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I remember when I walked into my first coaching client session, I was petrified! I could not fathom how I would add any value to a 43 year old professional female! She asked me to be the "coach from hell" with her and I was stymied (that was not my style!).

So I took a deep breath, found my courage, and within just one hour together, we had brought her radiance out so that she could compose a fulfilling life by simply clearing away some underbrush that was blocking her best and truest self. 

My courage - that was all it took for her to become a long-term client; the first of many. 

How would you like to crush that new coach fear, be your most courageous self, and create a consistent flow of coaching clients who are dying to pay anything just to work with you?

You can have that right now when you follow these 5 Simple Steps To Confidently Command Your Value And Create A Consistent Flow of High-Paying Clients:

Step 1: Get Clear And Honest With Yourself About The Value You Bring

The best way to do this is to inventory your past successes. Here's an exercise: Close your eyes and remember a time when you were at your best, you were in a flow state, as if you and the task you were involved in were completely merged. Bring up the memories vividly, like stepping into a movie set of your life. What do you see, hear, or experience? Write it all down. This is you at your best. Do you feel how powerful you are?

Now let’s take it a step further. I want you to discover how others see your gifts too. Right now, identify 3 people who know you well and reach out to them to schedule a time to talk (I recommend choosing past coaching clients if possible). In that time together, ask them questions like “What would you say are my top strengths? Do you recall a time when I demonstrated a particular talent? What do you see as my natural gifts?”

Step 2:  Write a Coach Mission Statement

A mission statement is a great way to condense into just a few sentences all of the value you always promise to deliver to your clients, as a reminder to you - and as a manifesto to your clients - of the gifts you bring to the table. This statement should be simple and concise (3-5 sentences are best) and it should focus on why coaching with you makes a difference, specifically in terms of what problem you solve and the outcomes you create for your clients. 

I suggest beginning by utilizing the information you gathered from the interviews above, even using your coaching clients own words when possible (how cool would that be?). 

Step 3:  Imagine Your Ideal Future as a Coach

The old adage applies here, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will do!" 
Here’s an exercise to help you get crystal clear on what you want your future to look like as a coach, for yourself and for your clients: First, find a quiet spot. 

Good. Now close your eyes and take a deep breath. Imagine waking in the morning breeze, feeling that spark of motivation to begin your work day and touch your client’s lives. Allow yourself to see the people you are helping. Notice the smiles on their faces. Feel how they hug you to say “Thank you” for the impact you’ve had on their lives. Listen as they tell you all about how difficult things were when they first came to you… and how different and amazing their lives are now. 

Now that you see how you’ve impacted so many people’s lives, let’s see how this has changed your life too. Picture what your office looks like. Are you working with any colleagues and sharing a common space or are you working solo from home or in a private office? What do you see has changed about your life? What new things have you bought? What vacations are you planning? Picture it all!

When you’re done marinating in the success of your future, open your eyes and journal about everything you saw, heard, or felt. 

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 To Create a Shift of Dominance to New, Empowering Beliefs

Right now, write 3 true stories of starting out wanting something in your life and ending up without it. You may use a simple storyboard format or flow diagram to make this quicker and easier if you choose. Identify the critical 'step' where things started to derail and 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 discovered that she was limiting herself with the belief that she needed years of coach training or a degree in psychology to hang out her shingle. Once this belief was identified, she was able to turn it around to create a new empowering belief that allowed for her to acknowledge her leadership skills, skill in conflict resolution, and counseling. She allowed this new belief to carry her confidently into beginning work she now loves! (and you can do that too)

You CAN have a robust coaching business that creates impact, earns you a great living, and allows you to live a balanced, fulfilled life! You CAN command your value. 

Because your value is limitless. Most of us have learned to take our dreams down to size and limit what we think is possible. Yet I know, you - yes, you! - you cannot fail. Take the first step and register for my Free Webinar: “Discover the 5 Simple Steps to CONFIDENTLY Double Your Coaching Fees, Expand Your Impact, and Feel More Confident As A Life Coach!”

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!

Welcome to the first of occasional blogs from ChoicePoint. My intention is to share ‘tidbits’ of ideas, thoughts, quotes to encourage reflection and support people’s desire to truly create meaningful results in all areas of life: work, home, community…
 
As in most of our courses, the blogs will focus on three areas of leadership development: self-awareness, social awareness (awareness of others), and team/organizational awareness. In his seminal book, Focus, The Hidden Driver of Excellence, noted author Daniel Goleman, describes three levels of attention as self, other and outer.
 
By whatever names you use, the principle remains the same. In order to create results that matter, we need to combine our usual focus on what we are doing (the outer dimension as Goleman describes it), with how we are working together (one on one and in teams) and who we are as individuals (self awareness).
 
When I first started in this field, nearly 30 years ago, the core focus was on structures of organizational life and defining the ‘work’ of leaders (i.e. here is what you do to be successful). Gradually, people became interested in the ‘how’ of leadership as phrases such as facilitative leadership, collaborative leadership, high performing teams came into vogue. More recently, with the pace of change creating higher levels of stress on organizations and their people, many have realized that ‘who’ they greatly impacts how the work gets done, which in turn, impacts what actually happens.
 
The ability to shift one’s attention from what to how to who and back again to what is not a luxury, but rather a necessity in these increasingly complex times. Without a more comprehensive sense of awareness, we may be at the whim of all the change swelling around us rather than bringing our fullest sense of self to shaping that change into beneficial action.
 
You might think of these levels as muscles to be developed. Through mindsets, tools and repeatable practice, the muscles only get stronger. Future blogs will generally focus on a specific “set of awareness muscles”. I’ll cover the mindsets, tools and practices that can enhance our awareness and hence our ability to create meaningful results.
 
And, they’ll be guest writers from time to time to share their wisdom and insights.
 
 Your thoughts, comments, reflections, questions are of course most welcome. I look forward to an on-going conversation.