The ECI Newsletter
Keeping you informed with each other
July 2005

Coaching Top Tip

Index of regular at a glance features

Coaching Top Tip
Daily Meditation
Definition of Coaching
Inspirational Quotation
Readers Feedback
Positive Daily Actions
Client Feedback

Q & A

Book of the month
 Ice Breakers
Offers

Great Questions
Acronym
Thought for the month
Word of the month
Humour
Features

Daily Meditation

One thing can’t be doubted, the ‘possibility of a quality’ is within us.  It is called prajna.  We can deny everything, except that we have the possibility of being better.

Simply reflect on that.

 

The Dalai Lama’s Book Of Daily Meditations * The Path To Tranquility
 
Definition of Coaching

"A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear, who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be."

Tom Landry

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Readers Feedback

Thank you for forwarding the e-zine to me, it looks great.

Heather

The Newsletter is awesome!

Eileen

 

Seek to maintain flexibility and balance by working on both your weaknesses and strengths.  Delegate everything else that is irrelevant.

Deal with your gremlins

Coach and trainer Marilyn Atkinson helps people to move beyond their
Gremlins; she quotes Dr. Sally Jenkins as defining the Gremlin as "the inner voice that abhors change and keeps you from moving forward and getting what you want in life."

She mentions four gremlins, one of
which is System Identification. This means assuming that things must be
done a certain way and you have no hope of breaking out of that system.
If you ever feel caught up in that, she suggests asking the following
questions:

Is it true?

Am I absolutely certain it is true?

Is there an old agenda when I think that thought?

Who might I be without that thought?

 

Action:

The next time you feel that a system is limiting you, try asking these four questions. You may find that you have greater freedom than you thought.

 

BstormUK@aol.com

 
Inspirational Quote 

Many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers. Many people of average intelligence are skilled thinkers. The power of the car is separate from the way the car is driven.

Edward De Bono

Client feedback

One feels one can, through these simple steps, change the course of one's life.
Business Owner
Tenterden and Brussels
Q & A
 

What coaching questions would   you like answered?

Perhaps you’d like to know more about becoming an ECI accredited coach?  The benefits of joining?  Or how to become a volunteer?

Or maybe you’re a new coach and want to ask a specific question about how to calculate fees?  How to put a contract together?  Or what to do to attract more clients?

Ask us anything to do with the ECI or the world of coaching and we will have an expert respond in next month’s newsletter.

 

Send your questions to:

newsletter@the-eci.org

Book of the month


Coaching Across Cultures

Philippe Rosinski

New Tools for 
LEVERAGING 
National, Corporate 
& Professional
DIFFERENCES



Please continue to support the ECI by promoting self- development. Forward this newsletter to other like minded coaches and friends.

Missed an earlier copy? No problem, just visit our web site.

europeancoachinginstitute.org


Ice-Breakers

(Great for workshops / training to create a safe / fun atmosphere)

Goodnight Moon

Suggested use relates to characteristics of our mental models i.e., quickly forming associations.

On transparency (or chart paper), share the following words:

SLUMBER - DREAM - PILLOW - BED - QUIET - NIGHT - PAJAMAS - SNOOZE - NAP - MOON - ROBE – BLANKET

Instruct participants to scan the words (WITHOUT writing anything down).
After ten seconds, turn off the overhead projector (or remove the chart paper) and ask participants to write down as many words as they can recall without talking.

Ask participants to raise their hands if they wrote down the word SLUMBER

Then the word NIGHT;

Next, ask who wrote the word SLEEP.

Show the transparency (or chart paper) again and of course, everyone will quickly see that even though some participants thought they saw the word SLEEP, it actually is not included in the list of words.

Note: Typically, more than half of the participants indicate that they saw

SLEEP in the list of words.

Debrief questions can be prepared according to your objective(s); but, since this activity relates to the brain making associations that are frequently rapid but often times inaccurate, you might begin by asking about the associations we make and how often we do or do not check for their appropriateness.

Sharon Werner
Workshop on Systems Thinking

For more icebreakers check out

Condensed Knowledge from Mental Floss - 352 pages of fun facts and trivia. http://condensedknowledge.com



Offers

The 101 Best Ways to Get Ahead
TIPS is sent only to those who have requested it.
We value your privacy and we never share our mailing
list with anyone.  To Subscribe, send an email to:
Subscribe@philiphumbert.com.

