Please note that this is a recent press release issued by IIC. Kindly share this to your friends, co-employees and family! Read below:

May 2012 — New Video Coach Cast – Click the link to be taken direct to the latest membership Coach Cast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLiCLN0qvf4 or visit the IIC home page to access the latest Coach Cast www.internationalinstituteofcoahcing.org

Coaches around the world from all niches often feel isolated and alone as they go about their business. The IIC recognise this and have created a community for coaches, coaches in training and individuals interested in personal development, even corporations who appreciate true leadership qualities and the education that surrounds that topic. The IIC is a membership community supporting and expanding the professional image of coaching.
The IIC embraces technology brining its members from over 91 countries around the world closer together through the use of the Internet thus providing a whole network of support. Coaches can mix easily with their peer forming lasting relationships, some even leading to joint ventures.

Accreditation is another option open to coaches who feel their careers would benefit from such an official recognition.

Life Coaching and Business Coaching is becoming increasingly more popular within corporations. The IIC support both individual coaches and HR human resources departments and welcome memberships for such organisations. Coaching is an international asset.

To learn more about the IIC range of member benefits along with the varying membership options you can visit the IIC web site or connect directly with Membership Director John Standaloft: john-standaloft@the-iic.org.

Subscribe to the next newsletter issue here: http://internationalinstituteofcoaching.org/newsletter_archive.php

Please watch this video to give you an idea on why it is important to have a worldwide membership in accrediting institutions for coaches.

Here at the-  Coaching Chronicle -run by Gerard O’Donovan, our aim is to constantly bring value to those seeking to improve their lives. Therefore we have a policy of publishing articles and materials by guest authors whom we value and appreciate.
Today’s guest author is Clare Evans.

Most people have a To Do list. For many it consists of an A4 sheet of paper or perhaps it’s on their computer. Things are added to it and occasionally get crossed off.

Lists are a useful tool when used correctly and help you to create structure in your day. However, they can become a source of frustration, stress and overwhelm when they’re not used properly.

Create a daily ‘action’ list. Tasks you’re actually going to do rather than an endless list that you’ll never get to the bottom of.

Here are my top tips for keep your list manageable, productive and efficient:

Keep them short – if there’s too much on your daily list, you’ll feel overwhelmed. Pick just 5-10 tasks that you’ll be able to action today. The whole aim of a daily ‘Action’ List is that you’re going to complete them all.

If you only have five things on your list and you get them all done, that’s far more effective than having a list of twenty to thirty items and only doing half of them.

Plan your tasks – Decide how long each task is going to take and book the time out in your diary. Use your list as part of your daily planning process. Be realistic – Don’t put down 10 things and then realise they’ll take anything an hour each to complete.

Prioritise – not every task is as important. Use numbers, letters or colours to prioritise your list. Make sure you complete high priority tasks first. Otherwise you’ll be tempted to cherry-pick ‘nice’ tasks and leave the more difficult ones, even if they’re more important.

Create intelligent lists – don’t just list one big task but break them down in to manageable tasks. ‘Complete Project X’ – may be a series of tasks and take several days but ‘arrange meeting with Y’ may be the first step and take just a few minutes. Add status, completion dates and timings to better organise your tasks.

Group similar tasks and deal with them at the same time – like phone calls, email, admin or updating your finances. It’s quicker and more efficient to work on similar tasks than switch between totally different tasks.

Review your list – check your list regularly during the day to stay focused, stay on track and use it as a reminder. Cross things off as you go and add any remaining tasks to the following day.

Be creative – use your diary, a whiteboard, separate notebook (just for your lists), your computer, smartphone – whatever works for you, but keep it simple. Technology is great but sometimes makes things worse and over complicates things. Make sure it integrates with your other technology.

Create a master list – these are place holders or tasks that you’d like to do ‘some day’ or in the near future but aren’t yet a priority or something you need to focus on at the moment. Transfer actions from your Master List to your Daily List.

Cull your lists – quite often the more trivial items will fall off the end of the list. Relate your daily tasks to your goals and objectives – where do they fit in?

