Working Collaboratively to Grow Your Coaching Business

By Lynne Brisdon, PCC, CPCC& Jacque Small, CEC

We agreed to become strategic business partners two years ago to promote workshops in which we teach people how to release their emotional baggage. We set the intention to work easy and have experienced several benefits from working collaboratively.

Less Money
We both needed to promote our coaching practices more but wanted to minimize the expense. By combining resources both our businesses benefit from Maestro Conferences and Constant Contact memberships. Plus we blog at www.workeasy4lifebalance.com

Saves Time
By joining forces it takes less time to write monthly newsletters and blog articles. In under an hour we outline each month's newsletter and writing is a breeze. Plus co-developing and delivering our Emotional Hot Button Removal Workshops rather than competing, saves us both time and energy.

Creativity and Productivity
Working together we come up with more creative ideas to promote our services. Rather than struggling alone, ideas and knowledge flow freely from our conversations. Building on this we now share ideas for living magical lives on our free monthly Catalyst LIVE! tele-call. Collaboration has greatly increased productivity and enhanced the quality of ideas we generate.

Learning
We learn and grow together by sharing and combining our unique talents and strengths. Jacque brings vast business knowledge to our relationship and Lynne brings 20 years of spiritual exploration and teaching in both formal and informal settings.

Support
Like mastermind partners we are a huge source of support for one another. Being coaches this is especially true. We're there for each other's personal growth and business development; particularly if either of us is emotionally triggered. We are able to use our unique coaching techniques to resolve emotional reactions and keep moving forward.

Accountability
Our agreement to meet regularly every Monday morning has kept us on track. This commitment has been invaluable for taking on new challenges while building our businesses. Without our scheduled meetings it would have been very easy to lose focus on the promotion and development of business and to let our workshops lapse.

We both engage in several activities besides coaching and business building. Lynne serves Self Employment Program clients and Jacque has been writing her book on divorce, speaking and travelling. We usually start our business meetings with a check in to clear anything that's keep us from being at the top of our game. Our partnership has kept both of us focused on all aspects of business.

Fun
Finally, we also intended to have fun and do work we love. This way work ceases to be hard. By bouncing ideas off each other we stay inspired and have more energy to pour into work and life. We have fun, get things done with ease, and produce better work together than either one of us could have done on our own.

Working together really has made our lives easier and more balanced. Who could wish for anything more in life than inspiring work they love and a sense of balance?

Who could you work more collaboratively with?

Brene Brown FREE webinar

If you enjoyed the ICF Vancouver Chapter Brene Brown event, you might be interested to
learn more about her Connections program.

WHEN: Tuesday December 6th 3pm EST

Find all the details at this link,
http://www.hazelden.org/web/public/event.view?eventId=3469279

Internal Coaching: “It’s What We Do Around Here”

David Rock’s convinced internal coaching can change the culture—and the bottom line—of a company. And he’s got the research to prove it, with a new study of coaching’s impact on a New Zealand insurance company.

“During a time when this client’s industry was tanking, our coaching initiative helped turn a loss into a profit, halved staff turnover and increased engagement fifty percent,” said Rock, whose company, Results Coaching, led the effort.

In 2008, IAG (Insurance Australia Group) NZ, the largest insurer in New Zealand with more than 2,000 staff members across nearly 40 locations, decided to take action after “lower than expected business results and a decrease in overall engagement scores.”

The decision was made to build a coaching framework into the company’s senior leadership development program, and to create a “coaching culture” among IAG’s employees and managers.

Ruth Donde, who ran the initiative for Results Coaching, tracked the insurance company’s progress and reported the results: “coaching has significantly impacted engagement and retention across the business in two years.”

What’s more, Donde found, was that once planted, that “coaching culture” took root and took off, with coaching now integrated into other IAG programs and systems, with resulting performance boosts. The company’s managers describe coaching now as “what we do around here,” and report 94% of HR managers using coaching skills every week.

The initiative intended to make coaching “business as usual” from the start. “In order to maintain and grow coaching within IAG, coaching now forms part of all people manager job descriptions,” according to Donde’s report on the project.

“Coaching is promoted within the organization and is already an attractor for new staff. All new managers are informed of the coaching culture within IAG NZ and all go on a coaching skills program. Keeping coaching top of mind is done through visual aids and ongoing messaging around the benefits of coaching and being coached, status related to coaching, success stories and testimonials. Coaching clinics have been set up for refreshing and practicing coaching skills. Mentor groups and communities of practice are being set up as well as further development for coaches so that they can upskill to the next level of certification. Annual minimum requirements have been set for coaches as well as systems to ensure maintenance of coaching standards.”

