Tomorrow's
Life Coach In This Issue: What's New in Coaching? Upcoming 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 * See separate article this issue. 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. Pat's PonderingsDear Readers, Pat Editor's PenThis issue's theme is "What's New in Coaching?" Even though I love the thrill of being in an evolving profession, we have a heavy responsibility to stay in touch with our world and our profession. This issue will help you to do that by providing articles of keen interest to professional coaches including dynamic new specialties and legalities relating to how we represent our coaching business. TLC gained 2,000 subscribers in 2003! Thank you for letting other coaches know about our journal and for the great contributions of our fellow coaches! Our Guidelines have been updated so please take a look at http://www.lifecoachtraining.com/resources/newsletter/guidelines.shtml. You will also find our 2004 editorial calendar at that link. This year you will benefit from a marketing article each month since this continues to be a "hot topic" for coaches. If you would like to contribute to our journal or recommend another author for our theme for any month, please contact me now! Our February topic is "Promoting the Coaching Profession" and we'd like to hear your stories about Coaching Week events and other related happenings! Celebrating the Evolving Profession of Coaching,Annette Annette A. Miller, Professional
Life Coach The Wellness Coach: Lifestyle Prescriptions© Filled Here A healthcare provider reaches for a pen and writes out a prescription for medication. The patient fills it their favorite pharmacy. This happens thousands and thousands of times every day around the world. It's easy. There is a whole system in place to make it that way. Knowing that the way their patient's lifestyle impacts their health to a greater degree than any other single factor, the knowledgeable healthcare provider might also "write" another type of prescription. They may tell/suggest/implore their patient to improve their lifestyle, to essentially change a very significant set of behaviors in a radical way. Eat healthier. Exercise more. Do more of this and less of that, they are told. The same healthcare provider rarely, if ever, has any time to show the patient how to do this, or to help them through the process of real change. The chances of their patient completing the behavioral change process successfully (significant change that lasts) by themselves, are actually rather remote. Though some succeed solo, most lose motivation, lack behavioral change information, strategies and support. The whole business of helping people to change behavior is, of course what professions like psychology and coaching are all about. Enter the wellness coach. Sometimes it is the healthcare provider "writing" the prescription. Sometimes it is the person themselves. They know all too well what change is needed for their health to improve, to prevent illness, or perhaps to simply feel and perform physically and emotionally at their best. There is a role for the wellness coach to become the ally of the healthcare provider and the client/patient who wants to know where to go to get the "lifestyle prescription" filled. If one's lifestyle is such a key, then the health and well being of countless numbers of people can be improved by the development, worldwide, of a profession of service providers who specialize in wellness coaching. The field of wellness and lifestyle improvement has made great strides in the past thirty years. Much of the emphasis has been on understanding ways to help large groups of people to reduce health risks and improve their lifestyles. Work with corporations, organizations and community groups has seen some success and, of course, some real challenges, especially as budgets have been cut. Perhaps one of the strongest trends to emerge in recent years in the wellness field has been one-on-one wellness work. More wellness professionals are spending increasing amounts of time working with individuals who want to change. At the same time, as we look at what economist Paul Pilzer says in The Wellness Revolution: How to Make a Fortune in the Next Trillion Dollar Industry (2003), there is an increasing trend to take wellness products and services directly to the consumer. The need is there. Our challenge as coaches is to become competent in the skills to help people create lasting lifestyle behavioral change, and to create a delivery system that positions us as the optimal resource for filling the lifestyle prescription. Dr. Michael Arloski (www.realbalance.com) is a coach, psychologist, trainer and speaker who has presented on wellness on four continents. He and Dr. Pat Williams are teaching a course through The