Coaching Chronicle by Gerard O’Donovan

In fact one of the most hectic times in the last year. I am currently at the residential training course at Eynsham Hall near Oxford .(http://www.eynshamhall.com/)  

We have fantastic men and women who have flown in from all over the world, Deborah from Canada Lavinia from Romania, Monica from the south of France,Lukasz from Warsaw in Poland to name just a small few.

As well as our intensive coaching residential program we also have a large exhibition happening at the Olympia in London being run by Emma and her team

while at the same time Vali and her team are running a five day exhibition in Bucharest.

The head office team are also preparing for our five day exhibition in Orlando in Florida which starts the day after tomorrow so I have to fly over early tomorrow morning with Gordon and Christopher and others to oversee that.

I have to say though that I am really looking forward to it. I am bringing my family with me so that we can also have some holiday time together and possibly go to Disney World etc.

We all arrived in the office this morning to find that we have no telephone service at all.

There was a large storm over the weekend and it appears that some of our telephone wires attached to some sort of telephone pole near our office has come down.

So, it looks as if we will be without telephone connections for the next 24 hours.(according to the experts at British Telecom, who are about to leap into action, and come to our aid :-)  )

When it first happened, it was very interesting, I had this mild sense of rising panic, how will I possibly get by without the telephone?? And yet as today has worn on, it has actually turned out to be really nice.

I have managed to get on with my e-mails, some of my writing work and actually founded time during the day to do some proper studying.

The rest of the team have also managed to have quite a productive day. Strangely enough we still have all of our Internet connection, so everyone has been on Skype talking to people that way.

Actually it’s worked out really efficiently. Perhaps I ought to make it a regular thing – No telephone Monday’s ?

A bit like Naked Friday’s but not as much fun !

Gerard

I haven’t stopped working and yet I can’t seem to put my finger on exactly what I have done !!

The e-mails have been coming thick and fast today as soon as I deal with a bunch of 20 or so, another bunch comes in.

 Spoke to Gordon Piggott today, general manager of Westminster Indemnity Insurance, ( http://www.westminster-indemnity.co.uk/ )I’m flying over to Orlando with him at the end of this month.

They provide a specialist indemnity and liability insurance to the whole of the coaching world.

 We are both going to the ICF ( International Coaching Federation) annual convention in Florida. We go together every year.

This time I’m taking my wife and children with me so that they can have a good time in Disney World etc while I’m working and at least I get to spend some time with them in the evenings.

The plan is that we will then have the second week together as a family in Florida, although to be honest we haven’t planned anything yet other than booking our return flights and hiring a large seven seater car for the whole two weeks.

So I guess I need some ideas about where to spend week two ??

Anyone got any suggestions – ?

 Looks like I’m going to Cardiff next week to do a special ” Introduction to Coaching” seminar on Tuesday evening. That should be good, haven’t been to Cardiff for quite a while.

 Then I have got the residential at Eynsham Hall near Oxford a couple of days later ( http://www.eynshamhall.com/ )

It looks like we have people coming from many different countries to do their coach training programme.

The only problem is I am also booked to give a talk on both Thur and Friday at the “Business Start Up” at the Olympia in London.

Looks like I will have to split myself in two !!!!!

Not really, thanks goodness I have a really efficient team to do all of the training and administration

I went to a club with Vali called the Clubul Prometheus in Bucharest. There was a very special group on stage. They were a cross between actors/musicians and comedians

They did a most incredible show using a lot of drumming and other musical instruments and heavily involved in the audience.

On two occasions they dragged me up on stage and had me playing drums and percussion instruments, although I was a little bit nervous to begin with I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and ended up having a great night.

The group were really fantastic and did a lot of improvisation on stage, I got to speak to them later and they were a really nice group of guys( despite the fact that they made lots of fun at my English earlier on stage — in front of the audience !!)

 The last few days have actually been very busy indeed.

Yesterday I attended the ARC – Association of Romanian Coaching conference.( www.coaching-guild.ro ) it was very well organized and run and it was great to see lots of Noble Manhattan students and coaches there.

In fact, the session I personally attended on the subject of niching ( whether to or not ) had over 50% Noble Manhattan attendees, it was great to see. A very lively discussion took place on exactly what was a niche and whether a coach should use this as a strategy to build their business and attract clients.

 Today is going to be very busy, something like eight or nine different meetings throughout the day but I’m really looking forward to tonight.

I’m treating about 12 of our great students and faculty to dinner tonight at the restaurant Casa Satya. It specialises in Ayurvedic food, one of the best in Bucharest

All the best for now

Gerard

This weekend we have been running three completely separate events in the same hotel in London, all happening simultaneously.
We had our
1) NLP practitioner programme
2) An Introduction to Coaching day
3) A Business Building day for Coaches

I have to say, I think they all went very well. I am so lucky and blessed that I have such a great team of people to help to organise, administrate and run these events.
We have had some wonderful feedback from all of these events especially the ” Build Your Business Day” which we ran for a number of Noble Manhattan coaches and students, about 35 in total.
Here is just one piece of feedback
”
Hi Gerard
 A huge thank you to you and your team of presenters for giving your time today.  I cannot tell you how grateful I am for all the information.  Before I came along I my head had so many coaching business ideas and questions swirling around… through the knowledge and patience of you and your team I have come away with a clear action plan of how to begin my business and how to begin marketing my services.
Ali”

