A Podcast for Coaches

I've been wondering whether a membership model would be the best way to set up a practice space for coaches (discussed a few episodes back). You may not know that between 2009 and 2012 I ran a membership with a partner that had as many as 1,700 members. About seven years ago I recorded a retrospective of the whole experience. Today I listened to it and, although I don't agree with everything I said in 2017, there's a lot of gold in it. Today I thought I'd share it with you. 

Two weeks ago I went to Tennessee to speak at an event hosted by my friend, Edie Wadsworth. This week, Kate (my wife) taught some classes at a church camp for young women. We both loved our experience, and it reminded me of one of my most important lessons from over ten years in the world of coaching: there's no substitute for being in the same room as the people you want to serve.

I've recently taken a walk through dozens of coaches' websites and social media profiles. I found many of them are just like me: we tend to forget, ignore, and/or abandon our web presence. I've finally admitted to myself this makes me harder to trust and engage with. This episode talks about why this is an issue and how to fix it without too much work or expense.

You may feel like you're working as hard (or harder) than your peers but not seeing the same (or any) results. This episode explains what I think you're experiencing, what you can do about it, and why I'm confident you'll succeed in the end.

As we grow our practices, it's helpful to know the big picture (what I call strategy) and the specific actions (tactics) that flow from the big picture. But if we don't know ourselves, we'll look to coaches and communities to tell us what to do and why and how to do it. This is not ideal.

Although I don't care much about certifications (see last week's episode), I believe strongly in the benefit of supported practice for coaches. We can elevate individual coaches and the whole coaching community by creating spaces and times in which coaches practice, correct, discuss, and support each other.

Twenty years now since I started doing money stuff online, and the urge to create a course still creeps up on me. Let's talk about it, and let's make sure to work in some Prince Bride references.

There are good reasons and bad reasons to pursue certification(s) as a coach -- up to and including becoming a licensed therapist.

I realize the episode title is a corny bumper sticker. But people, including coaches, are not being nice to themselves. It's getting in the way of the growth and progress that brought us to coaching in the first place.

I like last week's episode but it didn't feel quite right. Today's episode rounds out some of my ideas/suggestions/hypotheses for how group coaching could go from being a good thing to a great thing. Enjoy.