These two Open House calls are hosted by yours truly and several of my favorite collaborators in business, and I hope you'll join us.

Call #1: Emerging Trends in Coaching: What's Changing in our Clients' Lives?
**Timely, Happening May 12th at 1pm Eastern with Andrea Lee and Jo Romano**

Microtrends are the small forces behind the big changes occurring in our society. As a coach, you will be particularly interested in exploring how the trends are impacting your clients' lives. You may find inspiration for targetted products and services, or perhaps the nugget of a new business altogether.

This call will be led by Jo Romano and Andrea Lee in rollicking and rapid form, and is also a taster call for the Leadership in Coaching TeleSummit. As such, it will include two 2-minute, respectful commercial breaks. :-)

DATE/TIME: May 12th from 100 to 155 PM Eastern / 1000 to 1055 AM Pacific.

Click to register for this no-fee call now - MP3 recording will be sent to all those signed up. http://www.leadershipincoachingtelesummit.com/teleclass/

Call #2: Desperately Seeking Virtual Assistants: Help for VAs
*With Cindy Greenway and Tina Forsyth*

To kick-off the 'Hot Skills VA Training Program' [6-weeks of intensive online training] my business partners Tina Forsyth and Cindy Greenway are leading an Open House call to reveal exactly what disappointed clients:

• want from a Virtual Assistant


• will and want to pay good, regular money for each month


• are saying in general about the Virtual Assistants they’re meeting and how they're missing the mark (so you can avoid doing the same)

DATE/TIME: May 21st from 100 to 155 PM Eastern / 1000 to 1055 AM Pacific.

If you're an aspiring VA or perhaps a VA looking to expand into a new market, this is your ticket! Register now - once again, no fee required to attend, other than your long-distance charges - at this link: http://www.hotskillsvatraining.com

Have you ever wondered whether there should be a Coaching YouTube Channel where short, powerful videos relevant to coaching are housed? A cool idea right?

So okay, a question for you. Would you like to see something like this created, and if so, why? What would you use it for, what would you like to see on it, and how? If you could wave a magic wand and create the best possible 'thing like this' for coaching, describe.

Click on comments below to share. (More on this to come.)

Pangea Day is Saturday May 10, 2008: Does Today's Media Have the Power to Humanize 'the Other?'

Do you know about TED? It stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and the annual conference convenes the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less).

If you don't already know about TED, I challenge you to visit the site and view just one of the many, many videos available there - just one, any one - and not leave incredibly moved.

This is one of the ones I was recommended to most recently, called 'My Stroke of Insight' with presenter Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist who had the opportunity to observe her own stroke. I've already shared it with dozens of close friends, though not you until now. It's no secret - I have a wish to attend a TED conference one day, but it is sold out far, far in advance. Isn't it profound that these 'presentations-of-their-lives' are available on the website the way they are?

But enough preamble. As an extension of the work being done at TED, Saturday May 10, 2008 (this Saturday) has been declared Pangea Day, a global event that will bring the world together through film.

"Starting at 2:00 PM Eastern (18:00 GMT) on May 10, 2008, locations in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro will be linked for a live program of powerful films, live music, and visionary speakers.

The entire program will be broadcast – in seven languages – to millions of people worldwide through the internet, television, and mobile phones.

The 24 short films to be featured have been selected from an international competition that generated more than 2,500 submissions from over one hundred countries.

The films were chosen based on their ability to inspire, transform, and allow us see the world through another person's eyes. Details on the Pangea Day films can be viewed here."

There is much that can be said about Pangea Day but the upshot is this. Attend and watch, whether at your desk or in a small or large group as encouraged at the site. You'll be able to watch the world watching the films too, as the organizers will be capturing live audience images and broadcasting them to us. Pure gold for coaches, students of humankind as we all are.

For more details click the continue reading link below to read the full email from TED Curator Chris Anderson, here is the Pangea site itself and here are just a few more words from Chris thought-process about the event:

"Of course, May 10th won't lead to an outbreak of world peace.

But I do think it will reveal a sense of possibility: the possibility that there are incredible new ways of using technology as a force for good; that peoples' minds are not locked in a dark place forever; that our global village can start the long journey from "us/them" to "we".

