Tomorrow's
Life Coach
In This Issue: Gifts of CoachingUpcoming Classes
at ILCT "One of the best free
newsletters, Tomorrow's Life Coach consists
of well-researched, informative articles on
a variety of key topics for coaches. While a
publication of the Institute for Life Coach
Training, many of the articles are written by
other well-known coaches." Highly recommended
by Peer Resources (www.peer.ca/coaching.html) Foundational Courses Coaching
Skills Coaching
Tools Practice
Building Courses Coaching
Applications/Specialties For additional classes, details
and online registration, visit our course
section. Some schedules may change; check
listing or contact Edwina Adams, Administration/Registration,
at edwina@lifecoachtraining.com or
Diane Menendez, Director of Faculty and Curriculum,
at diane@lifecoachtraining.com. Dear Readers, Pat Editor's Pen During this season of celebrations I am full of gratitude to you—our gracious contributors and readers! We trust that you have enjoyed the inspiration and information provided by the writings of our many contributing coaches. It is a true pleasure to serve as editor for such an evolving and progressive organization as ILCT and in the dynamic and fulfilling profession as coaching, as well! Our December issue on "Gifts of Coaching" has been especially designed to celebrate you and your gifts as a coach during this holiday season. You will find insight, poetry, humor and perhaps even a fresh perspective. Special thanks go to the generous and creative "gifts" of this month's contributors! May your holidays
and new year be bright, Annette A. Miller, Professional
Life Coach Tomorrow's Life Coach - Themes for 2004 Please read our guidelines for important updates on how to submit articles. In addition to articles on the theme for each month, a short article on marketing is planned for each issue. Please submit your articles, questions and comments to the editor at annette@lifesync.com. January-What's New in Coaching? February-Promoting the Coaching Profession March-Research in Coaching April-The Impact of Speed on Coaching May-Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Coaching June-Managing Your Coaching Office July-Getting Clients August-Spirituality and Coaching September-Coaching Leaders October-Retirement and Gen-X Coaching November-Coaching Ethics and Standards December-Self-Care for Caring Coaches
© 2003
Wendy Shumaker ILCT Offers Dr. Phil for Coaches The Institute for Life Coach
Training is now the exclusive source for an online
certificate training program of coursework on
the theory, approaches and techniques that are
used by Dr. Phil McGraw to facilitate life change. In
partnership with LearnDrPhil from Lawlis we are
making these courses available to professional
coaches who want to learn how to put Dr. Phil's
coaching approaches to work in their practice.
This curriculum of training is based on the work
of Dr. Philip C. McGraw as taught by his long-time
mentor and content advisor for the Dr. Phil Show
- G. Frank Lawlis, PhD. The Gifts of Coaching: The Gifts Underlying the 15 Proficiencies
The 15 Proficiencies were created
by Thomas Leonard in collaboration with Susan
Austin and others. December finds many coaches
wrapping up review of the 15 Proficiencies preparing
for Steps 1 and 2 of the IAC (International Association
of Coaches, www.certifiedcoach.org)
Certified Coach Exam. They are also wrapping up
the gifts of the season for friends, clients and
loved ones. So let's look at the "gifts" underlying
the 15 Proficiencies.
