Hi I just ran a short informational call about "What is Coaching Supervision". On the call I promised to share some of the questions that it is useful to reflect on a coach as you consider your coaching practice.It's useful to know first the definition of What is Coaching Supervision? "The process by which a coach / mentor/ consultant with the help of a supervisor, who is not working directly with the client, who can attend to understanding better both the client system and themselves as part of the client-coach/mentor system and transform their work" Coaching, Mentoring and Organisational Consultancy Peter Hawkins and Nick Smith ??         Do you review or reflect on what you do as a coach (both strengths and areas of opportunity)? ??         How do you do this? ??         How often? ??         Do you review by client or do you also look at what themes may happen across your clients and how you work with them? ??         What actions do you take as a result of your reflection? ??         Where do you take issues / questions about your work as a coach? ??         How safe do you feel as a coach? ??         What support networks do you have in place? ??         Where do you want to go as a coach? ??         What kind of coach would you say you are?  Is this the kind of coach you would like to be?     ?? ??

Hi there This week I am running the first of 2 complimentary teleclasses.  They'll be 30 mins in length so just enough time to learn a few pieces of information without overwhelming you!  Let's keep it simple in '09!Class One:  Weds 7th January 8pm UK Time:  What is Coaching Supervision? Sign Up!Class Two:  Thursday 8th January 8pm UK time: 5 Keys to Getting started on Twitter for Newbies Sign Up Now!See you there!  Questions you'd like to see answered?  Leave me a comment on the blog!

The International Coach Federation has 11 Core Competencies: as The Coaches Coach I am going to support coaches out in the blogosphere by working through a competency a month and then reviewing in December with an overview.As they said in the Sounds of Music, "Let's start at the Beginning, a very good place to start"... The first of the ICF Core Competencies is Coaching Ethics and Standards.  What I'll be doing throughout January is posting a series of thoughts, questions, ideas and generally thoughts to help you develop more of an idea of how you can develop your understanding of Ethics and Standards and how you apply these in your Coaching Business and the work you do with your Coaching Clients. As you'll see, Coaching and Ethics and Standards are a key part of setting the Foundation for the relationship of Coaching.Today we'll concentrate on the basic dictionary meaning of Ethics and Standards.Ethics:???plural noun 1. (used with a singular or plural verb) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture. 2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics. 3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence. 4. (usually used with a singular verb) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actionsSource:  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics#dict_headerAs a coach I find 2 interesting parts to this.  If I think about the culture and groups I belong to as a coach where I have Ethics, I follow an Ethical Stance as a Coach:Because I believe in the Integrity of the Coaching Profession and am a member of the wider community of coaches Because I am an Accredited member of a Coaching Professional Community - In my case the International Coach Federation, which has a stated set of Coaching Ethics and Standards. Because of my own personal values and ethics - I believe to be professional there are certain ways to do things. What I'll be doing in future posts in January is to explore these issues, and particular statements around ethics, further.Standards:???noun 1. something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model. 2. an object that is regarded as the usual or most common size or form of its kind: We stock the deluxe models as well as the standards. 3. a rule or principle that is used as a basis for judgment: They tried to establish standards for a new philosophical approach. 4. an average or normal requirement, quality, quantity, level, grade, etc.: His work this week hasn't been up to his usual standard. 5. standards, those morals, ethics, habits, etc., established by authority, custom, or an individual as acceptable: He tried to live up to his father's standards. 6. a grade of beef immediately below good. 7. the authorized exemplar of a unit of weight or measure. 8. a certain commodity in or by which a basic monetary unit is stated. Compare gold standard, silver standard, bimetallism, monometallism. 9. the legally established content of full-weight coins. 10. the prescribed degree of fineness for gold or silver. 11. British. a class or grade in elementary schools. 12. a musical piece of sufficiently enduring popularity to be made part of a permanent repertoire, esp. a popular song. 13. a flag indicating the presence of a sovereign or public official. 14. a flag, emblematic figure, or other object raised on a pole to indicate the rallying point of an army, fleet, etc. 15. Military. a. any of various military or naval flags. b. the colors of a mounted unit. c. (initial capital letter) a U.S. Navy radar-guided surface-to-air missile with a range of 10???30 miles (16???48 km). 16. Heraldry. a long, tapering flag or ensign, as of a monarch or a nation. 17. something that stands or is placed upright. 18. a long candlestick or candelabrum used in a church. 19. an upright support or supporting part. 20. Armor. a standing collar of mail. 21. Horticulture. a plant trained or grafted to have a single, erect, treelike stem. 22. Botany. a distinct petal, larger than the rest, of certain flowers; a vexillum. ???adjective 23. serving as a basis of weight, measure, value, comparison, or judgment. 24. of recognized excellence or established authority: a standard reference on medieval history. 25. usual, common, or customary: Chairs are standard furniture in American households. 26. manual; not electric or automatic: standard transmission. 27. conforming in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc., to the usage of most educated native speakers, esp. those having prestige, and widely considered acceptable or correct: Standard American English; standard pronunciation. Compare nonstandard (def. 2). 28. authorized or approved: The program was broadcast on the standard broadcast band. Source:  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/standards#dict_headerPhew!  What a lot of different interpretations of the same word!  I've highlighted in bold those that really stand out as being linked into what we are talking about here, the Standards the Coaching Community sets itself, the Standards we set ourselves as Coaches, and the Standards which are being expected of us by outside organisations and customers.It's about a certain way of doing things and a level of consistency that can be expected.  If as coaches we work to a Standard, then that is like flying a banner (another meaning of the singular standard!) saying what we stand for.   This is our Army of Coaching Beliefs and Who we are when we work as coaches. Suggested Coaching Action:What thoughts did this bring to your mind about you as a coach?  Do you have a written set of standards that you work to?Find out what coaching standards and ethics are available for you if you don't already work to a set:  Your Coach Training School or Association will have a set.  Revisit them as we work through this series together.Sign up for email updates from the blog so you don't miss anything!

