Life's roadmap

In search of telemarketing support

As my business grows and I get busier I have found the need to get some external support in the form of telemarketing.  Do you know anyone?

Ideally I am looking for a freelance homeworker to do about 20 hours per month for me.  Telemarketing has worked well before for me and I am fan of that approach, so if you know anyone, please get in touch

Maintaining Focus: coaching tip 1

I thought I would start sharing some of the common challenges my clients share with me and ask for some coaching advice, and of course I suffer with the same challenges (a very wise coach once told me that what is going on for your clients is often also going on for you).

So my first coaching tip is around maintaining focus and getting things done:-

1. Make a task list
2. Do the HARDEST thing in your task list FIRST (this way you get the big 'elephants' out of the way first leaving you with easier tasks to do.  This will also make you feel great because you will usually realise that the hardest thing, wasn't so hard after all!)
3. Reward yourself - even if it is as simple as saying 'I will make a coffee once I have completed this task'
4. Focus on the things that matter, not the things that don't - be honest with yourself
5. Create realistic timescales and deadlines so you set yourself up to succeed and not fail
6. JUST DO IT!!!!  Stop pontificating and just get on with it!  Perhaps one of the best tips!

Regarding point 6 - I remember a client calling me one day with a daunting task to do and one that she was constantly putting off with what she felt were valid reasons (read that as excuses!).  Having run through some of my thoughts regarding task management and removed her 'excuses', my final piece of advice was to just get on with it!  And she did!

Let me know if you have any other great tips to add to this list?

Credible coaching

It's amazing how many clients I have worked with who have had some coaching experience in the past that wasn't so successful.  I guess that is the problem with an industry that is not regulated.  Anyone can go on a 1/2 day NLP course and call themselves a coach - which is very scary!

Coaching on the whole is supposed to be non directive (i.e not 'telling' the client they should be doing something) yet one very recent example was of a client talking a bit about their personal circumstance and telling the coach she was a little dissatisfied with her home life.  The coach then went on TELL her that she should leave her husband - because that is what she (the coach) had done in a similar situation!  The client left the session feeling more confused than ever and slightly depressed over the whole situation.  How did the coach help the client?  She didn't!  No wonder coaching doesn't always have such a great reputation.  My advice to anyone who is thinking of bringing in a coach is:-

1. Do you empathise and connect with the coach?
2. Find out about their past experience and talk to some of their clients
3. Ask about their qualifications
4. Find out about their focus areas of expertise

I am glad to say that since I started working with this client, the staff have given very much more positive feedback and this old coach (who was still doing some work there) is no longer employed by them!  After all, coaching should never TELL anyone anything.  If a client asks my opinion and I deem it appropriate to give (e.g. if the client is really stuck), then I will make it clear that I am taking my coaching hat off, before giving them my thoughts.

Drop me a line and let me know of your experience?

Get some coaching for free*

Did you know that there is some government funding available to support your coaching that could pay for 75%* of the initial project?

Many of my clients have used this grant to fund the initial stages of their coaching with me.  It's a great way to get a coaching experience, see the value of coaching - without making a big initial outlay.

It's really straight forward to apply for (I can help you) and of course, its not that well publicised by the government!

BUT HURRY, with impending changes to the Learning and Skills Council, it may not exist after April 1st (and that is no early April fool's joke!)

Get in touch to find out more.

New Year plans?

Well its 2010 and I have been running Da Costa Coaching for nearly 2 years!

Whilst I don't believe in making New Year's Resolutions (after all, most people end up breaking them and then feel worse than they did before they made it!), I do believe firmly in planning, so here are some of my significant plans for 2010:-

• Update my website - it was great when I started out but I need to get it to reflect what I offer clients today.  Also I have many wonderful commendations from clients so would like to reflect some of those in the website
• Get my social networking strategy up and running - so I am starting this with working on my blog more regularly, twitter and website, looking into getting a newsletter going too.
• Build my network in the south east - this will entail more local and London based networking and maybe offering some coaching support for free at some networking events - more on this to come
• Look for a business partner or Associates to work with - it's time to take my business to the next level and this is a logical step - are you interested or do you know someone?  Please get drop me an email (robert@dacostacoaching.co.uk)

Linking into Twitter

Have linked my blog to Twitter as well as Twitter to Facebook. Now I am fully connected!!!!

Are you mentally tough?

Not a resolution but in 2009 I have decided I want to continue with my coaching training - both to help myself grow as a human being and to expand the tools I use when working with clients.

The first training in 2009 was a 2 day 1-on-1 course on 'mental toughness'. 

