International Association of Coaching Blog

IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 43, January 2010, Circulation 13,415

Linda From the Editor As I enter my second year as Editor of the VOICE, I want to say what an honour it's been. I'd also like to send a special thank you to our wonderful production team, VA extraordinaire Diana McFarlane and generous and savvy proofreader Elizabeth Nofziger. Thanks also to Angela Spaxman, Sue Brundege, Bob Tschannen-Moran and the entire BOG for your support behind the scenes. It's been an absolute joy to work with our fascinating and talented contributors and columnists, and one final thank you goes out to YOU for reading and being here with us. In this first issue of the year, IAC President Bob Tschannen-Moran jumps into 2010 with some extraordinary resolutions for the IAC. In other IAC news, this month we're introducing another IAC Member Benefit from JournalEngineTM Software, and Marc Manieri will tell you more in his article about the power of journaling. While New York City is certainly well known for its exceptional theatre, did you know that there is a coach working behind the scenes? Andrew Frank gives us a glimpse of his work in his article about goal-setting for artists. Our second feature article has veteran coach Tonia Boterf challenging conventional marketing ideas as she warns, "Don't niche me in!" This month's Tools for Coaching Mastery column welcomes back Alison Davis with an inspiring message about just how far the Masteries can take us to bring a coaching approach to the whole world. In today's Inside Scoop—Ask the Certifiers column, Lead Certifier Natalie Tucker Miller untangles the distinctions between collaborating, sharing, inviting, suggesting and telling, to help you determine when you might be too directive with your clients. We're expecting Janice Hunter to be back next month with a new instalment of Coaching Moments. In the meantime, please feel free to browse the archives of her rich contributions to this newsletter. If you enjoy what you read in the IAC VOICE, be sure to follow our feature article authors, columnists and IAC Board members on Twitter. You can check in on them anytime at http://twitter.com/lindadessau/iac-voice-contributors, or subscribe to the list from your Twitter account. Our 2010 submission guidelines for the VOICE are available here. I would love to receive your article submissions by January 20th for the February 11th issue or by February 17th for the March 11th issue. Please contact me with your article ideas and your feedback about this issue. Enjoy! Warm wishes, Linda Linda Dessau, CPCC Editor, IAC® VOICE Email: voice@certifiedcoach.org Comment Now Bob From the President by Bob Tschannen-Moran, MDiv, IAC-CC, CWC president@certifiedcoach.org New Year’s Resolutions Cynics like to point out that less than half of all New Year’s Resolutions result in sustained, long-term behavioral changes. That "glass half empty" framework discounts the fact that more than 40% of all New Year’s Resolutions do result in sustained, long-term behavioral changes. In other words, setting intentions—an essential part of coaching—makes a huge difference for significant numbers of people (and the success rate goes up when intentions are coupled with designs). Since I prefer this "glass half full" orientation when it comes to intentions and possibilities, I would share with you a few of my own as the incoming President of the IAC. Significant and Rapid Membership Growth. The IAC has now been in existence for almost seven years. In that time we have attracted a significant number of subscribers—more than 13,000—to our monthly newsletter, the IAC VOICE. We have not, however, turned many of those subscribers into annual, dues-paying members. Our current membership numbers are so small—around 550—that it limits the impact and threatens the viability of our organization. My intention is to at least double the paid membership of the IAC by the end of 2010, and double it yet again by the end of 2011. 2,012 by 2012 is my new mantra! With more than 2,000 paid members, the IAC brand and capacity will have reached the critical mass it needs to substantially influence the future of coaching and the infusion of coaching values in our world today. Enhanced Certification and Licensing Programs. To dramatically increase our membership, I see the IAC striving to enhance its certification and licensing programs. There is much that we can do to strengthen the integrity, visibility and diversity of our brands. To that end, our long-range strategy process is focusing on creating entry-level designations (not certifications) for those coming into the profession as well as making our certification and licensing programs even more vital and accountable. Our commitment "to inspire the on-going evolution and application of universal coaching standards" requires the rigorous and continuous application of those standards to all who use the IAC Coaching Masteries® in their coaching, training and mentoring. Dramatically Improved Web Presence. We already offer an impressive and growing array of member benefits. During 2010, the IAC plans on investing a significant amount of time, money and energy in a vastly improved website that will increase the value of IAC membership and attract new members. With the help of our new media design company, Ripe Media, we expect to completely redesign our website, optimizing its usability and visibility. One result will be that IAC-certified coaches and our other members will rise to the top of search engine inquiries. We also expect to include new vehicles for online collaboration, conversation and connection. Greater Collaboration and Diversification. The IAC's recent presence and activities at the 14th annual ICF Conference in Orlando, Florida reflect our intention to cooperate more actively and passionately with the ICF. This followed an earlier agreement that the IAC and ICF would jointly issue a set of model standards of conduct for professional coaches. We may each have distinctive understandings of and approaches to coach certification, but we agree on the basics when it comes to our legal, ethical and professional standards. Such agreement foreshadows future collaborations, not only with the ICF and other coaching associations, but also with different associations and organizations that share our values and commitments as professional coaches. I envision the IAC growing into a large, umbrella organization where coaches can share our work and way in the world. Increased Social Responsibility. It has been striking to me how often our conversations regarding the future of coaching have come back to the question of coaching’s impact on the future of our world. What difference does coaching make? How can that difference be measured? Are some techniques more effective than others? The IAC aligns itself with the following "coaching values": innovation and change, diversity, mastery, openness and transparency, abundance thinking, integrity and high ethical standards. How can we best promote those values in our world today? How can we best encourage coaches and wannabe coaches to live into those values, regardless of their financial capacity or stage of development? The IAC is wrestling with those questions and is uniquely situated to find answers that will help our profession to soar. With the start of 2010, the IAC Board of Governors has doubled in size, with wonderful new energy and leadership for the work at hand. We will be featuring our new Board members in future issues of the IAC VOICE and on the IAC website. Expect to be touched by their work and recruited by their leadership. When everyone pitches in, the work of the IAC will rise to new heights in 2010 and beyond. We look forward to welcoming and working with you on the journey. This month we are pleased to introduce the newest IAC Member Benefit with an article from Marc Manieri, President of JournalEngineTM Software. May you be filled with goodness, peace and joy, Bob Tschannen-Moran, MDiv, IAC-CC, CWC President, IAC® Email: president@certifiedcoach.org Web: www.LifeTrekCoaching.com Comment Now New IAC Coaching Masteries® licensed schools and mentors Name City State Country IAC-CC   TEAMCOACH INTERNATIONAL SDN.BHD. Kuala Lumpur Malaysia   Malaysia No View Details Comment Now How to Read Your Client’s Mind by Marc Manieri If I told you that you’ve been operating at about 50% of your coaching ability, would you be offended or curious? Well, I’m telling you that you are operating at half-mast, and I’d like to invite you to be curious. Read on. I have personally interacted with several hundred coaches over the last two years. During that time, I have identified three common themes: The coaches I’ve met love what they do and are genuinely inspired to help others; The coaches I’ve met have clients who are happy but not necessarily transformed; The coaches I’ve met struggle with consistent business development. Sound familiar? Doctors who perform miracle surgeries have tools at their disposal to assist them in their work. So why should coaching be any different? The answer is: it shouldn’t. Journaling is one tool that can be a key to success for both you and your clients. When you integrate journaling into your coaching practice—making it the very foundation of your work—you can effectively address each of these three themes. You can help your clients in leaps and bounds, because you literally gain the ability to read your client’s mind. By strategically guiding your client’s journal writing with relevant questions or prompts, you gain access to their real time thoughts and beliefs. You know exactly what’s going in their mind and in their life as things unfold. You can facilitate life-altering transformation. Before, it may have taken weeks or months to get to the client’s real “stuff;” no longer. You’re now better equipped to guide your client past their resistance and towards their goals at warp speed. You can count on consistent referrals and repeat clients. Every time your client journals they are instantly reminded of the growth they've accomplished, and when they see your coaching comments after each journal entry they associate their breakthroughs with your coaching guidance. Soon they will be singing your praises to everyone they know. Plus, with a journaling system in place, your former clients can keep using it and remember that you're there if they ever want a "tune-up." By reading your clients’ minds, you become a better coach and earn more consistent business all at once. Not a bad play!   Marc Manieri is a coach at Frame of Mind Coaching and President of JournalEngine™ Software, the most robust online journaling software on the planet. IAC members save 50% on customization and 20% on membership. Check it out at www.journalengine.com and use the coupon code on the IAC Members page.        Comment Now How Coaching Helps Artists Strive for Process, Not Achievement by Andrew Frank In my work with artists, many of them actors and writers, I find that a common goal is to get an agent. Okay, I completely understand that desire. Most artists believe that an agent will help them get to the next level of their career, a level that doesn’t appear to be open to them without the guiding hand and business connections of an agent. Let us ignore for a moment the reality of this statement and instead take a look at the goal itself. "My goal is to get an agent." Is this an effective goal? My answer is no. It is a great dream but as a goal it is problematic because whether or not an agent signs you is beyond your control. You can do everything in your power perfectly—send out mailings, network with casting agents, go to all open calls, have the perfect headshots, a great website and credits—and still not get an agent. So why create a goal that is beyond your control to achieve no matter what you do? I may ask an artist client to consider the goal, "To take weekly diligent action in my pursuit of an agent." This is a goal that they have the ability to achieve and feel good about. The path to obtaining it is in their hands and not someone else’s. There is now nothing stopping them from achieving this goal and feeling great about achieving it. In addition, as a result of the action and attitude they apply to meet this goal, it is often the case that their dream becomes a reality. I also help my clients to understand the difference between their achievement-based goal and my process-based goal. The first is something you get or are awarded. The second is something that you do or act upon. So what if they actually get the agent they’ve been dreaming about, what now? Has achieving this goal given them a true sense of accomplishment? Have they grown or learned anything by accomplishing this? I know many actors and writers that have agents and they still aren’t getting sent out for the projects they want. Compare this to the process-based goal, "to take weekly diligent action." If they’ve accomplished this goal, what have they learned? Maybe some new life skills, such as: Making the most of their time Balancing their schedule Self-promotion and marketing Communication Networking Prioritizing Working through "boring" tasks Listening to their own inner voice If they do get representation, these skills will come in extra handy as they continue to work on building their career with the help of an agent. There is much to be gained by setting goals around process instead of achievement. Additionally, as I work to help artists tap into their internal energy, this process-oriented approach can dovetail nicely with the way they approach their art making. I encourage artists to set goals that they can achieve by themselves alone; goals that will provoke action, that will build life skills and that will transfer to any area of life; goals that inspire them to act and to be the best they can. It is the challenge and opportunity of every artist to present their best self to the world every day. Ultimately, each artist is going to be their own greatest agent, even after they've been signed by one!      Andrew Frank is certified in Personal Coaching by NYU. He has helped hundreds of artists build life skills for a successful creative life, including networking, diversifying income streams, health, relationships, and New York living. He is a director, writer and producer and the Founding Artistic Director of Manhattan Theatre Source. www.frankcoaching.com.       Comment Now Don’t Niche Me In by Tonia Boterf Over the last year, I’ve been poked and prodded to ‘find your niche’ as an Internet life coach and I’ve fought it kicking and screaming. All I ever heard and was told was that you must have a niche, in order to target your audience effectively for marketing purposes and that you can’t be successful without doing so. Phooey! Life coaching started with Executive Coaching, and then Corporate Coaching, but then became more mainstream in applying the coaching techniques to people’s everyday lives. Before the Internet, coaches worked from offices and thus had to have the skills for a broader range of issues. Along came the Internet and everything changed, especially if you coach via the phone and do not get your clients primarily from your local area. Through the Internet, you can now find life coaches specializing in diverse areas: Christian, Divorce, Relationships, Career, Marketing, Small Business Development, Spirituality, Over 50, Youth, Organization and so forth. In the Internet sea, coaching businesses have become more specialized for primarily two reasons: (1) Internet search engines deliver results based on specific key words that consumers type in when they are looking for a life coach and (2) Coaches who want to be found by those consumers are aiming to identify and target their audience in order to laser focus their marketing efforts to reach that group. Woe to us who prefer to be more generalized in practice—for us the road is harder. If a life coach’s background is specialized, then it makes sense to confine their coaching practice to those skills. This makes sense—as long as they are professional enough to refer their customers to another coach, or to work in tandem when appropriate. There are some of us, though, who have the skills and background to offer a broader range of coaching services. The Internet doesn’t like generalists or those of us who don’t want to be niched in. This reality makes the marketing of our services through the Internet more challenging; it is more difficult to get high "search rankings" and it may be harder for customers to find us. With 25+ years of professional coaching in all kinds of life areas and enjoying most of them, the idea of niching or creating boundaries for myself has left me with my phrase of "Don’t Niche Me In." Oh, I’ve succumbed some but my passion and experiences are broad and the more complex the situation, the happier I am. I would be bored if confined to a single topic area. So, I market the best that I can, but as a generalist, you just can’t list all the areas of life you can coach in. There are subjects that I am not as well versed in as others, and there are some I really don’t enjoy and will refer a customer to another life coach as appropriate. I encourage all coaches to be clear and honest about their skills, and build a network of coaches they can refer to in areas that are outside their specialty. I also recommend that they list their specialties in some of the many coach directories that are available. My passion as a life coach is to make other’s lives better. If someone has more skills or passion in an area then I do, my loyalty is to the customer and finding them the right coach to help them. By playing to my strengths and those of other life coaches, I feel the entire life coaching profession benefits. Satisfied customers spread the word of how beneficial life coaching is—isn't that what all of us would like to see more of – whether we are "niched in" or not?   Tonia Boterf – The Practical Expert™ (617-895-0249, www.thepracticalexpert.com) is a Certified Life Coach, Holistic Health Practitioner and LSW with 25+ yrs of experience offering strong results-oriented coaching services for those over 40 dealing with major life challenges, including caring for aging parents. Offering free and affordable sessions, quality e-books and articles.       Comment Now This column is provided by an IAC Coaching Masteries®-Licensed School or Mentor. The Coaching Masteries®—Foundations for Living by Alison Davis, IAC-CC I’ve recently been wondering how different the world would be if we were all able to actually "live" the Masteries and use them naturally in our everyday lives. The idea intrigues me and I have begun to experiment with the concept in my own life. As I explored how to use the Masteries appropriately in my everyday life, with others and with myself, I found that I was experiencing new levels of centeredness and confidence in myself and mastering the Masteries even better! This worked so wonderfully well for me that I really recommend you try it too. As coaches we learn that it is important not to just coach others in everyday life without their permission, however tempting this might be at times. But I wasn't sure how I could "live the Masteries" in my daily interactions without coaching people. What I found that not only did it improve my relationships and shift them to a whole new level, it also created a different kind of energy in me, and between myself and others. I began to wonder how the world might be different if we were all to master the Masteries and use them in our everyday lives skilfully and appropriately with ourselves and in our interactions with others. How might our relationships with ourselves and with others be different if using the Masteries became as natural as breathing? As I looked at each Mastery and began to explore what it would mean to use each one in my everyday life, I remembered that one of the first things we learn to do when are learning to demonstrate the Masteries is to connect fully and deeply with the client, building rapport and trust. This is what happens when we apply Mastery #1, through the way we are being, our presence and our tone of voice. So how would our relationships and interactions in the world at large be different if we were able, using this Mastery, to get into relationship with others quickly and connect more fully and deeply, whatever the mood of the other? If we always listened actively and remained connected, respectful and engaged in order to establish and maintain a relationship of trust? What if we were able to listen to ourselves in this way? How would this change our relationship with ourselves, our confidence and our self-esteem? What would we ourselves get from this different way of being with ourselves and others? How would others feel? What would they get out of it? How would our experiences be different? I applied a similar line of questioning to each of the Masteries, and have had rich experiences answering them. As a mentor coach, I have also been encouraging my mentees to use the Masteries in their lives to prepare them for the IAC exam. One mentee was willing to share this extraordinary story of relationship transformation: Whilst I can feel the benefits for me and those around me of living the teachings of the Masteries in my daily life, I would not want to become the shrink at the dinner party. You know, the one who nobody wants to be seated next to, for fear of being analysed, judged and processed! But here are some examples taken from a situation in my life where I used the Masteries successfully. As always, I find that I use more than one at a time: My mum and I have had a mercurial relationship made up of rare moments of bliss and peace and many more of distrust and judgement. Yet, with the arrival of my newborn son, I have made the commitment to myself to make every effort to change this to a relationship of acceptance and love. For example, every time we see each other, she expects me to run countless errands for her, but then complains that we never have quality time together. With the use of Mastery #1, Mastery #3, Mastery #4 and Mastery #5, I suggested that on a specific day that we were due to meet, I may not spend our time "together" running errands for her and "looking after her" but rather focus on realising her wish to spend "quality time" together. I also acknowledged to her that I had not been honest with her about resenting being asked to be her personal shopper, driver, etc. I invited the possibility of being something else to her and asked what she would like to get out of our time together. Expressing and clarifying were both important as our conversations are very rich in subtitles. At the end of that day, spent lunching and shopping and having tea, she opened up to me saying, "I always felt you were angry with me for divorcing your dad," a belief she had held for 30 years, but never shared with me. That is when Masteries #4 and #8 kicked in. By bringing the feeling back to today and inviting the possibility of an evolved relationship, which I asked her to describe, we managed a real breakthrough when untainted love started to seep through. Sustaining such a start, we used Mastery #9 by looking at what was needed to continue our journey. We committed to authentic communication when discomfort occurs, also using Masteries #5 and #6. We also agreed to have moments together at least every fortnight and arranged for my son to be looked after by his other grandmother at these times. Mum also started to open up about her lack of self-confidence and her feeling of having missed opportunities in her life. She shared that she would have loved to teach or be in fine arts. By using Masteries #6 and #2, the conversation just flowed, opening up a realm of possibilities. The energy between us has shifted from destructive to positive. Without the use of the Masteries in this conscious yet easy way, we would not have jumped over the hurdle of the first affirmation, "I always felt you were angry…" and might not even have gone there at all. It is really worth considering: How might your relationships be different if you were to apply the Masteries this way? How might the way you feel about yourself be different? How might your friends, relations, work colleagues and children feel about themselves? What might become possible? What miracles might occur? If you have a story or example of using the Masteries in your everyday life to make a real difference in a situation, please comment below or submit it to voice@certifiedcoach.org.       Alison Davis, IAC, CC, is a certifying examiner at the IAC, coach, mentor coach and founder of the IAC–licensed virtual coaching school Foundations for Living. Discover more at www.foundationsforliving.com.      Comment Now   Inside Scoop: Too Directive? by Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC Q. I received feedback that I was too directive with my client. Is being directive always viewed as negative? A. Collaborate with your client. Brainstorm. Share what you’re noticing. Make statements to increase understanding. Suggest relevant resources. But don’t be directive? Sounds like a little bit of double talk, doesn’t it? However, when you look at how being directive affects the coaching, the definition comes into focus. What is the impact on the specific client? In what context is the approach applied? What is the most appropriate action for the given situation and/or how reliant is the coach on that action? Does the coach demonstrate an understanding of the difference between being direct and being directive? These are just a few indicators to be aware of when pursuing the most effective approach. In this article, we’ll delve into some of the specifics of those examples for better understanding of when and how being directive might serve your client. The Masteries e-book has several examples that can help demystify this concept. Members can download the e-book for free, and non-members can purchase it for a nominal fee. Please visit the website for details. Members, continue reading here. To join the IAC, click here. Do you have a question that you’d like to ask the certifiers? Submit your questions here: http://certifiedcoachblog.typepad.com/blog/ask-the-certifiers.html. Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC, is the Lead Certifier and a certifying examiner at the IAC, as well as Past-President. She is Dean of Students and a Master Instructor at the School of Coaching Mastery. Natalie is founder of Ageless-Sages.com Publishing (www.ageless-sages.com), and creator of the literary genre, Picture Books for Elders™. Please send your questions on the IAC Coaching Masteries® and the certification process to certification@certifiedcoach.org. Comment Now Your Feedback We'd love to get your feedback on any issue related to the IAC. Do you have any questions, concerns, encouragement or ideas for improvement regarding membership benefits, certification, the VOICE, the direction of the organization or anything else at all? Please send an email to feedback@certifiedcoach.org. Please help us improve.

IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 42, December 2009, Circulation 13,354

Linda From the Editor Are you tweeting yet? If you are, be sure to check out the new IAC Contributor's list so you can follow our feature article authors, columnists and IAC Board members on Twitter. Check it out at: http://twitter.com/lindadessau/iac-voice-contributors. And if you're not on Twitter yet, Suzi Pomerantz has a great social media primer for you in today's feature business-building article. While we're sad to see Angela Spaxman's last column as President, it's inspiring to read President-Elect Bob Tschannen-Moran's tribute to Angela and her work with IAC. This month we're highlighting the New Coach Virtual Chapter as a member benefit, and Chapter Founder Doris Helge shares an exciting example of the kind of impact these groups can have. If you had trouble finding any of your Christmas ornaments this year, or if you've gone out and bought new supplies because you forgot you already had them, you might identify with the Clutterbug Clients in our feature article by professional organizer Claire Tompkins. In Tools for Coaching Mastery, Aileen Gibb introduces a tool from the field of transactional analysis, and explains exactly how she uses it effectively in her own coaching practice. Shhhhh! Lead Certifier Natalie Tucker Miller has a very important message in today's Inside Scoop—Ask the Certifiers column. And in Coaching Moments, Janice Hunter shares a beautiful Christmas message and poem, and invites your support for an emotional situation in her own life. Enjoy the issue, and please note that revised submission guidelines for the VOICE are available on the website, along with submission dates for all 2010 issues. I would love to receive your article submissions by December 14th for the January 8th issue, or by January 19th for the February 12th issue. Please contact me with your article ideas and your feedback about this issue. Warm wishes, Linda Linda Dessau, CPCC Editor, IAC® VOICE Email: voice@certifiedcoach.org Comment Now Angela From the President by Angela Spaxman president@certifiedcoach.org Coaching is at a key crossroads within a maturing industry. Some see the need for additional standards, licensing and credentialing. They would use the new coaching research to codify the practice. Others see the need to diversify the practice of coaching, to facilitate the spread of the coaching approach into many realms in society and across the world. They would use the new research to innovate and increase effectiveness. Our recent strategic visioning process has confirmed that the IAC is firmly in the second camp. We are here to help coaches do excellent work that brings them success. And we also aspire to bring coaching more fully into the world so that it can be of most benefit. The IAC was born as the result of dissatisfaction with the trend of other coaching organizations. So it is inspiring to me to see us re-confirming our values now. I hope that other coaches who support this vision of coaching will join us too. Help Us Set Our Strategy While our direction is clear, how we will do it is unfolding every day. This week I summarized hundreds of ideas from our strategy sessions into 38 possible strategies. In January we will be sharing this draft and asking for your input again, to help us choose our priorities and gather more ideas on how to achieve our goals. Please join us. We need your ideas and support. Strategy Call #4 (IAC members only): Jan 12, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (01/12/2010) OR Jan 14, 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time (01/14/2010) Please click here to register for the calls or to receive the recordings. This is my last missive as IAC President. I will turn over the reins to incoming President Bob Tschannen-Moran on December 31, 2009. It’s hard to describe my feelings about completing my term as President. It is easy to relinquish the responsibility, which was heavy at times, as the role of President brought surprises often just beyond what I felt I was ready to do. Serving as President has meant doing what’s called for, and welcoming the challenge with pleasure and confidence. The role has brought me many priceless lessons and rewarding experiences. My energy and commitment to the IAC remains strong as I move into the role of Past-President. I'm anticipating the pleasure of choosing new ways I can help move our organization forward from amongst the many great ideas before us. And as a friend reminded me recently, the IAC is not my cause, but our cause, so I know you will be with me too. I want to say a huge and heart-felt thank-you to two other Board members who will also be stepping down. Des Walsh, our resident social media expert, has been consistent in his support as Chair of our Board meetings and in prodding us towards better web technology. Parker Anderson, outgoing Vice President, has been a wise companion for me as our longest-serving Board member. The energy of her support can be felt thousands of miles away. The IAC owes both Des and Parker an unpayable debt for their time and energy. All my best for the holidays and the New Year. Cheers, Angela Spaxman President, IAC® Email: president@certifiedcoach.org Web: www.lovingworkandleading.com Comment Now Bob From the President-Elect By Bob Tschannen-Moran, IAC-CC PresidentElect@certifiedcoach.org A Tribute to Angela Spaxman The closer I come to taking over as President of the IAC next month, the more intimidated I am by the prospect. That comes in no small respect from the incredible shoes I have to fill, of my predecessor Angela Spaxman. Wow! Angela has offered the IAC the perfect combination of hard work, wise counsel, eloquent expression and institutional memory. I’m not sure what else Angela does with her life and work in Hong Kong, but one thing is clear: the IAC has been a heartfelt passion that receives far more time and attention from Angela than the organization has any right to expect. We have benefited greatly from her exceptional efforts and I look forward to continuing that tradition as best I can. In the past year alone, Angela has been instrumental in: Raising the visibility of the IAC, Improving our organizational policies and procedures, Creating the Mastery licensing program (currently with 26 licensees), Launching a far-reaching strategy process that will serve us well for years to come, and Initiating a website makeover process that will support the evolution of the IAC as a global leader in coaching certification, community and mastery. It is hard to imagine anyone doing more in one year to launch us into the future. Thank you, Angela, for all that you have done, are doing and will do for the IAC. I say "will do" because the best news is that Angela is staying on the Board of Governors (BOG) as Past President, as my special advisor and to work on a number of other projects. That will help us to preserve institutional memory and get the work done up to the high standards that Angela has set. With others on the BOG retiring and moving on at the end of this month, including our Vice-President, M. Parker Anderson, and our BOG meeting facilitator, Des Walsh, Angela’s continuing presence and work will prove to be especially important. You can catch wind of what Angela has meant to this community by reading a few select remarks from those who know Angela best. The final comment, from our retiring Vice-President, says it best: "Thank you hardly seems to be enough." "Angela is a paradox of laid back efficiency. And that ability to lead and get things done in such an easygoing way is a rare talent." ~ Tony Betts "Angela's commitment to the IAC is evident in the visible positions she's held as Editor of the VOICE and President of the Board. What people may not know is that she had worked tirelessly for the IAC well before her name was ever printed in the newsletter or posted on the website. I've had the distinct honor to work with Angela on a variety of projects, and her dedication, vision, reach and insights have helped to shape the IAC into the global organization it is today. She continually reflects on her leadership and models a coaching approach that inspires others to do the same. I am one of the lucky ones who will continue to work with Angela on various projects while the IAC continues to benefit from her contributions." ~ Natalie Tucker Miller "Angela has been supportive and encouraging with her guidance over this last year as I settled into my role as editor of the VOICE. She has helped me connect with the bigger work of the IAC as a whole. That has made a huge difference to the pride and investment I feel in my small part in that important mission." ~ Linda Dessau "When I approached the IAC with an interest to volunteer, Angela was my first contact. In our very first conversation, she so clearly embodied the type of organization–one with integrity, compassion and vision–that I wanted to become involved with. As I’ve worked with and have gotten to know Angela better over the past year or so, she continued to impress me with her clarity of thought, her leadership skills and her capacity to make decisions that benefit both the IAC and the coaching profession in general. Not to mention that she’s a wonderful, caring, interesting person! It has been a pleasure and an honor to be on the IAC board with Angela at the helm, and I look forward to our continued professional collaboration for years to come!" ~ Sue Brundege "The IAC will always be in particular debt to Angela for maintaining the continuity of highly dedicated and professional leadership set by previous Presidents. She was willing to step up and be President, when no one else was available to be nominated. What could have been a time when the BOG lost momentum became a time of consolidation and further achievement under her intelligent, imaginative and always inclusive leadership." ~ Des Walsh "Angela stepped into the role of leadership both kicking and screaming and also with that thoughtful and calm manner in which she approaches life. She truly understood that her time was NOW to be an IAC leader and what a difference that has made to and for all of us. She has demonstrated a leadership style that is inviting and welcoming. She has shared her skills and talents in a broad-based manner and has never faltered when it comes to expanding her own learning and growth potential. As a result, Angela led the IAC into new realms of possibilities across the globe. She truly made the organization international in scope. It is a real coup for the IAC to have had a leader such as Angela emerge from the ranks of volunteer into being a premier and masterful, coach, motivator and leader extraordinaire. Thank you hardly seems to be enough to say, however, thank you is said with heartfelt appreciation." ~ M. Parker Anderson-Mabry Comment Now New IAC Coaching Masteries® licensed schools and mentors Name City State Country IAC-CC   Rev Training and Coaching Shanghai   United States No View Details Comment Now IAC Certified Coaches Congratulations to Gwyn Hayward-Ryan from Auckland, New Zealand and Sara Connell from Chicago, IL, USA who recently passed their Step 2 Exams and became IAC-Certified Coaches! Comment Now Featured IAC Member Benefit: The New Coach Virtual Chapter While all are welcome to join, IAC members can get recordings of the calls while guests can only call in live. Visit http://www.newiaccoach.com for more details or to join. In the following article, Chapter Founder Doris Helge illustrates the benefits of collaborating with other coaches. IAC Coaches Collaborate for Success by Doris Helge, IAC-CC Successful IAC coaches understand the power of collaboration. They know that every time a single IAC member builds a thriving practice, all coaches benefit. How? Coaching becomes more visible and more people comprehend the value of our services. With billions of potential clients around the world, there is plenty of business for all coaches. Successful coaches refuse to be distracted by social programming that promotes competition. In a world that so desperately needs coaching skills, competition is an outdated paradigm that is crumbling like a clump of dried mud. Thriving coaches are empowered by their confidence and their sense of personal responsibility. They know their talents, wisdom, experience and skills are a constant source of abundance and joy. They know they are always connected to potential clients and other resources. Because they are not functioning within a framework of lack or limitation, they're excited about collaboration. All of this begins with coaching confidence. When you grow your coaching self-esteem, your heart spontaneously and effortlessly connects you with clients who've been eagerly waiting your arrival. Once these people discover you, they are drawn to you like bees to honey. Edna Johnson is an excellent coach and a brilliant creative writer who graciously shares her wisdom with other coaches. With Edna's permission, here is a brief excerpt from a story she wrote recently after an advanced coaching class. "My Aha! moment today was thinking about being a 7-inch frog straining to leap up a 9-inch step. I've sometimes felt this way about becoming a certified coach. At best, a little 7-inch frog can only jump as high as 7 inches, so a 9-inch step seemed insurmountable. It felt like the effort to hurtle the step would exhaust the little frog. Then I expanded my thinking using IAC Mastery #8, "Expanding the Client's Potential." What if another frog came along? The two frogs could play leapfrog and jump up the entire staircase. They would forget that it was supposed to be impossible to jump up the 9-inch stair. They could make their goal an adventure and playfully explore the pond around the step together instead of feeling like they were individual frogs faced with an impossible task and endless work. They could be curious, like a good coach. All of a sudden, I was no longer afraid regarding how to become a certified coach. The journey to certification isn't about jumping through hoops. It's a fun quest!" Collaborative coaches are using their intentions to support each other to create a perfect circle of light around the world. We are helping each other leapfrog forward by using collaborative mastermind groups. We think of ourselves as tuning forks. When one coach sends supportive intentions to another and that coach does the same, a tone is created that is much more beautiful and powerful than the original coach would have had alone. With an organized international group of IAC coaches, the power of "one for all" rapidly travels across the world. Each positive intention magnifies through group effort. The torch of light is given from one coach to the next and the next, growing stronger and more brilliant with every leapfrog forward. By the time the positive feelings boomerang back to the original coach, they are a thousand times stronger than the initial intention of that coach. Pause for a moment and reflect on the magnificence of what so many IAC members are consciously co-creating. We help each other while we boost IAC's visibility and the entire profession of coaching. This is the loveliest and purest form of power on this planet . . . and it's all about collaboration. So, please turn your attention back to IAC Mastery #8, "Expanding the Client's Potential." How do you think the momentum we are building can become even stronger? There are no limits. As described in the November 2009 issue of the VOICE, the IAC leadership actively supports the "one for all" approach. I hope this article helps you feel deeply connected to an ongoing coaching support system that will help you shine your very special light on a planet that is hungry for your special talents. Just imagine what we can to do as a united force for positive change!   Doris Helge, PhD, is an IAC- and CTA-certified coach, coach mentor and founder of the IAC-licensed training school, Confident Coach Connection. She also created the New Coach Virtual Chapter of IAC, a mastermind that boosts coaching confidence and collaboration. Discover more at http://www.newiaccoach.com/.   Comment Now Clutterbug Clients: How Partnering with a Professional Organizer Can Help by Claire Tompkins Your coaching client comes up with wonderful, uplifting and life affirming goals they want to achieve with your help. But, as time passes, it seems the client isn't making or sticking with the desired changes. Of course, dealing with obstacles is part of the coaching process. A skilled coach works to ferret out what’s behind those obstacles and helps the client overcome them. In the case of clutterbug clients, though, a professional organizer might just be the missing link that could help your client move forward. Clutterbugs find it hard to focus on goals because they are easily distracted by their many projects and interests. They're reluctant to make decisions that would move them forward because that cuts off other equally wonderful alternatives. Clients can be ashamed of their disorganization. This makes them feel unworthy of their own goals. Sometimes one of the most productive things I do for my clients is assure them that their clutter is not hopeless and that having too much stuff is a common situation when you live in an affluent society. I acknowledge the client’s feelings about the clutter and gently remind them that it’s still just stuff. No matter what story they have about it, clutter is made up of inanimate objects that they are the master of. Change is scary, even good change. Clutter insulates people and protects them from change. Having lots of stuff around means there is always something to do, something to occupy their time and their minds. When a goal feels too scary, it’s easier to turn to sorting the stamp collection. While I never insist that a client get rid of things, I do think it’s important that they’re consciously aware that they’re holding on to things for reasons that don’t make much sense, when they really stop to look at them. That’s a first step toward being able to make rational decisions. Sometimes people are reluctant to address clutter because it's not as important as working on their life goals. Yet clutter creates a gnawing, guilty feeling that they need to clean up before they can go on to something more rewarding. That's why they're stuck. They put off tidying the studio because they want to paint. And then they put off painting because the studio is too full of clutter to move around. Each gets in the way of the other. Physical clutter represents unmade decisions, paths not taken, promises not kept and potentials not realized. Reflecting on those choices can be paralyzing for some people. I encourage my clients to live in the present, where they can make changes. Change requires taking—or even making—opportunities today, rather than holding on to any possible opportunities. Being disorganized is about more than having too much stuff or being messy. Even if there aren’t emotional issues involved, disorganization is distracting and time consuming, taking the client away from what’s really important. Life coaches realize that movement in one area usually inspires movement in others too. When a coach and a professional organizer team up to help a clutterbug client, that synergy can help him or her make amazing progress.   