Coaching Blog

It's often said that investing in your business and/or your education is one of the smartest ways to invest your money, because both will pay for themselves many times over. It's especially smart to invest when prices are low.

About ten years ago, when I was becoming a coach, Thomas J Leonard, the founder of the coaching profession said...

Someday, everyone will have a coach.Given the power that great coaching has to transform lives, that was an awe-inspiring vision.

Thomas also said at that time, that in order for everyone to have a coach, coaches would have to get creative about how they deliver coaching to clients, because originally, coaching was just for the rich and famous and that's how it was priced, with most clients paying between $250 - $1000 per month for private coaching.

Coaching is not just for the rich and famous anymore...

Coaching went "mainstream" years ago and today, most people know or at least think they know what a life coach or business coach is. (No one has asked me what sport I coach in years!) That makes it much easier to market to folks who are neither rich nor famous. 

But one-to-one coaching is still pretty pricey.

So to bring quality coaching to the ever-growing coaching market, coaches are discovering more and better ways to leverage the economy of scale that exists for a service that is in very high demand. In other words, coaches are sharing coaching in innovative ways to higher numbers of people, who each pay less for the coaching they receive.

The first tier down from personal coaching is small group coaching, in which a small group of clients, say, 2 - 10 per group, meet with a coach a few times per month, and each client pays a smaller fee ($100-300 per month). The benefits of group coaching are similar to private coaching, because what the clients lose in personal attention from the coach, they make up with the extra value and synergy that's created by the group, itself.

Group coaching requires skills that are not needed in personal coaching, such making sure each client gets value and no one hogs the calls or hides out in a corner. For that reason, School of Coaching Mastery has its own Group Coaching training for our advanced students. Stay tuned for more on that.

A new form of group coaching that leverages economy of scale to an even greater level, is Compass Coaching. Compass was designed to bring low cost life coaching to people who want personal development, but who either can't or won't pay hundreds of dollars per month for it.

Unfortunately, economy of scale often means the client doesn't get the personal attention needed to really make change. That's why most people don't get lasting benefits from reading self-help books or attending workshops, which are also priced for the masses.

That's where Compass differs. Clients get a choice of "self-guided" online coaching via MP3's and workbooks, which brings passive income to the coach, or they can have large group coaching (10-30 clients), where they do get personal attention. The group coaching is priced incredibly low, $39-59 per month, because the passive income from the self-guided coaching makes up the income for the coach.

Long story short: Clients save a lot of money and coaches still earn plenty of money. Win-win.

It took me a while to see the value in Compass, because I'm not in favor of watering down the power of coaching, just to make it cheap. However, I'm highly in favor of bringing good, affordable coaching to virtually everyone on the planet. Compass has one of the best business models for doing that. I started to get that when I watched Compass CEO, Kim Fulcher, talk about her vision for Compass.

If you'd like to attend a live webinar with Kim Fulcher and hear how Compass can provide you with excellent large-group coaching, or how it can help you earn excellent passive income, Click below to register online and attend the live webinar with Kim Fulcher on Wednesday March 18th.

If you’re anything like your coaching clients,

...then you probably want tools for reaching your goals more quickly and easily. And if one of your goals right now is Coach Certification, then the information in this article can help you get there faster and more easily.

How?

Well first, if you’re a talented coach, you probably can obtain IAC Certification more quickly than any other certification from a recognized independent coach certifier. Second, I’m going to share a big secret about how to do that.

As you probably know, the IAC Coaching Masteries™ Learning Guides...

...are a wonderful tool for checking your own coaching sessions to see if you’re using these skills at a masterful level.

It’s helpful to note though, that the information in the Learning Guides defines masterful coaching, as it is scored or graded and that they can be rather inscrutable to most coaches, when it comes to learning the level of mastery required to obtain the IAC Certified Coach designation.

Learning coaching and scoring coaching are two very different processes.