Blast through your list – Set aside time every now and then to tackle all those little tasks you never quite get round to but you know won’t actually take long when you do. An hour or twos focused action can clear a lot of outstanding tasks. (A Focus Day is a great way to tackle your list overwhelm).

If you’re struggling with your lists give me a call and I’ll help you make sense of them or book a free Strategy Session.

Source Author:

Clare Evans
Personal and Business Coach

T: +44 (0)1273 588297
M: +44 07887 954512
E: info@clareevans.co.uk
W: www.clareevans.co.uk

Are you feeling called to hire a coach to create your extraordinary life? As you will discover there are lots of “coaches” out there. But some folks who use the term “coach” don’t have enough training, or follow ethical and professional standards. Before you begin investigating coaches, begin thinking about why you want to hire a coach, and some of your short-term and long-term goals. That way you’ll be able to locate a coach who resonates with your personality and your aspirations.

Meanwhile, here are three guidelines to help you make a wise choice.

1. The key criteria I would use in hiring a coach consists first of finding out what their training as a coach has been. There are those out there who call themselves Coaches but who have never taken any training, formal or otherwise.

Have they attended or are they currently attending a coach training program? Is the school or program a reputable one that includes classes, exams, and a certification program? Did the coach get feedback and supervision about their coaching from more advanced coaches and trainers?

You’ll want to know that the coach has learned the actual skills and competencies that are standard in coaching by attending a coach training program. Whenever I go to a professional for services, I certainly expect that they be trained to provide the service, so this is a most important starting place.

2. Next, I would be curious about their background.

If I want to start a successful business, I’d want a coach who is a role model of that. If I want to have more balance in my life, I’d want evidence my coach lives this way. A coach is someone who is ahead of you right now that will assist you to move forward with them and their experience in business and life is highly valuable.

Are they walking their talk? As you are clear on your goals, you’ll want to find a coach who has quickly and effortlessly achieved such vision and can coach you to achieve your goals and way beyond.

3. The final criteria is understanding the personality and chemistry that feels right for you.

Some coaches are pushovers and will let you slide and get away with not moving forward fast. They match what some people are looking for.

Other coaches are on the opposite end of the spectrum and are what we call “edgy” and they push hard and expect you to run rapidly. That personality may fit for you and inspire you.

Yet others are a blend – they can be supportive and loving – yet give you a kick-start if and when you are sluggish.

Think about what style you may enjoy most. If you’d get angry with an edgy coach, then one wouldn’t match for you. If you felt the softer approach wasn’t going to get you going fast enough, then pass that coach by.

It is for you to get clear on the style that fits. Ask for a short trial session to see if you “fit”. Some coaches won’t offer this, but some will… you can only ask and it is in your best interests.

Business mentor Terri Levine specializes in helping entrepreneur-owned businesses achieve record-breaking growth. Based in Philadelphia, Terri is founder and CEO of Comprehensive Coaching U, Inc., The Professional’s Coach Training Program. She has been featured on ABC, NBC, CNBC and MSNBC, and in more than 1,500 publications. She is a sought after public speaker and the best-selling author of Sell Without Selling, Coaching Is for Everyone and Stop Managing Start Coaching. Learn more at http://www.TerriLevine.com. Contact Terri at terri@terrilevine.com

Credit source: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/189/How-To-Pick-the-Right-Coach-For-You.html

Here at the Coaching Chronicle- run by Gerard O’Donovan, our aim is to constantly bring value to those seeking to improve their lives. Therefore we have a policy of publishing articles and materials by guest authors whom we value and appreciate.
Today’s guest author is Dr Richard Norris.

You Are Determined The Quality of Your Relationships

I was speaking on success and people development at a national conference recently. One focus of the conference was employee engagement. Based on that focus it was clear that engaged people lead to improved productivity, performance and success.

Upon further reflection I connected a few more dots. Employee engagement and customer/client engagement have many similarities. The same applies to team-mates on sports teams. And of course there are similarities with friend & family engagement too.

Rather than dissect this out and scrutinize under the microscope each of these “engagements” let’s apply some common sense to one and all.

