life coaches

Balancing the Push and Pull of Life

 in Guest Post  tagged Albert Einstein / Andrew A. Faccone / balance / business coach / business coaching / charging / choice / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / commitment / control / controllables / end point / enjoy / executive coach / future / goal / jourmey / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / nlp coach / past / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / present / time / Tony Robbins

In today’s guest post Andrew A. Faccone draws upon his own life experiences and his coaching expertise to share 3 points around life, commitment and time.

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Balancing the Push and Pull of Life ..

By Andrew A. Faccone

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”

(Albert Einstein)

We are all given 24 hours a day, 1,440 minutes per day and 86,400 seconds per day to use how we see fit.

Those of us reading this post are very fortunate and blessed to choose how we are to use that precious time we are given. That allotted time has a short life span, it must be used immediately and it cannot be carried over. If it is not used properly it expires.

It is our choice to maximize or minimize how we allocate our days, weeks, months and years that we are given in our lifetime. The mystery of life reveals that life is not a straight line, there is no instruction booklet on how to live and we are responsible for our actions.

The attention that we pay to the little things throughout life has a dramatic effect on the outcomes of our life as we progress and mature throughout our lifetime. Since our birth we have all pursued different paths, we have learned, prospered, been knocked down and despite the challenging conditions have succeeded as well as failed in some of our endeavors. The challenges have made us stronger and the shortcomings have taught us what not to repeat in the future. In some cases we are all learning from those shortcomings.

Past events somehow always re-appear at various times throughout our lives. In the time of our youth we pursued our education and the playful desires of our youth. Academics, athletics, music, literature, sciences, religious education, play time with our childhood friends, youth and civic groups, participation with a strong supervision from our families who attended those important life events. They cheered us on in victory and comforted us when the results did not materialize as hoped for.

When our formal education ended we then used our educational backgrounds or God given talents to find a way to make a go of it on our own. Welcome to being a grown up! We now face the commitments of professional life, parenthood, earning a living, providing for our families, advancing our professional careers and now we have become those attendees routing for our family members as they progress through their childhood and young adult activities that we participated in in the not so distant past.

Where is the person who wanted to change the world and make the difference in the world?

Is this life still a life in balance? Is there equal push and pull in our daily activities? Finding that balance, the constant struggle that addresses all of the aspects of our lives. Spirituality, physicality, and mentality.

I am asked many times in all of my personal & professional travels how did I get where I am in life? I have some of the answers to this question and some answers I do not have. I have been blessed to have had some extraordinary people that have been a part of my life. Nine years of a disciplined Catholic school education, athletic participation in high school and college, a loving family along with several key family members who taught me about the true lessons of life and that I can do anything that I set myself to attaining.

I try to rely on 3 key points and try to use them as my daily guide as I try to find a balance between the many commitments I am involved with in my daily life both personally and professionally.

What you say will determine what you will become. I have always been a believer in word affirmations. The words you are projecting will impact your individual outcomes. If you’re not projecting positive words and expecting great things to occur, they will not happen. If you don’t believe something will happen nobody else will. Use those empowering words to get you to where you want to be.

  1. Control The Controllables is the most important piece of our lives’ direction. We cannot control other people or the actions that they undertake, outside events, or decide the specific outcomes for certain situations. We can only control ourselves and our actions; we are accountable to those actions and decisions that we ourselves make. No one else. Do the best you can to work on those goals both short term and long term, work diligently and constantly change your approach to achieve your goals, but understand you can only control what is in front of you. A strong will can conquer anything, but you also have to be realistic in what you undertake.
  2. Have a goal & the end point in mind. We all set out many times to undertake certain projects but never have the end goal in mind. Example: I am going on a diet and lose weight. That statement screams starve yourself and constantly not be satisfied with even losing the smallest amount of weight. Give yourself credit for wanting to lose weight and changing your eating habits. Whenever a new habit is introduced to our lives it takes roughly 28 days to form a new habit. You have to give yourself credit and realize that to be successful and create a new habit it takes time. Having the end point in mind, losing 1-2 pounds weekly and trying to exercise on a more regular basis is a realistic goal & plan. It is not where you are it’s the direction that you are headed that counts. Keep that goal of where you want to be ever present in your daily actions. You’ll be surprised what you can attain.
  3. Enjoy the journey Life is full of surprises, challenges, and lot of unexpected “things “occur. When life throws the unexpected curve at us daily, which it does to us at some point, we need to readjust and get yourself back on track of the task at hand. Interruptions, issues, something totally unexpected is going to occur. Deal with it quickly and to the best of your ability and get back to what you were you were doing. Once that event has occurred put it in the rear view mirror and move on. Tony Robbins, noted author & motivational speaker, referenced the statement ‘the past does not equal the future’. It is so true. We all need to be aware of this statement and realize that we are doing the best that we can, with the time we have to enjoy each day with its many challenges and surprises.

