If you build it they will come!

 The last few months have been quite a ride for ICF Chicago. We held our first World Café in December 2012 with 50+ people in attendance and then again in March 2013 in a virtual teleconference format. The rich content and ideas that were harvested by our coaching community have been gathered and can now be accessed on our website from the Coaching Resources page: http://icf-chicago.org/coaching-resources.cfm. 

You’ve heard the phrase “If you build it they will come”? Well we are seeing this happen for ICF Chicago regarding the ideas and hopes for this community…they have been voiced and shared and the opportunities are now opening up to make some of these ideas a reality.

Stay tuned for the upcoming events (only a glimpse of what is coming down the pike):

·        Tonight! ICF MRAC presents FREE Midwest regional event for coaches w/ CCEUs – March 26:

o       Click here for details, to register and get call-in info: http://icfmidwestmarch2013.eventbrite.com

·        ICF Midwest Coach Recognition Awards – nominations due by April 1!

o       Know an exceptional coach? Nominate them! http://icf-midwest.com/nominate

·        Our April 8 Chapter Meeting is on business development with Michael Charest!

o       Register here: http://www.icf-chicago.org/meetings-events.cfm?id=114 

·        International Coaching Week - May 20-26:

o       ICFC will be celebrating this week with some creative opportunities for Chicagoland coaches…details coming soon!

o       In the mean time here is some info from ICF on how you might utilize this week to promote coaching, your coaching practice, and getting the word out about coaching to your community: http://www.coachfederation.org/coachingweek/

·        SHRM Conference and Exposition - June 16-19:

o       Just days after our March World Café 2.0, we were notified that ICF Global will have a booth at this conference at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, and that we were invited to participate…details coming soon!

·        Midwest Regional Conference – June 20-22:

o       Registration opens on April 1! http://icf-midwest.com

Keep checking out our website for more great events and opportunities being added!

Have a wonderful April and hope to see you on the 8^th for our monthly chapter meeting!

With Anticipation,

Wendy Balman, MA, CPCC, ACC

ICF Chicago President

I recently had a big AHA moment as I read ILCT’s March 1^st blog, Opportunity or Distraction, written by Sabrina Schleicher, PhD, PCC, BCC. http://lifecoachtraining.com/index.php/blog/

Working with manufacturing operations consultants over the years, I am very familiar with the using the Ideal Factory strategy, why had I not translated that to my coaching business strategy? In hindsight, it makes perfect sense for me to create my Ideal Client and then build my practice around that, and yet that is not what I have done. “Narrowing my focus and conserving my energy” is a brilliant tactic and one I can actually accomplish if I make my next business decision based on my Ideal Client. Working smarter is what Sabrina is proposing and I am all for that!

Next, I googled ideal client and found a great worksheet to use. http://www.themicronichemethod.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Ideal-Client-Worksheet-4.pdf  [It even includes a bad client checklist.]

If you have an experience with creating the Ideal Client for your coaching practice, please let us know how that is working for or against your own personal opportunities or distractions.

Respectfully,
Marggie Paris, LSW, BCC

Web Watch 7

Navigating Our Social Media World   (March 1, 2013 blog written by Kristen Kelly who handles social media for ICF.)    http://icfheadquarters.blogspot.com/

The more serious I become about my coaching career, the more I realize that I need to completely embrace the new business model that incorporates social media as an important marketing tool. This article is a quick read, covers all the “tools” out there and helped me see where I still have work to do in order to really “nurture” my clients. “Providing quality content on a consistent basis” sounds simple enough, but really requires some “big picture” thinking and planning, planning and executing on a schedule. This really got me thinking about the value of a social media coach and what that investment could add, long-term, to my business.  Kelly also emphasizes the importance of connecting with responders to your sites and tweets. She also provides good, solid statistics that are hard to ignore…social media is a critical business tool that is here to stay.

I am going to spend some time this weekend enhancing my LinkedIn site, doing what Kelly suggests. What struck me was the commitment required to use these tools effectively and that requires a strategy for managing them.  I definitely see how hiring a social media coach would be an excellent next step! 

Respectfully,
Marggie Paris, LSW, BCC

President's Letter - Time for a Check-In

What is happening now? When a lot is going on it’s always good to pause for a moment and check-in with what is happening now. As a board, we wanted to let you know about what we are up to and also give you a heads up on some changes to our upcoming chapter meeting/workshop schedule.

March Chapter Meeting – Changes!The March chapter meeting with the Hawks has been rescheduled for later in the year. The Hawks will now lead the chapter meeting on Monday, June 10 (this will be a virtual meeting!) and then provide an
in-person half day workshop on Saturday, September 14.  We can’t wait! Stay tuned for more details for both of these events!

The revised March program details are coming together and should be confirmed this week. We will send an email with details asap!

