'Coach Express' Newsletter

Information, Guidance, Support and Resources for new and future Personal and Business Coaches.

ISSUE NO 1: ENTERING THE FIELD

PART I: Entering the Field
PART II: The Top 5 Qualities of the Most Successful Coaches

Information on submitting material, advertising and the author can be found at the end of this newsletter.

PART I: Entering the Field

So you're considering a career as a life, business or corporate coach, but wondering what's the best way to enter the field?

Do I need to do a training course? Do I need to get accredited? Where will I get clients, and do I have what it takes?

Most coaches agree on the best way to begin a coaching career: Work with someone who already is a coach! Simple eh?

In other words, work a month or two with a Coach; someone who has already built the type of business or career you want to have, and who can then help you do the same.

Only faster and more efficiently!

Here are the key steps:

Interview 2-3 coaches to find out more about the career and lifestyle you would be getting into. They can tell you the good and the bad; how easy, or difficult it is, and ...... how they got started.
Hire a coach and experience coaching for yourself. But don't get coached on Becoming a Coach. Not just yet. Be coached on something else you want to achieve, or something you want to alter in your life. This will give you the best feel for whether or not this is the career for you.

It's actually the best training you can get. Training from a live course, teleclass or book is great. But there's no substitute for the experience of personally being coached, and seeing how an experienced coach moves you forward.
For a list of mentor coaches and links to their web pages, visit www.becomeacoach.com/source/mentor-coach.htm

Once you've decided to go ahead, consider professional coach training. This will give you resources, insights, tools and support. It will also help you to build your coach network; other coaches you can call on for help and advice. We'll profile coach training schools in a later issue. For now, suffice it to say you should pick a school which has happy, successful coaches.

Do you require face to face training, or want the flexibility of teleclass (phone conference calls) training? And shop around - prices vary. For a list of training schools, visit www.becomeacoach.com

Work with a coach to build your practice. Some people skip Step 3 and jump straight to working with a coach to enter the industry. People in this category are usually those with existing transferable skills (e.g. counselling, or a lot of personal development training), or people short on cash, and wanting to generate some revenue from coaching before they invest in a proper training course. A coach can help you avoid common mistakes, and build your practice faster, and with less effort than you would on your own.
What business systems do you need in place? Where will you find clients? How will you keep your clients? And how do you keep your chin up when you lose three in one day!?

In future issues, we'll examine the different training options, provide tips on selecting a mentor coach, discuss the importance of accreditation, and publish interviews with new and experienced coaches.

PART II: The Top 5 Qualities of the Most Successful Coaches

The most successful coaches are Demonstrably Caring
Coaching is a people-development profession, not just an information-based one. And, given coaches spend much of their time developing, supporting and training their clients, showing their clients that they care about them, their success and their values is the oil that keeps the coaching process working smoothly. Without true caring, the coach's effectiveness drops significantly.
The most successful coaches have The Spark
There is something visibly noticeable about the successful coach; they have what we call The Spark. Basically, this means that they are upbeat, are naturally positive, enjoy working with people, have a lot to give, have a sparkle in their eye and naturally turn others on. Not everyone has The Spark, although it is learnable.
The most successful coaches are Naturally Perceptive
Coaching is a process that requires that the coach be sensitive; able to feel the client's energy/mood, able to distinguish subtleties, able to feel the information rather than having to acquire it, able to sense the truth about what's being said and able to guess well. Part of the process of being a successful coach is to sensitize oneself in order for one's natural perceptive ability to develop. Working on one's Personal Foundationand Reserve Levels are proven ways to increase this sensitivity.
The most successful coaches can Dance Well In A Conversation.
Given coaching is primarily conversation-based, the most successful coach finds that the give-and-take, back-and-forth flow of ideas, concepts, feelings, information, reality, wants, values and priorities, occurs effortlessly between themselves and the client. Clients need a coach who can catch on quickly and encourage them to say things they've never said before. Coaches who aren't able to quickly grasp the information flow and who must fully understand everything the client is saying tend to hold the client back.
The most successful coaches have been Formally Trained - as Coaches.
For a professional to coach well takes several years of intense training among colleagues on a similar track. True, everyone in the world is a coach in a sense, and consultants and therapists and teachers and ministers certainly do some coaching. But to excel at this profession and offer the client all that is possible, formal training makes a world of difference. At Coach University, most of our students have already been coaching (as coaches, consultants, trainers, therapists) for several years, and more than half have advanced degrees (PhD, MBA, MSW), and yet they tell us that the formal coach training they receive at Coach U is worth every penny and every minute.

by Thomas J. Leonard,
http:www.thomasleonard.com
Copyright 1997, 98, 99, Coach U

THE ''Coach Express' Newsletter'

KNOW A FRIEND who would make a good coach? Why not nudge them by forwarding them this newsletter?

THE AUTHOR is David Wood of SolutionBox™
David coaches individuals in several countries via e-mail, phone and in person, and speaks to organizations on topics such as 'Create A Life You Love'. He is a member of the International Coach Federation, and the National Speakers Association of Australia.