Volume 6 Issue 12 – December 2007

In This Issue:

Tomorrow's Life Coach (TLC) is a monthly online journal from the Institute for Life Coach Training (ILCT) that nourishes the intellect, intuition and inspiration of the personal and business coaching community.

Pat's Ponderings

The world needs global warming . . . not the environmental kind, but the relational kind!!!! Everyday in the news we see articles about the rapid increase of global warming and its disastrous effects on the environment. What if we begin to see a quickening of global warming in the way people, individuals, families, communities, and countries, relate to one another? What if this movement grew so fast that it surprised everyone? What if the walls that separate us from acting as though we cherish and honor each other came crashing down as the icebergs in Antarctica? What if the temperature of warmth in all relationships began to rise?

I have had the good fortune to travel to many countries around the globe in the last 10 years spreading the word about coaching, both for ILCT and for the profession at large. I have noticed that people everywhere respond well to human friendliness despite the politics of the countries. If you act friendly, you are treated with friendliness. If you are courteous, you are treated courteously. If you ask people about themselves with non-judgmental curiosity, they respond with glee and openness.

My belief in what the spread of authentic coaching conversations could do for the world is enormous. What would it take to start a coaching conversation movement similar to what the woman in Africa who is planting millions of trees did. Or think about the young teenagers who started “cell phones for soldiers” as a way for the armed service men and women around the globe to communicate affordably with their families.

How many other great movements have started with just “a good idea shared with friends?” What would it take to get coaching conversations as a buzzword on UTube, My space, Google, Yahoo, and blogs everywhere? I believe that people really want to feel more connected to others and curiosity about other cultures is better than prejudice that prevents openness to learning.

Let me know how we can start Global Warming in People’s hearts and spread this message around the globe. December is a time for celebrating many religious holidays, the winter solstice, and a time of hope and desires for peace and loving expressions. Wouldn’t it be great if that spark kindled a huge expression and outpouring of warmth that would begin to shock the experts and the political leaders?

Will you help? Send me your ideas — let’s do something to create an increase in human global warming in all relationships we touch!

Margaret Wheatley perhaps said it best: "Relationships are all there is. Everything in the universe only exists because it is in relationship to everything else. Nothing exists in isolation. We have to stop pretending we are individuals who can go it alone. I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again. Simple, honest, human conversation. Not mediation, negotiation, problem solving, debate, or public meetings. Simple, truthful conversations where we each have a chance to speak, we each feel heard, and we each listen well."

Pat

Patrick Williams Ed.D., MCC
Chief Energizing Officer, ILCT
Former Curriculum Consultant for the Coaching Certificate Program of Fielding University
Department Chair, Professional Coaching, International University of Professional Studies
Biography

Monthly

FREE Introduction to Coaching Calls:

Have you lost the passion you had when you entered the profession of being a therapist? Are you on the fast track to burn-out or are you already there? Do you want to add another income stream to your existing practice? Do you want to set your own fees and get paid what you are worth? Do you want to revitalize your work, reclaim your passion, and find joy in doing what you love? Join us for a free one-hour class that will introduce you to the wonderful career of Life Coaching. We want to share our excitement with you and give you information that you can use to help you decide if Life Coaching is for YOU.

Topics to be discussed:

  • What is Coaching?
  • Origins of Coaching
  • What Research Says Good Coaches Do
  • Current Status of Coaching
  • Why is Coaching Becoming So Popular and Needed Now?
  • Benefits of Adding Coaching to Your Business
  • Helping Professional to Coach: 7 Success Factors
  • Some Similarities and Differences Between Coaching and Therapy
  • Questions and Answers

Dates: January 11th: Click to register or January 25th: Click to register
Time: 2:00 p.m. Eastern (1:00 p.m. Central, 12:00 p.m. Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific)

Pat's Coaching Forum

Due to an unavoidable last minute scheduling conflict, Pat's November Coaching Forum had to be rescheduled to December 11th, 2007. If you would like to join Pat for a discussion of the 2007 ICF Coaching Conference, you may register at the link below:

Date: Tuesday, December 11th
Time: 4:00-5:00 p.m. Eastern (3:00 p.m. Central, 2:00 p.m. Mountain, 1:00 p.m. Pacific)

Click here to register.

