In both cases, the coaches I spoke with last week felt their training program promoted the training as leading to ICF credentials. They put money, time and heart into this training. For these coaches, this isn’t a question of do they “need” credentials. They want ICF professional credentials.

If you want ICF professional credentials:

• Look to the ICF website to verify the status of the training you are considering. Programs that have been ICF approved or accredited will be listed at the site.  Don’t just take the word of the school; confirm with ICF.
• If your training has not been approved or accredited, you may still be able to get your credential through the ICF portfolio application process. You will have to provide robust documentation that demonstrates your training meets specific qualifications and the results are not guaranteed, but a portfolio application is definitely an option to consider.
• Begin keeping records and documentation of your coach training as soon as you start.
• Establish and maintain your client log as soon as you start coaching.
• Work with a mentor coach who holds an ICF credential at or above the level for which you are applying.

Use the ICF website:

• To verify that coach training programs are approved or accredited
• To learn what is required and how to apply for a credential (the ACC for example, here)
• To understand how coaching skills are evaluated at each credential level
• To see a sample client log (template at bottom of this page)
• And of course much more – it is a very informative and reasonably easy-to-navigate site.

Finally, to find Christian coach training that is ICF approved or accredited, get The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training. The eBook version is only $19 and for a limited time includes a bonus – the new book, Becoming a Coach: Wisdom From Leaders in Christian Coach Training.

Want ICF credentials? You can do this! Go for it!

As a coach you may not feel motivated by standard marketing principles that tell you that a well-defined niche will contribute to your overall business success. But you recognize that if you want business success you’ll likely have to get more specific about who you’ll be working with.

You hear the question “who is your ideal client?” and you begin working through a description. For some, this is when their niche becomes clear. For others, this is a process that evolves over time.

Recently I was working with a new coach and we were discussing her target market. I asked her to think about what her ideal client would Google if they were looking for solutions that her coaching would bring. Additionally, where do they hang out? What do they read? What are their hobbies? What recreation and entertainment do they enjoy?

“How do I know that?” she asked.

“Where do you want them to hang out?” I asked. “What do you want them to read? Do you want to work with people who are interested in art or in science or in sports?

A brief pause and an ah ha moment: “Well those are two completely different questions! Who is my ideal client and who do I want my ideal client to be are two different questions.”

She had been guided by the belief that there was a “right” ideal client that she needed to look for “out there.” She perceived the need for identifying and getting to know them via external research. With a different perspective, she shifted to thinking about discovering her ideal client by looking internally to describe the clients that she wanted to work with. This shift brought her new energy and insight.

At the risk of offering one person’s story (by permission) that may be understood only by a few, I’m sharing it, certain it will click with readers who need to hear it. For others, if you’re in the process of defining your niche or target market, here are some additional thoughts.

• Invite God into the process through prayer.
• Allow God’s timing.
• Do what you can with the clarity you have.
• Learn more about who you want to coach by coaching.
• Who do you want to coach? Who would you love to work with?

Defining your niche or target market is important because it helps you most effectively focus and leverage your marketing efforts. But focusing on a niche market doesn’t limit you to coaching only in that market. If your heart is stirred to coach someone who does not fit your “ideal client” description you can of course always choose to do that! Use the 80/20 principle. Who has God called you to work with 80% of the time? That is likely your target market.

Do not neglect real Person-To-Person contact!

Setting up your coaching business requires an immense amount of focused energy. If you are in the process of creating a coaching business or ministry, you know exactly what I mean. You can get focused on choosing a logo or creating your intake forms or developing your website or learning new technology.  Etc. You can get stuck in these places. You know what I mean, right?

All of these things need to be done to create your business. But, ironically, they can also get in the way of developing relationships with potential clients. It’s important to have a website with a freebie and a blog and a newsletter, but if you develop a list from those activities that doesn’t result in real live conversation you likely won’t be selling your coaching services to this list.

