Coach Express

By Bronwyn Bowery-Ireland

This article first appeared in the WABC, Business Coaching Worldwide ezine, Volume 2, Issue 1, 2006.

I am sometimes surprised to learn that coaches are failing to gather a range of information from their clients prior to the commencement of the coaching process. In the absence of such information, how is it possible to calculate ROI?

In the early 70’s, Donald Kirkpatrick introduced a model for evaluating the benefits of training. This same model is used today by training and human resources departments to evaluate the ROI of coaching. The model has four levels:

1. Reaction: How well did the client like the coaching?
2. Learning: What principles, facts and techniques did the client learn?
3. Behaviour: What changes in job behaviour resulted from the coaching?
4. Results: What were the quantitative results of the coaching in terms of reduced costs, improved performance, improved efficiency, etc?

Each level in the model requires information form both the client and the organization. In order to be of value, the information must be gathered before, during and after the coaching process. Read the rest of this entry »

With Alex Mandossian and Lou D’Alo

Those of you who are familiar with ICA trainer Lou D’Alo will not be surprised to see that he has hooked up with undisputed teleseminar heavyweight champ Alex Mandossian.

Inspired by what he learned in Alex’s Teleseminar Secrets course, Lou rapidly built a bustling coaching business using teleseminars and joint ventures as virtually his only marketing strategies and now teaches his clients and subscribers to do the same.

Now, Alex has agreed to do a one-time private and exclusive call with Lou especially for coaches. Because you’re part of the ICA community, you’re invited as a VIP guest.

This will be a content-rich 90 minutes especially for coaches, including a Q&A session where Alex will answer as many of your most important questions as possible.

You’ll learn the time-tested teleseminar secrets that will fill your client roster, build an endless stream of potential new clients, establish yourself as an authority, and create multiple passive streams of revenue - all from the comfort of your home.

For details of the event register here

Does this sound like you?

- You have committed yourself to your current profession for many years, but you are starting to think more and more about going out on your own.

- You know you’d make a good coach, you’re just not sure about the business side of things.

- You are the sort of person that others naturally come to for advice and support, you always have been.

If so we invite you to join Dennis Griffin, Business Manager at ICA for a one hour ‘Information Teleseminar’ on coaching and the coaching profession

Register here

We will cover the most commonly asked questions:

COACHING CAREER

• What is the demand for coaches?
• How much can I charge?
• How soon can I get clients?
• Are there any coaching agencies I can join?
• What industries are taking on a coach approach?

We will also answer any questions you have about ICA and coach training in general, including:

• How long is the ICA coach training program?
• What are the subject areas?
• Is it accredited and by whom?
• Is there any business support?
• What is teleclass training like?

We are currently working on a price increase (details coming soon), so now is a good time to get serious about coach training.

Register here

In our weekly management meetings at International Coach Academy we spend the first 15 minutes of our meeting participating in an activity to develop greater trust in our team. We recognise that to achieve our goals we need to work effectively as a team and trust is one of our values. We also take it in turns to chair the meetings. This week it was my turn and part of being the chair is that you also facilitate the trust activity. I wanted to share this activity with you. Read the rest of this entry »

Blue Ocean Strategy, by W. Chan Kim and RenŽe Mauborgne

I just love this book. (http://www.blueoceanstrategy.com) It is one of those business books I keep coming back to - and not because I am necessarily looking for help with my business - but because I find it pleasurable to read the various case studies of marketing creativity contained in its covers.

“Blue Ocean Strategy” is not new to the bookshelves, in fact it is a couple of years old now, but the message remains current. The authors, INSEAD professors Kim and Mauborgne advocate an approach to marketing that takes you outside traditional thinking. They draw a distinction between traditional strategic thinking - which they call “red ocean” strategy and a new, more creative approach, which they call “blue ocean” strategy.

A ‘red ocean’ is based on traditional strategic thinking (e.g. Harvard’s strategy guru Michael Porter). It is about creating a vision and some targets and then working out a way to make those “Five P’s” work to your advantage. Much of the language has a history in military combat and much of the energy is devoted to ÒbeatingÓ the competition.

What then is a BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY?

Read the rest of this entry »

We hear you!

Over the last few years, many of you living outside English speaking countries have asked us to make the CPCP available in your language, in your country.