The creation of a culture where coaching’s just “what we do” is a trend that Rock outlined earlier this year in an extensive study of internal coaching programs. “When senior leaders become coaches, it makes them more effective leaders themselves,” said Rock. “Getting leaders to build leadership skills in their people deeply transforms their own leadership skills.”

Rock suggests that even if an executive devotes only one hour a week to coaching, the results can be dramatic and widespread. “Attention changes the brain, and just as playing an instrument one hour a week will build your musical skills over time, the same happens with coaching. This can be explained through the concept of ‘attention density’, which is the quality and quantity of actual attention paid to a specific set of circuits in the brain. Through repetition and continuous activity, new skills are more readily embedded.”

Rock argues that a key to success in building internal coaching programs is focusing on that “coaching culture,” with a program that covers senior leadership development, talent management, transition performance management, skills development and “on-boarding,” the process of bringing new employees firmly into the company.

A study involving a department of the Australian government found “on-boarding” makes a big difference in employee retention. According to a report on the effort, “after training over 100 internal coaches across this whole organization, one of the bits of feedback was that the internal clients felt far more valued by the organization. They felt the business really cared about them. The organization spent tens of thousands of dollars finding them. Many people just don’t feel that they are cared about – all you have to do is give them someone to talk to them for twelve hours over six months, not a lot of time investment, and you can make a big impact.”

Dramatically improved performance numbers on retention, motivation, and employees’ sense of being valued, Rock said, show how coaching impacts a company’s bottom line. “Internal coaching definitely works. It is the initiative of choice in organizations undergoing change, and looking to embed a coaching culture.”

In the recent study involving IAG, staff turnover dropped from nearly 20 percent to 9.97 percent. Engagement figures rose, from 51% to 76%.

And that bottom line? According to Donde’s research, IAG moved from a 5% operating loss to a profit of 7.6%.

Have you had experience planting a “coaching culture” at a company?

Did it take root? And did it show up—critically—in the company’s bottom line?


This article was written by Mark Joyellais & reprinted with the permission of The Coaching Commons http://coachingcommons.org/

Vancouver Coaches Needed!!!

Call for Volunteers

The Board of Directors for the ICF Vancouver Chapter requires more volunteers from our coaching community to help with various activities and tasks that support our ability to provide a wide array of services to our Vancouver Chapter Members.


If you are interested in any of these opportunities please email Cheryl Stafford, Vice President with your interest. Please reference specific jobs listed below that you are passionate and exited about helping with.


Thank you in advance for helping our Coaching Community by volunteering your time. Not all tasks require you to live in Vancouver and can be done remotely so there is opportunity for all Coaches in our greater community to participate!


Communications

1 person to help organize Coach Tasting events as part of Coach Awareness week (skills: event organization, and logistics)

1 person to support our social media lead. Makes regular posts on all of our social media vehicles related to chapter activities (skills: social media geek, someone already connected, ability to post regularly)

1 person to help with blog/newsletter/press communication as needed (skills: writing and communications experience and interest)


Monthly Chapter Programs


1 or 2 general volunteers to to assist with selection of presenters for chapter meetings, introduce presenters, apply for CCEU's and help set-up and take down for chapter meetings

1 or 2 photographers to take photos at chapter meetings, set up video to record meetings as required, submit photos to Communications within 5 days of chapter meetings - if you regularly attend our meetings and have a camera and an eye for looking through a lens this could be a perfect pairing!

1 person to perform historical research to create a comprehensive list of past presenters and topics as far back as we have documentation. Also to create an online resource for members to access chapter meeting information and maintain this list following each chapter meeting

1 person to provide resource and support in the area of technology (skills: knowledge of survey tools, webinar platforms, time/group management tools eg. timebridge, google groups,etc.). Develops, deploys and creates monthly chapter meeting evaluations and provides summary to the Programs Chair

1 or 2 general volunteers to to assist with selection of presenters for chapter meetings, introduce presenters, apply for CCEU's and help set-up and take down for chapter meetings
Chapter Events

1 person to help with promoting events

3 people to work on a committee with the Events Chair to provide a recommendation to the board for awards program for 2012/2013

1 event logistics pro - if you have past experience planning and executing events, we need your help for a Chapter event in 2012

Listen to Hilights from the ICF Conference in Las Vegas

our Prism Award winners are mentioned !