Life is an attitude -have a good one and you will enjoy the wonderful journey. When you start to make these new adjustments in your daily activities, changes in those daily habits, week after week, month after month, and year after year you will start to recognize that new person in the mirror who you have not seen in some time. Start small but think big, because you can do it, great things are coming your way… it all depends on you!

About the Author/Further Resources

Andrew Faccone, MBA is employed in the healthcare industry as a long term care account specialists in the United States near the New York Metropolitan area. Andrew has over 18 years experience as an athlete,& coach positively impacting the lives of athletes he has coached. Andrew is available for speaking engagements of any size or location and individual coaching sessions.

Contact Andrew A. Faccone at aa****@***oo.com or

Linkedin : http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-a-faccone-mba/24/291/3b2

Cell Phone 732 614 8425 Eastern Time Zone

 

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Goals You Can Control

 in Guest Post  tagged action / attitude / business coach / business coaching / charging / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / Early L. Jackson Jr / executive coach / goals / influence / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / motivation / nlp coach / perception / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / schedule / time / Zig Ziglar

Early Jackson, shares his coaching expertise and knowledge in this weeks guest post:

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Goals You Can Control …

By Early Jackson …

Zig Ziglar, a motivational speaker and inspiration to thousands through his books and products once said, “Things are the way they are because we are the way we are.” I have found this to be a tough but valuable truth to live by. Often our largest challenge in life will not come from anything external, but the internal wrestling of procrastination. As a coach, I speak to people about what they wish to happen for them. Usually the reality is a disconnection with what they want and how they act. We spend too much time focusing on what we can’t control instead of what is within our reach.

In the late 1920’s at the turn of the industrial revolution America implemented a system of evaluating employees, especially factory workers. If a person on an assembly line at location ‘A’ was clocked at 85% efficiency, great attention would be given to the 15% that was lacking. This created a unique problem. The person would not get better, but worse. Why you may ask? Because wherever focus goes, energy flows. People do not progress by focusing where they lack, but by emphasizing their strengths. The system of correcting behavior was flawed mainly because the attention was placed on the wrong statistic.

Many do not attempt their goals at all because they see the task of planning for them as a huge mountain they cannot conquer. Half the battle is developing the right strategy and the goals that once were impossible, are easy to obtain. Instead of giving your precious focus to the negatives surrounding your desires, begin to assess what you already possess.

Here are a few things that you can control:

  • Your perception: My mother always said, “You can’t stop a bird from flying over your head but you can stop it from building a nest on you.” You and you alone control how you think. No one is so powerful that they can make you think a certain way. People are there to influence, but the end result is yours to handle.
  • Your attitude: If what you think is based on perception, how you think is a result of an attitude. Life goes on even if you have a bad day. How you respond to life is going to determine what you get out of it. It is a proven fact that people with a better attitude live a more fulfilling lifestyle.
  • Your time and schedule: Time is the only currency you can never earn more of. It is far better to lose money then your time. You can always earn more cash, but once time is invested and loss, it is gone forever. It is your responsibility to guard your time and use it wisely.
  • Your circle of influence: We all have wished at some time or another that we could have chosen our family members. But the reality is, you have the family God wanted you to have. What you can choose is who gets into your ‘space’. Focus on who you are allowing into your life because that’s who will have influence.

Actions are simply our response to our motivation. Once the fire has been lit we have to move quickly to implement our goals and use that momentum. Life gives us what we are willing to put into it. Goals aren’t prejudice nor play favorites. Goals show up completed when the person pursuing them employs consistent effort and planning.

See you at the TOP!