And from the”Introduction to Coaching”  event here is some more lovely feedback

Thank you so much for Saturday.  The Introduction to Coaching was great.  My husband said I was glowing when I got home and it is now Monday morning and I am still buzzing.  Your honesty and openness was so refreshing and I am sure we all wish we worked for a boss like you.  I am chasing up the resettlement people to get signed up.  I can’t wait to be part of the Noble Manhattan Family and will look for an excuse to be in Weymouth!  I am looking for an opportunity to deliver the workshop at work and have almost recruited one on my colleagues to sign up for the next introduction day!
 Thank you once again.
 Kind regards
 Kirsten

On another front, our new division
” Coach Radio International”

I have to admit to being a trifle frustrated. We are about a month behind schedule and it looks as if it won’t launch for another four weeks, mainly because of unforeseen IT and programming issues.
However, I guess I should be pleased because the final version will be so much better than even we had hoped.

Have to leave the office a little bit early today so that I can go home, pack ,see my family for a couple of hours and then head off for Sunny Bucharest in Rumania
I am looking forward to that, and seeing all my Romanian friends and colleagues again.
Until later in the week
Warmest
Gerard

We have three completely separate courses and seminars running simultaneously in London.

All at the same hotel.

 First of all there is the beginning of our new NLP Practitioner Programme being run by Aina Egeberg. This is happening on Friday and Saturday and Sunday at the Thistle Kensington Gardens Hotel on Bayswater Road in London.

 On Saturday I am running an “Introduction to Coaching” seminar for people who are considering coaching as a whole new career.

I have to say I really do love doing these days they are soul satisfying and rewarding.

Then on Sunday were doing a very special event. We are calling it a” Build your Coaching Business Day”

This is really going to be a jampacked day teaching Coaches how to raise their profile, generate business, increase their income, attract more clients, use effective networking and using cutting-edge IT online media techniques to generate a huge amount of enquiries.

I am going to be joined by George Metcalfe one of the U.K.’s greatest coaches and an absolute expert in networking, 

also by Mindy Gibbins-Klein

, one of the most successful coaches in the UK an accomplished author who is going to be doing a marvellous session on how to raise your brand.

 I’m also very excited by the fact that yesterday we took delivery from the publisher of our two new DVDs

1) The Seven Secrets of Super Achievers

2) Outrageous Marketing Techniquess to Build Your Business

 We will give these to every participant on Sunday free of charge ( a special gift for them )

 I am really looking forward to it

Gerard

Well, today in Weymouth it is wet and windy and dreary.Not quite like the subtropical paradise we are usually familiar with.

Today and yesterday the team in head office have been working with Iain Alexander,putting together a whole new interactive online mentoring system that we can use within our company to more effectively look after our coaching students worldwide.

The students will also find it far more effective and helpful. They will be able to login to their own university to style classroom.

And record every piece of work that they do there.

 I am also getting ready for my next trip to Romania on Tuesday ( one week today) I only got back from Romania and Poland last week!

It is almost becoming like my second home.

I will be running an introduction to culture and in Bucharest and then going to the city of Iash in Moldova,to run another introduction to coaching and event there.I haven’t been there before so I’m looking forward to it.

http://www.romaniaandmoldova.com/iasi.htm

 We will also be running an introduction to event in Canada later this month which should be great fun.

This coming weekend we have a lot happening in London. Three events all over the same weekend

1) NLP practitioner programme ( the first three-day part) Friday Saturday and Sunday

2) introduction to coaching on Saturday

3) building your coaching business Day on Sunday

They are all happening at the Thistle Kensington Gardens Hotel on Bayswater Road

 Thinking of taking a day off tomorrow,if the weather is good. I might even go out on my motorbike.

 One of the things that we’re beginning to do quite a bit of now in Noble Manhattan Coaching is to appoint licensed distributors in different parts of the world.

So far we have distributors in Turkey, Poland, Romania and more recently Canada.

This is a business model that actually works incredibly well for all parties concerned

Us, the distributor and our student Coaches.

If you would like to find out more e-mail me at

gerard@noble-manhattan.com

Well I think that’s enough for now.  Gerard

Yesterday, I took two motorbikes out for a test ride. The BMW 1200 GS and the BMW 1200 GS adventure.

Both from CW’s. ( who have won the Best dealership prize for the last five years in the UK)

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed both bikes and I’m very tempted to get one.

The dealership couldn’t have been more helpful, and not in anyway pushy or salesey.

 I suppose the question I really have to ask myself is ,bearing in mind the fact that I live in Weymouth in sunny Dorset, do I need an all-purpose world beating adventure motorbike,

That will go down jungle tracks, cross deserts, climb snow-covered mountain wilderness and deal with all weather conditions.

And, I guess when I am completely honest with myself the answer has to be

  So, now I have a decision to make !!!!!

The difficult thing is my wife loves the Yamaha and really does not like the look of the BMW. I however love the BMW!

So – Bike or divorce ??