Until now, we’ve delivered our training online – in English only.

But we are committed to growing the coaching profession worldwide, and that means making our programs available to students in smaller markets whose first language isn’t English.

To do this, we’d like to start a conversation with all of you – current students, ICA graduates and those thinking about entering the coaching profession - anyone interested in developing coaching in non-English speaking countries.

> > > Please contribute by completing our online survey

Read the rest of this entry »

Due to the on-going expansion of International Coach Academy, we have additional sales positions available.

International Coach Academy is leading the way in the provision of high quality coach training. ICA delivers an internationally accredited coach training program. We are looking for enthusiastic, energetic and dynamic people to hold the position of Enrolment Consultant. If you want to tell the world about the benefits of being a coach and joining our school, then this could be your opportunity.

Enrolment Consultant(s) (North America)
Two part-time positions or one full-time position.

The position involves the following:

* Selling ICA training programs
* Working as part of a dynamic sales team
* Using a computer sales database
* Working in a global and virtual community

We are looking for people based in North America who are a coach, or training to be a coach, with sales, and/or telephone sales experience, with a high success rate of lead to sales conversion. You must be able to work flexible hours, be highly self-motivated, and be a great communicator. You will work from home and be part of an exciting and supportive virtual team.

An attractive remuneration package will be offered.

TO APPLY: Please email your resume and application letter to Dennis Griffin, Business Manager of ICA, outlining your experience in relation to the duties above.

By Bronwyn Bowery-Ireland
(CEO)

One of the reasons that coaching is such an interesting field is that it draws from a wide range of theories, philosophies and disciplines to create a unique professional practice. If coaching were a plant, it would be an exotic, variegated hybrid! Coaching is more than just the sum of its parts, however. While coaching has a theoretical history in adult learning theory, psychology, management theory, sociology and spirituality, it has also operated as a unique field for over 30 years now. Throughout that time, has developed its own theoretical framework.

At ICA we believe that coaching is its own unique field and should be studied as such. We think that, while coaches may bring skills and ideas with them from former fields and professions, no one field or profession has any greater claim to expertise in coaching than another. Having said that, however, as part of your understanding of coaching, it is useful to know a bit about its history and the theories it shares with other fields and disciplines.

Over the next few weeks I will be highlighting the theories that we believe inform coaching. To begin lets look at Adult Learning Theory.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Robyn Logan
(Strategy Director)

In a recent article in the Mc Kinsey Quarterly, Richard Rumelt (Professor of Strategy at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management) refers to Steve Jobs as a “strategic entrepreneur”. He quotes Jobs as answering a detailed question about his long term strategy with “I am going to wait for the next big thing.” Interestingly, Jobs didn’t go into a long explanation about competitive positioning or long term vision, he was simply waiting until the right moment for that predatory leap, which for him was Pixar and then, in an even bigger way, the iPod.

According to Rumelt, that very predatory approach of leaping through the window of opportunity and staying focused on those big wins — not on maintenance activities — is what distinguishes a real entrepreneurial strategy.

Rumelt’s article is excellent and it got me thinking about the concept of strategy. As a former Strategic Planner I spent many hours assisting organizations to develop and document their corporate strategy. Very few of these organizations were engaging in what I would call “real strategy. Strategy is a bit like trust, or even love – you know when you have it and you know when you see it, but it’s hard to teach someone else how to do it.

Read the rest of this entry »

ICA is committed to building a connected community of ICA coaches all over the world.

The ICA Scholarship Program, managed by Dennis Griffin, provides opportunities for students to not only access coach training, but contribute to the international growth of ICA by promoting our coach training programs to their local networks.
Dennis says “…one of the many things that sets ICA apart from the other coach training companies is our commitment to providing coach training programs right across the globe. This helps our students build friendships and networks all around the world, and provides a unique multi-cultural training environment that I believe is un-paralleled”.

In July 2007, a record 17 students enrolled in ICA Coach Training Scholarships.

–> Apply for an ICA Scholarship

In July 2007, a record 17 students enrolled in ICA Coach Training Scholarships, from the following countries:

• France
• Isle of Man
• Switzerland
• Portugal
• Singapore
• China
• Germany
• Israel
• Korea
• Netherlands
• South Africa

Read the rest of this entry »