Brian Fraser
Lead Provocateur
Jazzthink
www.jazzthink.com
fraser@jazzthink.com

The Power of Coaching for Nonprofits

I find that coaching colleagues often ignore the nonprofit sector as a market for paid coaching. Granted, there are lots of nonprofit leaders that want it for free. But there are an increasing number of voices, especially among funders, who are recognizing that coaching gives them the biggest bang for their buck – by far. Here are a couple of resources to help coaches who are putting together a business case for nonprofits.

The first is a series of video clips compiled by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund to introduce people top the benefits of coaching. Especially powerful among these clips are those from Bill Ryan, who co-authored Governance as Leadership, one of the most influential books on nonprofit management written in the past decade.

http://www.haasjr.org/programs-and-initiatives/video/power-coaching]

The second is a report done by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services in San Francisco for Grantmakers for Effective Organizations entitled Coaching and Philanthropy. The report documents that coaching is being seen more and more by grantmakers as an effective intervention to fund, especially in helping to provide leaders with a safe place for reflection in turbulant times, to develop self-awareness for leaders, and to gain clarity and confidence throughout the organization. Click here to download an executive summary, the full report, an action guide for organizations, and an action guide for coaches from the CompassPoint website.

They can be downloaded for free from the CompassPoint website - http://www.compasspoint.org/research-reports.]

Nonprofits are facing tough challenges with sources of funding decreasing and demands increasing. Their leaders will benefit greatly from the provocative support that good coaches offer. I encourage you to watch and read the resources suggested here and find some nonprofits that could use your inspiring services.

You are Needed! Call for Volunteers ...

The ICF Board of Directors, Vancouver Chapter is looking for volunteers in our coaching community to participate on a variety of committees and / or with regular tasks in order to help our Chapter be as effective as possible.  This is a great opportunity for coaches in BC to get involved in helping us raise awareness of the coaching profession and to support local activities related to coaching!  Some opportunities do not require that you live in Vancouver and can be done over the phone so this opportunity is inclusive of the larger BC coaching communtiy.

If you are interested in volunteering please contact Cheryl Stafford, Vice President at cheryls.icfvan@shaw.ca with a subject line: volunteer and she will be happy to link you up with an opportunity that meets your needs.

Below are the current opportunities.  If there is something else you are interested in that is not here please let Cheryl know and she will see what we can do to accommodate and help you to become involved.

Thanks in advance for your support through volunteerism to advance the coaching profession!

Communications:

1 writer, editor to help take care of the Blog and the Newsletter

1 social media guru, to help communicate regularly using these mediums

Multiple event logistic coordinators/executors, to help with our Coach Awareness initiative in 2011-2012 (starting end of October or November 2011)

 

Monthly Chapter Meetings / Programs:

1 greeter to welcome attendants at monthly meetings (cash box, registration, name tags, receipts) on the  2^nd Tuesday of each month

 

Promotions:

1 person  to help with the monthly chapter meeting promotion (phone tree, email, social media, etc).

1 person to help with promoting events (other than the monthly programs)

  

Coach Giving:

1 person to assess coach giving volunteer submissions and forward them to the appropriate coach program coordinator (may involve telephone interviews with coaches)

1 person who has an affinity for sourcing and designing surveys and questionnaires to evaluate coaching programs

1 person to be the Vice Chair of the Coach Giving Committee an assist in developing the management structure for this growing committee

Sponsorship:

1 - 2 people to track each sponsor’s package and help assure that we deliver on our commitment (number and size of ads, events tickets, sponsor tables at monthly meetings, etc.)

2 PRISM AWARDS go to VANCOUVER!!!!

For Immediate Release
September 26, 2011

VANCOUVER HAS TOP TALENT:

JOEY Restaurant Group and BC Housing winners of 2011 ICF International Prism Award

Vancouver, BC– JOEY Restaurant Group and BC Housing of Canada were named the 2011 ICF International Prism Award winners at the ICF Annual International Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 26, 2011. The award recognizes organizations that have profited through their commitment to coaching as a leadership strategy.

"Receiving the International Prism Award places JOEY and BC Housing amongst some of the most admired organizations in the world" says Karole Sutherland, President of the ICF Vancouver Chapter. "It showcases the impact of professional coaching  on leadership strategy and bottom line results. Vancouver has some of the best professional coaches in the world, and we are extremely proud  that Vancouver coaches are  helping top organizations deliver significant results."

