Transcript September 20, 2001 This is the transcript of the Introduction to Coaching Teleclass held by Thomas J. Leonard.   (from which transcript was crafted) Introduction to Coaching September 20, 2001 - 2:00 p.m. EDT Thomas Leonard, Session Leader TJL: Welcome to Introduction to Coaching; there are about 20 of us on the call today. We're going to talk about what it takes to become a successful coach. It'll be somewhat interactive, but mostly lecture today. The purpose of the call is for those interested in coaching and are curious about what the whole thing. There 13 frequently-asked questions I've come up with that I'll be answering first. They are: 1. Why do people hire a coach? 2. Should you become a coach 3. What are the benefits to you of becoming a coach? 4. Can you really earn a living as a coach? 5. How does one become a coach? 6. What do a coach and client talk about during a coaching session? 7. What are 4 mistakes new coaches make? 8. How does someone become a really, really good coach? 9. What are the training and certification options for a coach? 10. What does Coachville provide? 11. What can the coach sell in addition to one-on-one coaching sessions? 12. Can coaching really be effective over the telephone? 13. What's the future of coaching? If you have questions in addition to this list, please feel free to jump in. After I answer each question, I'll give you time to ask a few questions. #1 - WHY DO PEOPLE HIRE A COACH? It's important to recognize why people hire a coach. There are 3 primary reasons; first, they either want to reach a goal, make a change or solve a problem. Almost all coaching comes down to those 3 things. The 2nd reason is that they feel a coach can help them do this - reach a goal, make a change, or solve a problem - faster, and possibly much faster. One of the things we do as a coach is provide speed. People can see a coach as a way to get from Point A to Point B without going through Point Z. Then, 3rd, they want to find a partner to help them with whatever they're working on. People love synergy, support, etc. The whole coaching thing got popular from personal trainers. They want to go beyond what they can do by themselves. Many of our clients put large challenges on themselves, and they think that if they hire a coach they have a better chance of solving the problems, reducing the risk, etc. Any questions about this first one? #2 - SHOULD YOU BECOME A COACH? Yes, if you feel that feeling to become a coach, do it. Coaches are generally called, not just decided. They've either been in that role in some way for a long time or have wanted to be in that role in some way for a long time. We look at coaching as simply a set of advanced communication and relating skills, and most of us have been doing that most of our lives, we just haven't been calling it that. With training and experience you become better at it, but you've been doing it for sometime. The question to ask yourself is, "Do I want to spend my days working with 5 clients a day, helping them get what they want?" If you want to coach, do it because you're feeling compelled to do it, don't just look at it as a financial opportunity. If it's not there, find out what's missing to have it be exciting. Anyone want to add to this one? #3 - WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BECOMING A COACH? Since many of you are coaches, what are your experiences? XXX: A feeling of benefiting others. The benefit to me is that it makes me feel good about how I spend my time. XXX: I found that I got my own personal foundation in order and that was highly enjoyable for me. TJL: Yes; people feel compelled to get their own lives in perfect shape - whether it's their body, their personal time, their priorities, etc. You'll just feel naturally inclined to improve your own life by helping others improve their own lives. XXX: More productive use of my time. TJL: By being on the telephone with clients, you think the yield is higher for your time? XXX: Yes. TJL: Who else? Allison: Not only am I able to help people, but I can do it within a profession that offers me freedom and flexibility. For example, I'm visiting my folks in New York this week, and next week I'll be back in Las Vegas, and I can still support myself. TJL: Yes, coaching is incredibly mobile. If you're an attorney or accountant, you're going to be tied to an office or desk, and with coaching clients, they prefer to work with you on the telephone. XXX: There's an enormous amount of personal growth that takes place while coaching other people. TJL: It's a cool thing because we're sharing things that we know and they're sharing things they know as well. Over 600 clients over 19 years, you learn a lot of stuff. Just from helping your clients, some of it comes back to you. Not many professions can say that they've also benefited. #4 - CAN YOU EARN A LIVING AS A COACH? I want to be honest about this. In my experience, someone that has been in coaching for about 2 years, they're earning between $20,000 and $75,000 - keep in mind, some are part time, others are full time, some don't charge for some of their services or don't charge much, etc. The higher end coaches are the ones around for a while, or those who draw the higher end clients, they're in the $100,000 - $250,000 range. I know a few that make $500,000 or $1 million, but they're the exception. Whatever money you're making as a coach, don't automatically quit your day job right away - make sure it's bonus money, and your mortgage doesn't have to rely on it. Most coaches that are successful find niches - they become known as a specialist for something....most have several specialties. There's no requirement for that. The other coaches who are most successful have learned something about Internet marketing, e-zines, etc. For those of you who are shy, you can get your clients through internet marketing. There are different ways to get clients. The way you become successful as a coach - you need to have something specific that's yours that the market place wants, not just needs. One of the ways I recommend they get started is to begin to make a list of 25 items - things you feel today, that, without