Early Jackson

About the Author/Further Resources

Early JacksonEarly L. Jackson Jr., profoundly recognized as a Social Activist, has been laboring to bring balance, skill, relevance and understanding to people of all nationalities. After effectively overcoming a stretch of drug addictions, Early has highly developed himself to become a successful life coach. As a result Early has had the opportunity to speak at such prestigious institutions as Rider University, The University of Phoenix, Jefferson Hospital, The Philadelphia Board of Education, The University of Pennsylvania and even on Carnival Cruiseline. He has also served diligently as an educator, a conference and seminar host as well as a radio and television personality in the Greater Philadelphia area for more than thirteen years. Coach Early was recently featured on The Hampton Roads show and is a regular contributor to “Inside Business” The Hampton Roads Business Journal as well as a writer for ” Examiner.com” a dynamic entertainment, news and lifestyle network that serves more than 20 million monthly readers across the U.S. and around the world. In addition, he is acclaimed for his work as a life coach working with individuals, couples, families and professionals in designing and living extraordinary lives. Early, has a special ability to build leaders, while developing people to a life of happiness, with deep, lasting satisfaction and fulfillment.

Early is known for his passionate teaching, humor and genuine love for people. Drawing from experience as a leader in the U.S. Army during Desert Storm, he proclaims a liberating message of empowerment to those who lack a voice of affirmation. He is known as ‘the constant encourager’ to many who seek a greater experience of true achievement.

Early Jackson, happily married to his wife Cherese, is a heavily sought after teacher and conference speaker; he has been invited to speak both nationally and internationally. He is the author of “Groomed For Greatness: 31 Days To An Empowered Life”, 50 Affirmations For Next Level Living”, “Tweet Your Way To Greatness” and “10 Mistakes I Made Before 30 & How To Avoid Them” as well as a variety of Coaching CD series. His overarching belief “If we are to exercise our full status and potential in this life we must be retrained in our daily behavior and mind sets” is a prevalent and recurring theme in his teachings.

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Does your subconscious mind rule your reality? 1

 in Guest Post  tagged belief / business coach / business coaching / charging / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / Creedence Training / executive coach / information / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / Maggie Currie / mind / nlp coach / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / reality / subconscious

Maggie Currie, the people magician, shares her expertise and knowledge in this weeks guest post as she asks:

Does your subconscious mind rule your reality?

By Maggie Currie

Every day you are constantly barraged, from the minute you open your eyes and ears in the morning until the minute you close your eyes and ears at night, with information – facts and figures, fiction, half-truths, music, news, stories, half-heard conversations, pictures and images.

This information comes from parents, siblings, relatives, newspapers, magazines, school, college, university, colleagues, television, radio, advertising posters, books, magazines, films, fellow passengers, articles – the list is endless. And this has been happening since the day you were born.

You would be surprised at how much information you absorb each week.

To prove just how much information you absorb each week and from how many sources, make a list of all the publications you read, the television programmes you regularly watch, the newspapers you subscribe to, the radio broadcasts you listen to and so on.

Are you surprised at the length of your list?

How much of that information that you have listed do you think is having a positive effect on your life?

How much do you think is having a negative effect on your life?

I bet the second list is far longer than the first.

You filter all the information you receive (whether you realise it or not) and you think you either store it away for future use (you believe it) or discard it as useless (you choose not to believe it). But, unbeknown to you, your subconscious mind will store all the information away, just in case, whether, in your conscious mind, you think you believe it or not.

Your subconscious mind has remembered everything you have ever seen or heard since the minute you were born. Your subconscious mind has very kindly done this for you without you even knowing.

Think about it, you see a poster flash by you and the information on that poster is absorbed into your mind in an instant. You may not even have realised that the information has been registered. So what you believe today could be entirely based on something you read on that poster this morning.

Alternatively your beliefs could be based on something that is hidden deep down in your subconscious mind that you thought you had forgotten about, but in actual fact it has been lurking there for many years, thanks to your subconscious mind.

Still don’t believe me?Well let’s take an example – it is possible that when you started infant school you could have been told by your very first teacher, when you were just five years old, that you would find it difficult to keep up with your school work because, at the grand old age of five, you couldn’t sit still for more than ten minutes, and therefore you were perceived as not paying attention. Although we all know that it is possible for you to have been walking around and still listening to the teacher.

That teacher labelled you, at that very young age, as non-attentive. Now this belief has been stored away in your subconscious mind for many years, whether you realise it or not, and it is quite possible that, because of this stored information, you did find it difficult to keep up. You were told it, you believed it and you made it a reality.