So let’s begin…

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your relationships. Now please feel free to replace life with more specific roles from your life to make this more relevant. So….insert

• Leadership
• Management
• Team
• Business
• Family
• Friendships
• Marriage

Let’s be frank. If the quality is not what you would like it to be then you are 100% responsible for what you are experiencing right now. It is you, your decisions, your actions, your habits and your behaviours that have brought these relationships into your life. If you don’t like them, change them! And that change must begin with you. Why? Because… You are the common denominator in all those relationships. This brings us round to self-leadership again.

In your life you get the people you deserve. Now before you start emailing me or leaving comments refuting this, please just stop. Think about it. Every single person who crosses the path of your Journey of Success has something to teach you. Life is a mirror. Those people are reflecting something – the good, the bad and the ugly. The good affirms you. The bad should alarm you. The ugly should scare you! Regardless of which category they may fall into you need to become proactive and look searchingly for the lesson in each relationship.

To make this more practical and realistic let me relate a true story from a coaching client of mine. It covers both the personal relationships and the professional ones.

Remove the Dead Weight

At the time I was coaching Robert (not his real name) through some challenging strategies that were changing the way he did business. His was a 7 figure business that supported other businesses providing peace-of-mind services so that his clients could focus on what they did best.  Our focus was to create a new and improved business service that ensured that success were sustainable. This we did over 15 months but not with some challenges along the way.

Early on we identified that for those key and fundamental changes to take place we would have to change the type of customers he had. He had more problem customers than he did good ones. To cut a long story short we:

1. Changed the reference from customer to client. A customer implies just a transaction. A client implies a long-term relationship.
2. Defined the profile of the ideal client.
3. Against that ideal definition and the relevant criteria we placed his clients into one of four categories:
   1. D = Dead or dying – these are the nightmare clients who are often the most vocal, most demanding and worst paying. We put them out of their misery and ours. They were “fired”!
   2. C = Challenging – these have the potential to improve if they so wish. As deftly as possible they were informed and guided to shape up or ship out!
   3. B = Better – these are generally good to work with and the relationship has promise. Some grooming required.
   4. A = Awesome! These are the ideal. The relationship is pure pleasure.
   5. Re-educated and managed his client list so that those who stayed desired to become Awesome.

When we started the list was 80% C’s and D’s. Within 6 months it was 80% A’s and B’s and we were attracting more of the same quality relationships (thanks to a few other strategies) and his business took off. Please note we also applied this approach to his team of employees.

Identify the Crabs

Based on the Awesome! focus with his business, Robert’s business began to grow.  Any business will grow so long as its leadership is growing too by way of skills, knowledge and experience.

As that began to happen Robert came to me with a personal matter. His circle of friends (many from childhood) did not like who he was coming. Robert knew his purpose, had his Journey of Success mapped out reasonably well and was heading in the right direction. His friends were not. Most had no map. Robert came from the other side of the tracks.

At that point I explained that every relationship in his life had to come to point where it needed to be reviewed. I believe my words were,

“Some people are for a reason, some for a season and some for a lifetime.”

After some further discussion we established he had to review each relationship and figure out was it for a reason, season or lifetime. We agreed he would go back to his friends and inform them that he was changing for the better. If they wanted to join him and grow to a higher level he would be happy to help them. If they wanted him to stay as he used to be, he would gently thank them for the important and valued role that had in that part of his life and then draw that relationship to an end (a season).

As with Robert I will give you a helpful analogy.

Identify the crabs in your life and get rid of them.

You are crab fishing. You catch a crab. You put it in an open-topped bucket. What will it do? Try to get out. So you put a lid on.

You catch a second crab. You put it in the bucket. You need no lid. Why? Because when one tries to get out the other one pulls it back.

So…who are the crabs in your life? Clients? Colleagues? Team-mates? Family?…

Please note if the crabs are those in your family, especially if you are married to them, you may have to be creative about how you manage their attitude.

Relationship Round-up

Now it is down to you whether at home, at work or elsewhere. The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your relationships. You can cross-apply all of this to any relationship in your life (even with yourself). So as a reminder…

• Identify the crabs.
• Determine if a relationship is for a reason, season or lifetime.
• Stick with the A’s and B’s

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your relationships.

Remember you are 100% responsible for every relationship that is in your life. Improve your relationships that matter most. Lead yourself. You will be glad you did.