As the Pangea Day website says: Films can't change the world. But the people who watch them can."

Pangea Day Trailer

Click to comment below on Pangea Day, its impact on you (before and after the day) and what this might mean to coaching, if anything, with Pangea Day as inspiration?

» Continue reading

Mike and Andrea are leaving Calgary for Vancouver Island

I'm told that it's useful when I post a personal note from time to time, so here is the latest. 

I didn't manage to get a photograph of the sunburn I got in the Bahamas last month, in pursuit of money and meaning. (It was the result of sitting on the balcony of a gorgeous condo, basking in the sun while simultaneously tapping away happily on my laptop.) For those of you who know me know this is my signature style of being - enjoying the moment so much I forget the time - and I hope you have a good laugh at my expense. Hey, I have the laptop tan line across my knees to prove it! 

More recently, my husband Mike and I have sold our house in Calgary and purchased in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. Across the street from the ocean, only 5 minutes drive from an amazing local chocolate house, a summer farmer's market and with kiwifruit, fig and other fruit in the acreage yard, we can't wait to get there in two weeks.

It is the fault of Linda Oprica, a coach in Comox Valley area, that we are moving to this beach location. She invited me two years ago to speak to the local Chamber about Money and Meaning for biz owners. Then not 6 months later a separate invite came to speak to the chapter of NAWBO in the area. Both speaking gigs lead to gifts of that amazing local chocolate at the end - a very good sign indeed! Eating with Linda and David at the Kingfisher Spa (now our neighbor) gave me my requisite 'Mike and I must come back!' moment, which we subsequently did. That trip led to some great beach-walking and talks about the area. We walked Gartley Point, commenting to each other 'what a nice neighborhood - wouldn't it be nice to live here?' And so now we will be. (It was the mammoth wild rosemary bushes growing on the side of the road - 2 minutes from the house - that clinched him I think.)

Moral of the story? Never underestimate the power of wanting what you want, clearly, and in the fact that you are creating what matters to you, even when you think you're not. 

I say "Bring on the new environment, fresh beginnings and inspiration all around." How about you? Do comment below if you wish.

by Mark Penn and E. Kinney Zalesne

As a reader of this blog for forward-thinking coaches, well, I know you are one. As such, I cannot recommend a future-oriented book more highly.

Let's face it, our clients don't come to us in parts. They are whole people who call upon our support for their whole lives. Whether we're aware of it or not, there are new currents in society that are impacting them that we need to keep abreast of. Microtrends is the proverbial motherlode when it comes to societal context for what we're coaching in.

Here are just a few emerging trends to whet your appetite, and perhaps keep you thinking while you wait for your copy to arrive:

• The growth of households comprised of single women (in 1980, 17% of Americans lived in solo households, now this figure is closer to one in four Americans). These women will need to plan for their retirements alone, so all those television commercials with couples on beaches are not speaking to them.
• Another growing trend is "cougars," or women, like "Mrs. Robinson," who date or marry men a decade younger than they are. They may require a new type of pre-nuptial agreement, for example.
• The trend for retired workers to continue working may necessitate tax law changes or a redirection of benefits from maternity leaves to `winter-off" options.

Are you ready for all of the above when it comes up in the lives of your clients? What about these seemingly innocuous shifts in society:

• Extreme Commuters have more time on their hands to read or listen (if they use mass transit)
• The growth of Stay at Home workers may generate a need for changed zoning laws or more secure home offices in residential design.
• Protestant Hispanics (Hispanics are 14% of the U.S. population and 8% of registered voters) comprise 25% of Americans who identify as Hispanic.
• 30-Winkers are Americans who sleep less, take more naps, need caffeine, and need ways to be either more productive when they are awake or find solutions to their lack of sleep.
• Pro-Semites or Philo-Semites are the growing number of people who want to date Jewish men and women.

Visit your independent bookstore or online book merchant to grab your copy. More on the topic of emerging trends and corresponding leadership opportunities for coaches in a special announcement coming this week.

Have you ever heard of the 'Six Figure Speed Bump' or the 'Quarter Million Dollar Speed Bump? It's the entrepreneurial glass ceiling that prevents a person from advancing to the next level of success, and though it happens in nearly every business, it's a particularly big challenge for service professionals such as coaches.

Most if not all of you know my friend and colleague Michael Port, who wrote the best-selling classic 'Book Yourself Solid.' In his follow-up act, Beyond Booked Solid, Michael addresses the issue of growth - innovation and growth to be exact - in other words, how to grow your business well, sustainably, meaningfully and lucratively.

Starting a business is one thing, staying in business another, and really taking that business over the top, to the place where you're here to stay, playing for the long term, and ultimately being able to sell that business perhaps, that's what BBS is about.

In a nutshell, many clients I work with relate too well to what Dave Buck says, 'I'm self-employed and I work for a lunatic.'

Michael's book gets a top recommendation from me as a how-to guide for curing that lunacy. And further points for walking the talk - every business book is written under pressure from publishers to be the best it can be (in their definition, which is sometimes different from the author's.) I'm so happy to shine a light on Michael's commitment to go the extra mile, evident in every chapter. He's included both the doing and the being elements of success - bravo Michael!

Click here to order your copy...

"If you want a four-hour workweek, this book is required reading. Michael has automating business down to a science."
- Timothy Ferriss, #1 NY Times bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek

"Burning Up the House" by Lable Braun

Creating What Matters is delighted to reprint the following feature article by Lable Braun with permission from The Coaching Commons, a coaching think-tank and not-for-profit project of The Harnisch Foundation.

Coaches, mark Tuesday, April 8, 2008 on your calendars. It will turn out to have been a very significant day in the history of the Coaching vocation. On that day at CAM (The Conversation Among Masters Conference) in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina a most amazing discussion took place over lunch. CAM had brought together Master Certified Coaches, and others who play a significant role in the world of Coaching, to have a meaning-full conversation. And what a conversation we had over that lunch!

Gathered around the table were some of the most experienced practitioners of the coaching art, several of whom had been present at the creation. They had built this profession, and now they came together to set it on fire.

Looking out the windows of the meeting room at the Grove Park Inn, we could see the breathtaking Blue Ridge Mountains stretching out before us. As the conversation unfolded about the future of Coaching, we were put in mind of how, on those mountains, both Nature and Humans will sometimes set fire to sections of the forest to create the opportunity for new growth. We wondered whether, before we could contemplate the future growth of Coaching, we would first have to courageously examine what it is time for Coaching to let go of. We wanted to set the profession on fire with all its glorious possibilities. We knew, at a gut level, that the new fire would have to be fueled by burning up the house.

"...we want to set the profession
[of coaching] on fire...burn up the house."

Imagine, if you will, the courage it took for those who had built the structure of this profession to now examine what they had to say good-bye to in order to insure its future. But there was no hesitation, no regret. The task was approached with a sense of joy and a feeling of liberation. It was a moment for smashing taboos. Anything was on the table. We would refuse to be bound by tradition or convention. The foundation for the future would be preserved. That which had once served us, but now limited our growth would be released with honor and piled on a hero’s pyre.

Brain sparks flew around the table, igniting conversation and illuminating the path. These are just some of areas the group was courageous enough to put the torch to (Warning: Coaching traditionalists may find some of the following to be shocking and inappropriate for children):

• Being “agenda-less” is a myth. It’s NOT all about the client. The client is part of a society, as is the coach. The coach has a duty to promote social responsibility in the client.
• Certification is a barrier to many who could greatly benefit the future of coaching. We must welcome those who can help us build that future.
• Coaching has become isolated as a profession unto itself. We must burn down the walls and play in other professions’ sandbox, and welcome them into ours. Even if it means foregoing the safety of the title of “coach.”
• If there is to truly be a Coaching “profession”, we must stop fragmenting and must open up the borders within the profession. Any profession, to be worthy of that title, must be based on a solid academic foundation which validates it to society and prepares future professionals. And academia means openness, the free exchange of ideas and methods.

  Which Coaching school one graduated from must no longer matter. Which certification one holds, if any, must no longer matter.
  
  We must not hold on to our ideas as if they were property. Rather, we must plant them as seeds for the new growth in our Coaching forest. The ideas that unite us and promote our growth must be nurtured. The ideas that divide us and lead to stagnation must be tossed in the fire.



