ISSUE FOURTEEN/DEC 2017
$12.00 RRP (inc GST) SWIMMING LONG, PURE COACHING FOR CREATIVES, EMPOWERING YOUTH, COACHING FOR THE LGBT COMMUNTIY
When we coach inclusively, we coach Different Individuals who Value Each other Regardless of Skin colour, Intellect, Talents or Years of experience.
Stewart Fleming
FROM THE EDITOR To jubilant cries, the bill for same sex marriage was passed into law in Australia. Couples who were previously married overseas will have their unions automatically recognised. According to the 2011 census, 26% of the population were born overseas, with a further 20% having at least one parent born overseas. In fact, a 2010 study by AMP placed Australia as the second most multicultural nation in the world. In faith, Australia is increasingly a story of religious diversity, with Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam and Buddhism all increasingly common religious beliefs behind the varying forms of Christianity and atheism. We are a diverse and yet, our clients have more in common than many would have you believe. In compiling this edition, I canvased coaches from all kinds of specialty groups. From Indigenous youth, the Black Foot and Cherokee to LBGT and faith-based coaching. Can you imagine that the problems they all solve are the same? Coaches need to speak the language of their clients but only to make that trusted connection. Once the connection is made, the differences fade away and the coach works for the client’s goals, the same way we all do.
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For my own part, the diversity in coaching comes from the solutions rather than the problems.
COACHINGLIFE
I love working with a new metaphor or applying a left-field solution, inspired by another client, to a new situation.
Coaching Life is published 4 times a year and is your authoritative source for information on coaching in sport, business, life and anywhere else you find a coach.
The application of knowledge for a coach is endless. We are bound only be the desire for outcomes for our clients. More importantly, we do what we do for love. We are necessarily passionate about getting results for our clients. Happy Coaching.
DECEMBER 2017 ISSUE 14
Published By Operait Pty Ltd ABN 63 189 244 221 24 Leo Lindo Drive, Shailer Park, QLD 4128 Editor Stewart Fleming editor@coachinglife.com.au Advertising & Directory Jack Fleming advertising@coachinglife.com.au Printing Inhouse Print & Design printing@inhouseprint.com.au
Stewart Fleming Editor
DISCLAIMER This publication is not medical or professional advice. It is intended only to inform and illustrate. No reader should act on the information contained in this publication without first seeking professional advice that takes into account personal circumstances. The publishers and editors give no representation and make no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness, currency or reliability of any of the materials contained and no correspondence will be entered into in relation to this publication by the publishers, editors or authors. The publishers do not endorse any person, company, organisation or techniques mentioned in this publication unless expressly stated otherwise. The publishers do not endorse any advertisements or special advertising features in this publication, nor does the publisher endorse any advertiser(s) or their products/services unless expressly stated otherwise. Articles are published in reliance upon the representation and warranties of the authors of the articles and without our knowledge of any infringement of any third parties copyright. The publishers and editors do not authorise, approve, sanction or countenance any copyright infringement. The publication is protected under the Commonwealth Copyrights Act 1968 and may not, in whole or in part, be lent, copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable format without the express written permission of the publisher. ISSN 2205-6963 Copyright Operait Pty Ltd All rights reserved.