Copyright 2011

Dr Richard Norris is a speaker, author and award-winning leadership coach with a focus on self-leadership. To contact him about this article or on his services please email rnorris@ypncompanies.com  and visit his website www.drrichardnorris.com

A client has approached you with the following question: how can I make a living doing what I like? Terry Neal, LCI’s Master Coach, answers…

I believe that this question will be asked of you by clients more and more over the coming years. Many people are realising and acknowledging to themselves and others that the work they do each day is not what they would choose to do.

There has been much attention lately also of an activity called ‘downshifting’, where people exchange the ‘rat race’ and doing a job that either they don’t like doing any more or which they never wanted to do in the first place for a simpler and happier life.

Whether your client has just started working within a job or career or they’ve been involved in a particular role for years, being able to do what they’d like to do and make a living from it probably seems (to them) highly unlikely at this point. As their coach I suggest that you first determine if your client is aware of two aspects about themselves, what their personal values are and if they know for sure what they’d like to do.

If values are something that they have never determined for themselves then I would begin by asking them to determine these personal values. To do this you could give them a checklist of personal values in a worksheet that they could look through and decide upon in the session, or they could take it home and work on it for next time with you.

The other aspect that they need to determine is what “they’d really like to do” looks like in reality. There are a number of possible approaches to do this if they’re unsure or say that they’ve never really thought about it or just have no idea. You could complete the “What’s My Life’s Purpose” exercise with them to draw up a life purpose statement:

Exercise – What’s My Life’s Purpose

To begin, provide your client with 6 pieces of plain paper and a few pens and then ask them to do the following: “On the first piece of paper, list as many of your positive attributes as you can. This includes abilities, skills and traits that you know to be true about you and also those which a partner, family and/or friends have said to you as well”.

Encourage your client to not limit what they put on the list; encourage them to put down as many as they can think of; encourage them to be truthful and honest about themselves.

On the second piece of paper, ask your client to write down all the ways that they express themselves in the world; all the activities that they do like painting, gardening, reading, whatever they do on a day to day basis, that’s what they write down.

On the third piece of paper ask your client to list all the ways they would like to see the world, the qualities that they would like to see the entire world express as commonly held values. Once again remind them to write down as many as they can think of, to not limit the qualities that they’d like to see in the world.

Now ask your client to look at each of the lists on each of the pieces of paper and circle the three personal qualities, expressions and world qualities that “speak” to them the strongest and deepest. This will mean that your client has 3 items indicated on each page. Remember to remind them that this is the start and that the lists can be amended at any time to reflect a more accurate sense of what’s important in their life right now.

On a sheet that you have prepared with the following words, ask your client to complete using their lists of words.

The first sentence starts with: My life’s purpose is to express and apply my… Ask your client to write in their three most important positive abilities, traits and skills.

It continues with: through… Ask your client here to write in the three best ways that you express yourself in the world.

It ends with: to bring forth in the world… Ask your client to list here those three qualities that you’d like to see expressed throughout the entire world.

The final step is to ask your client to read out their life purpose statement to hear how it sounds to them. You could then ask your client how it feels to them and if they want to make any amendments to it.

This will give them a strong indication of possible areas of involvement that’s closest to their personal values and beliefs. You could ask them to imagine or to visualise what their perfect working and earning money situation would look like. You could do this by using a miracle question. Ask them to sit comfortably and to close their eyes if they’re ok doing so. Let them know that you’re going to write down whatever they say so they won’t have to remember it all.

Once they’re comfortable and as free of distractions as they can be you could then ask your question: “Let yourself imagine that you wake up tomorrow morning and you are in the work situation that you’ve always wanted to be in. What does it look like? Where are you? Who’s around you?” Ask them to provide as much detail as possible. Keep on asking them for any more details until they stop and say that they’ve finished.

Ask them to open their eyes and to listen as you read out what you’ve written down about what they’ve said. Ask them if there’s anything that they’d like to add or change about what they’ve said and you’ve written. Remind them that this is the first draft only of their future working plan. It isn’t ‘carved in stone’.