Pat's Coaching Forum will be on hiatus for the December holidays, but will return in January. Pat's guest on January 22, 2008 will be Deb Davis, his coauthor for Therapist as Life Coach: An Introduction for Counselors and Other Helping Professionals, Revised and Expanded Edition. Their discussion will center on what's new and expanded in this 2nd edition:

  • recent coaching trends
  • updated liability concerns
  • new business opportunities
  • research about coaching

Date: Tuesday, January 22nd
Time: 4:00-5:00 p.m. Eastern (3:00 p.m. Central, 2:00 p.m. Mountain, 1:00 p.m. Pacific)

This is a FREE call. Click here to register.

Free Coach Referral Service
ILCT has begun providing a listing of our Certified Life Coaches and graduates of our Accredited Coach Training Program. These are coaches who have completed at least 60 to 130 hours of coach training. This is a value-added service for those ILCT students who have reached this high level of excellence.

This list is being offered as a free service to assist individuals in identifying and selecting coaches best suited for their particular situation.

Click here for more information.

News & Features

Gregynog Hall, University of Wales
Gregynog Hall &
Conference Centre

ILCT in the UK - Foundational Course, Part I
ILCT is launching our long-standing coach training LIVE in the UK for therapists, health care professionals, human resource professionals, and others with graduate / specialty backgrounds, to be taught by ILCT senior faculty member Lynn Meinke; assisted by Susie Brisco, and Catherine Hadrillin, who are qualified coaches in the UK. The training is set in a beautiful environment at the University of Wales Gregynog Hall Conference Center.

Foundational Coach Training, Part I consists of 20 hours of classroom instruction with each component of learning anchored in the ICF Core Competencies. Continuing practice in small groups with mentoring will occur following the Course via the telephone. The second twenty-hour course, being planned for later in the year, is the final 20 hours of the regular foundational course taught in the US.

Read more / register

FREE Teleclass - Marketing YOUR Coaching Practice!

Join ILCT Director of Practice Development Jim Vuocolo for an open discussion about marketing YOUR coaching practice. Jim will address the "7-Layer Cake" of Coaching Business Success and include a Q & A session to address what is working/not working with regard to your marketing efforts.

There will also be a brief "commercial" to explain the Practice Made Perfect course that begins on January 9, 2008. We hope you will join Dr. Vuocolo for an great experience!

Date: January 3, 2008
Time: 12:00 p.m. Eastern (11:00 a.m. Central, 10:00 a.m. Mountain, 9:00 a.m. Pacific)

Click to Register

Spotlight on: Practice Made Perfect: All You Need to Make Money as a Coach!
* Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 7:00 PM Eastern, with Dr. James S. Vuocolo, MCC.

This 12-week program is designed to help participants identify, develop, and market a coaching business that is unique and authentic for them. Each teleclass and lab session focuses upon the necessary components of practice development in a way that results in attracting paying clients for your coaching business!

The course requires a solid level of commitment to building your business, and includes:

  • "Labs" for role-playing;
  • The Practice Building Game (tm), i.e. a process to promote consistent and daily actions while developing new ways to market your business;
  • Buddy coaching;
  • Daily Emails that include an Inside/Out section for personal growth,
  • Quotes,
  • A Business Builder to help your practice grow rapidly.

Click to register.
*Note: be sure to check the full Practice Made Perfect schedule for additional 2008 dates.

Here's a sample of others have said about the Practice Made Perfect material:

"I can not imagine how I would have approached my marketing without the education and support provided in this material. Thanks Jim!" — Heidi Stokes, M. Ed. Life Coach

"Jim Vuocolo's 'Practice Made Perfect' is superb, and filled to the brim with practical content, tips, and resources. I highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about growing a business now!" — Darlene A. Osowiec, Ph. D., Maximum Potential

"One of the great things about Jims knowledge of marketing is that it is fun and practical. This works for introverts as well as extroverts, for people who love public speaking or for those who hate being in front of a crowd. This material revealed its proven effectiveness in a teleclass format for the Institute for Life Coach Training. Life Coaching is a relationship business ... and (Jim offers) techniques and tips for opening relationships and offering ways to serve potential clients, whether they be life coaching clients, business coaching clients or a combination. You will learn that marketing is not selling, and that it can be fun and profitable when you apply these systems and strategies." — Dr. Patrick Williams, CEO of The Institute for Life Coach Training