Institute For Life Coach Training program to provide a certificate in Wellness Coaching. Employee Assistance Coach Specialists©; Leaders for Employee and Workplace Excellence Employee Assistances Professionals are experts in providing employee and workplace services either as "internal EA providers" within their organization or as "external EA providers" to outside client businesses and organizations. The increasing interest of businesses, government agencies and health organizations to focus on the employee's full use of potential (including their personal and spiritual development) acknowledges that there is a huge return for investing wisely in an organization's "human capital". That belief in developing and investing in human value aligns with the ILCT mission to "aspire to inspire". In view of that, ILCT has designed a twenty-hour foundational coach training program customized for EA professionals and awarding a specialist certificate to graduates. The EA-CS© (Employee Assistance - Coach Specialist) program will be launched in February 2004; you can find detailed information on ILCT's Website at www.lifecoachtraining.com/courses/eap/. You'll notice an important feature of this venture is that the program was developed with input from participants of EA Focus and Mastermind Groups sponsored by the ILCT EAP Project Team: Candia Dye, M.A., Dr. Patrick Williams, and Dr. Diane Menendez. Moreover, our meetings with these and similar EAP groups confirmed to us that EA professionals would be true assets to the coaching profession and extraordinary allies for promoting the spirit of excellence for employees and organizations. Employee Assistance professionals have enthusiastically welcomed the coaching profession and ILCT to the EAP community. The ILCT EA-CS© Project Team had the honor of being selected as presenters at the National EAPA conference in New Orleans last November. Our presentation was a great success with 200 plus attendees for "Hitting the High Notes; The EA Professional as Coach." In addition, Dr. Patrick Williams was invited as presenter of "EA Coaching: A Pathway to Employee & Organizational Excellence" to the Employee Assistance Roundtable (EAR) in New Orleans. Advantages of adding coaching to Employee Assistance services and the organizations they serve are:
Introducing the new EAP training program exemplifies ILCT's commitment to pioneering new opportunities that impact the lives of individuals and inspire optimum potential and quality services in the workplace. Candia Dye, M.A., is ILCT's Project Director for EAP Coach training and development. Candia brings her corporate experience to her coaching of "Project Development and Promotion for Innovative Professionals". Diane S. Menendez, Ph.D., MCC, has been coaching and consulting business leaders and professionals for more than 15 years and is the Director of Curriculum and Training for ILCT. Dr. Patrick Williams, MCC, is President and Founder of ILCT and chair of the Coaching Psychology Department of the International University of Professional Studies. He co-authored the book, Therapist as Life Coach; Transforming Your Practice. 10 Great Ways to Market From the Inside-Out Marketing a coaching business begins from within ourselves. Here is a top ten list that is proven to grow your business from the inside-out! 1. Develop a Full Practice Attitude. Interact with others "as if" you already have a full practice so you don't come across as being "needy". Appreciate testimonials and compliments, but don't let them completely define you or your coaching. 2. Offer others an EXPERIENCE of being coached rather than telling them about coaching! (e.g. What do you do for a living? I'm a coach. Really, for what team?) Some people will say, "Are you one of those business coaches? Why is that valuable?" Explain that they will understand the value of coaching once they have the experience of being coached! Be willing to put an offer out there! 3. Create Massive Value and Support. When you come from a place of grace, love, compassion, understanding and empathy, you giving others the impression that you want the very best for them, and for the time you spend together. 4. Be a great listener. Practice great eye contact, facial expressions, mirroring back, etc. Listen for what is not being said as well as what is being said-and ask open-ended questions about both. 5. Be outrageous! When you intuit something-whether you're accurate or not-go there! Don't worry about what comes out of your mouth. Instead, focus on being truly present with the other person, and trust that your intuition will be on target-then go for it! 6.
Tell the truth! As coaches we're often
afraid to tell people exactly what we see
or hear. That's out of fear! Fear of being
fired or not being hired in the first place.