If your client isn’t comfortable with visualisation you could suggest that they create a collage or picture of what this plan of ‘making a living doing what they ‘like’ would look like – or they could write a letter from the future to define what this idea would look like.

Now if your client knows what they’d like to do already to earn money, ask them to state it and to write it down or use whatever means your client would prefer to create a visual image of how it would look.

As a follow on from this you could ask if they are already doing this activity or some part of this activity on a regular basis e.g. if they wanted to produce art to earn money, are they painting on a regular basis now?; if they are ask them if they’re prepared to commit time to continue to do this activity on a regular basis. If they haven’t done any of this activity at all before, check that this is what they would like to do to make a living and not what they think that they should do.

Essentially there are three stages that your client needs to be ready to do for themselves to start making their vision or plan an actual reality: (1) recognition and acknowledgement of what they’d really like to do; (2) clear statements or pictures or whatever medium they choose of the activity in its fullest possible terms and finally (3) a commitment to allocating time to be involved in this activity from this point forward on a regular basis.

This will assist your client to either begin or to continue to do the activity that they would most like to do. Making a living through their preferred activity can be addressed in another session and it’s been my experience that opportunities to do this arise more easily and naturally when a person is connected to their true passion in life.

Source: http://www.livetocoach.com

Our special feature guest author is Richard Norris.

The body of the article:

Your business has the power to change lives. To do that it must become remarkable.

With the speed, volume and format of messages we’re bombarded with each day (easily more than 30,000 per day), it is even more important that you and your organisation be able to cut through the “white noise” to stand out from the crowd and be noticed. It’s the only way to facilitate your growth and longevity.

This is in addition to and integral to your USP. Your USP is not what you think. It is not your Unique Selling Point. Few people, if any, like being sold to and if your organisation is dependent on a point to differentiate yourself in your market you are in trouble. More on that as we go along.

So…how are you and your organisation remarkable or how could you become remarkable?

Seth Godin, best-selling author and futurist thinker has a great take on standing out in his book Purple Cow. Paul Dunn, a marketing whizz and chair of Buy 1 Give 1*, has shared some insights on being remarkable via TEDx.

Actually, Paul recently expanded on this further. He co-created a new and remarkable phenomenon centred on embedded giving in business. The title of the presentation – REMARKABLE: Adding SPEED, Adding PURPOSE, Changing LIVES. Paul challenged the audience of leaders, executives and influencers of businesses and organizations to explore, examine and assimilate practical insights around these essential concepts. The correlations that Paul drew for organisations, regardless of size, were:

1. Adding speed equals your WOW.
2. Adding purpose is your WHY.
3. Changing lives is uniquely named as your WOOW.

Paul has kindly allowed me to expand on his presentation based on some further insights that have arisen as this concept has burrowed deep into my thinking.

So here goes…

WOW

How do you add WOW?

Good question.

This relates to the little things that create huge differences in perception (and in reality) in your organisation. These transcend logic. They ‘cut through’. In effect, they add speed to who you are, what you do and your reputation. This little thing is often the last thing you do as seen by your team, clients and customers. It is this little thing that is the most remarkable. It could be the artwork on the foam of your latte that takes 6 seconds and a toothpick or, after an interview with a candidate for a position at your organisation, sending the next day a hand-written thank you on a card hand-crafted by your daughter. Often this has a high perceived value for the recipient but is actually a minimal investment to you. This little thing is not a cost; this little thing will help differentiate you in your market and attract new business and retain and build existing business.

Your WOW is centred around the value you deliver. Please note here that I did not say the value you offer. Why? Because what you offer and what you deliver can differ. It is essential that in practice these are the same – you deliver what you offer. However, your organization may intend to offer value but actually deliver less than was expected by the recipient of your product, service or interaction.

For clarity, the Oxford Dictionary defines value as:

n. the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something; the material or monetary worth of something:

In the recipient’s eyes it delivers a significant benefit. This applies internally within your organization to your people – from your cleaner to your administration team to your accounts department to your board. It also applies externally to your customers, clients, suppliers and other stakeholders.

Your WOW makes you profoundly and strategically different and adds to your USP – your Unique Strategic Promise.

On this concept please consider these questions:

• What value are you currently delivering?
• What can you do that will truly WOW your clients?
• How could you add even more value that is truly WOW?
• What makes you WOWnique?