"Jim Vuocolo is one of the most perennial figures in coaching that I know, aside from Thomas Leonard of course. Jim runs his coaching practice with style, heart and wisdom, and his new ebook "Practice Made Perfect" is no different. Why Jim decided to take everything he knows from his 13+ years of 'making it' in the business of coaching, I don't know, but I can tell you...it's obvious this is a work he's done from the heart and soul."— Andrea Lee, former General Manager, CoachVille and founder of Internet Biz Whiz

KNOW YOUR CLIENT’S LTV
by Dr. James S. Vuocolo, Master Certified Coach and Director of Practice Development

Sarah (not her real name) is a professional in another state who first retained my coaching services some 10 years ago. We initially worked together for 18 months, after which she decided it was time to retain a local coach whom she had met at a networking meeting. I was fine with her decision at the time, and we parted as friends. She had been a joy to work with!

Several years later, Sarah e-mailed to ask if I was taking on any new clients. If so, she wanted to speak with me about working with her once again. In the course of our subsequent conversation, she asked if I was curious about what had happened while working with her other coach, and why she now wished to retain my services again. I said I would be happy to listen to anything she might want to share in this regard.

"Well," she said, "I worked with the other coach for about six months before I started to feel as if I was being taken for granted. He often called my office to reschedule our coaching sessions, and sometimes failed to follow through with a resource or article he said he would send. Once we stopped working together, I never heard from him again. Then it dawned on me that I was still receiving your newsletter, articles, and other resources, on a regular basis even though we were no longer working together. In fact, you even called one year to leave a Christmas greeting with my answering service. Once I stopped paying my other coach a monthly retainer, I’ve never heard from him again!"

Sarah and I worked together for another two years before taking a break. I’m happy to say that she returned, yet again, for a third round of coaching some sixteen months ago, and counting! In addition, she has served as a reference, provided testimonials, and referred other prospective clients to me over the years. In short, she is the kind of "diamond" I would like to clone in order to fill my practice!

One of the most important marketing concepts to understand and appreciate is the LTV, or Lifetime Value, of your client. The LTV is based upon the revenue a potential client will generate over an entire lifetime of the coaching relationship. Think about the time, money and energy it takes you to acquire a new client. If I limited my thinking with regard to Sarah for the initial 18 months we worked together, I would come up with one set of numbers. However, when I take into account the entire number of months we have worked together on three separate occasions over the past decade, the numbers change dramatically! Add to this the value of Sarah’s testimonials, referrals, and potential joint venture projects, and the overall LTV grows exponentially!

Think of it this way . . . if Sarah had paid me $300.00 per month for the initial time of 18 months we worked together I would have earned a total of $5,400.00. However, because we have worked an additional 25 months since that time (for a total of 58 months), her LTV to date is more like $17,400.00 – and that’s before we factor in referrals and an increase in coaching fees over the years (for the record, I don’t raise client fees unless we are not working together for 6 months or more).

As I said, Sarah is a "diamond" of a client who’s an absolute joy to work with! But suppose you find a "diamond in the rough" by which I mean a potentially terrific client who cannot pay your regular coaching fee . . . what to do? A former colleague once said, "If you polish a diamond in the rough you end up with gem of great beauty and value. If you polish a brick, you simply end up with brick dust!" It’s still good advice to follow!

Once you find a potential client who’s a "diamond in the rough" because they are really motivated to work with you and are the type of client you truly desire, make sure your fee is a detail, and not an issue, for them. Consider offering them a "scholarship" for the first couple of months, until they can afford your full fee. Consider the case of John (not his true name).

John is an ideal client type who came highly motivated, yet unable to pay a full coaching fee of $400.00. The coach offered to gift him a $300.00 discount for one month, so his initial fee would be $100.00. His investment the second month would be $175.00, and go to $225.00 in month three. By month four, he would be paying the full $400.00 fee.

Why do this? Simple – the coach knew most clients will stay for at least 12 months or more. At $400.00 per month, John’s LTV would be $4,800.00 the first year – but this was a non-starter for John’s wallet. The opening scholarship totaling $700.00 over the first 3 months, lowered his LTV over the next 12 months to $4,100.00 (or $341.66 per month) – which represents a 12% discount, and enabled the coaching to take place. It represented a WIN/WIN situation! Now consider the fact that John gives the coach 2 referrals totaling $4,800.00 each over the same 12 month period – and his LTV just went from $4,100.00 to $13,700.00 the first year – more than offsetting the initial scholarship discount of 12%! If you could generate these percentages on Wall Street you would be considered a bona fide genius! And, once you have the right kind of "diamond" clients in place, their referrals will help to feed your practice for life!