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CONTENTS
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7 LISTENING ACROSS CULTURES
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17 PURE COACHING FOR CREATIVES
When it comes to working across cultures, having a developed active listening ability helps break down the barriers. As coaches, we all need to keep this in our arsenal when dealing with cultural sensitivities. Tom Verghese Cultural Synergies
Specialist tasks requires specialist coaching where the coach is invested with the client. A coach doesn’t need to have been on the same journey but even the best coaches in the world are of little use if the respect is not there. Dixie Marie Carlton Authority Authors
10 IS AI THE NEW BLACK IN DIVERSITY
21 THE THIRD JOB
An evolving workforce requires a blend of professional development and machine learning. This need to balance man and machine is the new challenge for coaches working in many environments. Katja, founder of Viveka, gives her views on this challenge. Katja Kempe Viveka Founder
When you find yourself in a freezing ocean with miles of open water around you, make sure you have been training with Vlad and you might make it back alive. Vlad is the king of long distance swimming and shares his story on swimming long. Vlad Mravec VladSwim
24 THE TIMES THEY ARE A’CHANGING 14 DIVERSITIES IN CONVERSATION Coaching is a talking profession and building diversity into our conversations gives us more power to effect change. Anthony Kirby brings emotion and vulnerability to his coaching to engage his audience on a deeper level. Anthony Kirby Business Coach
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There is an evolution in the business world and as coaches, we need to keep out in front of it. Janine Garner shares how she sees business evolving and how diversity fits into the new model. Janine Garner LBD GROUP
www.coachinglife. com.au
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34 27 A REFERRAL PLAN THAT WORKS As coaches, we need clients to coach and unless we are working for an organisation who mandates coaching, many of us struggle to find enough clients. Michael Griffiths is the Referral Marketing Guru and takes time from his extensive world tour to share some of his wisdom with us. Michael Griffiths Referral Marketing Guru
30 ALIGNING CULTURE AND CAPABILITY As organisations embrace diversity, working with a framework provides a clear way forward. The Cultures of Excellence framework has been designed to help companies leverage diversity and develop strategic insight and growth. Kim Yabsley Cultures of Excellence, Stratcomm
41 34 EMPOWERING YOUTH
Finding new ways to couch young disengaged Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders and Pacifica youth is a challenge taken up by Greg Dodge. The Pathways to Resliience program is a pilot initiative funded by the Commonwealth. Greg Dodge Youth Coach
36 FINDING A WAY BACK
Anthony Venn-Brown is one of Australia’s most influential Gay Australians, but it has been a long journey. He shares his path to becoming a coach and connecting with his true self. Anthony Venn-Brown Professional Coach
40 THE NEW SALES We all need to make sales and Bob Urichuck is one of the world’s leading experts in the sales process. From understanding Buyer Focus, Engagement and Empowerment, Bob takes us through his formula for making the most of every opportunity. Bob Urichuck Sales Coach
www.coachinglife. com.au
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As well as national coverage via newsagents and subscribers, we also have strategic contacts for distribution with the following organisations.
LISTENING ACROSS CULTURES Listening to understand rather than listening only to respond requires a high level of mindfulness and consciousness, especially when we are communicating with people of different cultures. I was facilitating a program in Singapore recently when this thought came to the forefront. I observed the consequences of a situation where a group of people became aware that even though they were being listened to they were not really being heard. Given there were several cultures represented in the room, there was an increased need for clear and effective communication, which unfortunately wasn’t occurring as well as it should have been. The result was that a particular team from a regional office felt disrespected, frustrated and placed little value and trust in the discussion session. www.coachinglife. com.au
I observed this from their responses - or lack of responses, their body language and the overall disengaged atmosphere that pervaded the workshop by the end of day one.
Effective listening provides an ability to empathise and be more attuned to the other party’s situation and requirements.
A shifting of styles was necessary the following day to achieve the desired outcomes. It is only as we listen to understand that we can observe the cultural nuances and cues that can make for a greater level of understanding and more effective communication. For this to occur both our emotional and cultural intelligence needs to be heightened. Different usage of words, accents and body language all contribute to the complexity of communicating with individuals whose native language is different from the one being spoken.
In high context communication cultures such as India, China, Japan, communication is not just in the words, but also in the tone of voice, the non-verbal expressions and in what is not being said. Page 7
In low context communication How can we demonstrate that we are truly listening? cultures such as Australia, Israel and Germany, the emphasis of Summarize what is being Don’t be afraid to allow subcommunication is instead on said regularly, especially if conversations to develop. “saying what you mean and your language is not the native Frequently these conversations meaning what you say”. language of your are more about how to participants. This will provide communicate an idea back to Depending on your own reassurance that you you, rather than a sign that communication preferences you comprehend what is being attention is wandering. need to be aware of your discussed. coaching participant’s If possible, keep the mood preferences as well. Use written summaries. light and casual so that Simple dot point summaries participants don’t feel under When you are coaching across and drawings on a whiteboard pressure to speak perfect borders and cultures, you need are much easier to understand English or to conform to a to listen with the objective of by those whose spoken language communication style which they understanding if you want to: skills are lacking. maybe unable or uncomfortable to comply with. • Build relationships Ask questions and request clarification when Remember that unless you • Gather valid information appropriate. Probe deeper into are multi-lingual and an idea when you are not certain understand the cultural nuances • Understand what is not you fully understand what is being displayed, you may be the being said openly being said to you. weak link, which is preventing everyone’s voice from being • Influence, persuade and Remember to nod - it heard. encourage demonstrates that you are listening and understanding the speaker.
