Coach Springboard

Successful Starts: A Perspective

Although an older article (2001), "The Sky's the Limit" by Ben Dean, MCC is worth a read for both newer coaches and coaches in growth mode.

Written for therapists who might be considering expanding their practice to include coaching services, it offers a contrast on coaching vs. therapy.

And I heartily agree with his new coach success secrets: grow even faster with a mentor coach, determine and develop your target/specialty, consider alternatives to 1-1 in-person coaching, know that building a business (particularly a people-service one) is all about building relationships and trust.

And I'll add one more: be sure to get quality training in coaching skills! No matter how well-suited we are to being a coach ("it's something I've been doing all my life ... I just never had a name for it"), specialized learning about coaching skills and the coaching process can polish our natural abilities so we can be even greater blessings to our clients. Why be mediocre?

Demystifing Coach Competencies

If you are involved in the ICF credentialling or CoachU certification processes ... or thinking about it, check out the new credential distinctions recently posted by the ICF. There's a description of what's expected for each competency ... at ACC, PCC, and MCC levels.

Takes much of the mystery out of the oral exam process -- whew! More importantly, use these as guides to ramp up the effectiveness of your coaching -- work toward and critique coaching sessions against the model of the next level for you.

Where are we going? Are we there yet??

Coaching takes time... and clear communication.

Often, I hear the same concern from new coaches: why does the client who, at first, seemed so eager to get started now seem to have lost interest, or perhaps has even returned to old behaviors? Perhaps, you think, the client isn't "coachable."

Before kicking the client out the door, check to see whether you -- the coach -- and the client are on the same page about your work together. Have you agreed upon a clear focus or goal? Exactly what does your client want to change?  Why have they hired you? What value do they expect to get from your work together? What is so important to them that they are eager and willing to try new approaches?

The International Coach Federation's Definition of Coaching states that the client chooses the coaching focus. But the ICF also says that it's the coach's responsibility to "discover, clarify, and align with what the client wants to achieve."  And that means this: do not move into problem-solving mode until both you and the client are crystal clear about where you are going, not only at the start of a coaching relationship but also at the start of each and every coaching conversation.

It's hard to get somewhere when you aren't even sure where you want to go. And if the destination seems more like a mirage or a mystery, you probably don't even want to get in the car!

Free -- Yes, Free -- Phone Conferencing

I don't understand how they do it, but they do it! There is no longer any need to pay annual rental fees -- sometimes upwards of $1,000 -- for a phone conference bridge line.

If you've been thinking of trying group coaching, leading a teleclass, or hosting a discussion group, do it now. Don't let worries about access to teleconference bridge lines get in your way. Both FreeAudioConferencing.com and FreeConference.com provide 100-person bridge lines at no cost to you. The fine print is this: Long distance charges do apply for your callers  unless, of course, your callers are lucky enough to be in the area code of the assigned phone number.

Callers will hear a short "commercial" for the provider when they dial in, but it's a small price to pay. You can get going with your ideas for group programs, and you don't have to worry about a high price tag. This will cost you, if you don't take advantage of it! Imagine the possibilities...

When you are ready to step up the pace, both services provide cost- effective ways to remove the commercial ($9.95 per month at FreeAudioConferencing.com), obtain a toll-free dial-in number (10 cents a minute per caller, charged to you, at FreeConference.com), or even download MP3 recordings of the call ($10 from FreeAudioConferencing.com).

My favorite? FreeAudioConferencing.com -- they assign a phone number and host/participant codes for use at any time, making it easy to provide the same dial-in instructions for each session of a program series. Go ahead and try it, and tell me what you think. Maybe we can even schedule a conference call to discuss these conference calls...

The Credentials/Certification Maze

Most coach training programs offer their graduates "certificates" -- proof that you fulfilled the program's learning requirements, passed exams, had certain coaching experiences.

Coach Training Institute has its Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC).  Coach U mixes up a pretty hearty coaching certificate alphabet soup: CECG (Core Essentials Certified Graduate), CUCG (Coach U Certified Graduate).  You can even be a Certified Coachville Coach.  And there are countless other programs, each with its own certificate.

But the designations that every professional coach should set their sights on are the credentials from the International Coach Federation: ACC, PCC, MCC.  Other professions have used an independent credentialing process to make it easy for consumers to benchmark proficiency -- think of the accounting profession's CPA or financial planning's CFP.  As the ICF works to increase the visibility and awareness of coaching, the value of ICF credentials in the marketplace will also increase.

Check out the ICF credentialing requirements.  Key points are:

• number of training hours (60 for ACC; 125 for PCC)
• coaching experience (8 clients and 100 hours for ACC; 25 clients and 750 hours for PCC)

Next, decide if you'll do the "portfolio" approach or the ACTP approach -- essentially, completing an oral exam through the ICF or as part of your coaching school's certificate program.  Coach U students: since the current requirements for CUCG requires 20 clients and 500 hours, don't wait -- as soon as you have 100 hours, use the portfolio route to apply for your ACC.