WHY

Why do we do what we do? Why am I here? What is our purpose?

All are good questions. All are relevant questions in the uncertainty of today. This is about adding purpose, true meaning, to everything that you are and do for your organisation and for your market. Your WHY is centred on your values.

Again for clarity, the Oxford Dictionary defines values as:

Adj. principles or standards of behaviour; one’s judgement of what is important in life:

Your values are integral to who you are and will help define your purpose. Your values are a compass that will ensure you align with your purpose.

Keep in mind that people and organisations buy who you are and what you believe – your values and your purpose. Such people and organisations will, importantly, be the right people for you and your organisation whether as clients, investors, shareholders, employees or suppliers.

Knowing your purpose provides a sense of certainty, clarity, focus and impetus for your progress, growth, development and, yes, success – whether as an organization, team or individual. When your organisation, for example, has a WHY of bringing VISION to people’s lives through its exceptional high definition television sets AND, through its socially responsible embedded giving to a charity which brings VISION to blind people, you get this concept.

Regrettably, many people and organisations have yet to fully address this question of their purpose and, for that matter, their values. Both are not meant to be just something on your website and your wall to which lip-service is given by one and/or all in your organisation. These are what you are meant to be known for and make up your reputation and your credibility. They mean something!

Without your WHY you will be relegated to the crowd losing market share and possibly going bust or you will be redundant uncertain what to do next – lost and purposeless.

Today never has it been more important to really understand your purpose. It is a tough question and an unforgiving one when you face up to it and seek the answer. When you truly know, understand and live your WHY you perpetually ignite your organisation and you.**

Your WHY enhances your organisation’s significance and is integral to your USP – your Unique Significant Purpose.

So what are your answers to these questions:

• What is your WHY?
• Why do you do what you do?
• Why do you get up each morning?
• How are you adding purpose?
• What are your values?
• What makes you WHYnique?

WOOW

WOOW?

WOOW is deeper than WOW (just say it out loud and you’ll hear it!) It’s a transcendent concept centred around people and relationships. Your organisation’s success and significance is determined by the quality of relationships inside and outside your organisation.

This is about making true connections with people; it goes beyond transacting and beyond communicating. It is much deeper.  It locks into the value you deliver and your values. When you connect you truly change lives. In fact you transform them. When you change you can change back; when you transform you cannot. When you connect people are being valued; they transform and so do you and your organisation. Remember the example of the high definition television business?

According to Oxford Dictionary again when you are valued you are:

Adj. considered to be important or beneficial; cherished.

You matter.

You can create amazing opportunities when you deliver value from your values. When you add connection with people and organisations where they feel and are valued that’s when WOOW happens and we go beyond creating amazing opportunities – that’s where we create potentially infinite opportunities of amazing significance. You evolve to a higher level of success, influence and significance.

Your WOOW creates synergy where connections and relationships are interdependent with your USP – your Unique Synergistic Partnerships.

Regarding your WOOW:

• How are you changing lives?
• How are you WOOW-ing your clients?
• Who do you need to be and what do you need to do to ensure all your stakeholders are truly valued?
• What makes you WOOWnique?

USP

A few further points on your USP. To be remarkable:

• You must add speed with your WOW delivered via your Unique Simplified Process.
• You must add purpose with your WHY that is fuelled by your Unique Spurring Passion.
• You must change lives with your WOOW applying your Unique Significant Persona.

SUMMARY

Together your WOW, your WHY and your WOOW make you REMARKABLE, make you unique and, thereby, make your organization very attractive to your market. Your USP is so much more that a selling point.

To be REMARKABLE you must deliver VALUE from your VALUES to your VALUED clients. When you do that you will grow in VALUE, be known for your VALUES and be VALUED.

What makes your organisation REMARKABLE is your legacy that you leave in your market, in your clients and customers and in your people.

So…

Be REMARKABLE!

Copyright 2011

Dr Richard Norris is a speaker, author and leadership coach with a focus on transformational self-leadership. To contact him about this article and/or on his services please email rnorris@ypncompanies.com and visit his website www.drrichardnorris.com .