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Restate the idea that is being discussed using a different, and ideally more simple, vocabulary if doing group coaching.
Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. Winston Churchill
speaker, executive coach and the founding principal consultant of Cultural Synergies. He has 25 years of global consulting expertise.
Dr Verghese is the author of ‘The Invisible Elephant – Exploring Cultural Awareness’ and coauthor of ‘The Pillars of Growth - The Keys to Getting Exponential Growth in Your Business Today.’
During his consulting career, Tom has had extensive involvement working with a diverse range of multinational, national and local organisations. He has strategized and worked as a trusted adviser with numerous senior global leaders.
Born and raised in Malaysia, Dr Verghese is of Indian origin and moved to Australia nearly 30 years ago as a foreign student. He currently resides in Melbourne with his English-born wife and two children.
Dr Tom Verghese is a renowned author,
Tom’s significant global experience and diverse array of clients, coupled with his qualifications and multicultural skills, position him as a leading international specialist in the areas of Diversity and Inclusion, Unconscious Bias, and high-performing teams and leaders.
Is AI ‘the new black’ in diversity? Balancing a constantly evolving and increasingly diverse workforce whilst maintaining productivity levels, is one of the main challenges of corporations today. Current HR topics in the boardroom range from mobile workforces, multiple generations with different values and ideas, as well as market share competition, productivity battles and technological advancement.
differences, culture, language, background and approach to work.
On one hand, automation and computerisation is frightening, some fear for their jobs and some even fear Now, they are facing a new challenge for humanity. – the necessity to balance man and machine and the delicate act of taking responsibility for the future of their staff, whilst scaling the business and focusing on profitability. There is no longer any doubt whether artificial intelligence (AI) will assist us in the future, however there is a lot of controversy around the impact.
On the other hand, paired with professional and strategic guidance, these latest innovations have the potential to powerfully transform the way we operate successful businesses and society at large. Scientists differentiate between 3 levels of AI: narrow, general and super AI. Super or strong AI is when machines develop their own consciousness, sentience and mind, which is the most controversial type of AI and often referred to as the point of Consequently, organisations are Technological advancement and pace Singularity, where machine required to rethink the status quo of change are accelerating at an intelligence will be infinitely more and embrace diversity not only in unprecedented rate and will continue powerful than all human intelligence their customers and their employees, to do so exponentially. combined. but also in their approach to work The rise of AI and the Internet of Narrow intelligence covers most AI and current processes. Things (IoT) is changing the way we applications that we can see in Modern managers and executives are work, communicate and function. society today, such as voice enabled required to communicate and assistants like Alexa, Siri, Cortana and operate successfully whilst effectively Google Assistant or the parking balancing gender, generational assistant in our cars.
Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the primary goal of current research, focusing on the intelligence of a machine that could successfully perform any intellectual task of a human being. AGI applications are being introduced to more and more companies now such as law and accounting firms and investment banks.
Any complex system that involves the combination of human decision making and an automated system requires answers to where, when, and how much humans and automation should be in the decisionmaking loop.
The predominant engineering viewpoint is to automate as much as possible and minimise the amount of human interaction. Many engineers see humans as a mere disturbance that can be designed out until they begrudgingly recognise that humans must play a role in such systems, either for regulatory requirements or low probability event intervention.