I was asked recently by a reader about what questions work when coaching someone who is scared to do something, and what questions work to find out what they are scared of, and not to be scared, and also what questions work to get them moving again when they are in "can't" mode.Where do you go when you have a coachee with any of the issues above? First of all, I'd start at how you know that they are scared.  Have they specifically told you?  What language are they using or is it behaviours, or body language that you are noticing?The language of the level of fear is important - and do use the language that they are using and reflect back. It's important to use the clients language so you don't misrepresent their perception of the effect this is having for them.  For instance, if the client refers to being scared and you use terrified, then this may escalate the fear and stop any action at all!It also depends on what the situation is that they are scared of taking action in relation to, and whether it is a coaching issue or one which may require counselling or another support profession (Coaching Ethics and Standards)A review of some of the Coaching Core Competencies can be a useful way to reflect and review on strategies you can use with a clientAlso I'd be aware of where you are in the relationship with the client.    Have you established a good Coaching Agreement and Trust with the client through rapport building, or is this an early session?  This may depend on what you bring out in the coaching and how you do it - you'll know your client the best.  In relation to this, what will help make the space you have in the coaching session safe for the client to enable them to move past being scared/ fear of action and into exploration and making the commitment to act?You also need to be Present with the client.  What goals did they come to you to work on, and how does this fear/ scaredness to take action impact on these goals?I find a good way to explore issues like this that you either specifically hear from the client because of the words that they are using or pick up through beliefs, "could/ should's" etc or body language is to simply share what you are observing or noticing, if that is appropriate.  This can be a good way to help Raise awareness - For example, a question may be "I am noticing that you talked about being scared to move on - can you explain to me a bit more about that?"  This will help you to open out the conversation to find out what level the fear is at and what will help get the client moving again.  Part of your role as coach may be then to reflect back and summarise what you hear to help your client gain a new perspective on the situation.Another great tip I had shared by my own coach Francine Kaye was to work through safely (with the clients permission) what the worst that could happen is and how the client could mitigate these situations.  If I take an example I was coached through myself about losing my job because of performance, I was able to see that this was not a realistic fear anyway, and that even if the worst cycle of events happened, I was still able to bounce back (Note - know your client and how they may react before you work with this to ensure that this is a safe coaching intervention)A more positive and future focused way is Solutions Focused Coaching. Take the client out into the future to imagine what they will feel like when they have done what they wanted to.  What will they feel, what will they say, and will others say, and what will be different from where they are today?  From here you can help them think about what very small fairy steps they need to take to move forwards one element at a time.  You can also help them think about where they may already have small elements of the solution from work or situations that they have handled before.The whole aim here is to help the client feel safe as they move through a space of transition.  As a Coach you can support them as accountability partner and also through the safety of the coaching space. If you were focusing on questions that enabled insight you may ask"What if a friend was in this situation, what would you tell them?""Where felt scared about doing something before, and then it's worked out well?"If you were challenging assumptions you may ask something like"What are you assuming about doing xxx?  How do you know that is true?""What if you knew you couldn't fail - what would be different and allow you to move forwards?"Designing Actions - You may need to re-contract through the session to re-focus on what the client would like to take away in relation to being able to take the next step and feel readily committed to it.  As well as this, you may need to put more time into the Options and Will Stage of the GROW model - working with the client to explore different ways to achieve the goal and to feel good about it, how to boost commitment and confidence with the goal, and how you can best support the client as they take action.My best advice is to know your client through building up a good relationship with them and learn to trust yourself in relation to how you coach and what questions may add value.  And check in with your client throughout the session to check you are on track. Suggested Actions:Reflect on situations you may have had in your own coaching, or own life where you have felt scared about taking the next step.  What helped you to move on?  What questions would feel natural to ask, given that knowledge?Have issues like this yourself?  One of the best ways to explore situations which arise with clients is to work with a coach supervisor on a regular basis (at least once a month).  Contact me to find out more about working with me one to one as your coach supervisor.