Don't worry about hurting their feelings;
because when you're coming from a place of
love, you can't hurt someone's feelings. People
are responsible for their own feelings. So
then, dare to practice "ruthless compassion!" We
can tell anybody anything if it comes from
a charge 7. Don't let a lack of belief that you're actually a coach-or even a great coach-get in your way. This will hinder your ability to be successful quicker than anything! Shift your thinking based on your life experience. It took me over two years to actually get that I was a darn good coach-and it came from hanging around some pretty great coaches! If you're just starting out, trust the fact that you've most likely been coaching for much of your life. All a training program like ILCT gives you is a way to refine your skills and to turn them into a profession (to the extent you choose to do so). Take some advanced courses, as well, in order to get you over this hurdle. 8. Retain the services of an experienced Mentor Coach! Having a Mentor Coach helps you become credible and builds business muscle you otherwise might not have. Having a Mentor is really an investment in yourself. When we tell ourselves, "I can't afford it," we're looking at an expense rather than an investment in the future. All of the very best coaches have Mentor Coaches (Yes, I do! Thanks for asking! <G>) This is an investment you must choose to make if you're serious about building a full-time coaching business. 9. Know why people hire YOU as their coach. Make a list of the 10, 20 or 30 reasons why people hire you. They see you've got something they don't have. But you have to know exactly what that is. It could be how you handle money, your success in business, or a level of grace and compassion! It might be the peaceful and spiritual space you offer. Or lightness and humor. All of these, and more, are strong qualifications. Be able to tell the truth about your coaching in an effortless and non- judgmental way! Always offer integrity, value, understanding and service! 10. Have no expectations of the outcome. Whenever you're talking to a potential client, don't expect they're going to hire you right away. Some people need time to process what you're telling them. Keep the door of communication open, and treat everyone equally and fairly. When they are ready, they'll come back and tell you! Dr. James S. Vuocolo, MCC, is the Director of Practice Development at ILCT. His advanced class, Practice Made Perfect, starts again April 8 at 12:00 noon Eastern and runs for 12 weeks. You can contact him at jim@lifecoachtraining.com or visit his web site at www.SoulBusiness.com. Self-Regulating Language for Coaches© The Profession of Coaching is not Clearly Understood by the Public Although many people in the United States are beginning to hear about personal and business coaches, the vast majority of the public is still unknowledgeable about what a coach actually does. More often than not, coaching is (incorrectly) understood by an unknowing public to be a virtual version of modern therapy; this misperception and comparison may be attributed to the public's face value recognition that regular, on-going meetings with a coach look like therapy "sessions." The Vision for a Self-Regulated Profession In order for the profession of coaching to continue to grow and dynamically create itself so that it can best serve all coaches and their clients, the International Coach Federation (ICF) believes that coaching needs to remain a self-regulated profession. To that end, it is vital that professional coaches learn to communicate to their prospects, their clients, the public and the media in a language that does not confuse our profession with other seemingly "like" professions. The Language of Professional Coaching As we seek to govern our own profession, one of the ways to help us and the public in distinguishing coaching from therapy is to focus the actual language used in each domain. Without disparaging the profession of psychotherapy, we need to communicate, as coaches, what we DO so that we differentiate ourselves in the most powerful self-regulating frame. 1. Identify Coaching as
a New Profession 2. Declare that Coaching
is not Therapy 3. Speak about Coaching
Results as Non-Feeling Based Results 4. Speak about your Coaching
Business vs. your Coaching Practice 5. Use a Welcome Packet
instead of an Intake Packet 6. Talk in Coaching Language
and not in Therapy Language The therapist may seek to: unearth, confront, diagnose, expose, intervene and adjust. The content of a therapy session may focus on: disorders, dysfunctions, symptoms, pathology, episodes, behaviors, recurrent patterns, trauma, and causation. Coaching language, on the other hand, can often be likened to business language where the coach may assist the client to: focus, prioritize, be proactive, clarify, brainstorm, and accomplish. The content of the coaching appointment may emphasize: outcome, balance, purpose, options, actions, requests, assignments, strategies and money management. Perhaps when all is said and done, Shakespeare advises us best: "Suit the action to the word, the word to the action." Note: A more extensive list of coaching and therapy language can be accessed from my article Professional Coaching Language for Greater Public Understanding which is available upon request by emailing me at: david@getacoach.com. Please put "Request for Language Article" in the subject line. David Matthew Prior, MCC, MBA is Co-Chair of the ICF Ethics & Standards Committee. Known as the "I" Coach (Instinct. Intuition. Impulse.), he gets people to go with their gut. David can be located at www.getacoach.com (1-800-OK-COACH). 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. "What
do you want to BE when you grow up?"-The
Emergence of Post-Secondary Coaching
In addition, parents of the
participating students can know that a Pro-coach
is working towards the best interests of their
child. Lisa M. Martin is the founder of JAAZ Pro-coaching, based in Elmira, Ontario, Canada, that seeks to inspire, guide and compel clients to cultivate a purpose-filled life that works through a Pro-coaching relationship. She is a speaker and has published the "RSW (Reproducing Spiritual Women) Coaching Kit". Lisa is pursuing her coaching certification through the ILCT-Christian Track. You can reach her at 519-669-0452. 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
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