It’s never a good idea to make this a common business practice – so offer it sparingly. Otherwise, the very factors that make it so special no longer apply, and it can diminish your own coaching value. But the next time you come across a diamond in the rough – go ahead and find a way to polish it! Be committed to making the relationship work. But remember, a brick in the rough can never be polished. It turns to dust in the attempt, and will potentially have the same result on your coaching business! Only you can know the genuine LTV of your clients. Happy marketing!

ILCT Staff in the News - Christopher McCluskey, PCC

Christian Coaching Gaining in Popularity, Reported by: Carlos Correa at OzarksFirst.com

Many people from all over the country and with different denominations are getting help building a stronger relationship with God. Christian coaching is a field that has a growing interest among many people in the faith community.

The interest in Christian coaching is increasing because it's all done online and over the phone. So the convenience for clients is they never have to worry about getting a babysitter or even spend money on gas since they don't meet a coach face to face.

From his country home in Edgar Springs, Missouri, Christian coach Christopher McCluskey is able to balance his family life with his career.

"Life coaching is a relatively new field. It's been around maybe 15 or so years. You go back much further in the literature and you won't find much written about on it." says McCluskey.

Read the full story or watch the video on KOLR/KSFX TV).

The next Foundational Coach Training for Christian Counselors course begins April 7, 2008.

Expand Your Business! Deepen Your Coaching Skills!
Register For Upcoming Classes at ILCT

Additional classes, details and online registration at our course section. Some schedules may change; check listing or contact Edwina Adams, Administration/Registration, at edwina@lifecoachtraining.com.

Where In The World Is Pat Williams?

December 17-18, 2007
Third National Coaching Psychology Conference
The British Psychological Society, City University London
MasterClass: Transpersonal Psychology Redux: Purpose, Meaning and States of Consciousness in Whole Person Coaching with Dr. Patrick Williams. Read more.

February 22-23, 2008
CTGV Meeting
Glenwood Springs, CO

What Pat Recommends / New Books

Therapist As Life Coach - Click to order

Therapist as Life Coach: An Introduction for Counselors and Other Helping Professionals, Revised and Expanded Edition, by Dr. Patrick Williams MCC, Deborah C. Davis

In 2006, U.S. News and World Report listed coaching as one of the 10 top growing professions. The first edition of Therapist as Life Coach, published in 2002, anticipated this trend, and since its publication it has become a standard for therapists who wish to transition or expand their practices into life coaching. Pat Williams and Deborah C. Davis have revised their classic practice-building book for today's therapists and future coaches. Every chapter in this second edition has been updated and rewritten, reflecting the growth of the coaching field and its increasing appeal to not only therapists, but all helping professionals.

There is new material throughout, including:

  • an overview of recent coaching developments
  • updated liability concerns
  • new business opportunities
  • a new section on the research about coaching
Speaking of Success

Speaking of Success - World Class Experts Share Their Secrets - featuring Patrick Williams, Stephen R. Covey, Ken Blanchard & Jack Canfield

Do you want to:

  • Unlock your potential
  • Turn your life around
  • Remove mental blocks to success
  • Be the success you were meant to be?

If your answer is yes to any one of these, you need to read this book!

Those who choose to travel the road of success must also travel the road of continuing education. Success is about being prepared. Every time you read a book that contains the experiences of successful people, you are advancing on your own personal road to success whatever that work means to you.

The authors in this book will help you expand your horizons and gain a whole new perspective on how to achieve success!
Speaking of Success

Becoming a Professional Life Coach: Lessons from the Institute for Life Coach Training by Dr. Patrick Williams & Dr. Diane S. Menendez

With his bestselling Therapist as Life Coach, Pat Williams introduced the therapeutic community to the career of life coaching. Now, Williams, founder of the Institute for Life Coach Training (ILCT), and Menendez, senior trainer at ILCT—both master certified coaches extraordinaire—reveal all the basic principles and crucial strategies that they have taught to thousands of coaches over the years. Beginning with a brief history of the foundations of coaching and its future trajectory, Becoming a Professional Life Coach takes readers step-by-step through the coaching process, covering all the crucial ideas and strategies for being an effective, successful life coach, including:

  • Listening to, versus listening for, versus listening with;
  • Establishing a client's focus;
  • Giving honest feedback and observation;
  • Formulating first coaching conversations;
  • Asking powerful, eliciting questions;
  • Understanding human developmental issues;
  • Reframing a client's perspective;
  • Enacting change within clients;
  • Helping clients to identify and fulfill core values, and much, much more.
REVIEWS: Being a truly effective ally of another person requires us to know both what to do and how to be; Becoming a Professional Life Coach gives us both. While the task of creating a comprehensive training text on the broad field of life coaching is quite daunting, Patrick Williams and Diane Menendez take it on with what appears to be real joy and they master it. The reader is both instructed and inspired cover to cover. The challenge of doing more than producing another coaching "cookbook" is met and exceeded with an excellent integration of both practical technique and well grounded theory.

Becoming a Professional Life Coach integrates what is sometimes missing in much coach training, such as Prochaska's Stage of Readiness For Change. The book takes terms which have become well-worn catch phrases, such as fulfillment and empowerment, and infuses them with new life, helping the coach to truly understand their meaning, importance and their use. Becoming a Professional Life Coach will become the touchstone in the field of training life coaches. Michael Arloski, Ph.D., PCC, author of Wellness Coaching For Lasting Lifestyle Change.

I highly recommend Becoming a Professional Life Coach for both new and experienced coaches, and for anyone interested in learning the "coach approach" in their lives, business and communities. Today coaching skills are an invaluable resource, both in the workplace and for personal fulfillment, yet there are still millions that don't even know what coaching is or how to become one. Pat and Diane deliver an easy to read, comprehensive guide offering history, theory and practical application of the most potent skills used by professional life coaches worldwide. This book addresses a great need in the marketplace. . .

Since Patrick Williams is the founder of his own coaching school, I expected a cookie cutter curriculum from his own school's teachings. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how thoroughly they integrated and referenced the best disciplines from a variety of coaching schools, as well as useful and distinguished models from the field of psychology. It is no wonder that Patrick Williams is known as "The Ambassador for Life Coaching." As a veteran life coach, I applaud Patrick for inspiring thousands more to integrate a "coach approach" in their everyday lives and/or become a life coach themselves. The world could use a few more life coaches, and this is a perfect place to begin. Mary E. Allen, CPCC, MCC, Author of The Power of Inner Choice

New coaching books are appearing with greater frequency but they vary significantly in quality. Many are poorly written re-statements of what has appeared in other books. Few bring fresh perspectives.

Very different is Becoming a Professional Life Coach by Patrick Williams and Diane Menendez. The authors draw on their broad coaching backgrounds and experiences in training others through the Institute for Life Coach Training. Their book is practical, informative, clearly written and sensitive to values even though the writing is not from a distinctively Christian perspective. This is a good overview for anyone new to the coaching field and a helpful update for experienced coaches. Gary R. Collins, EVALUATING COACHING BOOKS Newsletter.
Pat Williams has been a pioneer & innovator in holistic life coaching. After traveling and sitting around the fire with Pat in Africa, I was inspired to re-read the book that I had already wholeheartedly endorsed. I was astonished in my second read at the wealth of new insights to be uncovered, even for a seasoned life coach like me with 33-years of experience! Becoming a true professional requires us to profess our "anthropology"- our point-of-view on the "life" side of coaching. This book is ripe with the wisdom to help us do that. The evolution of our purpose, values & beliefs must continue through all seasons of our coaching lives. And this book is an essential guide for the journey. I am confident it will help shape the life coaching agenda for decades. Richard J. Leider, Founder & Chairman The Inventure Group, bestselling author of The Power of Purpose, Repacking Your Bags, & Claiming Your Place At the Fire.
Creating A Life

Creating a Life: Finding Your Individual Path by James Hollis

Creating a Life is a powerful commentary on the importance of the examined life, illustrating how we may arrive at an understanding of our life choices and relationships by exploring our core complexes and personal history.

With insight and compassion grounded in the humanist side of analytical psychology, Hollis elucidates the circuitous way of individuation. The text is deeply enriched by the inclusion of poems and excerpts from the works of many modern writers.

Tomorrow's Life Coach™

Patrick Williams, Ed.D., Publisher
© 2007 Institute for Life Coach Training
www.lifecoachtraining.com
Phone: 888-267-1206
info@lifecoachtraining.com

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