training or heavy marketing, you can do for people. For example, I know that I can help people get in touch with what's most important to them. This process works every time. Who wants to chip in with something you know you can do? Linda: Help couples after they have children to adapt and change their relationship and help them grow with the family. TJL: Wow- how do you know that? Linda: Not only do I do this, but my husband and I went through this, came out the other end, and I wrote a book about it. TJL: That's true for our own lives; if you look at your life, you'll find something to put on your list. XXX: I can help people come to closure with their problems faster than they can on their own. TJL: Great; so you can speed up the process. Thank you for sharing that. The point is that I recommend everyone of us write down 10, 15, or 25 things we can do - whether it's of a professional or personal nature. We have many more things to contribute than we're aware of. If you make this list, it's the beginning of a menu you can offer clients. That way, if people ask what coaching is, you can explain what you provide. You'll also, by being a coach, find even more skill sets to add to your list. Some things you'll have just by past experiences, and others just by becoming a coach and working with people. #5 - HOW DOES ONE BECOME A COACH? You can just get a business card with your name and "coach" on it. That's like a symbolic change that triggers other events. If you can't do that, you're not ready. Resolve that and then you'll be ready. The next thing is to tell your family, friends, and others to pass the word. You can do it before coach training, etc. I always made clear to my new clients that I was a new coach, and was using them as coaches, asking them to help me. It's a good way to bond with your clients and remove any pressure to perform. Just tell them you're new and want help doing a good job. The 3rd thing to do is to find some place you can go and be around some other coaches - you want to connect in some way - e-zine list, formal training school, local meetings, etc. - you want to hang out with them and have them rub off on you. In this process, you'll be picking up new tools, learn new techniques, come across people that think you're terrific and begin to circulate among coaches. Once you've done those 3 steps, you'll start getting some clients - start by charging them $1, if you want to make it official. #6 - WHAT DO A COACH AND CLIENT TALK ABOUT DURING THE COACHING SESSION? The way I phrase that is that the client has set, with your help, goals to work on during the first 90 days, so you're going to talk about how far they've come, maybe they're stuck or making internal changes, maybe they're expanding their thinking, etc. Sometimes the goals they set for themselves aren't the goals they're accomplishing, but it's something to start with. You're going to be there to see and sense, talk about what's possible, encourage them in a positive way, correct them if they have a false assumption, but most of it's going to be discussion. The client is going to be driving the call; you're mostly going to be responding. You're going to be contributing, asking questions, challenging - it's very much a give and take relationship - it's a proactive and collaborative relationship. Those 30 minutes can go by very quickly, so it's important that the goals are set up front so there's some structure to the calls. #7 - WHAT ARE 4 MISTAKES NEW COACHES MAKE? What are some of the mistakes you've made along the way? They're focusing too hard on being a good coach, rather than just trying to be a friend and be supportive. Another mistake is they want to wait until they learn it all - the problem is that it's never going to happen - you have to have 20,30, or 40 clients to have a sense of how to coach properly. If you find yourself resisting to work with clients, maybe it's that you're enjoying personal growth and don't have an interest in coaching anybody, or are afraid of making a mistake - don't worry; you're going to be using skills you already have and will be attracting clients who are similar to you in some way. If you get too formal too soon, it gets in the way of the coaching process - coaching is based on trust, not on you having a power trip. The 3rd mistake is that they're only using a single coaching model. Some schools teach that you can't be proactive; that's good if you're a single flavor kind of person, but it won't work if your client wants choice. People want different kinds of approaches, and the more models you learn, the more people you're going to be able to coach with success. The 4th mistake is that they don't know exactly what they really provide to the client - this was mentioned earlier #8 - HOW DOES SOMEONE BECOME A REALLY, REALLY GOOD COACH? If you've worked with 100 clients over a 2 year period, that's a good start. You're going to start seeing patterns - by the time you've seen 1,000 clients, you're starting to master this craft. Think in terms of 100 clients as a place to begin. The 2nd thing, decide to become a life-long learner of this craft. The most telling thing I can say is that, in my opinion, we're only about 3% towards the knowledge base we're going to have within the next 20-30 years, and there's so much more to learn. Because coaching is fairly new, everybody gets to contribute - we're creating new stuff all the time. Finally, the way to become a good coach is to learn from your clients. The more clients you have, the more you're going to learn and then provide to your next group of clients. #9 - WHAT ARE THE TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION OPTIONS FOR A COACH? There are 48 schools currently available. There are several popular certifications - Professional Certified Coach and Master Certified Coach - there are about 1,000 with one of these designations. Other schools offer their own designations; I can't recommend one or the other at this point because the marketplace isn't yet sophisticated enough to ask for any one designation. On the other hand, many coaches will never get certified and still be incredibly effective. I'd focus on becoming a coach