Professional organizer Claire Tompkins specializes in creating customized organizing techniques for each client. By addressing their unique needs, she provides solutions that make their lives easier and give them more free time to do what they love. In-person and telephone sessions are available. Visit www.cluttercoachblog.com for more information.     Comment Now Why Social Media is Ideal for Coaches: Are You in the Game? by Suzi Pomerantz To grow your coaching business or practice, it is no longer acceptable NOT to be engaged in social media. That luxury has passed. If you were waiting for this "fad" to go away, it’s time for a mindset shift! Here’s why social media is ideal for coaches: 1. It's networking at its best: across all time zones, from the comforts of your own home and aligned with the best coaching mindsets of service, connection and contribution. 2. It's free: free marketing opportunities work in every budget, in every economy. 3. It's a platform to do what you do best: engage in conversation, share wisdom, and be truly global. So what is social media? It is a series of online platforms that utilize Web 2.0 technology, which is basically anything that lets you interact and participate rather than just read. Blogs and wikis are part of social media, but in this article we'll just discuss social networks. For coaches, the key uses of social media are to build your brand, increase your visibility and exposure, network internationally, share your wisdom, find service providers, have conversations with clients, prospective clients, and colleagues, and create opportunities for large-scale collaborations. General Social Networking Strategies Each site has its own culture, personality, etiquette, and communication protocols, so take some time to get to know each one before you dive in. Design your profile once and then customize it to fit each site. If you have a blog, use a service such as Tweetmeme or TwitThis so it's easy for your blog readers to publicize your post on Twitter. You can also connect your blog to your social network accounts so each new post is automatically distributed to your network. Be sure to connect your Twitter, Linked In, and Facebook to each other so each post is leveraged and shows up in all three places. The Big Three Social Networks There are literally hundreds of online social networks you can join, but these are the Top 3. LinkedIn: This one is primarily professional, although to the extent that you serve as a connector of others, you may wish to include your broader community as well. The power of LinkedIn for coaches is in the Groups function (search for "coaching" and you will find many potential groups to connect with) as well as the Questions and Answers sections (position yourself as an expert by answering questions in your specialty area). LinkedIn has nearly 50 million users from over 200 countries, and has been around long enough to rank very high on search engine rankings pages. Facebook: This one is primarily social, although many businesses are using both profile pages and Fan Pages to engage in conversation with clients and stakeholders. As a coach, I definitely recommend having both a profile page for you and a Fan Page for your business. If you have any products, you can also create a Fan Page for each product. Facebook has over 300 million people on it, and while that’s an outrageous number of people to try to target, especially for coaches, you can’t beat that kind of free marketing exposure opportunity! Twitter: The power of Twitter is the ability to network and be in an online streaming conversation with 44 million people all over the world. Unlike Linked In and Facebook, relationships are not reciprocal, which means you don’t have to approve invitations to connect. People become your "follower" and you can follow whomever you choose: thought leaders, authors, celebrities, politicians, other coaches, executives, etc. Sign up for a Twitter account and secure that "real estate" in your name, your company’s name, and any brands or products you carry. Tweets are short posts of 140 characters, usually with links embedded. This makes tweeting very speedy. The Big Three Coaching Networks Because social media is so ideal for coaches, there are now many coach-specific social networks. Here are three that you might begin with, and all are free to join: The Coach Exchange (tce): tce is an elite coach-to-coach network for showcasing talent and sharing knowledge, resources and vision. This is where coaches and opportunity meet! The Coaching Commons: A non-partisan "big tent," under which coaches can freely create the future together in a non-commercial setting. Leading Coaches’ Center: LCC is an online community center for executive coaches, where leaders play, learn, contribute and advance our profession together. Coaching is about profound connections and social media is perfect for coaches because it is basically a set of tools to support and foster expanded connections! Get involved, get online and play in one or all of the social networks discussed in this article. You owe it to yourself and your future.     Suzi Pomerantz, MT, MCC is an award-winning master executive coach and author of Seal the Deal. She teaches at top coach training programs worldwide and co-founded ICCO as well as the Library of Professional Coaching. Suzi founded the Leading Coaches Center and invites you to connect! http://LeadingCoachesCenter.com.          Comment Now This column is provided by an IAC Coaching Masteries®-Licensed School or Mentor. I'm OK, You're OK: Transactional Analysis for Coaches by Aileen Gibb In his book I’m OK, You’re OK (AVON Publishing, 1967), Thomas A. Harris promotes the idea that transactional analysis (TA) is not just a tool for specialists, but a technique that many people can benefit from. As a coach I’ve found that one of Thomas Harris’ frameworks has been a hugely powerful tool for my clients–who have become some of those "many people" Harris hoped would benefit from his work. When working with IAC Mastery #2, "Perceiving, affirming and expanding the client’s potential," we often hear that our client has assumptions, perspectives and unspoken beliefs that are holding them back. I call it the "programming" that unconsciously tells us one story, when our success depends on us living a more constructive, empowering version of the story. One of the common scenarios I come across is the client who is giving up their personal power in favour of another person’s position or perceived power. I might expect to hear them use such language as "I can’t tell her that," "It’s not my place to point that out to him," or "I don’t think he’d listen to me on that point." When I become alert to this as a pattern for the client, I will ask them to draw the following diagram on a piece of paper in front of them (this works equally well when coaching by phone): I’m not OK You’re OK I’m OK You’re OK I’m not OK You’re not OK I’m OK You’re not OK Next I ask them to think of the situation in question and ask them which of the above squares they’re standing in as they look at this situation. Invariably, they will quickly realize that they are standing in either the upper left or bottom right quadrant. There is usually an "aha" moment at this point. As soon as the client sees that this is what’s going on for them, their energy often immediately changes. "Gosh, I never realized that’s what I’m doing." In the more therapeutic context this transactional model might be used to move into a counseling process for the client to analyse why they find themselves in this quadrant. As coaches, we can let go of the need for such analysis and move our client forward by trusting that awareness is the first step to change. This will lead us to a future-focused question to support the client seeing their position differently: "Which quadrant would you like to be standing in as you approach this?" I have yet to come across a client who doesn’t want to step into the top-right "I’m OK, You’re OK" quadrant. I find that by this point the client has moved to being focused on self–and will almost unconsciously move out of any blame, victimization or defensiveness about the other person. It’s one of those simple yet magically powerful coaching shifts that doesn’t even need to be named. A masterful coach will be aware of it and will hold it with empathy and understanding, trusting the client to step metaphorically into the top-right quadrant–thereby claiming more personal power. Sensing and observing this shift, the powerful coaching question might be: "What will it take for you to stand in that top-right quadrant in this situation?" OR "What do you need in order to stand in that top-right quadrant in this situation?" OR "What’s different when you stand in the top-right "I’m OK, You’re OK" quadrant?" My experience is that the "aha" moment is often powerful enough to unconsciously clear a lot of the old programming, assumptions or beliefs. Once the client can see herself standing in the top-right quadrant it also becomes clear exactly what she needs or have or do in order to follow through to success. I’ve used this tool many times in this simple way to help clients shift from a limiting belief and to feel more encouraged and empowered to take action–outcomes we expect to see in the effective use of Mastery #2. To honour Dr. Harris and his work, I’ll often mention to the client that this tool came from the field of TA, though to be honest my client is generally so focused on their anticipated action or conversation that they’re not too worried about how they got there. Months later, however, clients have told me that they still have that 4-square diagram on their desk or tucked away in their journal as a reminder to step into the top-right quadrant. Thank you, Dr. Harris! I do believe many people are benefiting from your work and that it’s been a gift to the coaching field.       Aileen Gibb is founder and lead coach with IC International, dedicated to inspiring a better future in life and work. Her vision is to connect 100,000 people with their inspired future over the next 10 years. Email agibb@icinternational.biz or visit her new website www.inspiredfuture.org (coming soon!).     Comment Now   by Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC Silence Can you hear it? You might be surprised to learn what can be discovered in silence. In the kind of silence that is present when a coach senses that the most useful thing to say is…….nothing. The following question and answer addresses two different kinds of silence. One is the quiet that presents itself in the old proverb, "Will my words improve upon the silence?" The other addresses the verbal mannerisms that often show up in conversation as more habitual than conscious. Here’s a look at how coaches can offer more when they say less. Q. What’s so great about silence? Isn’t it awkward to let a client sit there wondering what’s going on? A. There certainly is such a thing as awkward silence and I’m sure we’ve all experienced it at one time or another. However, silence in coaching is not designed to leave someone hanging, or to use because you’re unsure where to take the conversation (which can indeed feel awkward for both the coach and client!). In the latter situation, in fact, full disclosure would be an appropriate response, as in, "I’m not sure where you’d like to go with this". Learning to become comfortable with a purposeful use of silence will provide more opportunity for growth than you might imagine. So what’s so great about silence? The simple answer is that there is great processing that can happen when the noise around us ceases. In the elegant words of Byron Katie, "When I became quiet, they could hear themselves." In those words is an understanding that the voice of one’s own heart and mind holds the key to personal greatness. The client’s inner guidance and wisdom comes forth in profound ways when there is an environment that encourages this guidance. This also reminds us that, although coaches can and do offer their wisdom and knowledge, the knowing that comes from the client is what creates the shifts and sustainability that true transformation requires. And now for the more complex answer about what's so great about silence. Members, continue reading here. To join the IAC, click here. Do you have a question that you’d like to ask the certifiers? Submit your questions here: http://certifiedcoachblog.typepad.com/blog/ask-the-certifiers.html.     Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC, is the Lead Certifier and a certifying examiner at the IAC, as well as Past-President. She is Dean of Students and a Master Instructor at the School of Coaching Mastery. Natalie is founder of Ageless-Sages.com Publishing (www.ageless-sages.com), and creator of the literary genre, Picture Books for Elders™.   Please send your questions on the IAC Coaching Masteries® and the certification process to certification@certifiedcoach.org. Comment Now "Coaching Moments" takes a thoughtful look at how coaching can be interwoven into our daily lives.  May the sun bring you new energy by day; may the moon softly restore you by night; may the rain wash away your worries; may the breeze blow new strength into your being. ~ An Apache blessing What does Christmas mean to you? by Janice Hunter, IAC-CC Is it a festival celebrated by folk of another faith? Is it the brightest light in a glowing season of gift giving and gratitude that stretches from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day? Or one special day that begins with a family feast of fish on Christmas Eve and the opening of a few gifts before you crunch through the snow to church on an icy cold day? Do you barbecue at the beach under the sweltering midsummer sun or shop till you drop in a city full of towering skyscrapers? Does the hype leave you feeling lonely and unloved, despite the dedication you lavish on others all year? Or maybe the credit crunch has crushed the cheer from your spirit? Which values shine and resonate most with you at this time of the year? For me, it’s all about love, hope and home. It’s about making the world a bit warmer and brighter, about cherishing children and taking the time to honour the spirit of childhood, family and community. My friend Maria is a very strong, passionate, life-loving person, a wife and mum, grandma and active member of our community. She spent most of last December in excruciating pain, waiting for blood test results. When she learned she had cancer, she spent Christmas week praying for a cancellation so her surgery could be scheduled as soon as possible. While fairy lights twinkled on frosty trees, and glittering Christmas trees glowed in the windows of cosy homes, her house sat dark and undecorated, shrouded in shock and fear. Every time I was tempted to snap at my kids or succumb to Christmas stressing, I thought of Maria, of how she longed to have many more Christmases with her husband and children and of how the only gift she longed for was life itself—life and more time to enjoy life’s simple daily pleasures. The love of her husband, friends and grown-up family kept her strong throughout her surgery and treatments, and months later she was climbing hills, campaigning for awareness groups and giving thanks for the all-clear she’d been given. I had planned to write a piece about how Maria’s courage, strength and fortitude have inspired me this year, but just as I was about to light a few candles and submerge myself in festive writing, Maria’s husband came to tell me the cancer was back. She’s having treatment right now and there are no Ho! Ho! Ho!’s and sleighbells in my Christmas yet. There is only faith in an unfolding universe that I have no control over, and a heart full of love. Wherever you are, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, please send Maria—and others like her all over the world—some silent prayers and wishes as she faces months of chemotherapy. A friend of mine asked me today what a perfect Christmas Day feels like; I told her it feels like my heart has come safely home. I wish the same for you. May you have a season filled with vibrant health, strength of spirit and a heart brimming over with love, compassion and empathy. May you find hope in every twinkling light, warmth in the smile of strangers and a chance to share your gifts every day. May you have the chance to create magical memories that money can’t buy. No matter who you are or where you live, I hope you go to sleep each night with a grateful, peaceful heart. Wishing you everything you’d wish for yourself… Janice Epilogue: As an extra gift for Christmas, I thought I’d leave you with Max Ehrman’s famous Desiderata, which is Latin for "desired things." I’ve carried a handwritten version of this poem around with me since I first heard it in the early seventies. There are always passages that stand out a bit more brightly for me when I need guidance, lines that resonate with my needs. Try letting this beautiful piece of work guide you the next time you feel overwhelmed or need answers. Just read it silently to your soul and listen for the answers. Desiderata Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. Janice Hunter is an IAC certified homelife coach who lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. She created and co-wrote Sharing the Certification Journey: Six IAC Coaches Talk About Their Journeys, and her blogsite, www.sharingthejourney.co.uk, provides soul food and support for coaches, writers, parents and home-based workers. Janice has compiled all of her Coaching Moments pieces from the last two years into a free 46-page ebook, 'Coaching Moments: A Collection of Articles about Coaching in Everyday Life' which can be downloaded here or from her site. Comment Now Your Feedback We'd love to get your feedback on any issue related to the IAC. Do you have any questions, concerns, encouragement or ideas for improvement regarding membership benefits, certification, the VOICE, the direction of the organization or anything else at all? Please send an email to feedback@certifiedcoach.org. Please help us improve.

IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 41, November 2009, Circulation 13,330

Linda From the Editor In today's issue of the IAC VOICE, we welcome President-Elect Bob Tschannen-Moran as a regular contributor. Starting in January he will be writing the President's Message, and until then he will have other IAC news to share. Current President Angela Spaxman is reflecting on the power of collaboration, and its role in the IAC strategy process that continues with two calls in January. She also has some news about the website. If you're looking for a compelling story, look no further than our first feature article from Story Coach Lisa Bloom. Kim Clausen and Jonathan Tessier provide our business-building tips this month, with their strategies for using workshops to grow your business. Lead Certifier Natalie Tucker Miller unveils the new Ask the Certifiers format of the Inside Scoop column, with the very tricky distinction of encouraging versus cheerleading. And in today's Coaching Moments, Janice Hunter invites you to question your assumptions and be willing to receive something even better. She gives Disney a run for their money with her own expert storytelling – especially fitting with our feature article about story coaching! Enjoy the issue, and please note that submission guidelines for the VOICE are available on the website, including submission dates for our upcoming issues. I would love to receive your article submissions by November 16th for the December 10th issue, or by December 14th for the January 8th issue. Please contact me with your article ideas and your feedback about this issue. Warm wishes, Linda Linda Dessau, CPCC Editor, IAC VOICE Email: voice@certifiedcoach.org Comment Now Angela From the President by Angela Spaxman president@certifiedcoach.org IAC Strategy Process and the Future of Collaboration One of the key words emerging from our current strategy process is collaboration. This word is both attractive and challenging. The extent to which we are willing to be guided by this word will be the extent to which we can create what we most want for coaching and the world. It indicates the trend of our times, as by necessity the world must work together to achieve our joint aims. Our strategic goals are not for us to "be the best" (implying competition) but for us to "create the best" (through collaboration). We can do that most effectively when we collaborate with the other people who want what we want—and there are literally millions of them. Coaches are good at collaborating since we do this with our clients all the time. But how well can we collaborate with each other, even when we disagree? How do we feel about collaborating with so-called competitors such as other coaching associations? Are we mature enough to stand up for our own values while respecting and even supporting others? Are our goals compelling enough to entice the best collaborators worldwide to work with us? I'm asking myself these questions as we enter the next phase of our strategy process. So far we've worked on our vision—what we want for coaching and the IAC. I outlined the main points last month. We're now working with all the ideas we've collected so far to create a coherent vision which will be ready next month. Next we will be asking how we will make that vision a reality and we've scheduled two calls in January 2010 to brainstorm and collect ideas. Once again this will be a chance to share with fellow IAC members worldwide in two stimulating conversations led by Dave Ellis. Please mark your calendars. I am keen to understand you and collaborate with you. Strategy Call #4 (IAC members only): Jan 12, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (01/12/2010) OR Jan 14, 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time (01/14/2010) Please click here to register for the calls or to receive the recordings. Other News IAC Chapters are the most direct ways for us to collaborate to support each other, improve our coaching and our businesses. We've updated our web page so that you can now find our virtual chapters more easily. Take a look here, and follow the links to join a Chapter or start a new one. The IAC Website Make-Over Committee has been reading dozens of proposals to select a contractor who will help us add features and usability to our website. It's proving to be an amazing learning opportunity for the Committee. We're still looking for web-savvy people to help us with this exciting project. The work will begin before the end of the year. To find out more, email Communications Committee Chair Sue Brundege. Cheers, Angela Spaxman President, IAC Email: president@certifiedcoach.org Web: www.lovingworkandleading.com Comment Now From the President-Elect: IAC Meet-Up at the ICF Conference in Orlando As President-Elect of the IAC, I want to begin by introducing myself, inviting dialogue, and announcing an opportunity to meet at the ICF Conference in Orlando. A little about me: After graduating from Yale Divinity School in 1979, I worked for about 20 years as a pastor before becoming a full-time coach. I’ve loved every minute of coaching and was certified by the IAC in 2005. What a privilege we have to be learning professionals! Whether it is in the most personal of life coaching relationships or in largest of organizational contexts, to come up alongside our clients and to share in their journey is quite an opportunity. Like every coach, I’ve learned as much from my clients as they’ve learned from me. You can read more about my background and work by visiting www.LifeTrekCoaching.com. Inviting dialogue: I have so enjoyed and appreciated the work that we are doing through the Strategy process. So many great ideas are surfacing that will serve us well for years to come. Our President, Angela Spaxman, has spearheaded a great process here that will leave quite a legacy. As we move forward, I promise to do my best to follow in her footsteps and to support the continued evolution of the IAC. Please do not hesitate to write me with your ideas, questions, and suggestions at any point in time: PresidentElect@certifiedcoach.org. Invitation to meet in Orlando: Several of us from the IAC, including Joan Marie Johnson, Kristi Arndt and myself, will be attending the ICF Conference in Orlando during the first week in December. If you will be in attendance, please let me know so we can connect. The IAC is hosting a get-together on Thursday evening, December 3, 2009 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort, 9939 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, Florida 32819. We will watch the video, “Celebrate What’s Right With The World” by National Geographic photographer Dewitt Jones, and use the occasion to appreciate what the IAC has to offer in the coaching world. Whether or not you are attending the ICF Conference, if you're in the Orlando area you can attend the IAC gathering on Thursday and we would love to meet up with you. Please RSVP to PresidentElect@certifiedcoach.org so we can reserve the right size room at the Resort. That’s enough for now. I hope to see you in Orlando and/or to hear from you soon. May you be filled with goodness, peace and joy.   Bob Tschannen-Moran, MDiv, IAC-CC, CWC www.LifeTrekCoaching.com PresidentElect@certifiedcoach.org     Comment Now New IAC Coaching Masteries® licensed schools and mentors Name City State Country IAC-CC   IMPACT COACHING ACADEMY San Jose CA United States No View Details Dream Facilitators - Hypnotic Mastery Coach Training Parksville BC Canada No View Details Comment Now IAC Certified Coaches Congratulations to Jan O’Brien from Houston, TX, USA who recently passed her Step 2 Exam and became an IAC-Certified Coach! Comment Now Story Coaching – A Powerful Combination for Success! by Lisa Bloom, MBA, PCC Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, the stepmother was ugly but good, and the princess was beautiful but mean! What would you do if you could rewrite the classic stories of your childhood? What if Cinderella forgot to leave the ball at midnight, the prince hated her in peasant clothes and the whole kingdom laughed her out of the palace? What if they thought she was a witch because she transformed herself, and that she ought to be drowned? What if all that time spent sweeping the chimney gave her consumption and the spoiled prince couldn’t stand the sound of her coughing? What if they didn’t actually get on very well and fought constantly? What if Cinderella had fallen for a princess instead? Here are some broader questions about storytelling, which we will answer in this article: Why is storytelling experiencing a dynamic revival and how is that relevant to coaching? Why do we love stories so much and how can they transform our lives and business? What is the role of storytelling in coaching and why is it becoming such a hot topic in business? Storytelling is an age-old tradition in every culture. It happens in many different settings, around the fire, over the washing of clothes in the river or by the well. It is the way people have connected and shared their lives with each other since the beginning of time. Throughout the generations, communities have passed down their stories from parent to child, preserving their history and culture, recording their experiences. In The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations, author Stephen Denning says, "Stories provide continuity in our lives, conveying a sense of where we have come from, our history and our heritage…through stories, our values and principals have been passed from one generation to another." We now live in a world where there is a huge reliance on technology and where there is a vast amount of knowledge on every subject readily available to huge populations of people. In spite of this, or perhaps as a result of this, storytelling as an art form is in the midst of a revival world-wide. People are craving the simplicity of traditional storytelling. Annette Simmons in The Story Factor says, "Information simply leaves us feeling incompetent and lost. We don’t need more information. We need to know what it means. We need a story that explains what it means and makes us feel like we fit in there somewhere." We are fascinated by stories and instinctively understand and experience the power of both telling and listening to stories. Storytelling is being used more and more in therapeutic environments, increasingly recognised as a powerful tool to help people better understand themselves and make positive changes in their lives. There has been an explosion of interest in social media, human development, and coaching as a profession; people are searching for connection on so many levels; they are looking for truth and a sense that their life has meaning. "When you tell a story that touches me, you give me the gift of human attention – the kind that connects me to you, that touches my heart and makes me feel more alive……We crave something that is real or at least feels real...", according to Annette Simmons in The Story Factor. Storytelling is the perfect complement to the coaching process, helping us answer the questions we bring into coaching. On one level, storytelling gives the coach an additional tool to get to a level of understanding or awareness which may be inaccessible to the client. This level may be blocked for many reasons; through listening to a story, the client can hear and subsequently deal with more difficult issues. On another level, we are all storytellers and our narrative is the story of how we talk of our lives. As we experience life, we "tell" it. We pass along almost every event that happens to us–as an anecdote, complaint or amusing tableside story–sometimes lightly and sometimes purposefully and with interpretation. And in the "telling," in the narrative we choose, we define the experience. When we look closely at the narrative and examine the stories we choose to tell, we begin to understand how committed we can become to these stories. We also understand the fascinating potential to create new and better stories–stories that empower us and allow us create a more fulfilling reality. Businesses in every industry, including coaching, are discovering that as we develop our storytelling skills, we learn how to better market our services by creating our own compelling story–the authentic story of what we can offer. It is the story that people remember, it is the story that has the potential to attract clients, it is the story that is becoming increasingly recognized as an effective business tool. Likewise, as we develop advanced "storylistening" skills, we can better understand the stories that our prospective clients tell us. From that, our sales and marketing process becomes more exact and this helps us grow our business and break through to a new level of success.      Lisa Bloom, MBA, PCC, founder of Story Coach Inc., is the creator of "Cinderella and the Coach – the Power of Storytelling for Coaching Success," an ICF-accredited continuing education program. Visit www.story-coach.com to download the free e-book, "5 Common Mistakes People Make That a Good Story Can Fix," or contact lisa@story-coach.com.        Comment Now Three Strategies for Using Workshops to Grow Your Business by Kim Clausen and Jonathan Tessier Workshops are a powerful tool for growing a coaching business. Used effectively, workshops can generate substantial additional income, establish you as a creditable expert in your market, attract more prospects into your business, and convert participants to clients. Plus you get the satisfaction of providing a valuable service that impacts the lives of those you serve. Here are three powerful strategies that you can use to create, market and facilitate more impactful workshops: Strategy #1 – Make Your Workshops Compelling Learning should never be regarded as something that’s boring, agonizing, or tedious. What makes the idea of learning a turn-off for so many is their past experiences of being lectured to with no opportunity to participate. For learning to be effective, workshop participants need to be actively engaged in the learning process. For example, at the beginning of any workshop, make sure to warm up your participants so they are receptive to learning. Preparing participants this way will establish positive feelings, generate interest, and get them primed for the learning that’s about to take place. The easiest way to prime your participants for learning is with an icebreaker activity that loosens up the participants and makes them feel comfortable. Another strategy to make workshops compelling is to present new information to participants in a way that requires active involvement. Traditional techniques such as lecturing should only be used as a last resort – never your main vehicle for delivering content. Once new information has been presented, let participants reflect on, discuss, and actively experience what they are gaining. And finally, participants need some time to reflect on their experiences from the workshop and apply what they have learned. Reviewing and then applying what has been learned is critical for long-term retention. Strategy #2 - Market for Maximum Attendance Once you have designed a compelling workshop, the next step is to get people to attend. Using proven marketing strategies to fill your workshops will give you a much higher attendance rate, greater client conversions, repeat customers, and lifelong friends! Here are a few tips for filling your workshops: Target your marketing: Typically, coaches struggle with filling their workshops because their marketing is random rather than targeted, with activities like posting fliers, running miscellaneous ads, and sending a single email to their potpourri list of contacts. In order to get the best results for your workshop, focus your efforts toward a specific market so that you can speak their language, get their attention, and deliver compelling workshops that meet their greatest needs. “Touch” frequently and regularly: The best way to have maximum attendance at your workshops is to start marketing early by “touching” (contacting) your prospects numerous times in advance, offering them free, value-added products and services about a related topic. For example, you could offer a special report, an article, an audio product or a teleseminar. The key is to send several messages, giving your prospect more opportunities to become familiar with you, like you, trust you, and be willing to invest in your workshop. Compel them to act: In today’s market of constant bombardment and media overload, it is more important than ever that your marketing efforts “rise above the noise” so you can be seen and heard, and capture the attention of your market. In order to effectively capture your market’s attention, create compelling offers with incentives, deadlines or bonuses. Strategy #3: Deliver a Workshop That Makes an Impact When facilitating a workshop or training program, the number one element for success is to make the learning experience be all about the learner. Facilitation is not about being the "sage on the stage," but instead, about being simply a "guide on the side." In workshops, effective facilitators manage the learning process as well as each and every learner within it, and create a setting where discussion, interaction, and learning can take place. The best news is that anyone can lead powerful workshops that produce positive results, once you've mastered some basic facilitation techniques. Workshops are a powerful tool to grow a coaching business. Learning programs such as workshops, teletrainings and seminars allow you to reach your market with a valuable service that impacts both the lives of those you serve, and your bottom line.   Kim Clausen is the President of Ready2Go Marketing Solutions, Inc., a company that creates ready-made workshops, teleseminars, speeches and other materials that coaches can brand as their own to grow their business. Kim is a professionally-trained coach who has more than 20 years of marketing and business development experience.          Jonathan Tessier, Senior Instructional Designer with Ready2Go Marketing Solutions, Inc., is a successful training manager, professional coach, and award-winning instructional designer with more than 10 years experience creating quality training programs. For more information about creating, marketing and facilitating workshops, call 303-465-0454 or visit www.Ready2GoMarketingSolutions.com and download our free training materials.     Comment Now This column is provided by an IAC Coaching Masteries®-Licensed School or Mentor. The Influential Difference by Joseph Liberti The following is an excerpt from Chapter 17 of the upcoming book, Coaching Emotional Intelligence: A foundation for HR professionals, internal coaches, trainers and consultants, by Joseph Liberti. Once your student sits down in your classroom, what will make the greatest difference in how much she will learn? Once the coaching conversation begins with your client, what will have the greatest influence on his progress? You! You are the influential difference in learning, change and growth. That is true about the facilitator of any subject, and it is especially true in the development of emotional intelligence. To understand your influence, consider that two elements that are involved in determining your results when you conduct coaching or training are: • What you do, and • How you are being when you do it. What you do is important because that provides necessary support for you and your clients or learners. Presenting the right information, in the right sequence, with the right materials are examples of things that are important for you to do to get good results. How you are being when you do those things makes all the difference. Your way of being, the nature and quality of your behavior, has the single greatest influence on outcomes in your training and your coaching. Nothing that you can do will be more powerful than that. So how must you be to most positively influence learning? The three ways you must be, to most powerfully influence learning outcomes are: 1. Be present 2. Be connected 3. Be contextual Be present What does being present mean to you? When I have asked that question of my students they respond with things like “being in the moment” or “being in the now.” Let’s agree for this conversation that being present is being mentally, physically and emotionally focused on each moment. To be present, you have to be here in his moment—not in the past or future but right now. So that means you cannot be focused on the future as when you are thinking, “oh my goodness, what do I do next? You cannot be focused on the past, as when you are still caught up in the thoughts and feelings of a disagreement you had just before class or your coaching session started. You cannot be focused on other problems, deadlines or whatever. Now those things sound obvious. What’s not so obvious, and frequently happens unconsciously, is losing your focus on the present because you are caught up in an emotional agenda. For example, it’s possible to have an emotional agenda around being approved of. Fear, perhaps of being rejected, has you focused on getting people to like you rather than being focused on being present to the needs of your audience and being effective. What is important about being present? When you are present you can tune in acutely to your client or audience. You can really hear the meaning behind the words they say. You can respond instead of reacting, choosing the most appropriate and effective things to say and do. Being present, moment-to-moment is easier said than done. What enables one to be present? The skills that enable one to focus on this moment are skills of emotional intelligence. If you are emotionally self-aware that means that you are tuned in to you—you are recognizing the emotions that are influencing your thoughts and actions. If you are also effective at emotional self-management, you can be fully available to your clients or students. You must be tuned in and connected to yourself first, in order to be tuned in to, and make full connection with, somebody else. If you are aware of what your emotions are and are able to manage yourself by being a compassionate witness to your emotions, but not have them dictate your behavior, you can be fully present. For example, you may feel anxious and think “I must perform,” so that people will approve of you. Or, you may think, “I hope I’m doing this right.” To experience the feeling of anxiety, to sense and acknowledge your feeling and to be able to stay in the moment, is what’s required to be present. So, your emotional skills, including emotional self-awareness, and emotional self-management are critical to staying present. What disables being in the present is denial or avoidance of your emotions. For example, you may have had thoughts like this: “I am anxious about this presentation today. But I’ve been told to leave my emotions at home and put them behind me and I’m not going to pay any attention to that fear. I’m not really afraid anyway. That’s nonsense, that fear stuff. Come on, I’m able to get past that.” That’s how we were trained by our society and our workplaces to think and act, but it doesn’t work. What does work is to witness the emotion, to acknowledge the emotion and to regulate or command the emotion instead of having it command you. That doesn’t mean denial or avoidance. That means staying present to your experience. And the degree to which you can stay present to your experience is communicated to your audience whether that audience is one or one thousand. That demonstration of being present teaches very powerfully. You are providing your client or audience the vicarious experience of being emotionally aware, self-managing and present. There’s no other way to equal that level of power in teaching and coaching.   