But what if that teacher had known that because you were only five years old it was entirely possible that you could listen as well as fidget, and that teacher had never made the negative comment in the first place? Your subconscious mind would not have been able to store that information away for many years because it would have been totally unaware. Would you have even thought that you couldn’t keep up with the school work? And would it have become a reality? I think not.

What if you had been told by that same teacher, when you were the grand old age of five, that you were very talented and that you would have absolutely no trouble at all learning? Would your reality have been different?

Yes it would! You would have found it easy to keep up with your schoolwork because you believed that you were talented and had no trouble learning and therefore your reality would have been totally different.

So whether you like to believe it or not, your subconscious mind rules your reality.

About the Author/Further Resources

Maggie Currie, The People Magician world class coach a motivational speaker and a published author.

I was adopted while very young and went on to enjoy a private education with my new parents. I left school with extensive secretarial qualifications and was soon running the typing pool for a large London company. I married at age 19 and had three children. However, my marriage didn’t last and for many years I struggled as a single mum bringing up my children. I reached rock bottom when I had just one coin left for the meter, no job and no perceived prospects. I had to do something or we would all starve. I began by changing one thought – I can get a job. And I did within a week. I gradually rebuilt my life, remarried and eventually relocated to the Isle of Wight. I set up and run a successful secretarial business and retrained as a life coach and trainer and set up a coaching business to run alongside the secretarial business. This too is successful and has allowed me to keep on learning and to write two books. I regularly write articles for journals and magazines on various topics related to coaching and confidence.

Experience

  • Author of ‘What You Believe Creates Your Reality’ published Sept 2010 by Book Guild Publishing
  • Author of ‘7 Stepping Stones to Rebuilding Confidence in Yourself’ published Dec. 2011 by CreateSpace
  • Co-Author ‘One Page Wisdom’ published by Life Skills Australia Nov 2009
  • YOU University Coach
  • Tutor/Life Coaching Institute
  • Life Coach/IoW Rural Community Council
  • Expert BBC Radio Solent, Vectis Radio, Calder’s Confessions (Worldwide), Radio Coaching, BlogTalk Radio
  • Business Mentor/The Prince’s Trust
  • Business Mentor/Expert Mentor-Net
  • Business Mentor PLATO GB
  • Speaker/Expert Island Business Network
  • Mentor The Horses Mouth

Qualifications:

  • Personal Life Coach (Newcastle College)
  • Corporate & Executive Coach (The Coaching Academy)
  • Advanced Confidence Coach/Group Trainer (Dawn Breslin Training)
  • NLP (INLPTA)
  • Hypnosis/Relaxation (Chris Hughes)
  • Sports Psychology (SNHS)
  • Disability Awareness (DWAL)
  • PTLLS (Professional Teaching Award B Tech level 4) (IoW College)
  • TEFL/TESOL (120 hours) (UK-TEFL)
  • Thought Field Therapy Practitioner(ATFT)
  • Indian Head Massage Practitioner (VTCT)

Featured frequently in the national and international media…

  • County Press
  • IOW Gazette
  • Torch
  • European Coaching Institute Publication
  • Island Business Magazine
  • Portsmouth Live TV
  • Vectis Radio
  • Business Vision
  • Mature Times
  • Chronicle
  • BBC Radio Solent
  • Evan Carmichael
  • Hearing Concern
  • Coach Network
  • Erwin de Grave’s Radio Coaching
  • Daily Echo
  • Women’s Business Club
  • BlogTalk Radio
  • Big Life
  • Business for Coaches

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Coaching Questions are an Everyday Matter

 in Guest Post  tagged business coach / business coaching / charging / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / executive coach / Jan King / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / nlp coach / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / questions / retirement coach / success

Retirement coach Jan King shares an experience of using her coaching skills outside of a coaching session in this week’s guest post…

Coaching Questions are an Everyday Matter

by Jan King

Really good coaching questions come in useful in all sorts of situations. Many years of carrying heavy handbags on my right shoulder meant that recently, I had to see an orthopaedic surgeon for a suspected injury to my rotator cuff – the ball and socket where arm joins shoulder. He confidently informed me that the solution to the problem was to operate in order to shave off some bone.

Well, I absolutely hate and detest operations. First, because the anaesthetic makes me feel sick for hours and hours, so I have to stay in hospital for far longer than most people do. And second, I’ve been suspicious of orthopaedic operations, in particular, ever since my mother had one done on her foot and subsequently found slivers of bone emerging painfully from her toes.

