We see a shift happening in the world and we think that you see it too. The shift is one that fills us full of optimism. It’s exciting and we’re not sure where it’s going. The shift is the growing number of people who are beginning to take self-responsibility seriously. They’re waking up out of a slumber, rubbing their eyes and seeing that they can’t continue to follow a dream that was never theirs. They see that there’s no other way than to follow a life of increasing depth and intimacy, where their work and relationships are more and more an expression of their deepest values and passions. They give their gifts fully, opening through any fear and doubt to take a stand for who they are.
Within this shift new kinds of businesses are emerging. Businesses that are not all about making money. They embrace the people that work for them and the societies and environments that they find themselves in.
But let’s go a little deeper…….
They’re often aligned with the strong values of their founders – who are inspired by a vision much greater than just making a decent living. Theirs is a need to contribute and have meaningful impact.
This is the kind of business we dreamed of creating when we first started to sculpt the idea of Coaches Rising. It’s not always easy. We’ve found it one of the most challenging and rewarding paths of self-growth that we’ve ever been on. In some ways it’s like being an artist when you try to create a business that is deeply aligned with your values and strongest passions. Like an artist who displays his latest painting you’re putting your inner most workings out into the world for it to judge. And boy will it!
How do you stay true to what’s most important to you, what gives you most energy and excitement whilst acknowledging and relating to what the world actually needs? A great question for coaches and artists alike!
How do you own (and channel) the part of you that just wants to make the most amount of money in the fastest way? How do you stay true to your values when the going gets tough and it’s tempting to throw the soul of what you do out of the window for short term gain?
We often fall short of living from our highest potential. But we’re getting better at picking ourselves up and relaxing back into the groove. This is something that we’re dedicated to help you do too – to embrace the full spectrum of being a human being on the road to building a life affirming business.
Joel – Amsterdam April 2010
ShareThis
I remember first picking up on Brian Johnson and his fun and inspiring Philosophers Notes about half a year ago. Me and Joel were busy with the research and preparations for the Coaches Rising Summit and heard his powerful interview on The New Man.
He struck us as a powerhouse of positive energy and solid wisdom. We both agreed we had to get him involved and figured he could really bring value by sharing his perspective on entrepreneurialism and success principles. So we did and it was a blast.
Alignment
What really stood out to me personally in Brian’s interview, is the way he framed the importance of our work as coaches in the world. How we are by the very nature of our profession influencers that play a key role in aligning people to their deepest values and highest aspirations. I love how he spoke to the fact that we as coaches are in a unique position to facilitate the kind of change that is much needed and desired in the world. It gave him and us goose bumps.
He also pointed out how that is both a great responsibility as well as something to hold with spaciousness and humor. How our highest aspirations are like stars that guide and inspire us, not the final measure to define ourselves and the success of our existence. To recognize that we will inevitably fall short on some of our goals and aspirations and will celebrate the achievement of others. That freed quite a bit of space for me.
Dynamic tension
It’s also a beautiful challenge to hold the dynamic tension between aiming high and simultaneously being compassionate with yourself. Being an optimalist instead of a perfectionist.
So I would like to offer you with 3 questions here:
- What are your highest goals and aims as a coaching entrepreneur?
- Where do you take yourself and the success of your business to serious?
- How will you hold that dynamic tension between stretching yourself and being compassionate on your unique entrepreneurial journey?
Warmly and keep rising,
Laurens
ShareThis
This is a great model presented to us by James Roche that helps you identify what phase of growing your coaching practice you’re in. Like all models – it is just that, a model, but it can give us awareness on what we need to be focusing on and just as importantly what we can leave out!
Personally, it helped me to relax into the journey of building my practice. Which is always a relief! Sometimes I get really caught up in the end goals. I’m looking at the future and measuring how my current reality doesn’t match up. James 3 stage model shows us that we’re not failures if we don’t have the infamous 6 figure practice in two months. There’s actually an organic way that we grow into our roles as coaching entrepreneurs – a natural unfolding to the growth of our businesses.
Ok – what’s the model?
Stage 1 – Get Clients
The heart of this is referral marketing. Letting others know that you’re in business. Asking those that you’ve worked with to recommend your services to others. You need to get out there and do the thing you do. Working with clients, you hone your skills as you go along. As you talk about what you do you get better at explaining what you do and your identity as a coach begins to emerge. You don’t actually need a website.
Stage 2 - Get Online
Doing what you did in stage 1 but you’re automating everything. You’ve become clear about your coaching identity and what you have to offer. A big part of this involves building a list of names who are interested in what you do. So you need a website that offers something that entices people to give a name and email such as a report or tools of some kind. Maybe here you need other people to help. You can also raise your fees.