Much of a coaching business can be developed virtually. Using social media and sending out newsletters can be important to relationship-building, but we can’t hide behind these efforts. Ultimately to enroll clients in our coaching groups or one-on-one coaching programs, we need to reach out in real life.

By “real life” I mean it’s important to reach out over the phone or in person and have a voice-to-voice conversation. So concurrently with your business set-up, do not neglect real, live, relationship-building.

I want to challenge you to think of someone you know right now who is a potential client. Especially if they have indicated an interest in coaching with you! Call this person! Or email this person, suggest scheduling a call and include possible meeting times! If this person is a local contact, schedule coffee and meet in person!

CHALLENGE

Who will you reach out to today? This week? This month?

Schedule your answers on your calendar and make those personal contacts!

As the author of The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training the most asked question I hear

TAKE ACTION

I encourage all coaches to research and become aware of credentials available through the International Coach Federation. Pray through decisions about credentials. Look at your credentialing opportunities in light of the unique vision to which God has called you.

• Research the International Coach Federation (ICF) credentials at www.coachfederation.org.
• Check out the professional development opportunities at Christian Coaches Network International (CCNI) at www.christiancoaches.com.
• Read my book – The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training – 2016 edition – which simplifies your efforts, shortens your research, and profiles 13 top Christian coach training programs – many of which offer training that leads to ICF credentials. Get help right now, right here.
• Hear me speak on Empowering Impact with Coach Training, Credentials and Professional Development at the Clarity Telesummit next week, February 24 and 26. Dr. Betsy Lavin has invited me to join seven other speakers to offer Christian coaches resources for gaining focus and clarity as you develop your coaching business. It’s free – sign up here.

Aspiring coaches have responded to “What are your biggest questions as you consider becoming a coach?” New and experienced coaches have shared answers to “What were your biggest questions as you considered becoming a coach?” and “Looking back from the experience you’ve gained, what were the important questions you didn’t know to ask?”

In December I’ll announce a new resource I’m creating that will address the core questions.

In the meantime here are sample questions aspiring coaches shared, with some resources that help answer the questions.

• What exactly is coaching? How is it different from counseling? Here is a free download that helps define coaching and compare it to counseling and other helping professions.
• Where do I start? What kind of training is involved? Start with training. Find what you need to know about credentialing and training options in my book The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training here.
• Can I support myself as a coach? Will it pay enough to be sustainable? Here is a short recording that discusses “can I make money as a coach?”

   

Following are sample questions experienced coaches said were the important questions they didn’t know to ask:

• What will my focus/niche be?
• How will I get established and find my initial clients?
• Should I market myself as a “Christian Coach” or as a Coach who is a Christian?
• A great way to address these questions is to work with a coach to find the answers that apply to you uniquely.

If you’d like to add your voice to this, you can still contribute by completing the survey here:

If you are thinking about becoming a coach,
please answer one question: HERE

If you are an experienced coach,
please answer a couple of questions:HERE

“What did that represent?”

Sounded like a brilliant question to me and I didn’t know exactly why.

After the demonstration, I asked this master coach about this one powerful question. “Why did you ask that question?” And he told me that his mentor coach had challenged him on avoiding “why” questions.

Oh wow! Big shift in my thinking, as the value of this suddenly clicked for me.

“Why” implies judgement. The alternatives can elicit answers free of judgement.

Right then, I made a commitment to eliminating “why” questions from my conversations – both professionally and personally. For example, as a parent I can personally attest to the value of asking a teenager an alternative to “why did you do that?” There is a much better chance of getting a real answer that opens up a helpful conversation with “what was your thinking behind that?”

As coaches we engage in conversations that that bring awareness and growth and are free of judgement. Stepping away from the “why” questions and asking alternatives inspires conversations that are foundational to powerful coaching.

I’m challenging you to avoid why questions and choose alternatives. Will you accept the challenge? Let me know how it goes!