Joseph Liberti is the founder of EQ At Work, an organization that trains and certifies emotional intelligence coaches and trainers. If you would like to read the full chapter, "The Influential Difference," contact jliberti@eqatwork.com or www.eqatwork.com.   Comment Now   What's Wrong with Cheerleading, Anyway? by Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC A change in leadership often includes subtle changes that reflect the style of the new leader. This month, Nina East’s VOICE column, The Inside Scoop, goes through some changes as I humbly step in to position of Lead Certifier. Lessons from the Certifiers will be replaced with a new format, Ask the Certifiers. We often hear from coaches who have questions about specific aspects of their coaching and how it conforms to the IAC Coaching Masteries®. Sometimes these questions arise following a recording that did not receive a passing score, or when a coach is unclear as to how to interpret the Masteries Note Card and they seek further clarification. Other questions include the best path to learning the Masteries or technical questions regarding the entire process from start-to-finish! This column will serve to answer those questions posed by our members. The certification board is continually looking for the most appropriate ways to support members who are preparing for certification. We’d like this to be YOUR column, where you can ask your burning questions! This is your opportunity to “pick our brains.” All questions regarding IAC certification are encouraged and welcomed and we will provide the most up-to-date and accurate information. For this month, I’m including a Q & A as just one example of the type of question you may wish to ask. Q ~ In the Masteries E-book there is an effective behavior of offers sincere encouragement while cheerleading is an ineffective behavior (which, by the way, I got marked down for on my certification scorecard). I don’t understand what the difference is, because I am very sincere when I cheer my clients on. A ~ This distinction in Mastery #2, perceiving, affirming and expanding the client’s potential, may seem like a fine line at times. To clarify, the distinction isn’t around sincerity versus insincerity, rather encouragement versus cheerleading. Most of us do appreciate some well-placed, sincere cheerleading in our lives from time to time and we're not saying you can never do a little happy dance for your client! However, in cases when the most beneficial approach is to affirm and expand, cheerleading can be too focused on what the client did as opposed to their potential or who they are, and could have little or no effect, could be embarrassing or could even be annoying. Members, continue reading here. To join the IAC, click here. Do you have a question that you’d like to ask the certifiers? Submit your questions here: http://certifiedcoachblog.typepad.com/blog/ask-the-certifiers.html.   Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC, is the Lead Certifier and a certifying examiner at the IAC, as well as Past-President. She is Dean of Students and a Master Instructor at the School of Coaching Mastery. Natalie is founder of Ageless-Sages.com Publishing (www.ageless-sages.com), and creator of the literary genre, Picture Books for Elders™. Please send your questions on the IAC Coaching Masteries® and the certification process to certification@certifiedcoach.org. Comment Now "Coaching Moments" takes a thoughtful look at how coaching can be interwoven into our daily lives.  Up, down, amazing and grateful   by Janice Hunter, IAC-CC The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind. ~ Wayne Dyer My daughter’s 14th birthday was a day full of assumptions, both hers and mine. She didn’t know her best friends were throwing a surprise birthday party later in the week, and her sadness at not receiving presents or cards from them, on the morning of her birthday, seeped through her gratitude for everything else. I stayed quietly positive and cheerful throughout the day, assuming she would rather have the eventual surprise than the truth. We went to the cinema in the afternoon, and as she couldn’t make up her mind which film she’d like to see, my husband bought tickets for the new Disney Pixar film, Up, which had received great reviews. One look at the poster–a house flying through the air suspended by balloons–had her assuming the film would be “babyish.” We settled into our seats, the lights dimmed, the adverts blared across the screen in the darkness, and soon we were surrounded by the sounds and smells of popcorn, hotdogs and nachos. I loved the first five minutes of the film. The music was poignant and moving, and through a sequence of short scenes and vignettes, we saw the quiet, quirky child grow old and grumpy as, one by one, he shelved the dreams of his youth. Thud. My seat jarred forward as it was kicked from behind. I turned to see a boy of seven or eight sitting next to a stony-faced man, a weary washed-out looking mum and a gum-chewing sister. I decided not to say anything. The simple act of turning around is usually enough. The film surprised me; in turns bizarre and surreal, touching and funny, it was strangely mesmerizing. The two main characters, a lonely, overweight boy full of childhood exuberance, and an irascible, heartbroken widower, became unlikely companions on a road trip. The difference in their ages gave the film great breadth of scope and depth, while the themes of disappointment and frustration, stubbornness and letting go, redemption and hope were woven throughout with compassion and wit. Disney films enchant me. The colours are glorious and they evoke memories of watching them with my saucer-eyed kids. A quick glance to the side showed my husband laughing with my son and my daughter giggling, devouring every detail. Thud...thud. I fought the urge to turn round, scared that a negative reaction from the boy or his parents might embarrass my daughter and spoil her birthday film. I took a deep breath, knowing the wriggling kicks were a distraction I had to overcome. My kids have always been very settled and courteous in cinemas, but as I’ve got older, it seems like fewer children can sit still for the length of a film without eating, wriggling or talking. The sounds of laughter, music and talking dogs filled the warm darkness of the cinema. Glorious multicoloured balloons, bright plumage and jungle scenes filled the screen, and I tried my best to simply let go and fill my heart with compassion. The credits rolled and we were the only two families who stayed to watch till the end. As the lights went up, from behind me came a “Wow! That was amazing!” The mum and dad said nothing. “Dad, that was the best thing I’ve ever seen!” “Don’t be stupid,” said the dad. “It was the best film I’ve ever seen, Dad. It was amazing!” His joy was contagious and I turned to smile at his mum, expecting to see her happy at the pleasure they’d so obviously brought him. She looked sad and distant as the man put on his coat in silence, and the older girl pulled her mobile phone from her pocket. I left the cinema curious about who they were and what was going on in their lives. I wondered how long the boy’s delight in films would last and I was glad I hadn’t said or done anything to ruin, what for him, was the most amazing film ever. Epilogue: A few days later, my daughter came home to a room full of bright banners, balloons and birthday party food, all bought and prepared by her best friends. The cries of “Surprise!!” brought her hands to her face in shocked delight, then sudden awareness as she looked at me with tears and comprehension in her eyes. The long, tear-filled hug she gave me was full of gratitude and appreciation for my part in the surprise, which I’d known about for weeks. Laughing and giggling with her friends, she blew out the candles on her cake and made a wish for the second time that week; I could see that all of her sadness from the previous days had disappeared. Surrounded by friends, good food and the determination to celebrate, it’s so much easier to feel grateful. As we all prepare for the coming season of gratitude and goodwill, blessings and bounty, I’d like to take this chance to thank you. I wish I could convey in words how much pleasure it gives me to belong to this community, to know you’ve taken the time to read my words. I can’t offer you food, or tokens of peace and friendship, but I wanted to let you know that I’ll be thinking of you on Thanksgiving Day and giving thanks for the Internet, for the coaching we share and for the wonderful universe whose plan brought us together. I’m not American, but I shamelessly adopt rituals and celebrations from all over the world, special days that make smiles brighter and hearts warmer, days that bring people together in shared gratitude for life, love and blessings, wherever we live, whoever we are. Thank you. My life is better because of you. Janice Hunter is an IAC certified homelife coach who lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. She created and co-wrote Sharing the Certification Journey: Six IAC Coaches Talk About Their Journeys, and her blogsite, www.sharingthejourney.co.uk, provides soul food and support for coaches, writers, parents and home-based workers. Janice has compiled all of her Coaching Moments pieces from the last two years into a free 46-page ebook, 'Coaching Moments: A Collection of Articles about Coaching in Everyday Life' which can be downloaded here or from her site. Comment Now Your Feedback We'd love to get your feedback on any issue related to the IAC. Do you have any questions, concerns, encouragement or ideas for improvement regarding membership benefits, certification, the VOICE, the direction of the organization or anything else at all? Please send an email to feedback@certifiedcoach.org. Please help us improve.

IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 40, October 2009, Circulation 13,272

Linda From the Editor Well, we're all "back to school" now and busier than ever. That was certainly the common theme in my conversations this week. I hope you'll take the next few moments as a well-deserved break, to soak up the wisdom, celebration and inspiration in today's issue of the VOICE. President Angela Spaxman has more comments about the ongoing Strategic Planning Process, as well as news about other exciting IAC projects you can get involved in. In a separate note, IAC Board of Governors Vice-President Parker Anderson invites both experienced and emerging coaching leaders to step up and make a real difference. We'll hear twice from IAC licensee Doris Helge, first about a brand new virtual chapter for IAC Coaches, and then in an energizing article about improving your confidence as a coach. Planning is one of the keys to success in business, and Carma Spence-Pothitt presents a simple business plan outline that makes this sometimes daunting task very do-able. In our other feature article, non-profit coach Alex Carter describes her work in this sector and the one tool that has made such a big difference to her clients. This will be the last installment of Inside Scoop – Lessons from the Certifiers. Watch for its rebirth next month as Inside Scoop – Ask the Certifiers, a new forum to have your questions answered. For today, though, IT'S ALL ABOUT NINA. When she submitted this month's Coaching Moments piece, Janice Hunter confided that it was this type of article that more than once has prompted a well-meaning coach to write and ask her, "Janice, are you working with your own coach?" to which she would reply, "I write first and get coaching later." Personally, I love how Janice uses her space in the VOICE to write out her immediate experience. With that, she teaches the rest of us that it's okay for coaches to be human, and that it sometimes takes longer to find our way into the coaching moments and mindset of a challenging situation. Submission guidelines for the VOICE are available on the website, including submission dates for our upcoming issues. I would love to receive your article submissions and ideas by October 19th in consideration for the November 12th issue, and by November 16th in consideration for the December 10th issue. Please note that due to the volume of submissions we cannot guarantee your article will appear in a specific month. I always appreciate hearing your feedback about the VOICE. Warm wishes, Linda Linda Dessau, CPCC Editor, IAC® VOICE Email: voice@certifiedcoach.org Comment Now Angela From the President by Angela Spaxman president@certifiedcoach.org As you know, we are now about half way through our Strategic Planning Process. As the process continues, I am so thankful that we decided to do it with your involvement and with a focus on the distant future. We are creating a clear and distinctive vision of what we want in the long term and with no limits to our scale of influence. With this foundation, we can create what is most important to us and make much better decisions along the way. By starting with the end in mind, it is much easier to set our priorities now and to design our systems to support what we want, while staying aligned with our resources and focus. What's becoming clear so far is: We see coaching being used in all aspects of society worldwide. We see that coaching itself will change and develop as it reaches further into the world. We see the need to embrace innovation and diversity in coaching. We see the value of collaborating with other fields in order to advance coaching's reach and effectiveness. We want to expand and improve our certification and development processes. We see the importance for the IAC to be a model organization that expresses the values of coaching as a worldwide movement in innovative ways I'm reminded of how easy it is to lose sight of the future in our daily efforts to achieve our current needs. If we focus only on our professional credibility, our independence, our financial sustainability, and other similar goals that are born of day-to-day pressures, it is easy to lose sight of what is most important and what we most want to create for our profession and for the world at large. It is only with the foundation of clarity about our highest desires that we can create the association, the profession and the world that we want. And it is very inspiring to see that our members are motivated not just to have rewarding careers as coaches, but also to create a beautiful world where the value of coaching is maximized and available to all who want it. This is something worth doing. I also sincerely hope that with your continuing support and the clear thinking of our Board of Governors and other volunteers, we can create an organization that is worthy of the values of coaching. In the next stage of the process, we will further refine our plans and priorities. Your involvement is most welcome! Please click here to listen to the past recordings and/or register for the next ones. In other news from the Board, we are currently shortlisting from dozens of proposals for a major website makeover. Our website will be easier to navigate and will have enhanced features for the coach directory, member interaction and more. If you have expertise in copywriting, design or IT and would like to contribute your knowledge, please contact me and I will fill you in on how you can help. We are also planning our presence at the December International Coach Federation (ICF) conference in Florida. Will you be there? If you'd like to support us in preparing for this event, please contact me. Cheers, Angela Spaxman President, IAC Email: president@certifiedcoach.org Web: www.lovingworkandleading.com Comment Now IAC Certified Coaches Congratulations to Mike Goonan from Bellmawr, NJ, USA who recently passed his Step 2 Exam and became an IAC Certified Coach! Comment Now Volunteer Opportunities for Worldwide Coaching Leaders by Parker Anderson The IAC is calling on the LEADER in YOU to step forward and serve. Are you ready to deepen and further your commitment to the IAC, to the field of coaching? Right now, the IAC Board of Governors is looking for both experienced and emerging leaders to take a big step forward and join the Board. For new members, service on the Board begins in January 2010 and the length of service is for two years. Serving on the IAC Board of Governors allows you an opportunity to work with an extraordinary group of individuals who excel in the field of coaching, believe in ensuring the highest quality of standards for all coaches, and are committed to providing coaching excellence to all coaching clients. In general, duties and responsibilities require each member to: Attend monthly virtual Board meetings Take the lead in an IAC committee (e.g., membership, volunteers, strategy, nominations) Maintain and raise the standards of certification Ensure and support our professional code of ethics Bring their individual ideas and innovative strategies to the coaching profession worldwide The current IAC leadership team is both strong and global, with talented leaders from Hong Kong, the United States of America, Australia, Israel, the United Kingdom and China. We are eager to continue this long tradition of global participation by encouraging future leaders from around the world to step forward and share their skills, knowledge and talent. To apply, please submit your resume along with a cover letter indicating your interest in serving on the Board. Please also provide three references (professional or personal), including name, mailing address, phone number and email. You can send your applications or questions to Parker Anderson at vicepresident@certifiedcoach.org. Comment Now Announcing a new resource for IAC coaches Are you a new IAC member working toward your IAC certification? Have you recently gained IAC certification and now you want to build a thriving practice? If you answered, "Yes!" to either description, you have a new resource available! Beginning on Monday, October 12, 2009, you will be able to attend virtual monthly meetings by telephone, where you can: Connect with other IAC members who have similar needs and challenges Share your successes with other IAC members Trade client referrals Provide or hear coaching demonstrations Find coaching practice buddies Share practice-building tips and hear what works so you can build your own thriving practice Enjoy the warm support of a group of peers with a vested interest in nurturing your professional growth and taking steps to help you get your needs met Boost your confidence regarding certification and building a thriving practice Gain valuable, cutting-edge information in a convenient, supportive mastermind model that is structured for safety and success and where every participant's input is valued Meeting details Quarterly events will include a speaker about one or more issues raised during the monthly events. Special attention will be given to confidence-boosting and practice-building issues because these are two of the most common concerns for new coaches. The IAC GroupSite Forum will be used to assist with communication. When you sign up to receive information about this group, IAC will notify you about meeting times and the bridgeline number. To be as fair as possible, meeting times will be rotated so that members in as many possible locations around the globe can attend at least once a quarter. For example: The first monthly meeting will be Monday, October 12, 2009 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time. The second monthly meeting will be Monday, November 16, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. Your group facilitator Doris Helge, PhD, IAC-Certified Coach and Mentor Coach and Founder of IAC-licensed coach training program, Confident Coach Connection, has volunteered to be Lead Facilitator and the primary contact person. In addition to coach training, Doris