In this gift-giving season,
we may assume the best gifts come wrapped in shiny
paper; however, as a coach, you give your clients
a wonderful gift each and every time you make
them laugh. Whether it is a giggle, a snort, or
a "my sides hurt and I hope I don't wet my
pants" laughing spell, laughter is simple
and yet so often in short supply with stressed
and "stuck" clients. Jennifer Degler, Ph.D., ILCT graduate, is a life coach and a licensed clinical psychologist who delights her clients with insight and humor. Her company is Creating Christian Change; please visit her website at www.creatingchristianchange.com. You can contact Jennifer at jennifer@creatingchristianchange.com or 859.223.0567. Life on the Bathroom Floor I had the rotavirus this weekend. Stomach bugs have 3 stages: Stage 1-You are afraid you are going to die; Stage 2-You are afraid you are not going to die; Stage 3-You begin begging family members to take you out back and shoot you. By Stage 2, I had decided to lie on the bathroom floor rather than in the bed. It just seemed more efficient the way things were progressing. However, I was concerned about my kids. What if they saw me there on the bathroom floor (a place I generally don't stretch out and relax) and they became alarmed? They would probably worry that I was really sick and might die. I imagined their concerned little faces peering down at me and pleading, "Mom, Mom, are you going to be alright? Please don't die, Mommy!" I almost got a little choked up imagining the depth of their concern, but getting choked up while throwing up doesn't lead to good things, so I let the moment pass. Eventually, my children did discover me, sprawled out on the bathroom floor, wishing for a cyanide pill, and clutching my pillow (yes, by this point I had brought my pillow in there with me). Concern was indeed etched across their little faces. "Oh no," I thought, "Here it comes. Emotional scarring. They'll be saying some day, 'Yes, doctor, all my problems began the day I was traumatized by finding my mother on the bathroom floor, heaving up her innards." I braced myself as their first question came. "Mom...Mom...what's for dinner?" "Yeah, Mom, when is dinner going to be ready?" I was rendered speechless by their stunning display of empathy. When was dinner going to be ready indeed? Well, stick around kiddos and Mommy will produce some leftovers from last night's dinner! Fortunately, for my future grandchildren's sake, I was too incapacitated to reach up and wring my kids' necks, so I settled for mumbling, "Go ask your father." As they exited my new home away from home, my firstborn, ever the judge and jury of all that is right and wrong in the world, did bestow upon me a helpful observation: "Your pillow is not supposed to be on the bathroom floor. It's dirty because you never clean it." Somebody please just shoot me... Originally published in "On Purpose" (Vol.
1, Issue 4, 2/25/03), the newsletter for the Fall 2001 class
of ILCT-Christian Track. Pro-Bono Coaching: Tossing Bricks into the Sea If you throw a brick into the ocean you raise the level of the sea. While you may not perceive the difference, the brick displaces a volume of water equivalent to the size of the brick. That analogy encourages me as I contemplate the value I bring as an active pastor who is also an active coach. Since I extend my ministry by offering coaching on a pro-bono basis, I explore the nature of pro-bono work to rescue it from its secondary status in a market economy. The word "pro-bono" is Latin meaning "for the good." We associate the phrase with the legal profession and understand it as legal service offered free of charge to people unable to afford it. The phrase "pro-bono" denotes service that is done for the good of the community. Some characterize pro-bono as service offered without charge. In light of the adage that you get what you pay for, pro-bono is sometimes seen as cheap and lacking in quality. Some characterize "pro-bono" as service offered by those too inexperienced to charge a fee. To understand pro-bono in those ways is to deprive pro-bono of its true meaning. Pro-bono coaching is quality coaching offered as a gift that serves the good. Pro-bono coaching is quality coaching. Highly skilled coaches may be in a better position to offer pro-bono services than novices. Novice coaches self-consciously feel their way forward to gain experience and improve their skills by serving others. Seasoned coaches are further along in mastering coaching skills and are often better able to provide services less self-consciously and in ways that serve the good of the community. Pro-bono coaching is a gift. A gift enlarges the life of the recipient. Coaching offered as a gift enlarges the life of the client. Since pro-bono coaching is offered as a gift, clients should derive benefits that enlarge their lives and serve the good of the community. Simply because a client cannot pay does not mean that the coach should only provide services to help the client "get by." Pro-bono serves the good. Pro-bono coaching is coaching that is performed in a moral universe different from coaching offered as a commodity in a market exchange. Market exchanges are symmetrical because the client provides a value that is at least equivalent to the value of the service rendered. Pro-bono exchanges are asymmetrical because the value of the gift exceeds the value a client is able to return directly to the coach. Clients who receive the gift are obliged to extend the gift to the community. While pro-bono coaching is offered without a fee, such coaching definitely pays. Clients benefit as they are enabled to grasp their dreams. Communities benefit as its members embrace higher levels of performance and service. Coaches are graced by doing work that serves the good. As a brick chunked into the ocean raises the
level of the sea, so pro-bono coaching raises the moral level
of a community in significant, if imperceptible, ways. Client Gifts from Successful Coaches
We asked several coaches to share about their gifts for clients. Using these questions, we've printed their responses below.
