Imagine my surprise when my very first Executive Coaching client turned out to be the CFO of a $100 BILLION dollar (plus!) subsidiary of a Fortune 10 US company! (YES, I was petrified!)

Not only was 'Mike' incredibly senior and powerful, but his employee feedback regarding his interpersonal skills was horrific! He was reported to be “prone to angry outbursts and mood swings” (Yikes)! 

What if I was thrown out of his office on my ear within 15 minutes? 

Well, luckily, Mike didn’t throw me out of his office. Instead, he hired me to help him get promoted to CEO of an even larger subsidiary within the mother company within 1-3 years! 

Great. Now I had to help a man with zero interpersonal team skills to get promoted to an even more outrageously prestigious company! (hint: not easy)
Fast-forward one year: Mike was promoted to that CEO position, I had become his trusted confidant and long-term coach, and he was sending me more referrals than I knew what to do with.

Trust me, if I could pull off what felt like a miracle for this guy, it doesn’t matter what state your Executive Coaching business is in today, you CAN have many more stories like this too! 

Here are 5 simple steps to create stellar results for your clients so that they never stop raving and sending referrals:

Step 1: Get totally clear about the value you bring!  
The most important question a coach needs to answer is 'Why?'  When you dip into that deep bubbling well of what inspired you to be a coach in the first place you become a powerful attractor. Or maybe you launched as a coach without fully tapping that well and articulating your 'Why' — it's incredibly compelling and clients can sense when you are being sourced by that connection; there's a palpable alignment between your words, actions and the deeper inspiration that is your power source.Sometimes your practice has evolved in ways you have not clearly identified, the value you add may be emerging in new ways. It's essential to name it all and 'own' it as your ground of being when encountering a prospective client. If you're sensing that your 'Why' is lacking a laser focus then take a proactive step and discover how others experienced your purpose in action, being the beneficiaries of your 'Why'. Identify 3 people who know you well, perhaps some you have coached formally or informally, and schedule a time to talk.  Send them an email in advance of your coffee meeting with the questions you would like their input on.

Step 2:  Identify WHO benefits most from your WHY.  

Coaching is the second fastest growing profession. Knowing your niche as an Executive Coach will enable others to refer to you with ease. HR leaders and corporate executives are attuned to the unspoken brand that coaches convey. Part of sending a clear signal is being tuned in to the constituencies you serve best. A classic error in building your Executive Coaching practice is trying to be all things to all people. Make a list of people you have coached or have been drawn to inquire about your services. Notice themes and ask yourself what do these people have in common? Clients typically don't choose coaching 'for coaching's sake'; there's some 'gap' or condition of dis-ease that is persisting in their work life that they want help with. What type of problem did you help past clients solve? Write the problems down. If you are fairly new to coaching, identify the types of problems people  seem to seek your help with when they ask you informally. Distill that all down to a concise statement of the essential few types of gaps you stand ready to help people close!

Step 3: Get An Accurate Assessment of Your Skills and Unique Offering  

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Who You Are Speaks So Loudly I Can Hardly Hear What You Are Saying." YOU are the most important element of your offering. Research indicates that 95% of what renders a potent coaching engagement is the interactive  'field' that is created between coach and client. How's your coaching 'presence'? Are you 'meeting' the client at his/her starting point or are you driving your agenda? For many coaches having a sense that they are 'consciously competent' enables them to fully relax into their unique presence. Get an updated assessment of your skills and competencies as a coach and then build a refresher development plan for yourself. Take a validated assessment to help you leverage your existing skills and focus in on a tight learning plan for the gaps.

Step 4: Prioritize Coaching with the Rest of Your Life.   

It's important that you see your coaching success as feeding and enlivening all dimensions of your life. Start by building on the visualization exercise in the step 3. Go out one year in time in your imagination and see the full blown vision of the life you want with coaching as one key element. Capture words that describe your ideal life in the following areas: spouse or significant other, family, friends, living space, health, quality of life and finances. Create a collage that represents your Ideal Life one year from today. Use magazine clippings or internet images to bring your ideal vision to life.

Step 5:  Identify your blocks and underlying beliefs and create a shift of dominance to empowering beliefs.
 
Write 3 true stories of starting out wanting something in your life and ending up without it. Just use a simple storyboard format or flow diagram. Identify the critical 'step' where things started to derail. Ask yourself: "What would a person have to believe in order to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory in that way?" Your answer would be one of your limiting beliefs. There's no shame in having them! We all do! A wonderful coaching client of mine named Erin was a Ph.D. Scientist working at a government agency. She was weary of the bureaucracy and of being the only female in the department. Erin did the storyboard process and got in touch with some limiting beliefs about her ability to go out on her own as a coach. Erin believed she needed years of coach training or a degree in psychology to hang out her shingle. Then she discovered she could utilize the great leadership skills she had developed over the years. She noticed that she was always the one to focus  the team meetings, resolve conflicts, and that numerous people would seek her counsel one-on-one for help with work and interpersonal dynamics. She substituted her limiting belief for the empowering belief that she had 18 years of hands-on coaching practice with some of the most challenging and intelligent people on the planet! Erin now does the work she loves and lives in Alaska with her husband and two young girls.Erin's husband was able to take a university teaching position in the place they both loved in part because Erin had work that was portable and she could do from anywhere!

You can have a robust coaching business that creates impact, earns you a great living, and allows you to live a balanced, fulfilled life! Most of us have learned to take our dreams down to size and limit what we think is possible. Imagine for a second that you cannot fail. What would you be willing to try if you knew that were true? Take the first step and register for my Free Webinar: Become The Go-To Coach For Executives, Double Your Income and Boost Your Confidence in 7 Easy Steps!