I have just been reading in the last few days Chris Brogan and his take on New Years Resolutions - 3 words that sum of what you are going to do or how you are going to be - (PS - if you aren't signed up to receive Chris's feed/ emails, get right on over there as he makes some great points! So - here carry on reading to find out what my 3 words are for my coaching business and life in 2009- what are yours? Connection Connection is one of my signature strengths and fits with my strategy and the way I LOVE to work.  So definitely more of that in 2009.  More interaction with people via blogs, twitter, facebook, linked in.  Keeping Connected to previous and current coaching clients.  Connecting regularly with subscribers via my newsletter.  In my coaching business I see that the effect of this will be to boost my own sense of being connected - starting a coaching group in South Notts is the first step in the New Year for me.  Being Connected as a Coach will enable me to work from a strong foundation which means that I will be present for my clients and others and happy in myself - I am very much a people person!  More face to face networking and connecting this year as well - being clearer about my coaching business and what it does helps with that and helps me know more about the people I want to connect with.  Leading me onto my 2nd point...Sharing: Sharing is about being able to pass it on, add value, coach, teach, learn and share with others.  So I'll be finding more ways to do this in 2009 - more teleclasses, more coaching offers, more ways to work with me for less investment in recognition of the credit crunch.More sharing of what I find out when I am working - book reviews, links from twitter tweeps, and sharing of great blogs - most of this through the blog but some of it via more intensive programs.As a coach, I've struggled for a while with the dichotomy between pure coaching and sharing thoughts and resources which is definitely recommended from the perspective of marketing your coaching business.  So through using different medium rather than pure coaching sessions, I can both share and coach happily and authentically!Being I'll share a secret with you - I am not that good at just...being.  So this year is the year I put this into practice with more meditation and less stuff (see my previous post, on what I am letting go).  I'd like to finally in 2009 create the space to work the way I want, live the way I want and take time to stop and smell the roses.  And Being will help me to have more space, spend more time doing things I love like getting out in nature walking and taking photo's.  And as a coach will help me to be more present through an increased self awareness and stillness. Suggested action.  Create your own 3 goals / words that will sum up 2009 for you.  How do you see them applying to the way you coach and the way you run your coaching business?

Unsurprisingly for a coach, I absolutely love the New Year.  A bit in the same way I used to love the new school year, I see it more than any other time as a chance to have a blank page to write on in the same way having a new diary feels.  I  love that sense of possibility that having an empty page and diary brings when you know you can fill it with lots of yummy things to do.And when it is time to think about what you want to achieve in a  New Year, I think it is just as important to think in terms of FUN as it is to think about the commitments you want to make.  Resolutions and the word resolve just don;t feel that fun to me!  Or even that firm in terms of the commitment being made.  Being a coach I like to make sure I have the right word for the right situation, so for me in terms of my BIG audacious goals it is much more relevant to think about Commitment and Intention rather than only Resolutions.  Why?I think it was Mark Forster who wrote in his book that there is a big difference between something you are interested in and something you are committed to.  You can be interested in a whole heap of stuff, but it doesn't necessarily going to mean that you are going to achieve in that area.  After all, I am sure the Olympic Gold winners did more than just be interested in the sport they won in!They made a choice and a commitment to what they wanted to succeed in and be involved in and then put their heart and soul into achieving it.  And those are the "resolutions" that are successful rather than the ones that you think that you should be going after for January 1st.So when you start making your list of what you'd like to achieve in your life and in your coaching business in 2009, look at the list and then think of it in the new language of commitment and intention.  Where do you really intend to spend your time in 2009?  What are you really committing time, energy and effort to in order to make that as successful as it can be?  To be successful you may just need to let go of some other resolutions to make the most of your opportunity for success in what you REALLY want to do this year.Oh yes, and back to the fun stuff. Take some time out to have fun, stop and smell the roses this year as well as to work the work.  You'll feel more rested and restored as a result!

