Coaching Blog

Group coaching is a wonderful way to create more value for clients, while making more money for the coach.

And those are two goals that all great coaches care about, especially with a recession on. With masterful group coaching there's a synergy between the group coaching members that takes each individual experience way beyond what the coach provides. At the same time, each group member pays less than they would if they spent the same amount of time in personal coaching. And their combined fees can add up nicely for the coach. Everybody wins.

For instance, the first time I was ever coached in a group, the coach, wisely, set up a system where in each group member connected with at least one other group member, at least once per week outside the group.

That very first week, I was paired with fellow group member, Michael Port (Yes, the bestselling author of Book Yourself Solid, and former actor who appeared in Season One of Sex in the City). Michael was a new coach back then, like me, but he was already a leader. He asked me what I was working on in the group and I said I needed to get my coaching website up. So he gave me the contact info for a great web master in India that he had used. And just like that! I had my first coaching website up in no time and (almost) no money!

And then there are the friendships and connections that group members make. The very first coaching group that I ever led was for coaches who were working on IAC Coach Certification. Many of those coaches are still close friends, having established themselves as top-level coaches, referring, inviting and recommending each other along the way. Some of them have even held high-level positions with the IAC. They are a force to reckon with!

All this might make group coaching seem like a no-brainer for the coach. However it is really an advanced skill set. Learning to give a client exactly what he or she needs within a personal coaching session can be a challenge. Doing that for several people simultaneously is quite a feat!

And then there are the administrative issues that arise when we work with groups, instead of individuals. Mastering group coaching is advanced business-building too.

Suffice it to say that School of Coaching Mastery couldn't be without a module on Group Coaching Mastery. And so our new Group Coaching Mastery module commences in one week!

And because this is the School of Coaching Mastery, we will explore the masterful skills needed for coaching groups from the perspective of the 9 IAC Coaching Masteries(tm) and how to take them to the next level by expanding them to include an entire group of people.

For instance, Mastery #1, Establishing and maintaining a relationship of trust, is a delicate set of multiple skills that helps to establish an open, safe relationship between the coach and a single coaching client.

How do you establish and maintain an relationship of trust between each the members of a group, as well as with yourself, so that each group member is completely open and trusting enough to fully benefit from the remarkable experience that is coaching?

That's one of the many puzzles that we'll solve together in next month's, Group Coaching Mastery module.

If you'd like to know more about it, go here to the module registration page.

You'll also get Group Coaching Mastery included if you join the Full Coach Training Program.

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

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

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!

Today I got a call from a coach I knew years ago.

He was trying to access the IAC website to finish their online certification test on the old Proficiencies before it's taken down on January 1st and wondered if he still had time to get certified.

Yes, there's still time - three days. So, if you haven't gotten certified in the Proficiencies yet, then it's probably time for you to begin studying the Masteries! ;-)

Are the Masteries just the old Proficiencies with different language? No.

I taught Thomas Leonard's Proficiencies for years. They were a big upgrade in coaching technology at the time. Teaching them was priceless learning for me AND now that I'm teaching the new Masteries, I'm quadrupling what I'm learning.

I'm also shocked (and thrilled) to see how fast new coaches are learning mastery, using SCM's unique approach to coach training. When I reflect on the teleclass format we used at the schools I studied at, as well as those I previous taught at, all I can say is "WHAT WERE WE THINKING??"

Of course graduates of those coaching schools got stuck in limbo, neither masterful nor successful, when their primary way to learn coaching was to get on a phone line and listen to somebody else talk about coaching (while students answered their email, cleaned house, or - like me - worked out)!

That's crazy.

You need to be fully engaged in class, using new skills as soon as you learn them and getting precise feedback right away from an expert, so you can step into mastery immediately. Otherwise, you could spend a lifetime in triads and study groups without ever knowing if you're getting it right or not.

I've been preparing coaches for IAC certification since it came into being, because it's based on the one thing clients care about: masterful coaching. And these current newbies are going to coach better than us veterans pretty soon. Exciting - and kinda scary!

Anyhow, if you missed the boat on Proficiency-based certification, don't fret. You can still get certified in the Masteries and if you want to blow the top off your own coaching ability - and make sure you actually get certified this time - then take this opportunity to join SCM's Certified Coach Training Program. 

It's for experienced, trained coaches who intend to be the best at what they do. You'll be challenged, your skills expanded, your confidence solid, your mastery unquestioned. (And we'll pay your certification fee!)

Have questions? Call here: 877-224-2780

Are you a new coach? We have a program for you too!

School of Coaching Mastery

Let's do great work together!