Google Alert service at:
http://www.google.com/alerts
here you can ask for alerts when people link to your site - a great way to track how word of your website is spreading.

 

Great questions to ask


Turn 180 Degrees To Learn

Marketing guru Sean D' Souza suggests that brave companies and individuals try the 180-degree exercise. That is, instead of asking:
"How could I build up my business (or relationship, or health, or
anything else)", ask, "How could I destroy it?" For a business,
this could mean, "How can I drive customers away?” for a relationship
it could mean, "How can I drive this person away?" Make a list.

For a company, the list might include, "make people spend endless time on hold", "have the first contact with our company be with an
unfriendly or untrained person" and "make sure people have no easy way to contact you if they're unhappy."

For a relationship, it might be, "remember to criticize, but forget to
praise", "have time for everything but this person" and "never tell
the person how much they mean to you."

The shock comes when people realize that they are actually doing many of the things on their list!

ACTION: If you're feeling brave, do the 180-degree exercise for
any area of your life in which you could make improvements. These could relate to career, finances ("how could I make sure not to have money when I retire?"), health, relationships or anything else. See which of the steps you're actually taking. Then figure out their opposites and start doing those instead.

BstormUK@aol.com

Acronym

E    everyday
T    things
H    have
I     impact
C    concerning
S    standards


S    standards           
T    truly 
A    are                    
N    never
D    dull,
A    always
R    raising
D    definitive
S    standards
Thought for the month

Yiddish Folk Tale

An old man sat outside the walls of a great city.

When travellers approached, they would ask the old man, "What kind of people live in this city?"

The old man would answer, "What kind of people live in the place
where you came from?"

If the travellers answered, "Only bad people live in the place where we
came from" the old man would reply, "Continue on; you will find only bad people here."

But if the travellers answered, "Good people live in the place where we
came from," then the old man would say, "Enter, for here, too, you will
find only good people."

Word of the month

Oligopsony
(oli-GOP-suh-nee)
noun

The market condition where a few buyers control the market
for a product.

[From Greek oligo - (few, little)
+ opsonia (purchase).]

A word that shares the same prefix is oligarchy: government by the few, where political power is held by a small group and used for selfish and
corrupt purposes.

 "Does a joint Internet venture by the world's automakers to purchase   parts amount to an illegal oligopsony--a cartel of buyers that can drive prices down through their market power?"

James V. Grimaldi; Trustbusters Put On a Stern Face; The Washington Post; Jun 29, 2000.
 
What to give to the person who has everything? Give the gift of words.
Here is a gift that keeps on giving. To enter a gift subscription of
A.Word.A.Day, please visit wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html
To subscribe yourself, use wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html

Humour

Today's Stock Market Report

Helium was up, feathers were down.


Paper was stationary.

Fluorescent tubing was dimmed in light trading.

Knives were up sharply.

Cows steered into a bull market.

Pencils lost a few points.

Hiking equipment was trailing.

Elevators rose, while escalators continued their slow decline.

Weights were up in heavy trading.

Light switches were off.

Mining equipment hit rock bottom.

Diapers remain unchanged.

Shipping lines stayed at an even keel.

The market for raisins dried up.

Coca cola fizzled.

Caterpillar stock inched up a bit.

Sun peaked at midday.

Balloon prices were inflated.

Scott Tissue touched a new bottom.

Stephen Hendren

Features in forth coming newsletters:

Interesting in flexing your creative writing muscles?  We’d like to read what you’ve got to say (approx 500 words, copy deadline 15th of each month) see web site for publication guidelines.

All contributions are welcome and will receive a response.

August once again is focusing on Your Health.

Due to the overwhelming response we had to last August's health special we'd like to hear your tips and ideas about how you maintain your own motivation, time-management skills, energy, re-evaluation of beliefs and values and so forth.

September's focus will be concentrating on Building Your Practice.

Lets all benefit and share our experiences by offering articles providing insights on how to set up, establish and manage a thriving practice.

Other ideas very welcome!
newsletters@the-eci.org

Keys to becoming a great coach

 

Identify your problems, but give your power and energy to solutions.  Anthony Robbins
 

Good questions encourage high-participation! 