Gifts - The new hot book everyone is talking about, or one that I know would be meaningful to a particular client. A new CD if I know the client's taste in music. Something personalized. Occasions - Have flowers or a flowering plant delivered for decade birthdays, landing a big contract, loss of a loved one, birth of a child. Feedback - Usually surprise - always appreciation. Judy
Santos, Life & Business Development Coach
I also recommend books, too many to list here. A few recent ones include: Wm. Bridges' The Way of Transition, Thomas Moore's Care of the Soul, Catherine Ponder's The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity, and David Schnarch's Passionate Marriage. It is always moving when a particular title connects with a client and deepens the coaching conversation. My clients almost always warmly respond with thanks to a card or extra communication of some kind, so I know they appreciate the additional contact that such a gift offers. I have not given more tangible kinds of gifts as I think that can complicate matters, and I like to keep things simple. Adele Fuller, Life Coach Gifts: Full presence and attention. Forty years of experience. Empathy, understanding, and acceptance. A website full of the most up-to-date resources. Knowledge of adversity, resilience, and hope. Navigation tools for the heart, mind, and soul. Occasions: Every session Every conversation Every interaction Feedback: Gratitude Wonderment Curiosity Determination Hope Rey A. Carr, Ph.D. CEO, Peer Resources (250) 595-3503 rcarr@islandnet.com www.peer.ca/peer.html
We usually don't celebrate the Coaching relationship anniversary - most of my Clients just don't think much about it. I do give gifts for birthdays and Christmas, and we celebrate Client victories (depending on how "huge" it is for them) sometimes with a home-cooked meal. Well, seeing that I don't mention gifts to them until time for me to give them (I like to surprise people), most of them are like, "Oh wow, thank you so much." There are moments of hugs, et cetera, usually. Some express that they wish they'd known so that they could've given in return, but then the key is to let them know that you didn't expect anything - that you were giving for the joy of giving - and "could've" never got them anywhere before, so why start catering to "could've" now. Most often though, especially around Christmas, Clients that I've given gifts to usually will do something regardless of whether I say yes or no. Alan E. Fuller,
LifeShift Coach I give gifts at Christmas only (unless it is like a book or something small like that.) My clients have responded very positively. They recognize that it is delivered in a true spirit of appreciation and that I'm not trying to influence them. If I weren't producing the results I would be out. Trudy Bourgeois In the welcome packet for "The Path" program, I give each client a rainbow writing tablet along with rainbow pens and pencils imprinted with "Are you living your mission?" and my website. I found the tablets at a local office supply store and the pens and pencils were found in a business marketing catalog. As clients experience successes or challenges I write a personal handwritten note to them. I also write personal notes to potential clients or people I meet as I network. Also, I send New Year's cards each January to all my clients and potential clients. Inside the card I include a coaching gift certificate (this is something you can easily do in Microsoft Publisher). They can use the gift certificate for themselves or give it to someone they know. A past gift certificate example is "$50 off your first month of coaching." I print it on nice gold parchment paper and it looks really neat! Clients respond to the writing tablet and pen: "What a special touch!", "Wow, this was unexpected!", and "How thoughtful!" The handwritten notes are appreciated and I often receive an email from the recipient. Or, my client will bring it up on our next call. They appreciate the thoughtfulness and the fact that you acknowledge where they are in their life, or that you appreciated meeting them. The New Year's cards and gift certificate have been successful and have helped me grow my business. Evelyn Windley Kaufman, Intentional Living Coach
I try and give gifts that fit with what the client is working on or what they love as well as birthday and holiday gifts. A client going through surgery for gynecological issues received a journal, Women's Bodies/Women's Wisdom and a bottle of multivitamins with iron to help her anemia. She was delighted and gained several insights from the book that have helped her. Another client called me after she received a journal and said that it was such a surprise and that it made her cry because she couldn't remember the last time she received a meaningful gift from a woman. I gave another client "Mastery" by George Leonard, others have received books on feng shui, home decor, yoga. A book that has been well received has been The Illustrated Self Discovery Journal which I have given to select clients who are working with collages as part of their personal vision work. My stress monkey clients are more likely to receive self-care items like good quality lotions, lavender pillows and such. I remember receiving a surprise gift "just because" from my own coach, a Gordon Downey CD. It was a wonderful surprise and made my day. I have tried to follow his example and occasionally send hand written cards to clients sharing with them