This morning I wrote in my newsletter about 10 great questions on letting go, to help you get clear and ready to start out for 2009 in success mode.(If you want to get the list, contact me on twitter at www.twitter.com/coachclaire and send me a tweet @coachclaire and I'll let you have the list and how to sign up!)I like to walk my talk as a coach, so here are some of the things I want to let go of in 2009 and how I think they can help me to be even more successful in my coaching biz:I want to let go of HOW things will happen and focus on the fact that they WILL happen.In essence this fits into TRUST as a coaching and life competency,  Following on from the blog post I wrote recently on serving rather than selling on 2009 I really want to learn how to trust that if I am "On Message" to what is important to my followers/ readers/ clients that this will bring value to people which will bring the success to enable me to continue to offer this value.I find sometimes that I have a huge urge to want to make things go faster, so 2009 and is about taking the right action and trusting that these actions, added together are the path to success.  I can focus on outcomes and value to get to the right fork in the road.I want to let go of more...stuffOne of the big themes I think which is coming out of the credit crunch and changed economic arena we are in is about being able to let go and is heralding a new thoughtful age.  For me this is reviewing the physical stuff I have to make more emotional and sacred space to sit and think when I am at home.  Less stuff = less to worry about.  This also means getting less new stuff! Do I really need it?  I want to let go of having to do things fast to wanting to do things with joyThroughout my life I have been pleased to get praise for being someone who can get through a huge amount of work and projects.  I'm actually reflecting on what good that brings me in the longer term. In relation to the trusting also comes the courage to take time to stop and think and BE rather than DO.  This equals more time to think, more time to plan and more focus in the work I do do.  And how much more fun and valuable it will be as a result!

I was inspired by a twitter post from @sparkspace about thinking about how to best serve your customers rather than just sell to them in 2009 and beyond.So here are a few of the things I thought about for my biz coaching coaches.  Hope they start your creative spark going! Continue the work I have been doing to find out more about what my customers want - I have been using survey monkey for this.  Listen to what they tell me in the surveys to help me tailor what I do even more effectively to their wants and needs. Follow this up where it seems useful with specific one to one conversations with individuals about how I can best serve Keep on top of coaching and best practice by being an active member of the UK and International International Coach Federation Share what I have learnt along the way with top tips about how my customers can apply the learning to their own business Be an active connector and share my connections.  I've been loving finding out more about twitter and facebook and sharing this with others to help make life easy Focus my resources on where I can make life easier for coaches - making life easy = more chance more coaches will be able to stay in coaching as a career Have great free resources that really make a difference - by recognising that the economy does make a difference I can help people straight away and have additional resources that are available when people are ready to invest at the next level Have a better product funnel.  I've got loads of ideas for Grow as a Coach in 2009.  I think this will serve my customers better as feedback suggests that having a free offer and then full coaching is simply too large a gap.  I want to serve my customers better in 2009 by giving them a way that they can work with me for shorter periods for specific kinds of projects that they have told me that they want to work on Be more focused.  I love doing a whole range of things however this may be confusing for my customers and is definitely confusing to SEO!  If customers can't find me because I am not focused enough then I definitely can't serve them!  This means working to get much clearer about every single theme I talk about, write about, video on etc so that it has a clear outcome and message - people should be able to know exactly what they will get from everything they work with us on Following on from the last point, be much more focused on understanding What's the Point?  Focus on what the outcome is - what will be different after someone has worked with me, read an article, seen the blog, watched a video etc? Continue to know how I serve my current customers and what I can do to serve them even better - use Survey Monkey to work with them to find out what adds the most value - and do more of it! Be to the point - use the twitter method to keep focused on my key point! Use the blog to post great links I find on other social networks Work to my key strengths so that I can be at my best with my clients:  