Asking the right questions helps to build rapport and demonstrates that you care about creating a solid relationship with your client.  This has the added benefit of generates loyalty and commitment.

To create highly interactive sessions it is rewarding to capitalize on the attention and focus of your client by asking questions that encourage participation.  When people participate, they learn more, retain more and perceive a higher value for their time or money spent on your sessions. 

Minimise the use of closed questions unless you wish to check understanding of a situation.

Ask open-ended questions to uncover needs will produce results.

Anna Kanary

TeleLeader Trainer and Promotional Web-Writing Coach

www.AnnaKanary.com

Index of Items
Editor's Comment:
Dawn Campbell


Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers. Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Measurement of quality standards, best practices and ethics continue to be of key importance to the ECI.

Putting aside the cost, time and commitment accredited coaches have invested in our industry, some coaches are concerned that ‘in a self regulated market, the coaching industry’s reputation is in danger of disrepute from non-accredited coaches ‘acting as if’.

Other coaches take a more magnanimous approach to the situation:

’We need a balance between good courses, accreditation and actually performing the work.  It’s the quality of the coaching that matters, not the amount of accreditation.  Some coaches have lots of courses under their belt but basically are not good coaches. Accreditation can come in many forms i.e. witnessing coaches at work and from client testimonials, coaching is about a lot more than just theory’.

Regardless of all our opinions, the people we must not loose sight of in these discussions is the client.  We all have a duty to make sure the client receives a consistent level of the very best service available - including the right to redress if, in the unfortunate event things go wrong. 

In addition, we have to accept the reality of the situation and that is one where by coaches can set up a practice without having been through a formal recognised process of any kind.  That can’t be good for the client.

Put it another way.  Would you let a plumber or builder work in your house on that basis?  What about a Dr or a Therapist,

How confident would you be about the treatment you were about to receive?  How about hiring an unqualified lawyer to handle your conveyancing or matrimonial matters?  Doesn’t sound likely does it.  Why then should coaching be any different?

It's in everyone interest and protection that coaches meet set standards for the benefit of their clients which they cannot do with receiving mentoring and hours of practice during accreditation - obviously this very much depends on the quality of the course provider - but we'll have to take that as a given.

Therefore, the ECI is leading the way by setting some industry standards thus raising the image as one of being a professional legitimate business. 

And so the great debate continues – tell us what you think.

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.  Winston Churchill

Dawn Campbell
Head of Newsletters

Send your questions, quotes, case studies, articles, tips, feedback and queries, acronym's etc to:

newsletters@the-eci.org

The ECI Up-date

Accreditation Process
 
To apply for a recognised international coaching standard, the ECI's accreditation requirements and application details can be found on
http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/accreditation/.  
 
For those coaches who have trained on an accredited training course, please remember that there is a simplified process for achieving your accreditation.  For further details please contact either your training organisation or Barbara J. Dalpra deputy-ceo@the-eci.org for the relevant form.
 
For coaches who are in the process of training to gain membership benefits, become an associate member using http://www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/membership.php.
 

Supervisor, Mentor, Support Coaches

In line with the on-going support provided by The ECI to their coaches and student coaches the ECI is continuing it's search for coaches who would like to become part of The ECI's Supervisor, Mentoring, and Support Coaches team.  If you are a qualified coach and would be interested in participating in this team, please contact Barbara J. Dalpra using deputy-ceo@the-eci.org.

 
Professional Indemnity Insurance for the International Coaching profession 

Great news about insurance.  Westminster Indemnity is now able to cover NLP through their Insurance Policy at no extra cost.  

Details of this insurance policy for Subscribers to The ECI can be found by clicking here. For Members, please logon to the members area and select the 'Discounted Insurance' button. This will provide full details of the discounted insurance offering.

For volunteers to the ECI, please contact deputy-ceo@the-eci.org.
 
 
Newsletter team

The ECI is looking for people to join their ever growing newsletter team.  If you are interested in joining this exciting and dynamic volunteer team, please contact Barbara J. Dalpra using deputy-ceo@the-eci.org.


Coaching Research

The ECI would like to thank all those who responded to the request to participate in the ECI's Research and Development team in relation to researching the impact of cultures and language world-wide in coaching.