Stage 3 – Get Leverage
This can overlap with phase one. Now you’ve got a database you can leverage you knowledge and skills to create group coaching, information products, writing a book, live events. Previously you didn’t have enough experience for this. This phase allows you to increase your income again
Recognise which stage fits you? What are the activities you need to focus on to create a healthy coaching practice?
So why is all this important?
Growing into our roles as entrepreneurs and business owners is a natural organic process. Sure we can do things to accelerate the journey but if we try to rush we’ll create unnecessary stress.Relax and enjoy the journey and in James words ‘What’s the rush?’
ShareThis
One of the central tensions I feel whilst growing my coaching practice is balancing heart with business. By this I mean making a living doing what I love whilst keeping my business head on. In last week’s interview I love how Lynn Grodzki addressed this topic by talking about the What and the Who of our coaching practice. She described how these need to sit together like hand and glove.
Finding our What is part business decision and part decision of the heart. As coaches, it’s essential that we are doing something that we love, connected to our passions and exercising our skills and expertise. And if we’re just embarking out on a journey as a new coach why would we do anything less than what we’d love to do?
But just focusing on the What is not enough. We also need to think about the Who, which is our niche, the people we want to coach. A niche is a segment of people that we focus our marketing efforts onto in order to increase our sign up rate. Lynn challenged us as coaches to get out into the world and conduct some thorough market research in order that we really get to know our niche inside and out. Sitting in your house thinking about them is not enough!
To uncover your What ask:
- What skills and previous life experience do you possess that could greatly impact your coaching performance?
- What skills and qualities do you have that you want to be exercising every day?
- From here then ask:Who wants what you have (and are so excited!) to offer?
Once you start to narrow down a potential niche then get out into the world and ask them what they want, need and would be willing to pay for. Get curious!
As coaches we need to continually dance with doing what we’re most passionate about and responding to the genuine needs of our customers. And when we embrace it what a beautiful dance it is!
ShareThis
At Coaches Rising we use the following 10 principles to empower coaches in becoming successful coaching entrepreneurs that make a difference in the world.
We’d like to offer them to you here.
1. Assess your business building preferences and blind spots (we like to use ‘The Four Squares of Managing your Coaching Business’).
2. Translate your purpose, passion and skills into a viable niche and your ideal client.
3. Design a marketing strategy that efficiently and authentically helps you communicate the real value you bring to your ideal client.
4. Cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and identify what success really means to you.
5. Map out a business model that leaves no stone unturned and allows you to experience clarity how all the elements of your business are connected.
6. Use the Social Web to establish a relationship, interact and share with your niche and network.
7. Identify the inevitable internal resistance that will come up along the way and learn to move forward in its presence.
8. Uncover your core story when it comes to money and wealth, as well as defining the lifestyle you truly want to create for yourself through coaching.
9. Establish a workflow and energy management system that works for you, and allows you to be fully engaged.
10. Tune into how your coaching fits in with the bigger picture and what you want to be a vehicle for. Fuel that inner fire!
How many of these principles do you apply when growing your coaching practice? What action do you feel compelled to take after reading the principles?
ShareThis
Supporting you in building a thriving coaching practice! – that is the sole purpose of this blog. It will be packed full of tips, resources, personal stories and mind expanding perspectives all aimed at stretching your concepts of what is possible and moving you into effective action.
It’s full steam ahead in the Coaches Rising HQ in downtown Amsterdam as we gear up for the upcoming Summit. It’s been a challenge to juggle our confirmed speakers into the right dates but we’re getting there. We’ve been blown away by how aligned with our vision each of our summit speakers, everybody agrees and is inspired by the idea that coaching can have huge positive global impact and it feels like the start of something big. (If you’re interested in our vision and you’ve not read the manifesto then check it here)
One thing I’ve learnt about this whole process is to think big. Dream big. As coaches I’m sure you’ve heard this idea before. But what I realised was that the bigger we dreamed the more juiced up we became, the more energy we had. This energy showed up when we told others about our ideas. It gave us confidence in going for the people we would just love to have involved – and they loved it too!
The reason why I’m saying this is because these times call for us stand up for what we believe in. They’re calling for us to think big – to pay attention to what is most important in our lives. And as coaches we have an obligation to connect to our deepest values, to inspire others to do the same. When Laurens and I tuned into what was most important to us, and then took a stand for that, doors opened and feedback come in ways we could not have imagined. I’m asking that you do the same.
Our dream is to turn Coaches Rising into a movement. Something that grows beyond what we first imagined for it and becomes a vehicle that allows coaching to take a prominent role in the world stage, touching the lives of millions.
More soon on the exciting line up of thought leaderswe have lined up
Joel – Coaches Rising
ShareThis