Allocating roles and functions between man and machine is critical in defining efficient and effective The next question for the boardroom system architectures and we need to will therefore not be ‘how many start integrating these strategic The question remaining is ‘what is females are in leadership positions?’ thoughts when providing advice to the right balance?’. or ‘have we created comprehensive key influencers. teams through a broad mix of nationalities and cultures?’ or even ‘what impact does our largest age cohort have on succession planning in our corporation?’. At Viveka, we are closely guided by Viveka is the new online Leadership and HR teams will our core values – Integrity, marketplace for the professional increasingly be asking one question Diversity and Innovation. development industry, connecting ‘how many human beings do we industry leading coaches, mentors Our vision is to upgrade humanity want to include in this team and what and speakers from all over the in the same way that we skills should these have?’. world to companies, leaders and continuously upgrade technology, individuals. We tend to forget that diversity is a so that we can embrace change dynamic phenomenon, not a static equipped with a confident mindset. Our offerings cover a wide range of measure that can be described at a expertise, our professionals are We believe that: certain point in time. represented by over 21 countries 1. Professional development is one across the globe and experience The core focus of diversity has shifted of the most important services in levels range from new practitioners multiple times and evolved over the our current times of extreme to internationally recognised past decades from race to gender, change. It brings fresh perspectives authorities in their field. from gender to generational on personal challenges, enhanced differences and to equality of sexual With over 350 international coaches decision-making skills, greater orientation. listed within the first 6 months post interpersonal effectiveness and launch, Viveka is positioned to In fact, the mere use of the word increased confidence. disrupt, revolutionise and grow the ‘diversity’ in the English vocabulary 2. Diversity is successfully defined professional development industry tripled over the past 50 years. by the right balance of culture, age, by providing a transparent, easy to The new buzzword in the evolution of gender and technology, enabling use and professional platform to a diversity will therefore be AI and IoT modern companies to succeed in disjointed and unregulated market. with an increased focus on ethical every aspect of the business. The exponential growth of our beliefs and consequences of 3. AI and IoT is the greatest company within such a short balancing man with machine. opportunity to humans since the timeframe points to a very This progress comes with great invention of the steam engine, interesting fact, namely the need responsibility, not only for relieving us from mundane, timefor unity within diversity, corporations and governments but consuming tasks and simplifying collectiveness amongst also for advisers to leadership teams processes IF embraced with the individualism and transparency in a such as coaches and consultants. right and equally evolved mindset. highly fragmented industry.
VIVEKA
Below are some of the experts featured on Viveka and their views on diversity within their companies. Andrea MacKenzie Founder of Lead With Harmony
Aimee Reese ARLC Ventures, LLC
Mariona Riera Mindfulness Consultant
Lead With Harmony’s mission is to help companies create highperformance, low stress workplaces.
Your Power to Choose is what helps you live a happier, healthier more fulfilled life.
Diversity is what makes this life worth living. It’s about variety, richness & contrast.
We help companies looking to leverage diversity for greater productivity and innovation, understand how people’s different strengths interplay and how to mitigate the risks of conflict within a highly diverse team.
I have the privilege to work with people all over the world looking to Reboot-Revitalise-Restore themselves so they can truly radiate. We all are unique and I work with you to bring your true self out this is what helps you put yourself first in your life, health and wellness.
I have the tremendous privilege to work with an array of people from around the world with very diverse backgrounds and influences, but the beauty of it all is that, deep inside, we’re not that different, we all want to experience joy, purpose and flow.
www.aimeereese.com
www.marionariera.co
www.leadwithharmony.com
View all our coaches, mentors and speakers and create your profile for free on www.viveka.world
Katja Kempe Katja is the CEO and Founder of Viveka. Viveka is a combination of Katja’s professional experience and personal passion. As a Strategy Manager and then COO of internationally leading law firms, Katja was required to follow strategic, innovative and global industry trends whilst implementing new strategies to continuously up level efficiencies and processes. Katja always had a passion for personal growth and professional development. She was a coach and mentor for several years, parallel to her career in the legal industry. Katja is internationally experienced, multilingual, inspired by innovation and a strong believer in creating positive and sustainable change.
www.viveka.world
Where is the Diversity in Our Conversations? An impassioned plea for the people in our industry to create conversations that count. Coaching is now a $2 billion industry1.
Whilst I am excited to see a growing recognition of what we do as a profession, the growth is also leading to a significant negative development in the space – there is a complete lack of diversity in our conversations.
What do I mean by that? ‘Coaching’ now is all about the quick success stories, the glory of “making it”, this ideal of “follow these simple steps and make a million dollars.” Everyone is showing the highlight reel – but what’s happening to the parts of the story that end up on the cutting room floor? When we become coaches, we become leaders and if we sign up to be a leader, then we have to own it. We can’t choose the tag of ‘expert’ when it suits and shed it when we face vulnerability or challenges in our personal world out of fear of alienating our ‘ideal client’ in the process. “Buy the ticket, take the ride.” Hunter S. Thompson I do a lot of Facebook live streams, and they’re genuinely unscripted. Quite often they’re not even planned. I do them on the fly when I feel there is a message in my head I need to get out there because someone else might need to hear just that today. I was in Melbourne a few months back, and during a live stream I chose to speak about how difficult it can be to get that balance between putting the work in to grow your business, and still being there for your kids.
