5 Big New Year's Targets For Coaches in 2007

By Jeff Pasquale

The beginning of a new year is typically a time of reflection, recommitment, and action. Sometimes, coaches miss this opportunity to grow themselves and their business because they don’t want to slow down. One way to break this cycle is by centering your attention on the things that inspire you. Actively seek inspiration. To support this intention, here are five goals (or targets) designed specifically for coaches. Each of them is intended to move you and your business forward. After reading this, don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it - do something. Choose one or choose them all, but take action. Remember, the universe rewards action, not thought.

No. 1) Expand Your Reach

While this is an obvious one, the fact is you should consistently be seeking to expand your network every day. Many coaches don’t spend nearly enough time making themselves more visible. You can be a great coach with very little business, if you keep your talents a secret. Thomas Leonard, the late founder of CoachU and CoachVille, often said, “Shamelessly promote yourself.”

If you’re uncomfortable with promoting yourself shamelessly, at the very least, in 2007, commit to expanding your network. Go wide and go deep. One day a week, make sure you get out and see other people, and that you are seen by them.

No. 2) Improve Your Key Relationships

Back in 1989, I read Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. 3 little words in that book had a huge effect on my life, and still do to this day. Roles and Goals. Roles, by Covey’s definition, are those things we are to ourselves and to others. All roles, such as spouse, parent, son, daughter, coworker, manager, or friend, are based on our relationships with people.

In Covey’s book, he suggests identifying your roles and then entering your related goals and intentions into your planner. For example, if as part of your role as a Spouse you want to take your spouse out for dinner this week, don’t wait until mid-week to try to fit it in, plan for it to happen on Wednesday at 7.

As a 2007 commitment, consider going one step further than Covey suggests. Pick 1 or 2 key relationships (or roles) in your life and seek to make them perfect. Nurture them. Support them. Love them. Give unconditionally, even if that is contrary to your nature. Remember, your intention is to improve your relationships. Take responsibility for taking the action but don’t trap yourself into becoming attached to the result. It is still up to the other person to meet you halfway. They may not. It doesn’t matter. Your intention is to improve your key relationships. You’ve done your part.

No. 3) Embrace at Least 2 Big Challenges

Okay, so this is really just another way of saying, “Work on 2 Big Goals This Year.” I just like the sound and the feel of the words Embracing and Challenges better. Face it…goals should be challenging. Otherwise they’re just chores; and chores are boring.

So pick a big challenge. Get certified. Write a book. Go national. Go global. Whatever it is, make sure it inspires you. Once selected, don’t neglect to change the environment around you so that it is supportive of your intended achievement. Business consultant and writer Tom Peters once observed that the one way he ensured that he remembered to ride his bike regularly was to park it by the front door so that he had to walk around it. Do the same with your challenge. Keep it in your face. Don’t let yourself forget about it.

No. 4) Recommit to Personal Excellence

This one might seem deceptively simple. It’s not. Personal excellence as a coach means living with integrity first, and then making sure that you meet your needs. And ultimately work on getting those things that you most want into your life. In that order.

Integrity is a big word for coaches. We talk about it a lot. And we have to live by it as much as we talk about it. At its foundation, integrity is simply about keeping the promises we make to ourselves. This is easier said than done because we’re masters at deceiving ourselves. We rationalize, we bargain, and we even argue with ourselves in order to get away with not keeping a promise we’ve made. After all, who’s going to know? (Personal excellence = full integrity)

Additional steps for improving personal excellence also include handling your needs and wants. Identify your needs because those are the things that drive us and keep us nurtured. Yes, they include food and shelter; but they are much more than that. Needs can also be having full and supportive relationships, or being appreciated. They can be simple needs or complex ones. Know what they are and get them met. Only then should you begin looking at what you want. Wants are optional; needs are not. My belief is that if you are able to meet most, if not all, of your needs, then you will have fewer things that you will want.

There are still other aspects to personal excellence but these 3 are a great start. Recommit to working on them in 2007 and you will improve your coaching capabilities dramatically.

No. 5) Recommit to Professional Excellence

Maintaining high professional standards is the hallmark of great coaching. By professional excellence I am not talking about adopting a high-brow demeanor that infers that you are better than others because of your standards. Professional excellence means that your high standards are intended to fully benefit your clients, your peers, and you. It’s Win³ (Win/Win/Win).

Professional excellence in coaching includes your ethics and your intentions. Your ethics and intentions need to be in the right place, and you need them both to achieve professional excellence. Coaching ethics are now very well defined. We need them. If you’re not a member of a coaching organization, at the very least print a copy of the International Coach Federation’s code of ethics. Read them and put them in a place where you will see them on a regular basis. Take a moment to reflect on what they mean to you as a person and as a coach.

Identify, too, what your intentions are for you, your clients, and your profession. Take responsibility for fully representing yourself and the coaching profession. Treat it seriously. Don’t leave it to an organization to do it for you. It’s your profession and it’s your reputation.

Recommitting to professional excellence also means that you stay current with the latest tools, techniques, and initiatives in the world of coaching. Again, you owe it to your clients, to your peers, and to yourself to be a leader in the profession of coaching. Commit to it, and live it. Make sure that your own coach or accountability partner holds you to these higher ideals. It’s worth the effort.

2008

And here is one last tip to round off your new year’s goal planning. Try to define exactly where you’d like to be when January 2008 rolls around. Personally and professionally. Think big. Think WOW. And once you’ve got a clear picture in your head, then start planning for 2007, month by month, day by day. 2008 is almost here.

Jeff Pasquale is a Leadership Coach.

Jeff Pasquale is the founder of CoachLeadersNow.com, a training and development company for coaches who coach leaders--leaders of companies, leaders of departments, leaders of teams, and leaders of families. An early graduate of CoachU, Jeff has emerged as a pioneer in de-mystifying the essential components of being an effective leader. He is also author of the books Coaching LEADERSHIP and Get Aligned! (How To Close Organizational Gaps). You can discover more about Jeff at http://www.CoachLeadersNow.com or at http://www.JeffPasquale.com.

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