I’ll try anything rather than have to undergo the knife, be it ever so small and the surgery ever so keyhole. So, putting my coaching hat on, I innocently asked the orthopaedic surgeon the following question: ‘If you didn’t operate, what else could you do that might alleviate the problem?’

It was wonderful to see his facial expression change from confidence to perplexity. But perplexity led to deep thought, as it often does when you ask a client a really good question. Finally, he said — perhaps a bit grudgingly — that he supposed I could try physiotherapy. He didn’t think it would work, but it was worth a try.

Two months later, I’m faithfully following a complicated exercise regime that entails lots of shoulder and neck stretching. And it’s working, so I probably won’t have to have an operation. Which just goes to show that you can use your coaching skills in any situation and get a really satisfying result.

Jan King

30 May 2012

About the author

Jan King is a Retirement Coach, working with individuals, couples and groups to make retirement as happy and fulfilling as possible.

Qualified both as a Family & Marital Therapist and as a Life Coach, Jan has retired twice herself and has first-hand experience of making the transition from work to retirement (and in her case, back again!) and of figuring out not only how to retire and when, but also how to get the very best out of retirement.

Visit her website at www.jkretirement.co.uk,
Catch up with her on Twitter @jankingcoach,
On Facebook at jankingcoaching
Or on LinkedIn at jankingtransitionscoach.
Or you can contact her on 01787 222540/07949 821 670 or email her at ja*@*************co.uk.

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The KISS principle- Keep It Simple, Silly

 in Guest Post  tagged basketball / belief / business coach / business coaching / charging / Children of Ecuador / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / Dave Oldham / executive coach / goal / Keep it simple / Kevin Hall / kiss / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / nlp coach / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / value

Dave Oldham, shares his experience as a coach, teacher, entrepreneur and charity founder in today’s guest post:

The KISS principle- Keep It Simple, Silly

by Dave Oldham

Kevin Hall, the author of the book Aspire defines a coach as someone who “carries a valued person from where they are to where they want to be!” This comes from the concept of a stagecoach from generations ago, which was the method of travel for the elite.

As a coach, it is so important that our belief system includes the value of the people we are working with. Without fully giving value to the people you work with, your heart cannot be engaged in the process of taking them to where they want to be. Once you have value for the individual, you can then focus on where THEY want to get to, not where YOU want them to get to. This can be a challenge as the coach may see a different path.

To meet this end, there is a simple three step process to follow. The key is in the simplicity of it all, and the magic comes from daily, consistent action.

  1. Determine where the person you are working with is at, and accept this unconditionally. What is the current skillset, experience, commitment level and motivation for improvement
  2. Where do they want to get to? This must be specific and goal oriented. Are they wanting increased sales, income, satisfaction, relationships, clients, time freedom, independence, autonomy, or any other valued benefit.
  3. How can we get them there? As a coach, the greater the diversity and ability to help the people you work with gain new skills, keep consistent with action, measure results, reflect, and build upon improvements the more value you can provide.

As a high school basketball coach, the above plan has allowed our program to guide more high school athletes to college and university basketball than anyone in Western Canada over the past five years. The process is about the athlete, which has contributed to 100% buy in. Training sessions are focused and target specific areas that will allow the athlete the opportunity to play post-secondary athletics. Belief systems are instilled that promote excellence, commitment, and daily action to self improvement. The process is all about working with the athlete on where they want to go. Athletes are challenged to explore their thinking, push the limits, and challenge themselves; however setting goals and deciding where they want to go is left up to them.

We also go through this process as a team at the start of our season. Everyone sets goals, but the art of coaching comes in the plan set forth to obtain those goals.

The X’s and O’s of coaching basketball are irrelevant to this, and therefore can be applied to any sport, or any coaching situation in or out of sport. Coaching is about building relationships and as Kevin Hall states “carry a valued person from where they are to where they want to be!”

About the author

Dave Oldham is a high school teacher and basketball coach, entrepreneur, charity founder/director (www.childrenofecuador.ca), husband and father to two girls, and world traveller.

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Youth at Risk and Transform Coaching

 in Guest Post  tagged business coach / business coaching / charging / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / development / Ellie Garraway / Emily Finney / executive coach / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / nlp coach / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / Transform Coaching / Youth at Risk

In this weeks guest post Emily Finney and Ellie Garraway share observations about how a company and charity who uses coaching has developed over the past 20 years.