The IAC’s mission is to score and certify, not teach, so their materials tell you “what” they are looking for, not “how” to achieve it. Big difference.

That’s one of the reasons why you can achieve mastery more quickly by working with coaches who are masters of the IAC Coaching Masteries™. That’s also why I’m about to share one of the most powerful “how to’s”, you’ll ever learn.

But first, here’s a handy metaphor.

Years ago, a famous retired sea captain named, Skippy Lane, taught me to sail on Long Island Sound. Skippy’s mastery of sailing was legendary in the New York City archipelago where we lived. One day I asked Skippy how sailors kept track of everything while they sailed. The current, the wind direction, the sails, the rudder; it was all so overwhelming!

Skippy said, “You sail a boat by the seat of your pants.”

I can still hear his booming voice. What he meant was that when you’re sailing, if you have everything optimally lined up, the energy of the wind pulls the boat up out of the water and you feel it rise up literally through the seat of your pants! That’s when a sailor knows he’s on track.

And that’s exactly what happens when you ride the energy of the conversation throughout your coaching sessions. That energy is called curiosity and when it rises, it tells you that you’re on track. It’s so simple and so much more effective to do it this way, than it is to try to remember all the effective behaviors required for IAC Certification. When you focus on the skills and details, you’re too busy thinking to notice what’s really going on. When you focus on the energy, you’re attention is on the client and what your inklings are telling you about your client. That’s what separates good coaching from great coaching.

The amazing thing is that when curiosity is used well,

...many of the events that the IAC wants to see like, “The client is no longer held back but is instead excited and moving forward…” or “The client communicates more effortlessly and resourcefully”, show up as a result of you sailing masterfully though the energy of the coaching conversation. Pretty cool!

How do you use the energy of curiosity to coach masterfully?

There is not nearly enough space in this article to cover all the ways, but here are three simple steps to get you started:

1. Notice what you’re curious about and ask your client about it.

2. Notice what your client is curious about and ask about that.

3. Use your curiosity and your client’s curiosity (and your curiosity about your client’s curiosity) as continuous feedback loops to help you navigate throughout the coaching conversation.

It’s quite simple and the results are magic.

To master this, practice it with other coaches who are knowledgeable about the IAC approach to coaching.

School of Coaching Mastery has some free resources to help you with that, such as our free Study Groups and our networking group for coaches who want buddies and triad partners for practicing the masteries. You don’t have to be an SCM student to use these free services.

And of course, we also have much more information about energy, mastery and curiosity in our Coach Training Programs.

Skippy never heard of coaching, but he taught me the key to masterful coaching when he taught me how to sail. Interestingly, that legendary master of coaching, Thomas Leonard, called this skill, “Navigating via Curiosity.”

A shorter version of this article appeared in the February issue of the IAC VOICE.

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2009

Every week, I talk to people who want to choose the right coaching school for them...

And of course, money is always an important concern. Recently, the topic of money-back guarantees came up in a couple of conversations.

A few coaching schools offer money-back guarantees and they're a bad deal for several reasons.

For starters, they give new coaches the illusion that they have nothing to lose and boy, is that not true!

Reason 1: The Opportunity Cost is Far Higher Than the Tuition

Months ago, a coach contacted me who was attending a coaching school that I used to teach for, which offered a money-back guarantee when he joined in 2003. After years of taking zillions of classes, he still doesn't  have a coaching business.  Now he realizes he's in the wrong coaching school, wants his money back and thinks SCM may be the answer. He'd been contacting the other school for months to get his money and so far, has just gotten a run around. He told me he'd join SCM as soon as he has his money back. He's still waiting.

Result? Most coaches can put together a professional coaching business within a year or less, with the right support (Yes, even in this economy). And a moderately successful coaching business can easily earn $50,000 per year. (Some coaches earn six figures, some coaches, a lot less.) So if this coach had been coaching full-time since 2004, making $50,000 per year for five years, he'd have made $250,000 by now.