has a long history of conducting mastermind groups that empower participants to achieve their goals. Take advantage of this opportunity IAC wants to address YOUR needs and concerns so that our organization is even more meaningful and even stronger. This will be YOUR group in the sense that the group will evolve over time in a way that is responsive to participants' needs and desires. To get started, just let us know you are interested by sending an email to Doris@ConfidentCoachConnection.com with "New IAC Coach Group" in the subject line. Comment Now Coaching Non-Profit Leaders to Find Their Strengths by Alex Carter New non-profit leaders generally bring to their new positions a deep knowledge of and commitment to their organization’s mission and goals, as well as specific skill sets in programmatic work. However, their tool kits often lack specific executive skills such as strategic thinking and personnel management. In addition, some new leaders lack confidence in their ability to perform at a high level in their new positions. I’ve found that the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment can be a valuable tool in helping new non-profit leaders identify and develop their unique talents as they grow into their new roles. New leaders face unique challenges New non-profits leaders face the same challenges as their more-experienced colleagues: fundraising and resource development (even more of a challenge in the current economic climate); programmatic oversight; and communications, among others. But new leaders also face additional hurdles. Primary among these are managing the staff and board, and the transition from “rowing” to “steering.” While they were once task-oriented in a specific program area, now they need to be more focused on the overall organization. Coaching new non-profit leaders New non-profit leaders are especially well placed to benefit from coaching. A good coach offers a new leader tools for growing into the job, helps the executive director (ED) develop and pursue her or his personal and organizational goals and serves as a sounding board for processing events, interactions and crises. This last function is crucial. The coach is often the only person in the ED’s professional life who wants nothing from them other than their success. In a recent six-month check-in about our work together, one of my clients said that the space to process and “vent” was probably the most useful to him now, when stresses are many and growing. He also noted that my ability to provide a “reality check” helped him feel less isolated. The StrengthsFinder assessment One of the first things I ask my new ED clients to do is to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment. This tool builds on massive research by the Gallup organization on workplace productivity. Gallup identified 35 “strengths,” or areas of natural talent, ranging from “Achiever” (driven to succeed) to “Woo” (very social, great at winning others over). Gallup found that employees who were able to work from their strengths were significantly more productive than those who did not. This was a major finding for corporations, who typically spend much time and energy on addressing weaknesses, rather than strengths. Gallup also found that developing an individual’s strengths was much more likely to result in increased productivity and worker satisfaction than any amount of time spent redressing weaknesses. It’s useful to think of strengths as “default settings.” For example, someone with the “Context” strength will approach a problem wanting to know its origins and history before acting, whereas someone with “Strategic” strength will be more apt to see the forward implications of how the problem is handled. Precisely because strengths are “default settings,” we tend to downgrade their importance or uniqueness. But no two people possess the same strengths configuration. And an awareness of their strengths, and how they interact to shape their ways of working in the world, gives my clients a unique way to shape their particular leadership styles. We can also identify those areas where they might need more support, or should consider delegating, as they grow into their new positions. Outcomes of StrengthsFinder for non-profits When Abby was appointed as ED of a youth advocacy organization, she was not at all sure she was up to the task. She was following in the footsteps of a strong founder, and doubted she could replicate his successes. Abby took the StrengthsFinder and found that she has significant Strategic strength. She has been able to draw on this strength to lead her organization to significant legislative victories, including securing funding for her constituency during a statewide budget crisis. Other clients have increased confidence in their ability to function at the senior level. Dan, who had extensive mid-level management experience, had some difficulty with the transition to leadership of a transitional housing organization. Dan’s Connectedness strength actually became an obstacle to effective management. He had such a strong sense that all humanity is connected and that each person is of intrinsic worth, that it was difficult for him to exercise authority in situations of conflict. Once we were aware of this pitfall, Dan and I worked to develop an understanding that conflict need not involve disrespect. His ability to manage situations of conflict has improved, along with his confidence in handling them. Dan was so enthused with the StrengthsFinder that he asked for me to do a training workshop with his entire staff. This was a fascinating afternoon, in which we discovered that most of the staff shared a Connectedness or Belief strength, reflected in a deep belief in the organization’s mission and the high staff morale and retention. The training also revealed an organizational need: there was a noted lack of Communication strength. The staff all knew what they were doing was important, and why, but had trouble communicating outside the organization. That led the group to enlist a volunteer marketing and communications expert, which in turn led to improved fundraising results. Conclusions A strong and confident ED is perhaps the most important element in the success of a small- to mid-sized non-profit organization. And non-profit leaders need support as they make the transition into their new roles. The Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment has helped my ED clients gain insights into both their strengths and limitations as leaders and managers. In addition, entire teams and organizations have achieved similar positive results using the assessment.   Alex Carter, Your Nonprofit Coach, specializes in helping new Executive Directors become outstanding managers and leaders, while keeping their sanity. She can be reached at coach@alexcarter.com.        Comment Now Achieve Your Business Vision with a Simple Plan by Carma Spence-Pothitt Do you have a vision for your coaching business? Do you see it accomplishing great things? Helping a lot of people? Providing you with the income and lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of? If you are like most coaches, your answer to these questions was, “Yes!” But you might also feel a little frustrated because you aren’t achieving that vision as swiftly as you’d hoped. So I ask you: Do you have a plan for achieving your vision or are you just winging it? Many coaches don’t plan for their success. Part of the reason is the false belief that a business and marketing plan is only needed if you are seeking outside funding. Another false belief is that you have to create a large, complex, traditional business plan. This is simply not the case. To move your coaching business toward your vision, you only need to create a simple, flexible plan comprised of these five key parts, which you should be able to fit into about three pages: 1. Vision Statement The vision statement is the big picture of your business, stating where you see your business in three to five years. It creates a mental picture of what the business hopes to become or achieve, and states it in the present. The problem is, too many coaches fail to create a clear vision, instead, creating one that obscures their path. Your vision statement should be as specific as possible on whom your business serves and what you provide them. 2. Mission Statement The mission statement zeros in on the present and looks out to the future by only a year. It declares boldly to the world what makes you and your business unique. It defines the purpose of your business, as well as the values and ethical principles by which you aspire to conduct business. It is an explanation of why the business exists and the path it will take to achieve its vision. Of all the coaches out there, why should someone hire you? Here is where you can bring together your skills, experience, passion and special characteristics to form a mission that is distinctive to only you and your business. The mission statement also focuses on the results your business brings about for your clients. What do your clients get out of working with you? 3. Objectives The objectives section is all about measurement. By what markers will you determine your success? Will it be a sales figure? Quantity of clients? Products developed? Your objectives must be clear and precise. One way to create clear, measurable objectives is to follow the S.M.A.R.T. methodology: Specific–be precise and relevant to your business. Measurable–assign a specific measurable value. Attainable–can you achieve this goal? Realistic–similar to attainable, but more specific to your business. Timed–include a date by which you will achieve that objective. Objectives are the milestones you must arrive at to achieve the success you’ve outlined in your plan. 4. Strategies The most important part of your plan is the strategy section. This is the meat, where the rubber meets the road. This section clearly lays out the activities you need to focus on to move your business toward the success you’ve envisioned. This is where you describe how you will accomplish your objectives. For every business model, there are some traditional and appropriate strategies you can use. However, you can’t implement them all at once. You need to select which ones will give you the highest return on your investment in the current stage of your business. For example, in coaching, some common strategies include free “get acquainted” sessions, article marketing and public speaking. Take a look at the strategies available to you and select no more than three to focus on for the first year. You can always re-evaluate and change your decisions when you check in with your plan in three to six months, after having enough time to see if those strategies proved fruitful. 5. Action Plan Your action plan is your roadmap to success. It states those activities you will engage in over the course of a set period of time. Each of these activities must support the other parts of your plan. For example, if you selected article marketing as one of your strategies, and “grow your list by 500 names” as one of your objectives, steps in your action plan might look like this: By Nov. 15, I will complete keyword research and select 20 keywords to focus on for the coming year. By Nov. 30, I'll have written 50 headlines for the articles I want to write, based on my keywords. By Dec. 15, I will have written a resource box template that points readers to a specific landing page where I collect their name and email address in exchange for a relevant incentive. By Dec. 31, I will have written 50 articles and began submitting them one per week to EzineArticles.com. The larger strategy and objective of adding 500 names to your list using article marketing was broken up into smaller tasks with specific due dates that are realistic. Monitor Your Progress Don’t stop once you’ve completed your plan. A business and marketing plan is a living document. You should refer to it at least once a month, at first, to monitor your progress and ask yourself these questions: Have I moved forward along my action plan? If yes, do I need to add more actions? If no, why not? Do I need to re-think my objectives? Do any of them no longer serve my vision or me? Have I changed direction or deviated from my plan? Why? Out of fear? Or of greater clarity? By revisiting the plan regularly for the first six to twelve months, you enable yourself to fine-tune it and make sure it is in alignment with your core values and your realistic capabilities.   Carma Spence-Pothitt has more than 20 years of marketing and public relations experience and has helped a wide variety of clients with their promotional activities. If you enjoyed this article and wish to learn more about the topic, take her free e-course at http://www.planyourbusinessvision.com.   Comment Now   Confidence Keys for IAC Coaches by Doris Helge, Ph.D., IAC-CC Here's the "Does the chicken come first . . . or the egg?" question for IAC coaches: Which comes first, the confident coach, IAC certification or a thriving practice? Inadequate confidence will bar even the most talented coach from marketing their services or submitting excellent MP3s for IAC certification. On the other hand, you've probably known some very confident, uncertified coaches who were less talented but more successful in business building. If you're tempted to grinch, "Life's not fair!," take comfort. Our level of confidence is as malleable as a soft ball of clay. Most coaches who crave IAC certification know it's essential to remember the map to Carnegie Hall, one of the most famous venues for musicians to perform. A musician jumped into a New York City cab with an eager request, "I play the cello. How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" The wisdom in the cab driver's response is equally relevant for IAC coaches, "Study. Practice. Study. Practice." The keys to masterful coaching include studying the IAC Masteries, taking advantage of quality coach training, practice, and seeking and warmly embracing constructive feedback. There are also shortcuts on the road to the level of confidence required to become IAC-certified and enjoy a thriving coaching practice. Some of the shortcuts are based on neuroscience and others on spiritual principles. Take advantage of neuroscience The science of brain imaging has confirmed what many of us have sensed intuitively. Changing your mind (your beliefs) and manipulating your body can physically rewire your brain. This is why scientists call our brains "plastic." Each time I read that the human brain has 100 billion neurons that are connected to each other in 40 quadrillion ways, I'm amazed at the power of the personal computers we cart around on our necks. Thinking about something causes synapses between neurons to fire, creating or reinforcing a neural network. If I say, "Don't think about a pink elephant," you instantly think about a nonexistent animal. Each time I remind you, "Stop thinking about a pink elephant!" you strengthen your new neural network about something that has never existed. Thoughts are things. We can also program confidence. You are probably aware of the power of mental imagery. We can use multisensory visualization to enhance our self-image as a competent coach and then elevate our performance. The process can be simple. Examples: Monitor your body posture so that it represents how you want to feel. Use solution-focused language. Delete the word try from your vocabulary. Employ proven multisensory processes that create "confidence loops" in your neurology. The body-mind aspects of this knowledge are in line with IAC Mastery #4, Processing in the Present. Connect with your source Learning good coaching techniques that embody the IAC Masteries is essential. Yet, technique alone doesn't develop the level of confidence related to masterful coaching. If a coach has mastered technique but lacks heart and soul, interactions with clients will sound mechanical and can even appear to be heartless. For example, the coach may methodically ask all of the right questions related to Mastery #9, Helping the Client Create and Use Supportive Systems and Structures, but fail to notice that the client is frightened or lacks the enthusiasm necessary for follow-through. The coach may sound like an accountability drill sergeant. Likewise, it's very difficult for a coach to engage the level of intuition referred to in Mastery #4 without connecting with their spiritual intelligence. Their coaching will lack the joy, playfulness and curiosity that are spontaneous when the coach trusts the process of the client's and the coach's life––the co-creative process. All of this is directly related to our spirituality. In coach training, self-doubt is often the elephant in the living room. Practice can enhance confidence but not until coaches deeply connect with their spiritual side, including their innate intuitive edge. Coaches develop unshakable confidence when they fully integrate their life purpose and own their greatness. They develop seemingly magical strengths and gifts that were previously hidden from them. Since every coach will interpret their spirituality or Universal Intelligence in a unique way that serves them, they can connect with their version of their Creator or Source before each coaching session. When coaches ask themselves questions like the following, feelings of inadequacy are usually replaced by a new wave of confidence. "How can I be of service?" "What does my client really need right now?" "How am I learning and growing during this experience?" Infinite possibilities for coaching confidence Many IAC coaches feel seriously challenged when they ponder, "How can I cover all of the IAC Coaching Masteries® in a 30-minute MP3?" "How can I build a thriving practice when the world already has so many coaches?" Confidence is a major key to success…and it can be arranged.     Doris Helge, PhD, IAC-CC, is an IAC- and CTA-certified coach, coach mentor and founder of the IAC-licensed training school, Confident Coach Connection. Discover more at www.ConfidentCoachConnection.com.     Comment Now   Nina East: A Tribute in Two Parts From Sali Taylor, IAC-CC, former Lead Certifier for the IAC: It is a pleasure to be asked to honor Nina East’s enormous contribution to the IAC over the last five years! Nina has been one of the leaders in the coaching field practically since its inception. I knew Nina first as one of the stellar teachers at Coachville. Soon after that, Nina, Karen Van Cleve and I were in the first round to pass the IAC Part 2 exam and together we became certifiers for the recently created IAC. I worked closely with Nina from 2004-2007 on the Certifying Committee and as Certifying Examiners. In addition to scoring candidates for certification, we met almost weekly to help refine the standards for certification scoring at the newly established IAC. At first, while we were using the 15 Proficiencies, we worked jointly with Coachville. Nina had worked closely with Thomas Leonard, Coachville founder, both on his R&D team and to help craft the study guides for the 15 Proficiencies. Nina knew this material forwards and backwards! Besides bringing her great knowledge of the material to our Certifying team, Nina also provided a teacher’s style, a mentor’s mastery, a finely tuned ear and a wonderful ability to articulate the strengths and deficits of the coaching recordings she listened to. Scoring was always a labor intensive activity, but with Nina, things moved along pretty quickly. Yet, if there was ever any doubt or difference in scoring, she was always willing to re-listen to the recording to be absolutely sure we had given the candidate the benefit of a further review. After our International team completed the Coaching Masteries®, Nina helped refine them and craft the scorecard, as we compared and re-scored the earlier candidates’ passing tapes using both the old Proficiency method and the Masteries prototype. That process took many, many months to complete, but Nina followed it every step of the way, committed to making sure we had the most comprehensive, workable, clear, accurate and equitable system to measure coaches’ performance. If that labor of love wasn’t enough, Nina then willingly stepped into the Lead Certifier’s role, hosted calls to help present the new material to the IAC members and then helped craft the study guides for each of the nine Masteries. She then generously shared her insider’s view in her monthly commentary on each Mastery, still available in back issues of the VOICE. Such largesse of knowledge, creativity, coaching mastery, mentoring skill, teamwork and generosity of time and spirit will be sorely missed. We wish Nina much joy and happiness on her next undertaking. Whomever she works with will be blessed, indeed!   