Youth at Risk and Transform Coaching

by Emily Finney and Ellie Garraway

Here at Youth at Risk we have been delivering high impact personal development programmes for young people for 20 years. Our courses have a track record of changing attitudes and negative beliefs of disaffected and disengaged young people but perhaps more surprisingly we have developed a following in the world of adult personal development and coaching too.

All of our work with young people involves training adults (professionals, parents, volunteers) and we have found over the years that these adults stick around – they want more of the Youth at Risk methodology because it is impacting the way they live their lives, their sense of connection to others and their ability to make a difference.

It was really our adult champions (you know those people who are always in touch to find out when their next chance to volunteer or attend a training might come along) who were the driving force behind creating Transform Coaching.

Transform Coaching goes back to the origins of the “Youth at Risk” methodology – powerful performance coaching delivered on to a foundation of transformational personal development – and couples it with an accreditation from Edinburgh University. It’s all about sorting out who you are and your baggage first before you even begin to think about learning how to coach another. It is a high impact, challenging course – and as with the work of the charity – delivers fairly extraordinary results as Kate from Levi’s can testify

“I had heard previously how amazing the transformational coaching was but nothing could prepare me for the huge impact it had. You really do walk away feeling transformed. You really do learn about yourself and how you really do limit yourself through your beliefs and conversations you have with yourself. At times the training was challenging and at times I was completely out of my comfort zone but I overcame this and really put 100% into the training. I walked away feeling profound, energetic and with a new appreciation of myself.”

Kate – Levi’s UK

Our collective approach to transformation is based on a simple but shattering truth. In this intensively competitive globalised world, learning new skills and techniques alone are no longer enough. You must see the world in a new way and reinvent yourself. You must transform. We’ll be the catalyst. We’ll challenge you to recognise new opportunities that were not available or visible to you before.

We have witnessed some amazing transformations in people who have completed the course and participants have told us they have improved their decision-making skills, effective management of others from a coaching perspective, highly improved communication skills and increased levels of motivation. One employer told us that their staff member looked different after the course!

“This is an extraordinary course in so many ways and I know that the awareness and insights I have gained will continue to grow long after I have left and will impact on every aspect of my life and relationships.”

Our courses have certificated accreditation in association with The University of Edinburgh Business School. This is made possible through our affiliation with Peter Hill’s Coaching for More consultancy, a well-respected organisation committed to the learning and development of coaches and mentors. www.cfmi.co.uk – we enjoy working with Peter Hill a lot and he has been great in helping to bring Transform Coaching to adults.

About the author

Written by Emily Finney – Transform Coaching Manager – New to Youth at Risk with the help of Ellie Garraway.

About Transform coaching

Give us 4 days and we’ll transform the rest of your life.

To find out more ; www.transformcoaching.org / Facebook // Twitter // LinkedIn

About co-writer Ellie Garraway

Ellie’s role in Youth at Risk is as Operations Manager responsible for all Education programmes and has been instrumental in the rapid growth of this critical area of work. She is also a key trainer on Coaching for Success programmes, delivering intensive personal development training courses to school staff, year 10/11 pupils and the volunteer performance coaches.

Prior to working for Youth at Risk, Ellie worked as Training and Development Manager for a large fundraising organisation, designing and delivering all of their in-house training. She has also worked as a freelance trainer, designing and running courses for a variety of client groups including: MBA students, counsellors, actors and all manner of business people. Other work includes – company director and co-founder of a national touring theatre company, fitness instructor and personal trainer. Ellie has also represented the South of England as a long-distance runner and continues to compete at a high level.

Ellie holds a BA (Hons) in English Lit. & Theatre Studies (University of Leeds) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Acting (Welsh College of Music and Drama).

 

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Selling Made Simple 1

 in Guest Post  tagged business coach / business coaching / charging / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / cost / executive coach / Lawrence Platt / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / Michael Neill / money / nlp coach / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / price / Rich Litvin / sales as service / sales thorugh service / self-worth / selling / serve / Steve Chandler / success / supercoach / SuperCoach Academy / Transformative Coaching

Supercoach Michael Neill shares some thoughts on selling in this week’s guest post.

Selling Made Simple

by Michael Neill

Over the past couple of days, I’ve really enjoyed participating on a “Creating Clients” seminar given by Supercoach Academy faculty members Steve Chandler and Rich Litvin. We were challenged, cajoled, and at times even coddled through the process of facing up to and breaking through our fears about enrolling clients and selling our products and services in the world.