World Café UpdateLast December, ICF Chicago hosted a World Café event that drew 50+ people. It garnered valuable input from the Chicagoland coaching community on what it would look like for ICF Chicago to partner with them to Learn, Earn and Connect (Engage) in 2013. We collected that input and are taking action as a board. Here are a few things we are up to:

·         We are honing our ICF Chicago membership program to provide more competitive pricing options and more opportunities for ICF credentialed members to get CCEUs (Continuing Coach Education Units). Our formal launch is targeted for June with some pre-launch opportunities in the works.  We are upping the experiential component of our programs, as well as providing alternate meeting options like Chicago-based meetings and virtual meetings (both coming soon!).

·         We started a new Community Coach Café in Geneva, IL – we now have four. http://meetup.com/community-coach-cafe

·         We are committed to the Midwest Regional Conference in MN! If you would like to be a part of the magic, here are ways you can get involved: http://icf-midwest.com/volunteers/

This is just a taste of all the good stuff going on. If you are interested in where your unique gifts, expertise and talents might fit in this community, let me know!

With Appreciation,

Wendy Balman, MA, CPCC, ACC

 

Louder in Love?

I read the following article in a local newsletter celebrating Valentine’s Day. It touched my heart and made me reflect on my own attitudes. I am presenting it here ‘as-is’ for all the coaches out there.

A theology professor was teaching about proverbs. He asked his students, “Why do we shout in anger?” “Why do people shout at each other when they are angry?”

The students thought for a while. One of them said, “Because we lose our calm, we shout.” “Why shout when the other person is just next to you?” asked the professor. “Isn’t it possible to speak to the person with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when you are angry?”

The students gave some other answers; and none satisfied the professor.  Finally he explained, “When two people are angry at each other, their hearts psychologically distance themselves. To cover the distance, they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will shout to hear each other through the great distance.”

Then the professor further explained, “What happens when two people really love each other?” “They don’t shout at each other; they talk softly. Because their hearts are psychologically very close; the distance between them is very small. When they love each other even more, they do not have to speak, only whisper. The closer they love, the less they speak and more they understand each other.” He concluded.

So, next time you shout at a loved one, know that you are creating a distance between your heart and that person’s heart. 

Hope you all felt loved during this Valentine’s Day celebration. Whisper!

Kam Gupta, Past President, ICF-C. E-mail: Citkam@gmail.com

Web Watch #6

Nurturing is not just for motherhood – it is also a critical quality for a successful coaching business! Written by Teresia LaRocque, MCC--a Canadian coach.  http://icfheadquarters.blogspot.com/

Nurturing my coaching business…what a different way to think about marketing…and maybe because I am female and also a mother, it speaks to me. I get nurturing whereas marketing carries more fear, at least for me. How will I market my business? Just saying it gives me anxiety.  If I flip that thought process to, how will I nurture my business? That feels different, doable. Something I can wrap my mind around and think about putting into action steps on a regular basis, like making sure that the kids have clean clothes and snacks after school, brush their teeth or get some exercise.  The simplicity of her approach also speaks to me. There are 3 central nurturing points: determine your audience’s biggest issue, educate them and discuss solution(s).  Really clear and concise.  Just to get my feet wet and keep my business in front of my audience, I started sending a “Thought” to my database 5 days a week…it is a 30 second thing that has gotten a very positive response. It is one way I am beginning to nurture my coaching business. 

Respectfully,

Marggie Paris, LSW, BCC

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/billbouton/4742731237/">Bill Bouton</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>

Web Watch #5

As Valentine’s Day approaches and our thoughts turn to relationships, I thought it fitting to look at Doug Silsbee’s latest blog entry “The Marriage of Intuition and Rigor”. http://www.dougsilsbee.com/blog/rigor

This is a relationship that every coach could benefit from examining. Doug is the “presence-based coach” and being absolutely present in the coaching relationship requires a discipline and practice all its own…then to be able to determine when your intuition is truly appropriate and useful to the coaching conversation is a skill on another level completely.  And, one worth developing, I believe.  So many of us in the coaching profession have good intuition skills, but by itself, intuition is not enough.

Here is a great nugget from Doug Silsbee on the partnership of intuition and rigor, “Intuition imbues the coaching process with grace, with art, with connectedness that opens new territory. Rigor is the process of recognizing and owning the inevitable pieces of unfinished business, on holding ourselves accountable to skillful means, and grounding our intuition to ensure that it is truly of service, at least most of the time.”

He phrases this beautifully, almost romantically. If each one of us brought this “marriage” to our practices, to our client relationships it would benefit both parties.  This is definitely worth a read and be sure to check out the comments from his readers which are really insightful.

Respectfully,

Marggie Paris, LSW, BCC