From 2004-2007, Sali chaired the IAC Certification Team. As a Certifying Examiner, she advocated for and led an international group that developed the Coaching Masteries® for the IAC. Sali is a coach and artist in NYC. Her art was in the 2009 International Women Artists’ Biennale in S. Korea. www.RealSoulutions.com    From Karen Van Cleve, IAC-CC, ACC, IAC Certifier since 2005: The lifeblood of any volunteer organization is its volunteers, and the IAC is no exception. What does seem to make the IAC exceptional in this category is the quality of the volunteers. I am continually impressed with the caliber of the people involved in the IAC. And among this stellar group of volunteers, one stands out in my mind as an exemplary role model: Nina East, the outgoing Lead Certifier for the IAC. I have had the blessing and good fortune to work with Nina since 2004, and to work under her leadership on the Certification team since 2006. She would never seek the limelight, but as she “retires” from the Lead Certifier role, I’d like to shine the light brightly on her accomplishments. Nina has been the heart and hands of so many important changes to the certification process and quality. When Nina stepped into the Lead Certifier role, we were still “Navigating Via Curiosity” and “Recognizing Perfection” in our certifications using the Coachville Proficiencies. With the release of the IAC Coaching Masteries®, we had to figure out how the scoring with the Masteries would compare with the Proficiencies. As described in Sali's story, the team listened to a range of recordings using the Masteries and compared them to the Proficiency scores to ensure consistency and accurate use of the new model. During that effort, Nina, as always, elicited the wisdom of the team, kept clear communication with the IAC leadership, and willingly shared her time and talents to uphold the highest integrity of the IAC certification process. The next big challenge for the team was to bring on new certifiers. Rather than follow the simplistic process that had previously been used, Nina led the effort to implement a rigorous new search and training process. Three certifier trainees went through countless hours of preparation to qualify to serve on the team. Last year a new challenge was presented – licensees! Nina became the interface for questions about the Masteries, including definition, interpretation and clarification. As with everything else, Nina brought her exceptional communication and analytical skills to make that new process a success. The philosophy of the IAC Masteries is to continually reflect the highest and best representation of coaching skills. Nina made that philosophy come alive over the course of several weeks by reviewing all of the proposed feedback from certifications, certifiers and licensees. Nina single-handedly compiled and incorporated these refinements, then worked with the team and ultimately the Board of Governors to officially update the Masteries. This is the kind of dedication that helps the IAC’s certification process to be so relevant and rigorous. Anyone who volunteers their money and time is a special person. Someone who steps up to serve in the way that Nina has served the IAC, especially as the Lead Certifier for the last three years, deserves a hearty “GREAT JOB!” and “THANK YOU!” I know I’m not alone in my awe and gratitude for Nina’s efforts. If you feel so compelled, please pass your appreciation on to Nina by commenting on the IAC blog!   Karen Van Cleve, IAC-CC, ACC, has been an IAC Certifier since 2005. She is the President and Owner of Live Well Coaching and is also a Results Coach for the Robbins Research Company. She speaks on a variety of coaching topics, her favorite of which is “Do It Yourself Brain Surgery™.” Karen provides personal coaching for a wide range of clients. Her website is www.KarenVanCleve.com.    Please send your questions on the IAC Coaching Masteries® and the certification process to certification@certifiedcoach.org. Comment Now "Coaching Moments" takes a thoughtful look at how coaching can be interwoven into our daily lives.  Photo: Long Golden Day by Alice Dalton Brown Sea breezes, books and minerals   by Janice Hunter, IAC-CC How often do you coach someone who’s come to you overwhelmed, stuck or overweight? Someone who’s spiritually sluggish, washed out and weary? Chances are, you’ll have worked on what’s anchoring them in their past and what’s blocking their energy, the flow of prosperity and creativity in their lives. You’ll have investigated what they’re clinging to, afraid of letting go. For me, it’s been books. Currently, as we prepare to lay a new wooden floor, all of my books are packed in see-through plastic storage crates, dozens of them in the attic, and six or seven clogging the dining room. But do you know something? After years of squeezing between piles of books on sofas and bookcases, I feel as happy as a kid with new wax crayons. I have that lightness of spirit I feel on holiday, in rooms with lace curtains billowing in a sea breeze, revealing tantalising glimpses of a beach full of promise. When the new wooden floor is laid, and the last skirting board nailed in place, not one single book will reappear on a shelf unless it is insanely useful, destined to be re-read or so precious it gives me an energy surge just thinking about it. I don’t need books to remind me - or show others - who I was, who I am, what I know or what I enjoy. I turned fifty last month. For forty-five years, I’ve been devouring reading material; novels, text books, course books, magazines and more recently, online text. I have clusters of books from every phase and every career: dictionaries and text books in nine languages; tomes on astrology, feng shui, art and garden design; books on translation, linguistics and creative writing; files of coach training printouts and dozens of homelife coaching and personal development books. I adore reading. I adore books. So why am I on the verge of a cull? I need my energy more. Most of my books are no longer inspiring me; they’re depleting me and anchoring me in the past. I no longer cast astrological charts or speak Greek every day. I passed my coach certification and no longer mentor, or critique exam tapes. If I haven’t absorbed the basics by now, I’d rather revise them in some fresh new format. I’m tired of dusting books I don’t read, and as my collection grows, it strikes me as bizarre to contemplate extending my home to house books. Until recently, the thought of parting with them was unbearable. So what happened? The menopause, my dad’s heart attack, my kids’ puberty and my own illness happened. My life, for six months, has felt clogged and bogged down with tolerations. Even as I tackled them, kaizen style, one at a time, I accrued more than I dealt with. Sick of missed deadlines, sleepless nights, hair loss, infections and depression, I summoned the strength to arrange appointments with a consultant and my local doctor. Determined not to have my concerns dismissed, swept under the rug of age, parenthood and caring for an elderly relative, I asked for blood tests. My inner child, my coaching voice, my intuition and every member of my spiritual team, desperate to crawl out from under the weight of overwhelm, were screaming: What do I need? What’s stopping me getting it? What am I getting too much of? What am I not getting enough of? What will I gain when I get the balance and flow back? When I visited the consultant, I simply asked him to help me find out what I was deficient in. Such a small question, but my silent sigh convinced me it was the right step, the right question, like a perfect pebble dropped in a deep pool. While I was waiting for the results, I had my seasonal September craving to get clean and clear. I rode it like a cresting wave, surfing my way through packing, recycling and binning my possessions, blessing and letting go of anything that no longer energised me. I knew I’d reach the shore battered and sea-tossed, but it was worth it. Out went patterned, grubby rugs, shabby faded curtains and sagging fake wood bookcases. In came a shaggy wool rug, freshly painted cream walls, soft cotton slip covers and snuggly throws and cushions, all in natural textures and the colours of serenity and sea shores: sun baked terracotta, warm sand and sea-tossed pebbles, driftwood and shells. My books, photo frames and ornaments are still safely stored until I decide their fate. Right now, I need spiritual space more than belongings, fresh air and clear surfaces more than books and objects. I need time with my loved ones more than the memories that keep me anchored to lost loves and the empty shells of lives no longer lived. My blood test results came back and I smiled. Due to malabsorption, I’m severely deficient in major minerals, including zinc. Zinc deficiency can cause sleeplessness, depression, skin problems, hair loss, infections and a lack of appetite – for food, love and life itself. I was right to have insisted on tests. Now that I know, I can work on my zinc. It’s easier to ask myself “How can I get and absorb more zinc?” than “How can I fix my entire life?” One banana, one handful of seeds, one step at a time works for me, as long as it’s a step that takes me in the right direction. Janice Hunter is an IAC certified homelife coach who lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. She created and co-wrote Sharing the Certification Journey: Six IAC Coaches Talk About Their Journeys, and her blogsite, www.sharingthejourney.co.uk, provides soul food and support for coaches, writers, parents and home-based workers. Janice has compiled all of her Coaching Moments pieces from the last two years into a free 46-page ebook, 'Coaching Moments: A Collection of Articles about Coaching in Everyday Life' which can be downloaded here or from her site. Comment Now Your Feedback We'd love to get your feedback on any issue related to the IAC. Do you have any questions, concerns, encouragement or ideas for improvement regarding membership benefits, certification, the VOICE, the direction of the organization or anything else at all? Please send an email to feedback@certifiedcoach.org. Please help us improve.

IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 39, September 2009, Circulation 13,212

Linda From the Editor As the season is changing, some faces at the IAC are changing as well. Angela Spaxman has more details about that in her President's Message, as well as some reflections about the ongoing IAC strategy calls. I was pleased to be part of this process, and I love how Susan Meyer sums up the experience: "If you haven't been on an IAC Strategy call yet, you're missing a great experience. Dave Ellis is an excellent facilitator, and the entire process is inspiring both on a personal level and in terms of the future of the profession. As the group moved though the process, I enjoyed hearing colleagues I know and respect but don't have many opportunities to speak with. I heard many of my own ideas and concerns supported and expanded on by other participants. I heard new ideas that expanded my own thinking about coaching. These calls are the perfect way to keep IAC in the forefront of all that is innovative in our profession, while, at the same time, sparking ideas for innovation in our own work. As Dave stretched us to think further and further into the future, it was challenging and exciting to envision coaching practices woven into practically every aspect of an individual's life. It was inspiring to hear the list of possibilities for new delivery systems and new partnerships. I came away from the call challenged to think more deeply about my own practice and about ways to contribute more fully to this amazing profession. What a wonderful growth opportunity!" You can read more about the calls in my article below, and IAC members can find out how to join in the four remaining calls. I'm thrilled to present a feature article from Lagos, Nigeria this month, as Folake Oluwole discusses the Sin of Assumption and gives us a glimpse into the shifting organizational culture in her part of the world. With so many coaches branching out into other streams of income, Susan Fuller is here to help with her article, The 3 Things You Absolutely Must Know Before Creating Your New Product. Beginning with a powerful and thought-provoking introductory statement, Natalie Tucker Miller shares a very important lesson in our licensee column this month, as she explores the theme of Coaching and the Elder Years. Inside Scoop – Lessons from the Certifier continues a theme from July's column. Karen Van Cleve and Nina East have partnered up again to take a closer look at the concept of mastery. And as you enjoy your Coaching Moments this month, you may just find yourself itching to sort through that pile of magazines or finally root through your junk drawer. You'll be spurred on as you read how Janice Hunter took care of her Life Laundry. Submission guidelines for the VOICE are available on the website, including submission dates for our upcoming issues. I would love to receive your article submissions by September 14th for the October 8th issue, or by October 19th for the November 12th issue. Please contact me with your article ideas and your feedback about this issue. Warm wishes, Linda Linda Dessau, CPCC Editor, IAC® VOICE Email: voice@certifiedcoach.org Comment Now Angela From the President by Angela Spaxman president@certifiedcoach.org The IAC is moving forward this month in three big ways. 1) I am very pleased to announce that Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC has accepted the position of IAC Lead Certifier, taking over from Nina East, who completed her tenure last month. We are so fortunate to have someone as experienced, committed and wise as Natalie for this role. As you know, our Certification process is the cornerstone of our organization and unparalleled in the industry. Natalie will be leading the team of certifiers to continue to deliver the world's simplest, most open, highest quality certification system in the world. (I like superlatives!) 2) The IAC is surging towards the future! Many members and subscribers took part in the first round of our Strategic Planning calls, as you will read below. The more we get into this process, the more I realize how important it is. The conversations have been wonderfully effective at expanding our thinking beyond the current times and especially beyond our own personal needs, to look at what we most want to create as the legacy of coaching in the world. Now that is something worth doing. And it's a lot of fun too. Some of what I heard still echoes in my thoughts, such as: "Coaching will evolve and will need a new name....; Research will validate and improve on current models of coaching; The IAC needs to be more courageous..." We welcome you to listen, enjoy and follow the process and email any more ideas you may have by September 15, 2009. The recordings are available here. 3) For the first time in our history, we have a President-Elect! I'm thrilled to announce that Bob Tschannen-Moran has accepted this position with the intention to become the next President of the IAC in January 2010. Bob has proven his ability as a member of the Board of Governors over the past two years and brings plenty of coaching and leadership experience to the role. Most importantly, Bob shares a heartfelt dedication to the IAC and the values we stand for. I'd like to admit that I had considered (to myself) staying on another year as President. I do enjoy this role despite the pressures. But I don't want to be a "dictator for life!" I view it as a sign of maturity that the IAC has the capacity and support to make a smooth leadership succession. And we will benefit tremendously from the new ideas, energy and connections that come from new leadership. I will continue to support and contribute in 2010 and beyond. At times like this I envision a tailwind. So many people are invisibly pushing me forward to where I want to go, which is also where WE want to go. I'm thinking now especially of Natalie, Bob and all the people who took time to share their thoughts about the future of coaching. Thank you. Cheers, Angela Spaxman President, IAC® Email: president@certifiedcoach.org Web: www.lovingworkandleading.com Comment Now New IAC Coaching Masteries® licensed schools and mentors Name City State Country IAC-CC   Progress-U Central   Hong Kong No View Details Comment Now Join us for IAC's Long-Range Visioning Process by Linda Dessau "...The more voices that shared, the deeper my heart opened, and I was moved to tears when one woman spoke of coaching being freely available for anyone who asked. The process and the sharing opened hearts and brought visions into time. Overall an excellent, dynamic experience..." - Dr. Caron Goode Taking time out of our day-to-day activities to look to the distant future is a rare and powerful experience. It is possible for each of us to step back and ask, “What do I want for the future of coaching and for the IAC?” This is the process that Dave Ellis is facilitating on a series of conference calls and webinars. He is capturing our ideas as we speak them and encouraging us to look far out in terms of time, creativity, and comprehensiveness. Dave is using a process that he developed over 20 years ago and has brought to hundreds of organizations throughout the world. This is a process of looking to the future and creating a clear vision of what we want. This is not attempting to predict the future, but rather invent a vision of the future that pulls us forward. As IAC embarks on four more strategic visioning sessions in September and October, we want to encourage your participation by sharing more reflections from our first two calls: "...The process, led by Dave's calm, grounded self and easy to follow structure, freed up my thinking - a feeling of inspiration and possibility came over me. The effect of others responding in similar ways created an energy of ideas that built upon each other and sprung forth others. I left the call with my view of the horizon broadened for our association, for the field of coaching, and for my own place in that field..." - Catherine M. Miller "...There was a lot of goodwill on the call with some big picture visioners. I feel that this is aligned with the big picture visioning of Thomas Leonard and Dave Buck..." - Linda Watts "...I was impressed at how much people were thinking about the future of coaching and how we would like it to be versus only thinking about what's happening now. It was very strategic and forward thinking...There were lots of great ideas thrown out that I hadn't even thought of. There are many different directions the industry can go. If we're all forward thinking we can shape it into a very dynamic industry..." - Dan Roberts "[After the call, I] felt there must be more thinking to do, and more ideas to come, and more difference to make...looking forward to the next call...The really exciting thing for the IAC would be to be able to take the whole profession beyond what it currently thinks it can be...I'm interested to see what Dave does differently on the upcoming calls to take us into that new thinking space. If IAC could succeed in getting us thinking this way, IAC would be doing something for the future of coaching and its role in the world that other bodies would not be doing..." - Aileen Gibb "[After the call] I was very inspired to be a coach. I'm comparatively young in the coaching field, mid-30's, so for me the discussion of 5 years, 20 years, 100 years, really made me feel inspired to be part of such a growing, exciting, dynamic field...[Since the call] I've brought myself to each session with a larger sense of purpose...I felt more connected to a larger community and a larger overall purpose, and that made the presence with which I was sitting at the table a little higher level and in some ways more genuine." - Andrew Frank "What is important to me is that coaching is viewed as a learning intervention and that coaches are well trained to consistently seek out ways to improve and develop their skills. I also believe that it is critical that the IAC support and initiate research around the masteries and the theories and models that might frame them. [After the call] I felt like I had been heard. I am glad I was there and have been given the opportunity to contribute. I'm looking forward to the next calls, to see how things progress and to hear more about the diverse points of view around what coaching is and where the IAC should go..." - Gina Blakeslee As members of IAC, we are looking at what we want for the profession, for our organization, and for our own practice in the next five years, ten years, twenty years, and beyond. Dave has even led us in exercises that stretch our vision out 100 years. This is consistent with the American Indians belief that a great leader considers his or her impact on seven generations into the future. The focus of this visioning is on what we want, when we want it, with whom we want it, and where we want it. For now, the how is being postponed. Dave claims that all great projects are conceived of and committed to long before the how is determined. Once we have clear and compelling visions for IAC, we well then focus on not just one how, but on many how’s. We will then create multiple action plans, multiple ways to achieve our dreams. There are four more strategy calls scheduled in September and October, open to IAC members only. Click here to find out more and to join us in creating the future of coaching and the future of IAC. You may also click this link to listen to a recording of one of our strategy calls. As you listen and participate in the process in your own time, please make note of your ideas and reflections and email them to Dave Ellis. "...When Dave Ellis acknowledged my email after the call I felt cherished and that I belonged in the process, and that's what members like to feel - that they're consulted and belong." - Susie Briscoe Comment Now Sin of Assumption by Folake Oluwole Assumption is a delusion that impedes the culture-building process in any growing organization or society, including my country of Nigeria. The things we take or accept as true, ideal or acceptable, to a large extent, influence our thoughts, opinions and invariably our actions. Culture building in any organization is fundamental. However, to build a common culture requires having the same set of core values. Now the question is: “How do we bring together people of diverse culture, background, beliefs, assumptions and attitude to share and identify a set of common values, culture and vision?” A person’s identity is shaped by three main components: *     Our association *     Our socialization *     Our education As leaders and organizational coaches we need to understand and appreciate that we are dealing with people of diverse cultures, backgrounds, attitudes, expectations (professionally and personally), intentions and personalities. Based on various experiences of the individual, assumptions are drawn, decisions are taken and attitudes formed. To break into this self-made “cocoon” requires a whole lot more than impressive management qualifications, skills or training. Rather, it requires more intuitive abilities, genuine curiosity about people, and strong listening skills. I am a local consultant and an organizational coach for an agency of the government in Lagos, Nigeria, and I have witnessed firsthand this sin of assumption. My first day impression and assessment of the organization, i.e., the agency, was that of “lofty structural framework but shoddy implementation” which is a direct function of the mindset and orientation of the employees. Walking into the main office and through the various units, I could feel and see the heavy presence of a typical busy office environment which is usually identified by brisk movements and footsteps across the office, young, smartly-dressed ladies and gentlemen, and inspirational inscriptions that adorned the walls, boards and tables. One thing was very clear; they were all working harder and longer but not smarter and better. Why? The assumption here is that any job related to the government or civil service need not be taken so seriously. It is “just a job” not THE job. Job security is not an issue or threat as civil service is the most stable form of regular employment. In spite of the low pay, the civil service does not have staff retention issues as employees in this sector hold on tenaciously to their jobs with the logical assumption that if the pay is steady, eventually, it will grow. While the belief is that employee assessment or appraisal cannot be objective as growth in civil service is highly political and not related to performance or skill, this idea is highly debatable. Thankfully, the recent changes and trends in the Lagos State Administration have challenged this notion. Under the current administration of a learned, professional lawyer with a strong vision and mission to transform and reform the state, many assumptions are being challenged. This re-orientation of the citizens and residents is blowing a wind of change in the thoughts and minds of all people, in particular those in the labour market. Some examples are that minimum standard entry requirement has been increased to a university or H.N.D. degree. As a result, more competent hands are being poached from the corporate world to run the affairs of the strategic business units of the government and its related bodies, such as consultants and management specialists, and the civil service now wears a new face. To confirm these progressive and significant changes in the administration, one only needs to look at the results: improved, structured and better managed transport system in the city, a greener and cleaner environment, improved compliance to traffic rules, and so on. Assumptions not properly channelled can often times be counterproductive and portend grave danger; we see the “business as usual syndrome” instead of growth, positive changes or results. The only solution is to see assumptions for what they truly are: feelings, beliefs or opinions that have yet to be scrutinized, clarified and proven. Till then, assumption is not to be taken as the real thing.      Folake Oluwole is a corporate and career coach and is the managing partner of GTD LTD (i.e. GETTING THINGS DONE), a consulting firm based in Lagos, Nigeria. She connects with people and organizations to inculcate a passion for the vision of the organization. For more information email jesufunmitito@yahoo.co.uk or oluwolefolake@yahoo.com.     Comment Now The 3 Things You Absolutely Must Know Before Creating Your New Product by Susan Fuller Have you ever created a product that didn't sell? If you're like most of the coaches I know, the answer is probably yes. I know I have, and I know it can feel like you're throwing mud up against a wall just waiting for a bit to stick. That's no way to be successful in the competitive online environment we have today. The days of putting up a website, buying some cheap pay-per-click ads and raking in the money are long gone...and they're not coming back. The Internet is loaded with information and millions of other businesses trying to grab the attention of your potential clients. In fact, did you know that an astounding 42% of web traffic goes to the site in position #1? I'm not sharing that to discourage you but to enlighten you to how vitally important it is to get your website onto page one of the Google SERPs (search engine results page). So how can you insure that you get there? You can't, but you can improve your chances by having good online market research in hand before starting any new project. So what does online market research really tell you? Good research will give you crucial information about keywords, competition and commercial value. 1. What keywords are people searching for? And in what numbers? When people hear me say I do keyword research they usually think I'm talking about search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising (PPC) but keyword research is first and foremost about identifying profitable niche markets. Everything online revolves around keywords and keyword phrases. That's how you find what you're looking for online and it's how your potential clients are going to find you as well. So it is imperative for you to know exactly what people are searching for and how many of them there are. As important as this head count is, it's only the beginning of the story. Keywords with lots of searches look good, but paradoxically keywords with fewer searches are usually going to bring more traffic to your site than keywords with thousands of searches. Why? Because of the competition. 2. How much competition is there? And what are they doing? Knowing how many other websites are competing for your keyword phrases is, in many ways, even more important than how many searches are being done. If you are competing with millions of other websites for that most coveted of spots in Google, it will literally take you years to build the authority and reputation to get there. You can do all the SEO you like but it's still going to take a long time to rank, and you might never get there. What you want are keywords with some competition but not so much that you can't quickly rank for them in Google. And by quickly, I mean no more than a couple of months, sometimes less depending on the keyword. Not only is the amount of competition important but you also want to know exactly what your competition is doing to get onto page 1. When you know that you have a very precise roadmap showing what you need to do to beat them. Think about that. You don't have to figure out how to get ranked well in Google, you just need to follow your competition and then do them one better. 3. Where's the money? The last piece of information you need to know is whether your keyword phrases are money-makers or not. Do they have commercial value? If you've ever done any PPC advertising you already know that some keywords are just duds when it comes to sales and some are huge winners. You need to know which is which. Though this is the least concrete measure, there are clues in the research that can give you a good idea of commercial value. Things like the number of advertisers in Google AdWords, what they're bidding and the number of affiliate products in the market are all indicators of whether people are actually buying. So there it is... 1. Identify the keywords people are searching for and the number of searches for that keyword 2. Identify how much competition there is for the keyword and what your competition is doing to get their traffic (and do it better) 3. Determine whether there is commercial value This kind of research will eliminate about 95% of the bad choices. The remaining 5% can be eliminated by testing your research. Before creating a product, for example, you could set up a simple WordPress blog and try selling a similar product that someone else has created. Choose a product with an affiliate program so that you can track your sales and earn a commission. If it sells, you can go ahead and create your own product, you have a viable market. If it doesn't, you can move on to something else knowing you have just saved yourself a huge amount of time, money and energy. It's really that simple.   As an online business consultant and coach, Susan Fuller can help you with all your research and testing needs at New Niche Finder.     Comment Now   Coaching and the Elder Years by Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC “You’ve never been 80, so please don’t assume to know what’s right for me.” My mother provided this pivotal, “water in the face” moment for me almost 10 years ago. There I stood, witness to a disappearance of all the powerful coaching skills I’d thought I’d mastered. Diplomatic as I may have been, I was telling my mother what I thought she needed to do! It was painfully obvious that it’s easy to use a coaching approach…until you’re intimately invested! And of course my mother was right. She, in fact, was echoing the very thing I’d learned as a coach: Do not assume to know what is right for your client (mother)! This is a liberating and empowering concept in coaching, the very thing that invites inspiration and allows sustainability. And it’s equally liberating for the coach. Benefits abound! Yet in the throes of wanting what was best for my mother, I stepped in a big pile of fear, missing the perfection by a mile! Since that day all those years ago I’ve learned, among other things, the distinction between an emotional response and responding to emotions. The former has the ability to assume a crisis situation; the latter can open possibilities for the most loving and appropriate direction. In response to emotions, we are guided to detach from outcomes, a concept with which every coach is familiar. Even so, people often react adversely to the word “detachment” when talking about loved ones. It could appear to be advocating indifference. However, in my example, by detaching from the emotion of the situation, I was led to learn about the elder developmental stage of life, thus creating stronger understanding and allowing more compassionate actions. And there were some interesting, paradigm shifting surprises. For instance, the authors of a McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) study reported in the journal “Neuron” that the aging process actually improves certain abilities: Elderly people appear to be better and faster at grasping the big picture than their younger counterparts. That being the case, my mother was right. How could I possibly assume to know what’s right for her, when we weren’t even viewing the situation through the same developmental lens? That explained a lot. On the contrary, emotional responses can prevent the most appropriate solution from emerging, or prohibit the possibility that a solution may not even be necessary. It’s common to feel concern for our elder’s future, our own future, our own mortality. Being at the effect of our emotional response, we can rely too heavily on conditioning from our past and project the future instead of being in the present moment. Solutions are created in the present. Einstein has been credited for noting, “You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew.” So what’s a coach/daughter to do? A peek at the IAC Coaching Masteries® can help offer some insight to a more pro-active approach in these delicate situations. For instance, my mother has been inhabiting the mysterious world of dementia for five or so years now, and the coaching approach is more important than ever. A key element of Mastery #1, the client feels safe to tell his or her deepest fears without judgment, is crucial to keeping the lines of communication intact, especially during the times when communication seems disconnected. Mastery #4 states the coach allows the client the opportunity to process his or her own thoughts and responses, which can eliminate the need to interject with fact corrections. When we apply the Masteries in any relationship, we can reduce/eliminate confusion or uncertainty; increase understanding and the confidence of the client (Mastery #6), as well as for ourselves. This is where the magic of “what to do” is answered. This is how we navigate to the next phase and the next and the next. Organic solutions come forth and assumptions of what it best for someone else are left behind. As we say in the coaching biz, everyone wins.      Natalie Tucker Miller, IAC-CC, is the Lead Certifier and a certifying examiner at the IAC and has previously served on the Board of Governors as President. She currently holds positions of Master Instructor and Dean of Students at the School of Coaching Mastery. Additionally, Natalie is founder of Ageless-Sages.com, publisher of Picture Books for Elders™ and their families.   Comment Now   Mastery, Part 2 (See Part 1) by Nina East, IAC-CC and Karen Van Cleve, IAC-CC Mastery is considered by many as a result (e.g., being able to coach masterfully) or as a status (e.g., a masterful coach). Instead, we propose that mastery is a mindset. As coaches ever seeking to raise our levels of capability with the IAC Coaching Masteries®, the fastest path to achieve the result of mastery is to first adopt the mindset of mastery. As coaches, we know a key to changing our clients’ mastery of their own lives is not to shift their behaviors, but to first adopt new patterns of thought, belief, and perspective. The same is true of moving ourselves from our current capabilities to our next level of potential. A recognized expert on the subject of mastery is George Leonard, author of the book Mastery. In a video by Leonard, entitled “The Five Keys to Mastery,” several masters of their crafts – from musicians and actors to software developers to Olympic athletes – describe their process of mastery. Leonard has boiled down their advice to five simple steps, or mindsets, any of us can use in any area of life. Key #1 is “Surrender to your passion.” When we really tap into the emotion and passion of our coaching, we are capable of so much more. Leonard advises us not to take ourselves, and mastery, so seriously – to find the joy and fun of it. When you love what you are doing, you’re willing to work hard, try new things, and step out of the inevitable feelings of fear or self-doubt. Joseph Campbell wrote that when you follow your passion, “you put yourself in the path of good luck,” where opportunities you can’t even imagine begin to open up. Key #2 is “Practice, practice, practice.” Leonard talks about mastery as spending most of the time on the “plateau,” where it feels like you aren’t really growing or changing. Yet he describes this as the place where most of the growth does occur. Once the learning has occurred on the plateau, then you see the evidence in a jump in capability. The experts identified the importance of focus during practice. The mastery mindset with this key is to get pleasure out of the moment-to-moment process of being a coach. Members, continue reading here. To join the IAC, click here.   Karen Van Cleve, IAC-CC, ACC, has been an IAC Certifier since 2005. She is also a Results Coach for the Anthony Robbins coaching organization. She speaks on a variety of coaching topics and provides personal coaching for a wide range of clients. Her website is www.KarenVanCleve.com.      Nina East, IAC-CC, is the past Lead Certifier for the IAC and the founder of www.PersonalGrowthPrincess.com, a self-help book summary site for women professionals and business owners who are enthusiastic about personal growth but don’t have the time to read all the books they buy.   Please send your questions on the IAC Coaching Masteries® and the certification process to certification@certifiedcoach.org. Comment Now "Coaching Moments" takes a thoughtful look at how coaching can be interwoven into our daily lives.  (Prologue: I haven't been writing much this month due to illness, family commitments and the knock-on effects of a massive decluttering and redecorating project we began during our staycation; I thought it might be a good time to revisit one of my old Coaching Moments pieces. Although it was written in September 2007, it's very timely and as relevant now as it was then. I'm definitely a seasonal creature, a September nester. Reading it gave me a strong sense of déja vu; my son began high school a few weeks ago and my dad had a heart attack a year ago this month.) Life Laundry by Janice Hunter, IAC-CC Pegging out laundry Damp and fragrant in the sun She lifts up her face Listens to the sheets flapping In the breeze, surrendering Ready to set sail ~ Janice Hunter What's September like where you are? Is it spring? Or has the frazzling heat of August started to fade, leaving you fresher and less floppy? Do you take on new clients, begin new ventures? September feels like the start of a new year for me, with its promise of exciting new beginnings, classes and semesters. Maybe it's because I've spent most of my life as a student or a teacher or because my birthday falls at the end of August and both my children were born in the autumn. Whatever the reason, this is a time for freshly sharpened pencils, for blank pages and tempting piles of books, something to look forward to on darkening days as the nip of autumn turns into the unexpected bite of winter. I have a cupboard in the dining room where I store all the Christmas candles, scented oils and festive season bargains bought in the January sales. Wedged at the back are some wooden Shaker hearts, hand-painted a warm, folk art red. They were a free gift with a magazine and I always planned to do something creative with them. Waiting in there, patiently for years, they've soaked up the fragrance of cinnamon, apple and spice. If I'm ever saddened by the fading brightness of autumn, or tempted to see it as a season of loss rather than a time of fruitful abundance, I furtively open those doors and inhale the excitement of another season nestled within, like Russian dolls. As evolving souls in human bodies, we're meant to grow, to feel the seasons, to surrender to the beauty of each one - but like many people, I'm not very good at letting go. My daughter started high school a few weeks ago and I spent an anxious, distressed day pacing like a caged animal, unable to relax until she burst through the door beaming. My dad is eighty-three this month and has started to prepare for a different kind of letting go, sorting through his treasures, putting his life and house in order. One thing that calms me when the months and years seem to be spinning out of control is to anchor myself in the everyday details of creating a life I love. I try to cultivate gratitude and focus on the people I love, on the things that inspire me and on the thoughts, emotions and details that are within my power to change; then I just do my best to trust the rest to the universe. Every autumn, I get a craving, an almost visceral nesting instinct to clear out all the debris of an old year. Out go old passions and paradigms, making room for abundance, new experiences, new people and new lessons to flow into my life. Clutter clearing - my own and other people's - brings me so much pleasure, it should be X-rated. Deciding what to do with every sheet of paper, every object, every garment or piece of fabric is a living, breathing meditation, a tangible way to strengthen my choice muscles and ask some important questions: If I had ten minutes to rescue my belongings, would I take this? Do I really, really love and need this or am I keeping it "just in case it comes in useful?" Could someone else get more benefit from this or love it more? Am I keeping this just to please someone else? Or because it came from someone I care about? Is this anchoring me in the past when I need to be moving on? Is this heartstoppingly beautiful? Will the kids be glad I saved this in the attic for them or roll their eyes in years to come and wonder what on earth I was thinking about? Does this object exude positive, empowering energy? What does it say about me? And do I like what it says about me? Does it symbolise a value, something good, something precious? Do I spend more time dusting souvenirs than I do making memories? Every time I shred paper and clear out my clutter, my coaching and poetry get better, the house becomes more spacious and easier to clean, we all have more energy... and I lose weight! As well as space and energy, a cathartic clean-out also frees up time and money. A few weeks ago, we had a family holiday in a small, white cottage by a sea loch; it was funded entirely by what we'd earned from family car-boot sales and by what we'd saved by recycling and re-organising. What could you let go of this autumn to prepare the ground for the seeds of a new season? Janice Hunter is an IAC certified homelife coach who lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. She created and co-wrote Sharing the Certification Journey: Six IAC Coaches Talk About Their Journeys, and her blogsite, www.sharingthejourney.co.uk, provides soul food and support for coaches, writers, parents and home-based workers. Janice has compiled all of her Coaching Moments pieces from the last two years into a free 46-page ebook, 'Coaching Moments: A Collection of Articles about Coaching in Everyday Life' which can be downloaded here or from her site. Comment Now Your Feedback We'd love to get your feedback on any issue related to the IAC. Do you have any questions, concerns, encouragement or ideas for improvement regarding membership benefits, certification, the VOICE, the direction of the organization or anything else at all? Please send an email to feedback@certifiedcoach.org. Please help us improve.