Solving The Wrong Problem


One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along the route. No problems for the first few stops - a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well.

However, at the next stop a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the driver and said, "Big John doesn't pay!" and sat down at the back.

Did I mention that the driver was five feet three, thin, and basically meek?   Well, he was. Naturally, he didn't argue with Big John, but he wasn't happy about it.

The next day the same thing happened-Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the next day, and the one after that, and so forth. This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him.

Finally he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff. By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what's more, he felt really good about himself.

So on the next Monday, when Big John once again got on the bus and said, "Big John doesn't pay!" the driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed, "And why not?"

With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, "Big John has a bus pass."

Moral of the story:

Be sure there is a problem in the first place before working hard to solve one.

Jayadeya de Silva

http://www.geocities.com/jayadeva_de_silva
© 2005 Jayadeya de Silva

A day in the life of a South African Coach


Enthusiasm finds the opportunities, and energy makes the most of them.  Henry Hoskins

As an International Business & Life Coach with clients in both the UK and South Africa I’m often struck by the many similarities despite being from different countries, backgrounds.  South Africa is a unique country and an extremely interesting place in which to coach people.

I coach corporate and private clients but the fundamentals remain the same no matter which country I am coaching in.  The main issue in South Africa surrounds people’s self-belief that they can achieve what their heart desires.  The “learning” of self-belief takes on a different dynamic to people I coach in the UK.

Reasons for this stem from the diverse background, culture and of course “history”, from which people emanate in South Africa.  This country suffered a terrible history under apartheid, and threatened civil war but has over the last 10 years made a miraculous transformation.  Consequently, people that I coach in South Africa, tend to have some “extreme” reasons that stop them achieving what they really want to.

These “excuses” can be summarized as being in two categories viz. for the white person - the new government and the affirmative action policy means that they cannot achieve what they want to, or for the non-white person - their past as a disadvantage person has limited their education and ability to achieve what they want to achieve.  (This is very much a simplification but space limits me expanding on this in more detail!)  As any coach knows these are just self-limiting beliefs!

The process in addressing these is no different to addressing any other self-limiting belief.  However, as a coach it is important to recognize that these are strongly held beliefs that have substantial negative feelings and emotions attached to them.  From one side it is difficult to explain (to people living in a westernised, democratic society) how painful and degrading life was for non-whites in South Africa under the apartheid regime.  Similarly it is a challenge for whites to accept that their way of life and lifestyle has changed so radically that the opportunities that previously existed for them have been substantially limited.  As with any strongly held belief, it is a case of accepting the past and acting to limit it’s affect on your future.   

The way that I approach this with my South African clients is slightly different depending on their background.  For previously disadvantaged people it is a case of helping them to recognize that their past is not a limitation, it is an asset and as such is a vital part of them, which helps to make them who they are today.  In essence, their past is actually an area from which they can derive their strength and courage.  It is often in the past that people then find their motivation to move forward.

For white South Africans the key is to accept that the future that existed for them in the apartheid era, no longer exists.  However, the exciting thing is that a completely different future now exists.  Once this paradigm shift is achieved, the way is clear for people to move on.

So coaching in South Africa (and I guess other countries going through phenomenal change at such a rapid pace) is an unbelievably edifying experience.  Most of all, it is a massive privilege to play a small part in helping a country’s people cope with change in an active and positive way!

Gary Hales

coach@garyhales.com

©2005 Gary Hales

Psychology Corner


Psychologists define learning as a “relatively permanent change of behaviour due to past experience”.  In business terms unless what is learned is transferred to the workplace as changed behaviour relevant to tactical and strategic needs learning has not occurred.

That is why I have always been dismissive of trainers that set objectives that state, “What the student will be able to do”. If the student is capable of a change of behaviour, but fails to make that change training is literally a complete waste of money.

In a successful 12 year study aimed at raising the transfer of learned behaviour to the workplace to better than 90%, (from an average of between 5% and 13%), Seward and Gers adopted the following strategy:

Training was designed to ensure that behaviours relevant to current or emergent tactical needs would be learned.

Management “owned” all training programmes and were made sufficiently familiar with the contents and behaviours to be able to assume the role of coach to attendees.