While there were a number of wonderful strategies shared throughout the weekend for inviting conversations and making powerful proposals, I became fascinated early on by a simple question that was being asked by the still, small voice in the back of my head:

What would selling be like if I didn’t know anything about how to do it and was completely comfortable with that fact?

The first thing I realized is that I would show up without much on my mind. I wouldn’t fill my head with affirmations about my self-worth or “visualize success”. If I had any intention at all, it would simply be to see what I could best do to assist, help, or serve the person in front of me.

Not having much on my mind would leave me very present. This quality of presence would ensure both high quality listening and a natural, unforced human connection.

I wouldn’t need to prepare any questions because anything I wanted to ask would arise instinctively out of my curiosity and interest in answering fundamental questions like “what would make the biggest positive difference in your life right now?”, “how can I serve you?”, and for myself, “do I want to?”

Because I’m comfortable not knowing what I don’t know, if you asked me anything that I hadn’t thought about, I would just think about it in the moment. If a satisfactory answer didn’t come, I would promise to get back to you when I had an answer and then keep my promise.

I wouldn’t have any fear about telling you the cost of my product or service because (as Steve repeatedly pointed out throughout the weekend) it would be no more significant than giving you my phone number so you could get in touch if you wanted to speak further. And if I hadn’t already decided what my fee was, I would make it up based on what would make me want to choose you as the next person to serve.

My lack of agenda would inoculate against the appearance of much “sales resistance”, and concepts like “overcoming objections” would become irrelevant because my job is to find a way to serve you, not to find a way to get you to do what I want. In fact, selling would never feel forced or manipulative because if I couldn’t find a way to serve you that I actually wanted to do, I would just move on to the next person.

If I wasn’t enjoying my sales and enrollment conversations, I would know that either I had slipped into thinking my job was to “make a sale”, or that perhaps I wasn’t terribly convinced that what I had to offer would actually be of service.

As the essayist Lawrence Platt writes:

“If you’re experiencing enrolling others in your possibility as a chore, it’s likely you haven’t yet completely distinguished your possibility. If you possibility is authentic, if it’s clear, if it’s genuine, then it’s inspiring to you. When it’s inspiring to you, then it’s inspiring to others. No effort is required for it to be enrolling. Inspiration grounded in possibility is naturally contagious: everyone gets it, everyone wants it. It literally enrolls others by itself.”

When we began enrolling Supercoach Academy three years ago, my first instruction to the enrollment team was that I would evaluate their effectiveness by how often I was thanked by potential students for allowing them the chance to speak with my team. I figured that if we found a way for people to feel grateful for being “sold to”, chances were we would not only wind up making sales, we’d also wind up building strong relationships for the future.

What made my reflections this weekend so powerful was the realization that “sales as service” isn’t just a clever ideology – it is the most natural and unforced way to sell, and as such will provoke the least internal resistance to the process.

In other words, when selling is really about you, not me, it’s really fun to do. Since I’m enjoying doing it, I’ll do more of it. As I do more and more of it, I’ll get better at it. And when I start getting noticeably better at it, chances are I’ll begin to enjoy it even more…

Have fun, learn heaps, and a belated Happy Mother’s Day to all!

With all my love,

Michael

About the author

Michael Neill is an internationally renowned success coach and the best-selling author of You Can Have What You Want, Feel Happy Now!, the Effortless Success audio program and Supercoach: 10 Secrets to Transform Anyone’s Life. He has spent the past 21 years as a coach, adviser, friend, mentor and creative spark plug to celebrities, CEO’s, royalty, and people who want to get more out of their lives. His books have been translated into 13 languages, and his public talks and seminars have been well received at the United Nations and around the world.

Copyright © 2012 Michael Neill. All Rights Reserved

 

 

The Challenges of Developing an Online Coaching Package

 in Guest Post  tagged Beverley Ireland-Symonds / business coach / business coaching / charging / client / clients / coach / coaches / coaching / coaching courses / coaching qualifications / coaching skills / coaching techniques / coaching training / executive coach / leadership coaching / life coach / life coaches / life coaching / nlp coach / online coaching / online program / performance coaching / personal coach / personal development / virtual learning environment / VLE

In this week’s guest post coach Beverley Ireland-Symonds shares what she has learnt developing an online coaching packages.

