Blogging Expert Andy Wibbels recently posted about the books that changed his life in 2006.

What book has YOU shaking at the knees with passion? And no, I'm not talking romance novels. ;-)

The premise of Companion Coaching Programs will be of interest to you if you'd like a short-cut to creating products and services that already have some currency in your market. In other words, it's an alternative to starting from scratch to create intellectual property of your own.

Here's how (and a little why...)

For every piece of popular intellectual property, for example a best-selling business book, there is an opportunity for greater learning to occur in a coaching setting. A well-designed companion program alows participants to implement the ideas sparked by that book to a greater degree. To take the theory and integrate it more fully into their daily lives.

Consider for a moment how much transformational material does NOT yet have a coaching component to help take it from 'great thinking' to 'real life?'

I've often wondered -- What if 'The Purple Cow' had a companion coaching program and corresponding team of coaches who brilliantly elicited 'remarkable' from its clients?

After writing lengthily about this concept in Multiple Streams of Coaching Income, I've noted a handful of new companion coaching programs spring up. Foremost is a brand being created simply and elegantly by Coach Carol Ross, CPCC, based on the work of Dan Pink, author of "A Whole New Mind."

Carol kindly agreed to share her work in this area at her websites here and here, and also be interviewed for this blog. As a pioneer in the Companion Coaching area, her answers reflect a lovely evolutionary process - see for yourself.

(1) Carol, what made you choose Dan Pink's work to piggyback on, from a field of so many?

The book resonated with me from the first page. It explained what I have been living for the last 7 years, migrating from an analytical software engineer in Bell Labs to a creative entrepreneur and writer.

It also gave concrete reasons for using both sides of our brain, the creative right brain as well as the analytical left brain. It not just a feel good thing but a necessity to be competitive in today’s world. I identified with the book’s concepts and approach so wholeheartedly that I could see building my brand with it.

(2) Of all the ideas Dan presents, what is one that you feel is least understood, or least valued, to your disappointment?

That’s a hard one. There’s not one that stands out as being harder to understand.

I suppose companies are starting to see the value of Story. I recently interviewed Steve Denning, an expert who teaches companies how to use story-telling in to achieve business goals. He told me that his clients are incorporating story-telling into their leadership development.

Maybe Play is one that still hasn’t caught on as fully. Play is still seen as frivolous—something the dotcom companies did in between burning through start-up money. And Play is probably the one that I’m most naturally oriented to. My work is play when it’s at its best.

(3) Did you secure permission from Dan before you went ahead, or after? How did you approach him? And what does Dan say about the whole endeavor?

This is an interesting little story. It started after I read the book, when I went to visit his website.

On the website is a calendar of events and I noticed that he had a public speaking gig in Denver, where I live. This was in January 2006.

Unfortunately, I was scheduled to deliver a workshop the same time he was speaking. I mentioned this to my coach, Shirley Anderson. I wanted to contact Dan after I was further along on figuring out how to build off the book. But Shirley didn’t let me slide. Instead she urged me to email Dan Pink, to arrange a meeting while he was in town.

It was also fortuitous that a colleague of mine, Robert Rasmussen, had met Dan Pink in person when they were both speaking at a conference. Robert also encouraged me to contact Dan, telling me he was very approachable.

So between Shirley and Robert, I decided to email Dan. I leveraged the fact that we both knew Robert by using the subject line: “Referred to you by Robert Rasmussen.”

I talked about why the book resonated with me and pointed to a blog posting about the impact the book had on me. I told him I wanted to use his book as part of building my brand but didn’t want to step on toes. I asked if we could meet while he was in town, and offered to take him out for dinner the night before his speaking engagement. I added a light touch by saying something like, “Don’t worry. I’m a happily married woman with two beautiful sons.” I also let him know that I had already registered a lens on Squidoo that month with the title, “Living With A Whole New Mind” so that he could tell me right off the bat if I was crossing the line. I wanted to be as upfront as possible.

Dan emailed back the next day and was very gracious. He was flying in late the night before the talk and leaving the next morning, right after the talk to catch a plane. So while he could not meet in person, he gave me the go-ahead to use the concepts in his book in whatever way it could help me—whether it was with coaching or organization development work (I do both)--as long as I gave him attribution.

His response came from a place of abundance: “Lots of folks are incorporating these ideas into their work -- and that benefits everyone. They get new material to work with. I get a few more book sales….Go forth and conquer!”

Since then, I’ve interviewed Dan twice, once over the phone for my podcast, Leading With A Whole New Mind, and once in person for a Northwestern University alumni podcast on career development (we’re both alums.)

(4) How did you come to select the domain name "LeadingWithaWholeNewMind.com."

I have to credit my coach, Shirley Anderson, with that one.

I had the idea of a series of interviews to bring the book to life, in the form of a podcast. Originally I wanted to name the podcast, “Living With A Whole New Mind.”

Shirley suggested Leading With A Whole New Mind instead. It has more of a business bent and based on my target audience—intelligent, analytical professionals who are ready to engage the creative right brain—it made sense to use the word “Leading” instead of “Living.”

(5) Can you give us some examples of how a 'whole-brain' approach has benefitted a coaching client?

I have to limit myself to a few paragraphs on this one. Otherwise, I’ll be writing for days! Some highlights:

- Sometimes clients need help in picking up on non-verbal, non-written information that’s in front of them—they
miss signs that people are giving them.

I’ll ask him/her to practice sensing the emotion of the room or of someone they are interacting with. Is the person pensive? Angry? Frustrated? Sad? Is the group confused? Scared? Jubilant?

This is the first step to developing empathy for those who aren’t naturally empathetic (and we all know people like that!) Just this one step gives a client so much more information to work from, in both personal and professional situations.

Then the left brain can then kick in to assess the most effective way to proceed with the conversation (e.g., If I start talking about X, that will confuse the group even more. Better keep my remarks simple.)

- I will use visualization with clients when they are having trouble seeing the big picture (Symphony). We imagine going up a ladder to different platform heights and at each level, I ask the client what they see down below, where his/her life is playing out.

As we go higher up, the client sees the pattern and picture of their life and becomes aware of underlying emotions. Clients can then let go of the details that run their life, and focus on the important stuff.

I had one client, a brilliant manager and financial whiz, who visualized seeing at the highest platform just one thing below him. He saw his oldest son, about four at the time, learning to ski by putting his skis in a “pizza wedge.” His life wasn’t about work, about making money, about his career. It was about being a father.

- One of the most common whole-brain approaches is to use our natural intuition. Clients know so much from checking their gut, yet they often don’t include that in how they live their life or work in business. I’m not saying to rely solely on intuition, but to include it as part of the decision-making process. As much as we include facts and figures.

Much of this stuff is what I learned in coaching training and I’m guessing your blog readers did too, Andrea.

So when I pass on coaching skills, like sensing emotion and trusting intuition, to my clients, I’m helping them engage the right-brain. For many of us, including my target market, we already have a competency in logical reasoning. So combine that with the right-brain stuff and you get whole brain thinking.

(6) What one mistake would you advise other coaches to avoid, and how, when considering this kind of approach to an existing piece of IP.

Don’t wait to have all your ducks in a row.

The worst thing I could have done was wait to contact Dan Pink until I felt ready.

Dive in, seize the opportunity, and improvise from there. This stuff happens organically. You can’t plan it out.

For example, I could not have predicted that I would be interviewing Dan on behalf of Northwestern University. In his original reply to me, he made the connection that we are both Northwestern alums. He had read my bio on my website. From there, I contacted Northwestern. The career services director for alumni was aware of the book but did not know that Dan was an alum. I suggested an interview and things took off from there.

The other piece of advice is to be up front and clear about your intentions. Tell the truth of how you want to use the existing IP. Be sincere.

(7) There are several other coaching companies who leverage the fame and popularity of books to grow their businesses. They go 'deeper' into the material with the clients. But for the most part these are bigger organizations. What are your plans as a solopreneur to build out this brand in the future? Do you envision products, etc.?

Great question. I’ve been percolating on the idea of passive revenue for the last year (especially after reading your book, Multiple Streams of Coaching Income) and your question has only intensified the brewing process!

It feels like I’m at a crossroad in my business journey, where I need to decide what to do with the seeds that I’ve planted and sort out how much, and how deeply my brand is connected with A Whole New Mind.

When I started to go down this path of building off of A Whole New Mind, I asked William Arruda, founder of Reach his take on what I was doing. Arruda is known as a personal branding guru and in his blog, he talks about brands being complementary.

For example, the clothing retailer, H+M, and Madonna. These are both strong brands that complement each other.

His response to me was this: “I believe brand association is very positive. Look at the value of having Aveda products in your bathroom at a W hotel. Connecting with a powerful brand adds power to your brand.

BUT...you must also make it clear what YOUR brand is. How have you applied Dan’s work to a specific area that you own? You must develop your own thought leadership that differentiates you from anyone else who might be using the ideas in his book.”

I’m not sure that I’ve done justice to the advice that William has given me. But I try to remember that I need to have my own brand, that is uniquely me, even as I align myself with A Whole New Mind.

My gut says that whatever products I produce will be a combination of A Whole New Mind and my own brand. For example, with the podcast, Leading With A Whole New Mind, I’m using the concepts from the book as a guide for who I interview and for framing the interview (e.g., this individual’s work is about Story).

And my interview style, which impacts the larger picture of what people are hearing, is part of my brand—intelligent, genuine, and creative. I think people’s best efforts usually reflect some part of them, so it’s no different here.

I don’t know what the right mix is and my guess is that will emerge, organically. Seems like a good part of what looks like success is really the umpteenth iteration of trying something out - after going through a process of trial and error.

(8) Would you say there is a significant advantage of sorts to the piggyback approach you've taken? Is there a marketing advantage that you've seized?

The big advantage is that people who like the book usually like my approach and who I am. They self-select. And vice versa.

My clients who have come to me but don’t know about the book usually enjoy reading it when I recommend it.

So if I can align myself with the book in some way (e.g., the podcast, the Squidoo lens), it makes it a lot easier on me. I naturally attract who I want to serve.

This book is not for everyone and likewise, I’m not for everyone.

(9) On your website, your photo appears a bunch of times, but Dan's doesn't appear at all...nor does his book. Why is that?

When I first read your question, I immediately moved into action to fill the gap. So you’ll now see a photo of me and Dan at this link at my site. (Scroll about half-way down, under the heading of Podcasts. At the end, under the heading of Books, you’ll see his book.) [Ed. note: The photo in question is also above.]

It actually stunned me that I could have missed something so obvious.

On further reflection, I can see that it’s a sign of my lack of clarity on how the work I’ve done with the book (podcast, interviews with Dan Pink) fits into an overall brand strategy.

The answers are still emerging and quite frankly, your questions and conversations with my coach have prompted me to think about what the next version of my website should look like. Or if I should have more than one website. I find that every 18 months to 2 years, my website needs a good overhaul, to be current with where I’m at and to reflect my evolution.

(10) What's the one thing you hope visitors to your site will take action on, and take away from their visit?

I hope that they’ll become engaged in the dialogue that I’m trying to foster. That might mean signing up for my monthly ezine, commenting on my blog, subscribing to one of my podcasts, contacting me for a complimentary consultation, or reading a sampling of my 50+ articles on the website.

What’s the dialogue about? Certainly, it’s about whole brain thinking. But it’s not just for the sake of some cool concept. It’s for the sake of having inspired careers, working on inspired teams, and living inspired lives. It’s about finding the big things in the small things, about using all of what’s in front of us, and making conscious choices.

I want individuals and organizations to wake up to what’s possible, instead of focusing on what’s wrong.

-----end interview with Carol----

Thanks, Carol! I appreciate the time you've taken to shine a light on your process with us.

It's my hope that others will be moved to take a closer look at the shortcuts available to them as coaches by following your example. Not to mention the benefits of deepening the conversation around exciting bodies of intellectual property...

Best wishes with your whole minded pursuits. :-)

"Carol's engineering background makes her uniquely positioned to see both the left-brain and right-brain perspectives of any situation. In looking at problems, she's able to respond by coupling the "soft skills" with an analytical approach."

-- Wendy Bohling, Former Research and Development Director, Avaya

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