• To become a “profession,” Coaching has come to take itself much too seriously. It has lost the whimsy, humor, and perspective that, in the beginning made it such a powerful tool for personal development. We must be willing to let go of the “seriousness” and return the sense of “joy” to Coaching.

Most importantly, we cannot hold on to the way things are done today simply because we have become masterly at it. If finding new approaches to Coaching means that we must return to a Novice state, we must be willing to place our Mastery on the fire. If integrating with other professions and sources of wisdom means that we become children again, then we are ready to play.

The question, of course, was faced: What next? We realized that the path to that answer might be different for each of us. We decided to pursue a Quest for Fire. We were put in mind of the legendary Grail Quest. No one on that Quest had a clear idea of what the Grail would turn out to be. They just knew they had to search. They each had an individual path to the common goal of the Grail.

We, too, would pledge ourselves to such a Quest. We would individually search for the future of Coaching. And we would form a sort of Round Table here at the Coaching Commons to share what we had learned on the Quest, and to mutually support each other as we faced the Monsters that any Quest inevitably encounters.

We had lit the fire, and it warmed us and lighted the path. But we know there are two types of fire. The ancient Greeks created the word “pyros” for the ordinary, consuming sort of fire that pyromaniacs use so destructively. They also had another word, “tekein” for the melting, shaping, creative sort of fires that tek-nologists use so creatively.

Will the fire that was lit that day be a “pyros” or a “tekein”? Only we – and you – can determine that.

Click here to read current comments, add yours to the fire, or stand ready with a bucket of water...the conversation among us awaits!

• Coaching certification - are you for it? vehemently against it? or somewhere in between? (Bored by the is an acceptable answer too!)
• How do you feel about the IAC Coaching Masteries™ - do they represent coaching to you
• What do you think of the IAC - International Association of Coaching - how well is it serving you (or not?)
• All of the above, including anything covered in the Q&A.

As Andrea continues to shine a light on the certification journey, she's excited that Mentor Coach and Lead Certifier at the IAC Nina East has agreed to answer your biggest questions. Stay tuned for future calls and recordings on this topic. 

Send your questions, comments or critique here. Your thoughts are important to us!

In her second book called Money, Meaning and Beyond, Andrea writes about Desire Lines. Urban planners use desire lines when they use the natural paths that spring up in parks as sensible places for sidewalks. Desire lines show a yearning on the part of the walkers as they are walking where they want to walk.

Our clients show us desire lines as well. They yearn for us to offer them more—more classes, products, services, or information. However, if we are not listening closely, we may miss the signals, passing up the opportunity to do more for our existing client base.

One of the easiest ways to grow your income is to sell more to your current customer base. Desire lines are subtle neon signs pointing out additional products or services needed by your clients.

How to discover desire lines? Pay attention to the email requests you say decline. Are you often asked for things that you don’t currently provide? What questions do you repeatedly answer?

When you get several questions on the same topic, your clients need more education. Consider creating a teleclass, ebook, or group coaching program to provide that information. If you do a teleclass or group coaching program, record it and create an audio product.

Notice the blocks that your clients consistently face. Can you create a product, service, or program to help them past that block?

Ask. Simply ask by sending a short survey to your clients. Andrea suggests keeping it short so that it is easy for everyone to respond quickly. One quick question, “What is your biggest challenge about xzy?” can give you a wealth of good information.

In fact, a quick question by email generally produces much better responses than a formal survey. Bear in mind Andrea's teaching point - that people answer survey's using their logic, whereas they buy with their emotion. So if you want to ask a question and generate the best responses, do it without triggering logic by emailing instead of surveying.

Finding new customers is an important task for any business person. The forward thinking coach also pays attention to the desire lines of her current customers, finding ways to serve them more robustly and generate additional streams of revenue.

Brainstorm with these questions:

• What do you know that your clients wish they knew?
• How could you teach them that information?
• What are the biggest obstacles to implementation that plague your clients?
• Could you create a system to remove them?
• What questions did you clients ask you this week?
• Can you find any common themes?
• When could you send an email query to your current customer base?

Post your thoughts and answers...if you so desire!