The Challenges of Developing an Online Coaching Package

by Beverley Ireland-Symonds

Have you ever thought about developing an online coaching package that you can use with clients?

I know for many coaches the thought of trying to coach a client online, other than using Skype would be a complete anathema. In fact to many it would be a training programme – not a coaching programme, but when I first started training as a coach I knew it was something that I wanted to explore.

Coming from a teaching background, part of my MA studies in Post Compulsory Education and Training had been to examine the challenges of online tutoring and mentoring so I knew a lot about the amount and type of support that might be needed. I was also used to creating all sorts of different resources for access through a VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) so I was confident about my ability to produce good content.

I also knew that I had valuable skills that not only did I not want to lose, but I also thought could be effectively utilised in my Coaching. I knew online coaching wouldn’t suit everyone but I was certain that there were potential clients out there that would make it a viable proposition. After all there has been a huge growth in online training.

However, it’s easy to have these ideas but quite a different thing to implement them. Other things soon got in the way and took priority and although I kept kicking the idea around and researched what other people were doing the ideas that I periodically sketched out stayed in a file. But this year I decided I didn’t want to keep putting it off and I wanted to make it happen.

And what a learning curve it has been. I had no idea the amount of things I would have to think about.

Firstly I had to consider whether any part of my niche confidence and career coaching would lend itself to being delivered online. Having decided it would and having made the decision I wanted to create a programme for people who are job hunting and struggling to get their ideal job I was then very quickly on to thinking about:

  • Advantages and disadvantages of coaching online
  • Identifying potential clients
  • The programme offer
  • What coaching methods could be used
  • Course content
  • Writing materials
  • Finding a suitable online platform to run the programme
  • Creating video and audio files
  • Additional support for clients
  • Marketing strategy
  • Quality …

And so the list went on. It was a much bigger job than I had initially thought, particularly as I decided from the start that I didn’t want to outsource any of the work. This was partly a cost issue but also because I wanted to be able be able to change things and update them easily without having to contact someone else to do it.

However, this meant although I had lots of skills I still needed to learn new ones including how to build my own VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) from scratch.

Foolish perhaps, but I stuck with it and if all goes well, I’m hoping to launch ‘Become a job seeking superstar’ within 7 weeks.

So what are the some of the advantages of offering an online coaching programme?

For the clients

  • Flexibility to study when they want
  • Ability to choose what they learn
  • Opportunity to work at their own pace
  • Opportunity to be able to access some coaching without immediately committing to 1 to 1 coaching sessions.

For the coach

  • Able to expand services offered
  • Opportunity to earn passive recurring income
  • Able reach more potential clients

And the key disadvantages which could affect both coach and clients

  • Technical errors
  • Timely support
  • Limited personal contact (depending on the programme offered)
  • Competing priorities

So what have I learnt from creating a coaching programme? Well lots of things …

  1. The need to research thoroughly including looking at any similar programmes.
  2. The importance of Identifying the needs of the potential clients and offering them ‘solutions’ to problems.
  3. Have an offer that is flexible to the needs of different clients.
  4. Coaching online requires a completely different mode of delivery – ‘teach’ first and then coach – rather than coach and draw ideas out of the client.
  5. Anticipate some of the ‘difficulties’ people may have either with the system or the materials and consider what support will be offered
  6. A fairly high level of technical skill is required if you want to offer a multi-media programme (unless you outsource the work)
  7. Testing and receiving feedback is a key component of the whole process
  8. Offer a product that doesn’t compromise on quality or in any way diminish the concept of ‘coaching’
  9. Recognise that there’s nothing wrong in starting small. Expansion can come later.
  10. Keep a positive attitude and a sense of humour at all times!

And now I’m nearly there will it be a success? That I won’t know until some months after I have launched the programme, but my testers have been positive and I have set myself very small manageable targets so I am very optimistic.

Would I recommend creating online coaching programmes to other coaches? Yes I would. It’s hugely challenging and it needs a whole different mindset and creativity to make it work but it is a real opportunity to offer a different service and expand your client base. It won’t suit everyone, but if it is something you’ve toyed with, give it a go.

About the author

Beverley Ireland-Symonds has worked in different fields including the NHS, travel and tourism, fashion, as well 16 years in adult and further education. As a qualified NLP Coach and Certified Practitioner, she works with clients to improve their confidence and image and has developed an online coaching programme for people returning to work after a break. She also runs a training and consultancy company specialising in communication skills and language development. You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn