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Event Feedback: January to March 07
Core Competencies Series of 10 26th March 2007
Establishing Trust and Intimacy with the client with Maryvonne Lorenzen, MCC
Establishing Trust and Intimacy is built on the foundation of professional, ethical behaviour.
Obstacles to trust and intimacy were as follows:
- Coach bringing own agenda to the meeting
- Coach trying too hard
- Coach experienced by client as judgemental
Promoters of trust and intimacy were:
- Accepting clients for who they were, where they were ,/li>
- Authenticity in the coach, including genuine interest in the client
- Coaches trusting the client, the process and themselves
- Ability to challenge without judgment, based on appreciation of the client’s position and genuine-ness in the coach
- Creativity based on self car and alignment with vision & values
The important "distinction" is I'm OK and I want to change vs I'm not OK and I have to change.
John Wattis
The most valuable lesson for me in this teleconference was to reinforce the different aspects of trust; the client’s trust in the coach (to keep them safe), the coach’s trust in the client (to lead the way), the coach’s trust in him/herself and the process (to deliver value).
Gordon Watt
Credentialing Day Workshop 2 of 6 22nd March 2007
with Elizabeth Ferguson, MCC
A great workshop on core competencies. I came in with a mental checklist and walked out with the affirmation that I can coach from the heart! Thank you for the great feedback and encouragement to keep on growing.
Francis Christie
An excellent day that has left me well informed on what is required to undergo ICF credentialing. Relaxed and informal - a good opportunity to reflect on my coaching skills with other coaches.
Paul Gregory
I thought this was going to be just about the ‘how’ of getting credentialed and what I actually experienced was the ‘how’ plus a great opportunity to meet with like minded coaches who want to raise the quality of their coaching, a fresh look at my current coaching style and an understanding of the robustness of this coaching credentialing process which means that you can be proud to be associated with the ICF.
Julie Hall
PCC Discussion Forum 21st March 2007
with Halina Jaroszewska, PCC Director of Professional Development
The PCC Discussion forum was very handy for me - thanks. Sometimes a chat just gets round behind the information on the website and adds a different dimension. I'm much clearer now as to the various steps I need to take - and probably more motivated to get on with it as well!
Steve Thomson
The PCC Discussion Forum enabled me to ask all the questions I had about changes to the PCC credentialing procedures, and I’m now clear about what I need to do and how to do it. It’s more straightforward and less paper-intensive than I had thought Also; Halina’s enthusiasm for professional excellence fired me up to get going on the PCC credential! It was wonderful to be in touch with others going through the same process. It was very useful and enjoyable hour.
Krystyna Leyland
It was very useful to hear from Halina's experience of obtaining her PCC credential and also hearing from others on the same path as me.
Angela O’Connell
Inside the Assessors Head Series 2 of 2 13th March 2007
Part 2 with Alix von Uhde, MCC and Peter Szabó, MCC
It was brilliant to listen to a masterful coaching session AND then hear what the Assessors thought. What a great learning opportunity! I strongly recommend this seminar to you.
Francis Christie
A powerful insight into the process behind a credentialing assessment delivered by the Assessors themselves and measured against the core competencies. A highly revelatory and instructional event and a must for anyone considering their next step in credentialing.
Caroline Ryan
It was valuable to me as a coach who aspires to get my credentials to hear a coaching session and then witness the assessors grade it. I loved the way 1) they focused on the coach’s work, not the content of the coaching (or the effect on theclient) 2) the way they fitted what the coach did to the competencies, not the other way round 3) their attitude to the competencies as a work in progress. It adds greatly to my understanding of the credentialing process.
James Caplin
The class was an opportunity to experience coaching in practice and hear how the ICF Assessors appraise the coaching in relation to the ICF Core Competencies, plus a chance to have your questions answered. So it ticked a lot of boxes and answered niggling questions that had been on my mind for a while.
Carole Simmons
F2F Day Workshop 28th February 2007
Masterful Connecting with Margaret Krigbaum, MCC
Establishing Trust and Intimacy with the Client & Creating Presence
The value of the Masterful Connecting workshop with Margaret Krigbaum was exceptional. It was a privilege to spend a day with somebody who is so masterful at what she does and teaches so fluently and generously from a place of excellence.
Jane Emmanuel
I found this day’s training illuminating, provocative, contentious, irritating, upsetting, enlightening, engaging, disturbing, and inspiring. Since then, I’ve experimented with what I’ve learnt. It‘s no exaggeration to say that I am experiencing a new level of connection – as are those I coach. One client remarked: ‘That was deeper.’ Then: ‘Less fast.’ (Oh dear, I thought). ‘But more value’.
James Caplin
I have worked with Margaret before on the Big Ears 1 and 2 teleclasses but being with her in person for a whole day was spell binding. There was so much in the day it is difficult to list all that I gained from it but what really sticks for me is the issue of not having an agenda, and how subtle the coach's agenda may be/is. When we really believe we are without agenda, then one pops up! The Arts of Self Release, Holding the Client and Partnering could all be said to be self evident and basic. However, Margaret brought these to life in a way I certainly haven't encountered before (and if I have, I'd forgotten) and my coaching and approach have changed as a result. Forever! The live coaching demonstration was fantastic.
Chris Baines
From a non-member and not a coach perspective: I found the workshop very interesting and stimulating. I was not expecting such an interactive day at all. I found that it was very useful to listen to each coach's situation because it made Margaret's explanations very lively and even more relevant. I don't know if the ICF events are always like that but it seems that we learn a lot with this approach -well at least for me. Furthermore, I liked the informal/casual style of the day (which I had not expected either!) because it makes the audience participate more. Finally, I was nervous about not knowing the schedule of the day but I think it was good thing not to know. Indeed, I kept focus on what we were doing and I was not distracted by the upcoming themes. Thank you very much for this wonderful and fruitful day.
Mathilde Chalmin
Photo's from the day:
Inside the Assessors Head Series 1 of 2 21st February 2007
with Alix von Uhde, MCC
When you do your credential, the assessor gets to see deeply into your coaching process. Have the table is turned: you get to see into their process. It certainly increased my respect for the ICF assessors. I'll only discover whether I learnt anything of value when I next meet an ICF assessor for real.
James Caplin
A big thank you for the one hour teleconference discussion between the ICF credentialing organisers and those coaches on the conference call who are shortly applying for credentialing status. I found the call deeply informative and beneficial - especially for those of us who have little or no contact with anyone on the ICF who manages the credentialing process.
George Rogers, the newly appointed Global ICF Director of Credentialing, spoke about some of the pitfalls previous applicants have encountered and offered sound, practical steps for all of us. Alix von Uhde, MCC, the presenter was mindful of how easy it is to follow those key steps provided that future applicants take time and care in reading the details which are clearly spelt out on the ICF web pages. Halina, our Director of Professional Development, reminded us of the simple and easy step by step approach detailed in the User Friendly ICF Credentialing kit that has become an essential tool for those coaches who aspire to reach new heights of recognition through the credentialing route. You can find it on the UK website.
All in all it was money well spent in preparation for my future on line application this coming March.
Mike Tucker
Core Competencies Series of 10 19th February 2007
Establishing the Coaching Agreement 2 of 10 with Philip Brew, MCC
This was a valuable opportunity to experience excellence in modelling, as Philip Brew masterfully coached a new client through the Coaching Agreement process. To read is to understand, but to experience is to take that understanding to a new level. An unmissable event if you are really serious about understanding the value of the Coaching Agreement and how it fits into the Core Competencies. It was an excellent session.
Caroline Ryan
ACC Discussion Forum Series of 3 13th February 2007
De-mystifying the ACC Exam 1 of 3 with Richard Bentley, PCC
This Forum was about the ACC exam and how to pass it. To be ‘doing’ the ACC is to be committed to coaching to the highest possible standards. On one hand I want the exam to be tough, to reflect the high standards required; and on the other, I simply want to pass! The Forum de-mystified the exam, clarified the requirements and confirmed the high standards required. It is ‘do-able’.
Richard Bentley, an ACC ICF Assessor, set the scene by describing the structure of the exam, what the assessor is looking for – and not looking for - in the exam, how the assessment is made and the result announced. This was all solid nuts and bolts stuff; all about what is going on during the exam and why. Yet it went further, for example, in describing the differences that can be observed between the ACC and PCC levels of ability - and that introduced a sense of becoming, more than just being.
Further value was then added by Richard giving a personal view of what helps one to pass. This was about technique, and here there were seven solid nuggets of practical advice. The questions from fellow members and the discussion that followed not only increased awareness and clarity, but also drew in other useful perspectives on the Core Competencies and coaching practice.
This Forum was billed as a ‘member benefit’. It most certainly was.
Paul Davies
Business and Practice Development Discussion Forum Series 1 of 3 6th February 2007. What do you charge? 1 of 3 with John Niland, PCC
The first of John Niland's teleclasses focused on the key issue of setting our own fee, which for many of us feels like a significant challenge. John gave us a really good, practical session. His role-play demonstrations brought alive the different outcomes that a variety of approaches to the initial fee-setting discussion could produce. I came away with lots of tips about how to manage this discussion and how to deal effectively, - through coaching - with any decision-deferring objections. I found the session very helpful and look forward to the next in the series.
Charlotte Matthaei
In response to feedback from members of this Forum the focus in this first event was on ‘How to price coaching services?’ John opened with a story about a senior executive who always took a pipe with him to contract negotiations although he didn’t smoke – when asked why he did this he said ‘because when I say the number I have to put something in my mouth to stop me giggling’.
Quoting you own fee has a completely different feel from quoting for someone or something else – why is this? We offered –
Fear of getting it wrong
Negative self-talk
Focus on doubts
Putting a number on yourself
The acceptance/rejection element
John suggested the fee has to work at 3 different levels:
The market – the purchaser must be able to see there is more value in what is being offered than the costs being asked
The coaches diary – i.e. the income available from coaching a specific number of hours for a certain fee
And our ability to say the words.
Illustrating how the process of agreeing a price starts from the very first conversation with a potential client John took the group through 2 ‘role play’ scenarios. The key differences were that the scenario that worked best focused on value rather than cost; was more like a coaching session helping the client identify what it was they were really seeking as the end goal; identified the budget holder and set up a process for negotiation with the holder of the purse strings; and ended with a clear next step and an open door.
John was adamant that getting into writing speculative proposals is a waste of everyone’s time – and especially the coach’s! Don’t bother with this, was his advice, until you’ve met and built a relationship with the budget holder.
There are 3 other mistakes commonly made in pricing discussions –
Talking about the budget too soon (i.e. before the context, need and potential benefit or value have been identified)
Trying to be cheaper than other people – Don't read bench marking surveys says John: average can seriously limit your thinking!
Billing in arrears - Always ask for fees in advance
Another story he told was one about Picasso, sitting at a pavement café in Paris, and being approached by a woman who asks him to draw her portrait
He proceeds to do this, creating a brief sketch in a few minutes and then asks her for 7000 francs. What! She exclaims – but it only took you 3 minutes! No Madam, he replies, this took me a lifetime.
So finally, beware of quoting too low a fee as this will impact on the client’s perceptions of your value to them – and help them understand this by looking at the potential benefits and the cost to them of NOT going ahead!
Su Kingsley
Pricing strategies
Introduction
What fee to charge works at three levels:
• The market we’re in
• The hours we want to work (e.g. 3 days per week)
• The words we are able to say …
The client will only buy if they think the value is greater than the cost.
The process of getting the right fee starts with the first conversation.
• Explore the context of what they are trying to achieve
• Explore the value/benefit of that achievement
• Then build rapport on those foundations
Common mistakes
The BIG mistakes:
a) Talking budget too early
b) Relate what we charge to what others charge (nb – don’t read benchmarking surveys, ‘average’ fees are very low)
c) Any arrangement billing in arrears is bad news. Request fees up front before services given. E.g. for a workshop, invoice when date is agreed.
d) Don’t make a proposal without establishing a budget. Don’t write speculative proposals without budget or commitment to follow through. Costs you time and effort and seldom comes to fruition.
Two scenarios
A – Typical questions
What prompted you to be interested in coaching? What sort of coaching?
How would you know we were working well together? How often would you like to meet? Do you want to meet face-to-face or over the phone? How long a session?
Typical outcome: 1 hour face-to-face at my office, £200 for x sessions, we’ll arrange each session as we go. This finishes open ended, and may not go on to happen.
B – An alternative set of questions
What prompted you to consider coaching? What has been going on that led to the trigger? How would you know if things were different? What difference would that make? What value would that have for you? What impact on career/life/relationships?
Would it be appropriate to invite your boss into this conversation and see what they want from this coaching?
NB – client is looking for improvements in their life – not coaching per se.
Have a meeting with the boss (or budget holder) before deciding on schedule, method, costs. The support of the budget holder is central for this to work, so make sure you engage with them before pricing. Agree a clear next step and onward engagement.
The model
a) Talk about value first – it may not be about money, may just be about feeling better
b) How will this be paid for? – Who’s support is needed for success, who is the budget holder?
c) Negotiate fee – scenario A charges per hour or session, and gets to pricing prematurely.
Pricing in different sectors
No reason for prices to be the same to everyone. Coaches often lose work by being too cheap. If their budget in the light of the value they are getting is below what you were thinking of charging, ask something like “what allowance have you made for this? My fees vary from £700 to £1700 per month/quarter. I don’t want to be unaffordable for you. How will you be paying?”
Classic objection is to defer the decision, so treat that as an objection, e.g. ‘I need to discuss it with…’ or ‘That sounds good, but I think not just at the moment…’.When an objection is made, coach around that as part of the decision making process. Make it clear you are OK with either decision, but that helping people with decision making is what you do.
“May I coach you around this? When you say ‘not right now’, what is going through your mind?” (E.g. time, cost) “How do you decide about the cost (or time) for holidays (or cars, or whatever)? How do you decide what you can afford?”
“It comes down to choices – the costs if you do, and the costs if you don’t… What’s the cost to you if you don’t go ahead with coaching? What’s your ‘gut feeling’?” [Client: Yes – but it feels like a big step] “What’s getting in the way of the first step?”
Christine Rigden
New Members Forum Series of 5 5th February 2007
with Neil Scotton, ACC Director of Membership
It was helpful to be able to 'meet' someone who is so involved in UK ICF, to find out more about the organisation and to discuss issues that were of particular interest to the members who participated in the call.
Suzanne Gee
Credentialing Day Workshop 1st February 2007
with Carolyn Free-Pearce, MCC & ICF Assessor
Impressions of the ICF Credentialing Workshop by a recent participant in need of a helping hand
On Thursday 1st February I attended my first ICF Workshop, held at the prestigious Regents Park College, London. The workshop is designed to assist those aspiring coaches aiming to become credentialed at ACC, PCC or MCC level. Before the day had started my confidence gremlin was kicking in big-time. How to negotiate the ICF Credentialing Course Rapids without sinking or drowning was something I needed to master before I attempted my online application this coming March.
In a nutshell I was delighted with everyone and everything on the one day Credentialing Workshop - especially the presenter, Carolyn Free-Pearce,MCC a recent past Vice President of the UK ICF. She offered all who attended much insightful experience, support and strength. Her awareness of the administrative process was superb and, throughout the day, kept the programme on course and tuned in to exactly what the six workshop members said they needed. Carolyn gave each of us thoughtful and invaluable specific feedback on how effectively each had coached a buddy and at what coaching level each had demonstrated in the 15 minute individual coaching session. I was impressed by Carolyn's ability to deliver feedback which motivated me and my fellow workshop members. What an inspiration she was!
The ICF are to be congratulated at putting on a splendid workshop that took me to another level of understanding on how to safely negotiate the credentialing white water rapids. Now I have my canoe and my oar and the rest is up to me.
Mike Tucker
Core Competencies Series 1 of 10 30th January 2007
Meeting the Ethical Guidelines and Professional Standards – Dry as Dust or Simply Sumptuous with Elizabeth Ferguson, MCC
I found the conference call very useful – good time to take a step back and to look how I present such issues to my clients. As I mentioned, I provide clients (almost exclusively business clients) with a copy of the ICF Code of Ethics. I also provide some additional of my own; fundamentally people want to know they are dealing with someone who they can trust, they like and who can add value to them. So to look at the framework within which I operate over and above that was extremely useful.
Malcolm Nicholson
While it’s easy to read the ethics it’s not always so easy to apply in a clean way in complex situations. Last night’s call gave a real example to think through which was very helpful and has helped me think about an upcoming situation of my own and how to deal with it.
Rachel Spooncer
Definitely the best bit for me was the real-life example. I found it much easier and far more stimulating to think about ethics - and the problems that can arise around them - when faced with having to find a practical solution to a real-life ethical dilemma, especially as I could easily find myself in a similar situation in real life.
To be honest I sometimes found it hard to keep up with and understand everyone's general theorizing about ethics prior to the real-life example, so, for me personally I would have enjoyed the real-life example nearer the beginning of the call - to get me 'in to it' earlier so to speak!
I was pleasantly surprised by the small number of people on the call, which helped create an informal relaxed atmosphere for our discussion, and I very much enjoyed listening to Elizabeth Ferguson - she sounds very supportive and encouraging and it was a pleasure to work with her for an hour.
Soo Hamilton
'The topic, which may have been perceived initially as dry, gave way to a highly stimulating and thought provoking conversation. At times intense and sometimes challenging, the pace rarely let up and I left the call with a much broader appreciation of the intricacies, subtleties and challenges that may face us in our coaching practice, as well as fuller understanding of how they may be approached. An incredible, valuable session, thank you!'
Caroline Ryan
Mastery in Coaching 16th January 2007
The Future of Coaching with Steve Mitten, MCC
It was inspiring to hear Steve calling over the growth and opportunity for coaching. However having committed myself to coaching I already felt inspired! For me the call became more interesting when Steve began to talk about how coaching was an organic response to the needs of the world at this time and could help to accelerate the evolution of consciousness, and help to develop wisdom and awareness to match the growth of power and knowledge in the world. I myself would have been happy to start the call at that point and explore in more depth how that can happen. I was grateful to have the opportunity of asking Steve about this and in his response he spoke about values. That was interesting but I believe there is more that could have been explored.
John Hannon
Steve shared some amazing facts about the current research on the state of play for coaching: how much more effective it is for individuals than training.He then went onto the future possibilities that are available for the developing profession of coaching. All in all he painted a very rosy picture for the future of coaching and the need for us coaches to be passionate in holding up standards that can be respected and acknowledged to aid the growth and integrity of our profession.
Alma Neville
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