All training objectives were written in the form of “after completion the delegate will” followed by the desired behaviours.

Trainers were judged and rewarded on their ability to achieve the objectives.

Delegates attended the programme in pairs committed to supporting each other’s application of what was learned back on the job.

The seminars included a session on effective peer coaching and a short explanation of the work of Mary Broad. Broad showed that performance normally fell off early in the application of newly learned behaviours, but that performance improved rapidly when the new behaviours were normalised. Understanding that this fall off and recovery is normal has been shown to “inoculate” delegates and speed the return to enhanced performance.

Students were supplied with Behavioural Checklists as an aid to peer coaching.

15 minutes was devoted daily, after the programme to peer coaching thus reducing to zero in three weeks after the training was completed.

©2005 unknown

Perfection, Excellence and "Good Enough"


There are two phrases in business and in life that are
widely thought to encourage peak performance, but are
actually recipes for disaster.

The first is the ever-popular search for "best practices"
and the other is the quest for "zero defects." While I
understand the intention behind them, in working with real
people in the real world, too often they merely trigger our
fears and cause tremendous damage.

Professionals hate making mistakes, and that is a good
thing! No one wants to mess up, drop the ball or fail! We
hate being embarrassed!

Unfortunately, human beings are only human. We get tired,
we forget, we get distracted. We have misunderstandings and
sometimes (I hate to say it) we make mistakes. We "mess up."

In the quest for perfection, we kid ourselves and we waste
time and energy striving for the impossible. Most of the
time we are far more successful if we strive for excellence
rather than perfection. And, sometimes, the situation
merely calls for "good enough" any effort beyond that is a waste of time.

The Author of a biography of Howard Hughes summed up his life  "...geniuses must, like all of us, live in the real world. Hughes never learned how to convert his knowledge to practical application. Instead, he sought a perfection THAT ASSURED FAILURE."

Now, of course there are instances where "perfection" is
the appropriate standard. However, these are few and far
between.  Most of our quest for "perfection" is simply
inappropriate. It grows out of an exaggerated desire to be
right, to be super-human, to avoid criticism or risk.  It is not how life works.

Peak performers GET THINGS DONE! High achievers look for
appropriate outcomes and measure their success based on the quantity and quality of their results.

In most areas of life and business, here are my preferred
standards:

1. EXCELLENCE.  In work and in relationships, seek
excellence. We want to produce superb results that other
people admire. We want both quality and quantity, but not
perfection. Mistakes are merely the price of experimentation
and learning and growth. Don't fear making a mistake, fear
failing to learn and move forward.

2. "Good Enough."  In most activities our goal should be a
performance level that is appropriate to the task at hand.
Anything less than "good enough" is sloppy or careless and
that is never acceptable, but anything beyond "good enough"
is a waste of time.

Consider my front lawn. It is not a prize-winning lawn and
no one's life or happiness or career depends on it's
appearance, so "good enough" requires a few minutes with
the trimmer, a half-hour with the mower, and a bit of
fertilizer twice a year. Anything beyond that is time
invested for some other reason.

Perfection is rarely required. Instead, strive for excellence in the important areas of life, and "good enough" in everything else. I think you'll be happier, more productive and, in the long run, far more successful.

www.philiphumbert.com or email:  Coach@philiphumbert.com

Copyright (c) 2004, all rights reserved.
U.S. Library of Congress ISSN:  1529-059X

Who doesn't want to be successful?


Probably, everyone, but then how many of us is ready to pay the price?  Nothing comes free and one is expected to pay a price for everything, even being successful. There is no such thing as "Over-night Success" despite appearances.  Behind every such success there has been years of hard work invested.

Look around, you will find successful people have a few things in common:

A. Dreams.  They have expectations and they want to be different from rest of the crowd.

B. Self Confidence.  They have confidence and know they are capable of achievement.

C. Daring. They do not worry about thoughts / opinions of others.

D. Patience.  They were never in a hurry though aggressive in their approach.

E. Focused approach.  They had a plan; they know what they are doing and where they are going.

F. Enthusiasm to carry-on in spite of failures.  Every time they fall they bounced back to gain more heights.

G. Never say die attitude.  Nothing can shake me nothing can disturb me.  They always play to win.

Friends, your life consists of more than simply sitting at your desk, in front of your computer or commuting to and from your workplace. Your life involves more than living through your head - it is living from your heart.