Not only that, he'd be spending his days doing what he loves instead of putting in thousands of hours at a job he can't stand.

So for a "no-risk" investment of a few thousand dollars, he's cost himself hundreds of thousands and years of his life.  

Reason 2: No Risk No Reward 

As I said, I used to teach at the afore-mentioned school. With low tuition and a money-back guarantee, it grew quickly. There were some highly-talented coaching students there - and there were a bunch who probably should never have gone into coaching. With a low entry barrier, many people who had heard you could make big bucks as a coach had joined. Still others had lost their jobs in the last recession and joined that school because they wanted out of the rat race and thought they had nothing to lose. If we make starting a coaching business sound too easy and coach training, no-risk, people join without being sure they really want to become coaches.

Result? Lack of commitment. And unfortunately, lack of commitment usually leads to lack of success. (Ask any successful coach. We're in the business of success.) In addition, the coaches who don't belong are unhappy and their lack of success becomes an energy drain for the whole community. 

Reason 3: The School May Not (Be Able to) Return Your Money

The man who started that school was good for it and he was extraordinarily talented and completely sincere. However, he passed away suddenly of a heart attack, leaving the school to one of his colleagues.  By the time the estate lawyers were finished with it, the school's resources were depleted. And many of the students were unhappy with the change of command. They wanted their money back.

Result? Student requests for refunds went unanswered for months. Some gave up; some took legal action. No fun for anyone. 

Reason 4: You Don't Really Want Your Money Back

Nobody joins a coaching school hoping it won't work out and then they'll have to ask for their money back. What they want is to become a successful coach. If you sincerely want to become a successful coach, look for something better than a money-back guarantee. Look for a school whose students are succeeding. Not just an exceptional few, but the vast majority. That school will require you to put your "butt on the line" as my coach would say. They won't accept just anybody with a credit card. They'll check you out, to make sure you're serious about coaching, even while you're checking them. And they will guarantee value: Effective class material, the best instructors, a proven path to success.

Result? You get what you really want: A successful career as a coach. 

Reason 5: Getting what you pay for is way better than getting your money back. 

You want to get it right the first time, don't you? So, look for a school that guarantees the value you really want. That's a Value-Back Guarantee. 

You've probably guessed that SCM doesn't offer a money-back guarantee. But we do have a Value-Back Guarantee. What does that mean? If you put your own butt on the line by taking advantage of all the resources we provide and do your best to follow our instructions - and it doesn't  work out for you (Ex: You don't pass certification or you can't find clients) we won't offer you a refund, we'll bust OUR butts to give you what's missing (like, individual attention, new course material), because our job's not done until until you have everything you need to be successful. 

Our coaching students are building successful businesses. And not after years and years of stuggling. They're building coaching success in their very first year - even in this recession! 

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2009 

Want to become a successful coach? Make sure your coach training includes everything you need...

Gratitude starts the wheel turning.

Last night, Angela Spaxman, IAC President, emailed me that the license for the new IAC Coaching Masteries was finally ready. After a few glitches, I succeeded to buying a license for School of Coaching Mastery and our parent company, Julia Stewart Coaching & Training LLC.

I think we are the first!! Good thing! We've been teaching them for over a year and a half!

SCM students probably won't notice any difference, since we've been operating with a verbal agreement all along, but it's nice to have bragging rights!

Personally, I'd like to see more hoops for schools and mentors to leap through in order to become IAC licensees. As it stands, it's a lot easier to buy a license than to become an IAC Certified Coach. That could lead to a lot of disappointed coaches who may study with folks who are clueless about what it takes to pass this tough certification.

Then again, maybe I'm just being self-serving since all of our instructors, mentors and advisors are IAC Certified Coaches, some are founding members of the IAC and some contributed to the establishment of this certification and are or have been Certifiers for the IAC. Collectively, we've taught, mentored or certified most of the current IAC Certified Coaches.

Maybe I just want to crow a little!