Now although I am a qualified NLP Practitioner, I have never been a huge fan of it and only used some limited aspects of it when I coach.  However, this course took some parts of NLP (as well as CBT and hypnosis, amongst other things) and used them in a very practical way.

Mental Toughness looks at how we allow reoccurring and well practiced 'Mental Weakness Patterns' to stop us reaching our full potential and it teaches how to change these paths to a more positive pathway. 

It looked at some the way the brain creates (and destroys) neural pathways - much like a path in the forest.  If the forest path isn't frequently used it becomes overgrown and eventually disappears.  Or we can create new pathways; they are hard to create at first (we have to cut down the foliage to create the path) but the more we tread the path, the easier it becomes to traverse.  Very interesting, powerful and enlightening stuff.

Want to know more?  Then please drop me an email robert@dacostacoaching.co.uk or call me on 07775 644588

Get Organised!!

My business is moving from its 'startup' phase to the next phase of growth and this means for me, tackling some of the aspects of running a business that I am not naturally inclined to do - namely getting organised.

Yet if I don't work out how to best spend my time and get some systems in place to support this, then I am going to 'drop some balls' and that ultimately will affect how successful I am at growing the business to where I want to be - namely consistently servicing 8 clients.

Today I am at 6 clients and also just about to embark on a telemarketing project that will hopefully maintain a healthy pipeline of prospects. 

At this stage I have to do a number of things (hence the reference to juggling balls);

• Coach my clients!
• Do all the admin associated with a coaching session (which takes at least 1/2 a day per month per client)
• Get my systems in place  - esp financial ones (thank goodness I have a good accountants!)
• Focus on new business
• Focus on networking
• Attend my own coaching/supervision sessions
• AND maintain my desired work/life balance

I am far from getting this all right yet but at least I am aware of what needs to be done and slowly getting the systems in place.

I am also working on my Vision for my business.  This is an area that I spend quite a bit of time with clients on, so need to practice what I preach - more on this in my next blog entry.

Right better get back to my filing!......

My thoughts from attending a local networking event

I am a member of the local Chamber of Commerce and attend various networking functions.  I have decided that following each event I attend, I am going to write a short ‘newsletter’ on what I got from the session and in the spirit of sharing; I hope you find my insights useful.

Despite the early start, I found the event interesting and the presentation insightful. I think it’s great when a presentation is ‘value-add’ and not just a sales pitch, and I suspect this presentation had some useful info for everyone in attendance.

At the end of a coaching day with my clients I always ask them to write down their key learnings from the day.  This is a great way to embed the major themes from the session.  So I thought I would share with you my key learnings from yesterday’s event.

Rob’s Key Learnings:-

• Remember how energised I feel at the end of one of these networking events – and that will help me be energised at the start
• Have no outcome in mind (more about this in a future newsletter), be open to all possibilities and who knows what will happen.  Those people who have the attitude of ‘I must sell, I must sell’ will (a) miss other opportunities and (b) probably be the least likely person to sell anything!
• Active listening – a good tip from Jerry and something we can all try and do more effectively – now I need to consider how I can encourage my clients to be better listeners, and what tools I can give them to support them – and of course practise this myself!
• We are all in the same boat – so how can we all support each other – even those of us in similar sectors – ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’
• ‘Changing the energy’ in the room (in this case with the exercises Jerry did with us) keeps an audience engaged
• Networking has so many benefits – I should (will) do more of these events!

I am going to write more about not being outcome focused and just how this can open so many other possibilities in our lives (and not just at work) in a future newsletter.  All the thoughts I write in here are tools, ideas and approaches I use in my business coaching business.

 

Learning isn't just for the client

Part of a coach's responsibility is that of continued learning - not only from ongoing training but also from a client.

I have now got into the habit of taking a bit of time after a coaching session to consider what I have learned that day, and often it is quite surprising and therefore definitely worth while taking the time and space to consider this.

Some lessons I continually learn:

• Listen and don't interrupt
• Be there for the client
• Carry no judgment
• Don't try and formulate 'what next' but instead be present, listen and trust that the next step/question will come
• Don't be outcome focused, if you are then you miss many other potential outcomes

Some new lessons (even though they sound like common sense when typed here!):

• Be prepared to be 'hijacked' and go off at whatever tangent is necessary
• Be really clear who the key stakeholders are and keep them in the loop
• Write up visit notes quickly after the meeting - I don't have a great memory!
• If I take less notes and listen more, then I hear more - I can then ask for some time to capture what was said
• You really can't separate what is going on for someone outside of work with their performance at work - but remember I am a coach not a counsellor!

I am sure this list could go on and indeed I will try and keep adding to it.