We all had a dream. It involves 'growing up', some falling down.   Think for a moment how the world would be if some of these great people had chosen not to strive for their dreams, people like Martin Luther King, John Kennedy, Mohan Das
Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa...You may look at these names and feel somewhat intimidated and be tempted to ask: "Can I really make a difference? Is it worth the price I would have to pay?" It is easier to live a compromised, mediocre life, hoping that someone else makes a difference,
while you read about it.

We all had and have people in our life, telling us that dreams are for children, encouraging us to 'grow-up'. It is time to share with them the old Chinese proverb, "Man who says it cannot be done, should not interrupt man doing it." Making a difference is like throwing a pebble in a pool. The ripples spread from the centre to larger and larger circles of influence.

It begins within you.

Find your dream again. Shake off the dust, get reacquainted.  Feel the energy, excitement, enthusiasm, fire and passion, overflowing within calling you to movement and action. Let people know what you think and what you believe in, remembering the old phrase: "Stand for something or fall for anything".  Words are not enough - let your actions talk. Making a difference challenges you to think and act differently. To be a different

Success is not an hour's fruit. It is the outcome of passionate dedication, sensitisation, conscientiousness, egalitarian
outlook, pluralistic, unbiased approach, multi-cultural perspective and strong faith. It needs moral repugnance against injustice.

When life's largest pressures leave you struck dumb, search for an answer; the solution will come.

When a tragedy occurs leaving you feeling numb, wait for your health; the strength will come.

When everyone relies on you and there is no way you can see, trust your mind to think with time; patience is the key.


When you have made it where others always flee, wait to gather courage; soon you'll be where you want to be.

When it is nearing the end and you're in need, muster up your courage; endurance will lead. IT WILL COME. 

s070976@yahoo.co.in
©2005 Sanjeev Sharma

Standards and Ethics


‘Being self-employed doing something you love which enriches the lives of others’ sounds almost too good to be true.  But that is the reality for many members of the coaching community.

Coaching is a dynamic young profession which is making great strides, moving forward at an exciting pace. The number of practicing coaches, the variety of training providers and the range of organisations embracing coaching are all increasing rapidly.  These are great days to be involved in coaching.   There is energy, expectation and hope.  But all of this is within a setting of no regulation and it may be that the time has come for a more focused response to the issues of standards and accreditation.

Regulation is bound to come. The culture in which we live will demand it.  Public perception and professional competency will require it. The only question is, perhaps, where will it come from?  Will the coaching community take the lead and proactively put in place systems which will lead to effective regulation, or will it be forced upon the profession from outside.  If it comes from outside, the approach, and therefore the rules and regulations, are likely to be less benevolent than if we grasp the nettle ourselves.

Resistance to regulation is understandable.  No one likes rules.  But as the string is needed to keep the kite flying, so carefully developed regulation will enable coaching to soar and achieve its potential.

The path to regulation is via the putting in place of processes for the accreditation of coaches, training providers and coaching organisations, and the creation of standards for the conduct of coaching as a profession. These two areas, accreditation and standards, are essential for the future well being of our profession.

Public opinion is pretty fickle.  It takes time and effort to build a reputation.  It takes no time at all to destroy it!  Raising the public profile and perception of coaching is in all of our interests.  Everyone benefits from coaching being seen in a good light, with the benefits being clearly understood and appreciated.  It is important that coaches are regarded as well trained professionals who hold and practice high standards.  In order for the public to trust the coaching profession, they need to know that someone, somewhere, is ensuring that coaches are accountable to a professional body. We are not loose canons or unregulated cowboys.  We are professionals.

Public perception is important for all sorts of reasons, not least because it is the public who hire coaches! But how does one decide who to hire? 

I imagine that hiring a coach is becoming a bit like buying soap powder.

I have learnt to keep shopping simple.  I am a man.  Tell me exactly what I have to buy, the item, the brand, the size and I will be fine.  But please do not send me to the supermarket with some vague instruction to ‘buy some soap powder.’