and getting clients, then worry about certification in a couple of years. We'll have probably 500 micro-models within 2 years; we're in the ramp- up phase. Our certification is going to come from that. I think Coach U is the most comprehensive training company, but that's my bias because I founded it. #10 - WHAT DOES COACHVILLE PROVIDE? We provide coach training and provide the use of our programs, assessments, forms and tools. We're now at 5,000 coaches, as of September 2001. Our primary mission at Coachville is to be an R&D facility. We believe we're at that 3% threshold, and believe it's important to create. We let all of our members play and contribute. The more we can provide you, the more you can serve the public. Our primary focus is to make you a successful coach. #11 - WHAT CAN THE COACH OFFER OR SELL IN ADDITION TO ONE-ON-ONE COACHING SESSIONS? Coaching is the bread and butter, but in the past couple of years, they've come up with different products to sell. One is group coaching - a session with anywhere with 5-15 members made up of people with a common interest or goal, such as real estate agents, or people trying to quit smoking. It's very affordable, and there's bonding that occurs. People on the call are excited about working with each other. This is becoming increasingly popular. You can also offer more formal coaching programs, such as Small Business Success, Personal Foundation, Perfect Life, etc. They're more formalized, step-by-step programs you can offer via the internet or conference calls to walk your customers through these steps. It's different from coaching in that there's a specific beginning and end already established. Coaches are offering these as a way to distinguish themselves in the marketplace. Another way is to offer assessments or e-books. Those are things you can sell in addition to coaching. Those making $250,000 to $1 million a year typically have 1/3 of their revenues coming from one-on-one coaching, with the other 2/3 from these things. #12 - CAN COACHING REALLY BE EFFECTIVE OVER THE TELEPHONE? Absolutely yes to about 90 percent of those involved. They can actually be anonymous and say what they want over the telephone. They can choose the coach based on the niche, rather than just the zip code. Ever since we began coaching over the phone in 1982, there have always been questions. Most coaches like to start in person, then segue to the phone within a few months. #13 - WHAT'S THE FUTURE OF COACHING? First, I think we're going to see a lot more e-coaching, or coaching by chat. Some have secure chat rooms - an on-demand approach, rather than setting up a specific appointment. It'll be LESS formal, 30-minute sessions and MORE "Give me 2 minutes of your time". The 2nd major component is what I call micro- or situational coaching. I see us building a databank of specific situations - at a very, very micro level. For example, if you're a dentist and your receptionist isn't handling the calls well, then - Boom! There's a module to train her to be a better receptionist. That's a huge project - probably 10 years in the making - but I think it's going to provide a lot more coaching, and a benefit to clients to get something quick in addition to the formal sessions. That's my lecture - does anyone have any questions or anything to add? David: Under "What mistakes..." - you made a comment that we don't know what we actually provide to the client - could you give us an example? TJL: Well, actually, let me give you a website - Coachvillereferral.com. It's not up yet, but should be within the next week. If you go there, you'll see a listing of 15 things I provide. Mary: I'm interested in how to dissuade people from a face to face meeting when you want to move to telephone coaching. They're used to therapy appointments, and I'm trying to put it out there that I only do tele-coaching. TJL: Most clients who are new with the phone thing, they'll start with the face-to-face thing and do that a couple of times, then transition to phone coaching. Most coaches have a policy that they only work with people on the phone, where others do the first 1-2 sessions with you - if they like you, they'll make the transition. XXX: To reinforce your idea, I haven't made that list of things - I have almost 35 years of experience in business - and there are a lot of things you overlook. TJL: Yes - You think of them, but haven't actually put them on paper. The important thing is to have a list of 25 one-liners that acts like a glossary of terms for you to talk to people about. Allison: I think it's key for the new coaches - I feel that when I made that shift myself (to what you said), my business really took off. Once I quit being a coach, and was just Allison, the laws of attraction took over. TJL: It's a very good start. We've been trained to be clinical, and we don't always realize people are hiring us as people, not just professionals. Allison: Of course, I see the technology and tools that you're providing, and if I just take that and be myself, then I'm all set. TJL: Did you learn something on today's call? XXX: It was very helpful. TJL: How so? XXX: I'm a 30-year consultant, transitioning to coaching and these things have come up in discussion. Karen: I'm struggling with - I'm eager to get started, but don't have a lot of money; would you say that a traditional school is just best for me? TJL: I recommend you put yourself in some sort of training mode -either a training program or a coach who mentors new coaches - something you can afford that will have skills you want to rub off. The most important thing in my view is to start to hang out with other coaches. Allison: Are you going to have some special interest groups through Coachville where people will be able to meet? TJL: We've been trying to decide whether we should just list those existing ones, or form our own... We'll probably decide that sometime in November. David: In the coaching business, are there any politics between Coachville, and Coach U? TJL: With Coachville and Coach U, It's certainly cooperative at this point - Sandy Vilas and I talk once a week. With Coachville and ICF, not much cooperation. Thank you all for calling in.