.
Disclaimer: Jan says some extremely nice things about School of Coaching Mastery and of course, she was saying them to the owner of the school, so take it with a grain of salt if you like, but I believed her. ;-)
On what it means to her to be an IAC Certified Coach now: ‘Profound meaning to me. Professionally that makes a big difference in the coaching business. I'm an IAC-CC and it's wonderful to put that after my name. But knowing that I stayed with it that. I was committed and it was what I really wanted and I'm absolutely passionate about it!'
Her background and how she got into coaching: ‘I'm an intercultural trainer and consultant, cultural orientation training. Originally I'm from the UK and am now living in Houston, Texas. I came into coaching via my coach who is a totally astounding and wonderful coach, called Mattison Grey. I just was so impressed and so assisted by being coached. I thought, Wow this might be a really amazing job to do!'
On what she learned while preparing for certification: ‘I found that going through your certification course was, my experience of person development, was very profound, more than I could have imagined. It seemed to get deeper and deeper and deeper. And that's my own experience...I want to do that, anyway. It also put me on the fast track for that personal development. So that's a very significant piece for me.
I found the instruction to be absolutely excellent, classes with you and Natalie. They were very well facilitated and you both held us in the highest respect even when we were struggling. And it's not easy! There was so much more to this!
I had to hold onto the stair rails very tightly at times. And it was through those challenging times that I so appreciated everybody, the instructors as well as the other people in the class.'
On IAC grading: ‘Challenging. Very high standards. You don't get away with anything, and not that I was trying to get away with anything, but even the masteries I thought I had really gotten well in the recordings. Everything is thoroughly sliced and diced and of course also very honoring...That was little surprising only because I didn't know what to expect.'
Advice for coaches who want to get certified: ‘The practicums are extremely helpful in getting the feedback you need. In addition...I personally have been working with a group of wonderful coaches here in Houston in a study group. That's been absolutely wonderful.
I would also recommend that to get ones own coach whilst you're working on it. There might be things that come up...old deep-seated fears...working with a coach to remove some of the blocks that come up.'
‘It's an absolutely just glorious feeling!'
Listen to the entire recording here:
In it, Christopher Metzler, associate dean for human resources studies at Georgetown University, says, "Any time there's an economic downturn, career coaching spikes,"
With job searches now averaging 25 weeks, it's no surprise that the out-of-work are looking for every competitive advantage they can find. And while career coaching is not cheap, one session averages $161, it more than pays for itself, if you land a great job a few months earlier than you would have otherwise.
There are pitfalls, however. As the article points out, not everyone who calls him/herself a career coach is skilled or qualified to help you reach your goals. And the quality of coach certifications varies widely. Some coach certification training programs take only a weekend to complete, with every participant guaranteed a certificate just for showing up. (I recently spoke to a coach who completed one such program. She confirmed that it was "pretty much a joke.")
Two places you can find career coaches who have pledged their professionalism, are the coaching trade organizations, IAC and ICF. Each has a Find-a-Coach feature. You can also find career coaches at Mastery Coach Exchange, where you can easily connect with and find out about your coach, before trying them out.
Other coaching specialties that do especially well in economic downturns are business and corporate coaching, executive coaching, and money coaching, but even fields like life coaching do surprisingly well, especially now that there are lower-cost options.
Here's the full CNNMoney article on career coaching. Check out their sidebar for more interesting information about it.
Read the Coaching Commons article on the same subject here.