There is a wonderful variety and an excellent range.  I have even been known to admire the colours.  But the supermarket shelves present a choice which makes me dizzy, and leaves me with a conviction that I might well have selected the wrong item but won’t really know until it’s too late.

The range and variety really is very exciting.  Coaches from a whole variety of backgrounds, trained by growing number of organisations, many with their own specialties and all bringing a positive approach to ensuring that each one of us, individually and corporately can be helped to ‘maximise our potential’ (or some other catchy phrase!)  How do you choose?

I have in my mind it should be a bit like hiring someone to come and repair your gas boiler. Somewhere in the national consciousness there is the knowledge that the only safe gas fitter is a Corgi gas fitter!  Perhaps we should be moving towards a situation where potential clients, individual and corporate, become aware that the most secure way to hire a life coach is to select one who is a fully paid up member of a professional body which ensures their accreditation and professional standards.

But accreditation and standards are about much more than public perception and getting new clients. They are also vital for our professional competency, and therefore our self respect and pride in our profession.  We have a responsibility to our clients, to our profession and to ourselves, to produce excellence in all that we do.  There is therefore an onus upon each one of us to ensure that we are trained and maintained to a high standard.

How do we ensure that high level of training and maintenance?  Only by working with our colleagues and by submitting to agreed authority can we really hope to avoid the dangers of subjective evaluation.

If we will work together we can achieve great things for ourselves.

For the benefit of clients and coaches alike we will do well to address the topics of standards, accreditation and regulation.  An unregulated profession leaves itself open to all sorts of dangers ranging from poorly trained practitioners having a detrimental effect on clients, to all coaches being tarred with the same brush.  Regulation will allow the profession to raise and maintain standards and profile, thereby enhancing our standing and our ability to enrich the lives and businesses of our clients.

Standards and Accreditation must be practical.  While we all are agreed that we want to see excellence throughout the profession, with coaches displaying integrity and transparency, we need to know what all of this actually looks like in every day coaching work.  Fine words in our Codes of Standards are great, but what does ‘excellence’ look like where the rubber hits the road.  What are good practices?  What are bad practices?  How do we audit our professional work?  Should there be systems for internal and external audits? 

There is some great work being done in the fields of Ethics, Standards and Accreditation by a number of coaching organisations.  But there are many other questions and issues which will need to be addressed  as we work together to move the coaching profession forward.  These are wonderful and important days.  We have the opportunity to build solid foundations upon which the profession can flourish.  I suspect that the  process might cause us to feel insecure or threatened at times, but that should not deter us from taking responsibility to shape the future of coaching and through accreditation and standards move towards the regulation of the coaching profession.

The benefits of regulation.

Good for clients:

Good for coaches,

Good for business and society,

Standards and Ethics

The European Coaching Institute

ECI Workshop Sponsorship


The ECI is providing the opportunity for each workshop and/or course run by it's members, to be sponsored and supported by The ECI.

What this means is that to benefit from the sponsorship and support of The ECI for your workshops, courses and/or events please register your interest with Tina Sibley @ conferences@the-eci.org.  As part of your registration email please provide the following details:

a. Course and/or Workshop Title

b. Organisation Name

c. Outline description of the course and/or workshop

d. Name of coach

e. Membership status with The ECI

f.  date or dates that the course and/or workshop and/or event is scheduled.

On receipt of this information, the application will be processed through our supported course and/or workshop process and you will be notified of your sponsorship.

Accredited Training Courses and Workshops

CTECI - Full Coach Training Programme

SCECI - Short Courses

  • Quantum Goal Achievement
    Noble Manhattan Coaching
    info@noble-manhattan.com
     
  • The Body Transformation Programme
    Scintilla
     
  • Coaching Human Potential and Peak Performance
    Scintilla
     
  • Coaching Futures!  Innovation and Strategic Creativity
    Scintilla
     

WSECI - Workshops

Further details can be found at
www.europeancoachinginstitute.org/coach_training/. 

Offers and Articles

The ECI continually strives to improve the services provided to our Associate Members, our Accredited Coaches, and our Accredited Training Providers.  Therefore when we receive an offer or an article that looks interesting, we are happy to pass it on through our newsletter.  

However, we are unable to try out everything we receive, so we welcome your feedback about the newsletter, the articles and the offers.

newsletter-editor@the-eci.org

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