1. A Calendar – Some of you are gasping because you can’t imagine life without your calendar! However, I have found it not so uncommon for aspiring and new coaches not to have and use a basic calendar. Using a calendar is probably not optional if you are expecting success, although there are many different options for what to use and how to do this. Some love electronic calendars but others work best traditionally, on paper. Yes, you can use pencil and paper if that’s your thing. Just do what works for you! Reference it every day. I suggest intentionally including the specifics of your calendar in prayer every day.

These are the tools that work for me:  Google Calendar on my desktop and phone. Evernote for lists, notes and more on my desktop and phone. And a new tool this year (involving pencil and paper!) for meaningful planning – a Passion Planner found here.

2. Scheduled Office Hours – Often aspiring and new coaches think of their schedule as wide open, with maybe a class and a client session here and there. Otherwise the hours in the day are up for grabs. Are you available for coffee? Anytime! Can you help paint my kitchen on Thursday afternoon? Of course! Will you be the event coordinator for the next conference? We’re meeting every Monday afternoon for planning. OK! Sure, as an entrepreneur working from home, you have flexibility! But set office hours and invest in establishing and growing your business or ministry during your those hours. If you take “time off” of office hours, do so intentionally and reschedule what you had on your work schedule just as you would if you were employed for someone else.

Check out this excellent article at Inc. that references office hours and other great habits for working from home.

3. A Plan – What goes on your calendar and what besides classes and client sessions do you need to plan? Well, a lot actually! Hopefully, you are learning about all the aspects of putting together a coaching business or ministry through your training program and by working with a coach. Pulling it all together and establishing your unique plan is essential. Don’t worry if your plan for 2015 isn’t crystal clear right now. It’s essentially a work in progress anyway. God regularly reshapes and even redirects our plans as we daily bring them to prayer, right? But write down what you do know about how God is leading you in 2015 and then set goals and determine next steps and take action!

Here is a practical article from ICF with great tips for developing your plan.

4. Your Passion – Don’t create a plan, schedule office hours and put stuff on your calendar without it all reflecting your personal passion and sense of purpose. If you are not sure of your passion or purpose, work with a coach who can help you get clear on what matters most to you and how you can align your work and life accordingly in 2015!

Find Christian coaches at the Christian Coaches Network here.

If you’d like to work with me as your coach you can find info here. For coaching support for any of the areas mentioned above, email me to let me know you are interested and we will schedule a time to talk about how coaching can support all the best for you in 2015!

Don’t begin this year without a calendar, scheduled office hours, a plan and your passion!

What is mentor coaching?

Traditionally, a coach hires a mentor coach to be coached in one or all of the following focus areas:

• Personal coaching for the mentee
• Starting and building a coaching business or ministry
• Developing coaching skills further beyond coach training

However, when a coach is applying for credentials with the International Coach Federation (ICF), the required mentor coaching is to be focused on developing coaching skills.  For more on the ICF mentor coaching qualifications, click here.

Why would a coach hire a coach?

On the same day we had this discussion in the Q & A, I came across an excellent post called “Why Coaches Need Coaching.”  It says the answer to “do coaches need coaching to be great?” is a resounding “yes.” Mentor coaching is all about learning and progressing as a coach.

Andrea Sharb, author of the post, says that when new coaches experience coaching they “learn what it is like to partner with a coach. They learn about opening up to what they often describe initially as vulnerability. They experience the power of coming up with their own solutions without someone telling them what to do. Through this practice they learn to be coaches…”

To learn more about Ms. Sharb’s personal journey as a new coach being coached read the article here.

Linda Hedberg is a mentor coach in the areas of personal coaching, coaching business startup and coaching skills development for prospective and new Christian coaches. She is a member of the ICF Mentor Coach Registry. She is the author of The Complete Guide to Christian Coach Training – 2014. Contact Linda today if you are interested in working with her as your coach.