Canadian based JOEY Restaurant Group began a coaching initiative in 2009 with Vancouver-based Essential Impact to build a coaching culture with senior leaders within their organization so they could be coached and trained as internal coaches while running their restaurant regions. This initiative, now integrated throughout all 8 JOEY regions and 25 stores, has contributed to more than 30 per cent revenue growth over the past 30 months, reduced turnover, and placed JOEY on the Top 100 employers list. JOEY calculates a 682 percent return on investment from their coaching initiative.

“The International Prism Award is an amazing acknowledgement” said JOEY Restaurant Group Vice President of Human Resources Andrew Martin. “To be recognized by the coaching community for taking on an innovative approach to leadership development, causes us to take a breath and celebrate what we have accomplished to date.”

BC Housing of Canada partnered with MICA (now Knightsbridge) in 2007 to create its Leadership Development Program in an effort to develop its leadership talent and create a coaching for performance culture. The initiative was first introduced at the executive level and was soon expanded to include all leaders throughout the organization. As a result, BC Housing closed the leadership gap, increased the pool of competent leaders, and is estimated to have experienced a 70 percent return on investment.

BC Housing’s investment in coaching continues, having most recently launched the ‘Coach2Coach’ program for its senior leaders to deepen their coaching skills, broaden their leadership perspectives and build a community of practice.

“We are honored to receive this award and this recognition of BC Housing’s commitment to providing development opportunities for our employees,” said BC Housing CEO Shayne Ramsay. “As a public sector employer, creating a coaching culture within our organization has been fundamental in helping us achieve organizational goals and support our people as they carry out our social mandate. Our coaching program is designed to have long-term impact, creating and maintaining both personal and organizational effectiveness.”

Past winners of the ICF International Prism Award include: NASA, IBM, BBC, Genetch, TINE Group, SYSCO, MCI, University of Texas at Dallas, and Verizon Business.

# # #

About ICF Vancouver:

International Coach Federation (ICF) Vancouver is Vancouver’s non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the coaching profession by setting high professional standards, being an authoritative source on coaching information and research, providing independent certification, and building a local network of credentialed coaches. ICF Vancouver Chapter is one of the 15 largest of the 108 chapters in over 50 countries worldwide. The ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Visit: www.icfvancouver.org

Contact:

Karole Sutherland

President, ICF Vancouver

Tel: (604) 788-9145     

Email: ksutherland@sutherlandconsulting.com

BRENE BROWN TICKETS SOLD OUT!!!

Thank you to everyone who purchased tickets to this exciting event...ENJOY!

A MORNING WITH DR. BRENE BROWN

The ICF VANCOUVER CHAPTER
INVITES YOU TO JOIN US FOR
A MORNING WITH DR. BRENE BROWN

The Power of Vulnerability (keynote)*
The Hustle for Worthiness (breakout session)**
- The Journey from "What Will They Think" to "I Am Enough"

When: Friday September 30th
Registration: 7:00 - 7:30 am (prepaid tickets only**)
Breakfast: 7:30 - 8:00 am
Keynote: 8:00 - 9:00am
Breakout Session: 9:15 - 11:15 am
Book Signing: 11:30 am 

Members: To sign up for this event, please click here. Cost $149

Non-Members: To sign up for this event, please click here. Cost $179 

The final day to purchase tickets is September 14th and NO tickets will be sold at the door. Be sure to get your tickets soon as they are quickly selling out!

"Brené's reputation as a speaker is built on her ability to explore difficult topics with tremendous honesty, warmth, and humor. She is a thought-leader, researcher, and storyteller with the rare ability to both inspire audiences and leave them with actionable change strategies."

*Keynote: The Power of Vulnerability

In our culture, vulnerability has become synonymous with weakness. We associate vulnerability with emotions like fear, shame, and scarcity; emotions that we don't want to discuss, even when they profoundly affect the way we live, love, work, and lead.

The morning keynote will explore:

I. The critical role vulnerability plays in our personal and professional success
II. The five most common strategies we use to avoid and minimize vulnerability and how they move us away from our goals; and
III. Five actionable strategies for leaning into our discomfort and embracing vulnerability as a source of strength and inspiration

** Breakout: The Hustle for Worthiness:

The Journey from "What Will People Think" to "I Am Enough"

The greatest barrier to experiencing love and belonging is our own beliefs about our worthiness. When we struggle to believe that we are truly worthy of love and belonging, we hustle for it.

Brene's research uncovers that worthiness is not about who we should be or who we might be or who we could be. It's about who we are. Right now. Today. It's about waking up and believing, "I am enough."

