Starting out

I have enrolled in the International Coach Academy and this blog will serve as a journal for my course of study to become a certified professional coach.

How did I get here? Three very different people speaking independently and from different perspectives told me that I should think about adding coaching to my skills, all within five days time. Destiny was calling.

So, I googled and surfed and read and emailed and left comments and generally gathered information for a few weeks. Then I pondered over panettone and took the plunge.

The tipping point for my decision came from an entry on the ICA blog made by the Chief Learning Office. She had been a management trainer that was frustrated with the results of follow up assessment to her training programs. Something was needed to make the training stick and that something turned out to be post-training coaching to ensure that the newly acquire skills were actually being applied and practiced on a daily basis.

I had an Ah-ha moment. Yes, that's it. And here I am, with a plan to package together cross-cultural consulting, training and coaching for companies and organizations doing business in Italy while also coaching individuals as they define and realize their expat life dreams.

I had my first teleclass today, called "getting started" and completed the exercise on setting our own goals and objectives both for the course and our budding coaching practice.

Here are a few parts.

Specific goals I would like to achieve in my practice by the end of six months.
*Have 10 clients between ICA and external
*Business plan in place
*Marketing materials developed (website, flyer, business cards,social networking site profiles) and media plan (particularly where to place articles, and get myself interviewed)
Aim to complete course at the end of the year.

Three-month milestone.
*Complete Foundation course, part of Advanced 1 and part of Business building courses.
*Business plan in place and web site up and running
*Coach two ICA and one external coach

Three biggest fears
*Hesitation winning out over action, especially in lead follow-up
*Not getting the focus right so that I approach the right market with the right message
*Getting stressed by too many conflicting activities and not being able to prioritize properly to get the important (quadrant II) things done.

Top three objectives in building a successful practice
* Help people who are living, working and studying abroad define what they want to gain from the experience and achieve it.
*Using my skills, experience and passion in a focused and productive way.
*Developing a flexible and stimulating profession to carry me into my next phase of life (soon to turn 50).

My doubt loop and how I will break the cycle.
Hesitation that comes not only from lack of confidence in my coaching expertise but also a need to have it all thought through and all the pieces in place in my head. I need to just dive in, do it, and adjust along the way.

How do I coach.
*Each client receives a welcome pack (via email attachments most likely)
*One hour session by phone, instant messaging or face to face (in central Rome only). Alternative of weekly email correspondence
*Fee paid monthly at the beginning of the month
*Follow ICF ethical standards.

My 10 second elevator speech.
I help people make their expat dreams come true.

a domani,
E