the strengths I see in them or the growth they have. Many times I have been told that what I have sent came "just at the right time". Giving gifts to my clients is a very enjoyable part of the relationship for me. Laura Young Gifts: The BrainStyles book: BrainStyles: Change Your Life WITHOUT Changing Who You Are, by Marlane Miller. This year, BrainStyles for Lovers: Create Partnership that Change Your Life WITHOUT Changing Who You Are, by Marlane Miller. I also send the BrainStyles audio book for those who like to listen to educational tapes in the car or while exercising. I also send herbal tea bags in thank you notes after calls. Occasions: company anniversaries, milestones for the company or individual that I become aware of. Feedback: "very thoughtful", "know you're thinking of me", "generous spirit." Linda Bush, Master Partner, The BrainStyles
System Gifts: Ribbons of Love-Affirmations for Abundant Living (book) by Mershon Niesner; How to be Your Own Best Friend (book). Sometimes flowers, thought cards, coach mug for clients who are coaches. Occasions: breakthroughs, with intake packet (book), send birthday cards to all clients who have ever been a client. Feedback: Love it! Treasure it! Mershon Niesner, Certified Life Coach We give silk-bound handmade journals at the beginning of the relationship. As coaches for sales organizations, we give a handcrafted oriental candleholder (including candle) when the client exceeds their goal. Clients usually say that the journal is a great place to keep all their work for the coaching in one place. It encourages them to do the inner work for their outer success. The candleholders are recognized as symbols of achievement and usually live on the desk of the recipient, to inspire them during challenging times. Clients say they are one of the most meaningful gifts they have ever received. Pat Schuler I typically give small, meaningful books to my clients during the holiday season. With my varied clientele spread all over the US, it can be a challenge to select something that applies across age, gender and situation. Last year the Four Agreements was a big hit with just about everyone. Frazzle seems to be the client theme for this year, so I may be sending a meditation CD instead! Teresa J. Pool I give books that have to do with what my clients need. New clergy clients get a copy of my book The Spiritual Leader's Guide to Self-Care (Rochelle Melander and Harold Eppley). Other clients working on lifestyle issues get a copy of our book Our Lives Are Not Our Own: Saying Yes to God (Melander and Eppley). It's a collection of essays about living the Christian life. For my writing clients, I like to give Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Reflections on Writing and Life and Ron Klug's How to Keep a Spiritual Journal. For smaller occasions, I give inspirational bookmarks. Most bookstores carry a wide range of these. I give welcome gifts when I get a new client. I also like to mark successes with a gift. Sometimes, I give a "hang in there" gift to clients who are feeling discouraged. My clients love the gifts! They get excited and touched and surprised!Rochelle Melander Writing and Wellness coach rochelle@liferhymecoaching..com 414-963-1222
Guidelines for Tomorrow's Life Coach
Article topics (and draft of author's bio) should be submitted the 1st of each month for publication the following month. Final deadline for articles/submissions and the author's bio is the 30th of each month. The journal is published mid-month each month. Contributors in most cases will be practicing coaches; potential contributors must inform the editor of their coach training/certification before articles can be considered. Author's bio will include name, title, organization, coach training, coach certification, affiliation with ILCT (graduate, faculty, representative, etc.) and contact information. Final bio will be 50 words maximum. Articles, book/product reviews, recognition of significant events of alumni and announcements of coaching events (organizational or free) may be submitted for review. Topics must be of interest to the personal/professional coaching profession and are not restricted to alumni of the Institute for Life Coach Training. Preferred length of articles is no more than 500 words, in Word or text format submitted by e-mail. References required as appropriate. Advertising and listing of services and products are not approved, however authors may include these items in their bio. Suggestions for topics or improvements, and recommendations of names of contributors are encouraged; please send to the editor.
2004 Themes
Rev. 12/15/2003 Tomorrow's Life Coach™ Patrick Williams, Ed.D., Publisher Annette Miller, Editor, annette@lifesync.com © 2003 Institute for Life Coach Training www.lifecoachtraining.com Phone: 888-267-1206 info@lifecoachtraining.com |
| home | about
us | courses | bookstore | resources | ILCT
ambassadors |
online media kit affiliate partners | coach referral | contact copyright © 2003-2008 Institute for Life Coach Training, All Rights Reserved |
| The Institute for Life Coach Training reserves the right to alter or modify its program offerings and/or requirements at any time; to offer courses in accordance with demand, availability and business dictates; to introduce or modify certification levels; and to make other changes as necessary or desirable in their programs and activities. Click to view our business terms, including payment and cancellation policies. |