In this workshop, we will explore:

I. The definitions of love and belonging that emerged from Brené's 10-year study on Wholehearted Living;
II. Why owning our story is an integral part of claiming our worthiness; and
III. Specific strategies for cultivating a life defined by authenticity, love and belonging, and worthiness.

Visit Dr. Brown's website here .  Watch her recent TED talkon the “Power of Vulnerability."

Read a book review of Dr. Brown's Gift of Imperfection here. 

To download a copy of a flyer for the Sept 30th event that can be forwarded to a friend, please click here.

Mark September 30^thon your calendar to join us at the Vancouver Convention Centre for a morning with Dr. Brene Brown.

Refund Info: A refund, less an administration fee of 20% or a minimum of $50, will be issued for cancellations received within 2 full weeks of the event, program or workshop. Notice of the cancellation, accompanied by the original e-receipt, must be received via email to the board treasurer. No refunds will be issued for cancellations received within 2 weeks of the event, program or workshop.

Blog Guidelines - SHARE WITH US!

Thank you so much for taking an interest and wanting to share with the community. Here are a few guidelines to get you started:

WHY THE NEW FORMAT?

This change is intended to align with the Board’s goals of increasing value to the readership, showcasing our community of Coaches and elevating the profile of ICF Vancouver. The content will be fresh, relevant & targeted to our audiences. This Blog will be used as a Marketing vehicle to increase awareness, readership, membership and engagement of the Community.

So why are we moving to a new physical platform? Well to sum it up concisely – functionality! The new format allows us to make the Blog a dynamic experience with the use of multimedia:

·         Ensure the best quality Coaching content through clear Guidelines

·         Embed videos and picture slideshows

·         Offer you motivational music to play while you are working!

·         Links to other valuable Coaching resources and all of our Social media

·         Twitter feed on the Blog site

·         Ability to search, follow and receive the blog updates via email

If you subscribe to no other ICF Vancouver updates – the Blog could be your one stop shop to all of the latest updates and resources.

All members are strongly encouraged to contribute Coaching articles to share with the community, suggest music, send in pictures and recommend Twitter subjects. This is your opportunity to be published in a Blog that you can send your network to. And for those of you who have your own business – Blogging increases your search engine ranking!

WHAT GOES INTO OUR NEW BLOG?

• Newsworthy, relevant articles on coaching and the industry. The audience is the Coaching community, our networks and the public.
• Our goal is to increase our collective knowledge base by everyone in the ICF community sharing. This sharing increases interconnectedness and elevates us all.
• This Blog cannot be used for self-promotion/sales, advertising of any services/personal events, or business logistics (such as pricing, how to market, insurance, licenses etc.)
• Events and Discussions will go into LINKEDIN (The exception is that all ICF Sponsored events will be profiled in the Blog such as Brene Brown, Coach Awareness Week etc.)
• Brief video footage is allowed, must be relevant, and approved by Communications before publishing. Video footage can include: testimonials on the Benefits of Coaching; coaching tips by expert coaches; showcase of coaching conference highlights; showcase of speeches presented at conferences; explanation of what coaching is by experts, etc.

 BLOGGING GUIDELINES & CHECKLIST

Please review this checklist before submitting your content.

• Know and follow the ICF Code of Ethics http://www.coachfederation.org/about-icf/ethics/icf-code-of-ethics/
• Respect your audience.  You should also show proper consideration for others' privacy and for topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory—such as politics and religion
• Respect copyright, fair use and financial disclosure laws
• State your name, title & company name at top of blog. You are welcome & encourage to include a picture of yourself for a more personal touch.
• Ensure your submission is written in article format (for ideas and examples please see:http://icfheadquarters.blogspot.com/?CFID=451642&CFTOKEN=62938663)
• Please edit and check grammar before submitting
• If submitting video along with your article - please check audio and video levels to ensure a quality viewing experience
• If including website links – please ensure they are functioning properly.
• Be sure to use “coaching” keywords in your article in order to maximize our Search Engine Optimization. This allows more people to find your article and increases exposure.

SUBMISION PROCESS

• Ensure you have reviewed ‘Blogging Guidelines and Checklist’ before submitting blog content
• Email your blog content to  icfvanblog@gmail.com
• ICF Vancouver Blog Editors will email back approval or comments
• Once approved, an Editor will post your contribution
• Blogs will be posted within 2-5 days
• Once you see your post – PLEASE SHARE THE LINK with friends, family, clients etc.

We strongly encourage  you to get involved and help raise your personal profile and that of the ICF Vancouver Chapter!