Hi, this post covers some of the main things you need to do to get up and running on twitter.I am going to do another post probably in the New Year to show some of the tips and other applications on making the most of twitter 1.       It???s easy to get an account set up on twitter ??? all you need to do is go to www.twitter.com and sign up for an account2.       You can call yourself either your real name as your user name, or something related to what you do , or your business name ??? for instance my full name is Claire Chapman, but my twitter name is coachclaire.  Think about what you want to call yourself to get maximum benefit from your name!  Also make sure your real name is available so when people start building connections with you they ca reference to your real name as well!3.       In twitter you have following and followers.  Following is when you choose to follow someone, to be able to see their updates.  Follower is who is following you, and can see your updates.4.       A message is a tweet.  Tweets are limited to 140 characters ??? it???s been likened to microblogging.  The good news is that you can see how many characters you are at.  Makes you think more concisely!5.       Updates are how many times you have tweeted on twitter!6.       On the twitter page you have a navigation menu that shows home, @replies, direct messages, favourites, everyone, following.7.       @replies are messages that are???replies.  On twitter you can reply to anyone, regardless of if they are following you or you them, with @twittername.  So to reply to me, it would be @coachclaire and then the message you wanted to send.8.       The @replies shows messages that have been sent to you as a reply to what you have written to the other person, or that they have replied because they are interested in what you are saying9.       Direct messages can be made directly on twitter by using dusername.  So to direct message me, it???s dcoachclaire.  Direct messages go to just you.10.   In direct messages on twitter there is a tab for your inbox and a tab for direct messages you have sent, so you can remember who you have been in touch with11.   Favourites are any updates that you really loved.  You make a favourite when you read a twitter and click on the star on the side of the tweet12.   Everyone ??? does what it says on the tin!  It is everyone who is tweeting.  Because twitter is so immediate and easy to update, on your first screen the history is likely to not go back that far.  Mine today for instance is showing as less than 5 seconds ago!13.   Following shows picture profiles of who you are following. You can click on these to be taken through to their profile.  Good to click on followers of people you are following ??? good way to find out simply via twitter who they are following ??? they may have people interesting to the work you do14.   On twitter itself there is an option on the menu at the top of the page to search people.  You can either upload your email address list or invite by email15.   Twitter settings.  Account, password, devices, notices, picture, design 16.   Account shows all the information about you. Basic information you???ll get / be able to put in here relates to you setting up your account for use:a.       Your real nameb.      Your twitter user name that gives you your unique twitter URL ??? mine is www.twitter.com/coachclairec.       Emaild.      What timezone you are in e.      URL ??? it???s a great idea to add either your web or your blog ??? wherever you want people to go to find out more about you.  Without this, it???s difficult for people to build up more of a picture of you and the work that you dof.        One line bio ??? 160 characters or less.  This is your chance to give people who see your profile an idea of what it is that you do or stand for.  As an example, mine is g.       Location ??? where you are based. Keep yourself safe ??? only put as much info on here as you are happy being freely available on the web!h.      What language you are using ??? English etci.         If you want to protect your updates.  If you are using for biz, I advise that you don???t choose this option ??? it means no one out there other than people you invite or allow can see what you are saying!17.   Password ??? where you can change your password. Useful to do every so often for a security check18.   Devices ??? this is to set up your mobile.  Please note if you are based in certain places, including the UK you can???t currently receive updates via your phone due to twitter (being free!) wanting to keep their costs down.  You can set up your mobile to send out tweets to your twitter account if you are away from home ??? costs apply obviously!  You can read more about what numbers you need here https://help.twitter.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=412 19.   Notices ??? this is where you set what you see ??? if you want a reminder if you haven???t updated in 24 hours, what @replies you want to show, and if you want emailing when you get new followers, direct emails and updates from twitter.20.   Picture ??? most people on twitter have a picture for their badge ??? either of themselves or of their biz logo.  It???s good to have a picture of yourself to continue to build trust.21.   Design is what your twitter page looks like. You can either select a theme ??? the ones that twitter have, or choose to create your own custom background by uploading a graphic.  I uploaded one I have of my business logo and this is then tiled ??? means it is a good reminder to people of what I do when they see my  twitter page if they are using twitter directly22.   There are also people who design custom backgrounds for you.  One example is (Disclosure - I just won a competition to have my page designed by them!)  http://twitterwebs.com/  var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-1206896-6"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}

HiDownload CoachingTrends2009 Welcome to my first video on the Blog!  I wanted to say hi personally and introduce my 7 predictions for how Coaching will be impacted by all the changes in the global economy in 2009.Do let me know what YOU think!