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www.coachinglife. com.au
As context for the story, I told a story about my two-year old, Charlie. A few days earlier, my wife went to get him out of bed, and over the monitor I heard him say “Is Daddy gone?” I sat in my kitchen, at 6:30am on a Wednesday, and I realised that my son associates waking up with me being gone. And it killed me and as I retold the story, I cried – live, on Facebook. The response I received during and after the live stream was overwhelming. I won’t lie, a lot of people walked away, but that didn’t matter to me because the amount of people who appreciated the fact that I expressed a human side to my business journey was so much greater. We must remember that when we step up and show the darkness in our own businesses and lives, we open a space for others to do that too. We build trust, we show diversity in our everyday lives that ordinarily gets pushed under the carpet. By stepping up, we show them it’s okay. We show them that their mentor is still human. We show them that we truly understand the struggles they face, because we face them too. After all - we’re on this journey too. Just some of us have walked a couple of steps further. We have got to feel proud about the progress AND the struggle too!
So why are people so afraid of showing their own diversity? When people look upon our industry, they are looking towards us as people who can solve their problems. They see us (usually) as people who can assist them with the transitions they are experiencing. They often assume we have the answer to everything, all the time. That we’ve managed to embark on this straight-line-no-roadblocks path to success, and can now teach that to other people. When we talk about our roadblocks and our struggles, it becomes personal. Intimate, almost. People are not judging a product - they’re judging you. For some - especially those who are new to this journey - that’s terrifying. “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Viktor Frankl
With judgement comes potential for losing followers. With the huge significance of social media now, that’s a big thing for people. When we feel like no one’s listening, how can we get our message out there? Right now, in our industry I’m seeing an over exaggerated sense of political correctness. In their efforts to avoid judgement, to not alienate anyone, and to ultimately not lose followers, people are so afraid to speak their truth. The watered-down messages that result from that are, in my opinion, the top contributor to the vanilla flavour seen in so many newsfeeds of people who have entered our space, vying for the attention of those who seek solutions to their problems. A concept I speak about often is that of rational versus irrational thoughts. A rational thought is something that makes sense; it’s logical.
No one’s afraid to talk about the rational thoughts or fears. It’s thoughts like “I should be sharing my message”. The irrational thought behind that is “But I’m not, because…”
Secondly, you need to work on your resilience. If you want to be a true leader, especially in the personal or professional development field, you need to build a thick skin when it comes to other people’s opinions.
All of these fears we have are irrational thoughts.
Take the time to reflect on what your personal thoughts are.
So how do we overcome these fears?
Sharing your thoughts, and speaking to the irrational voice inside the mind of your market will be an empowering experience for you.
Firstly, you need to recognise that when you stand for nothing, you stand for no one. Therefore you don’t attract a loyal tribe/following. The result of that is that you’re always going to be competing on price, and that’s a losing battle. In the absence of differentiation the only thing left is price and that’s a game only one person wins.
Scary - of course, but nobody said that this journey would be anything other than that! When I shared my message - to get more business owners home in time for dinner, I realised how many people were sharing that same thought.
About the author: Anthony Kirby, affectionately known as “Kirby”, is a dad who loves helping business owners get home in time for dinner, and is passionate about lifting the energy of the professional development industry and challenging the norms and beliefs of “traditional” business training. With a background supporting some of Australia’s leading construction businesses, Kirby’s main focus lies in providing business owners with clarity, kick-ass strategies, and simple tools to measure their results along the way, so that they can have more fun along their journey. In the last 12 months, Kirby’s strategies added over $108 million in sales to clients across Australia and over 1,000 business owners have enjoyed Kirby’s humour, authenticity, and no-bs approach to business growth.
The confidence it gave me allowed me to speak to more of the irrational thoughts of the market, share more of my ups and downs and create a landscape of contrast and diversity in the conversations I had with my clients, and the market at large. The result? People feel heard now. They feel I understand them. Sometimes offering diversity draws your audience closer, and often - shifts their way of thinking about things. And that’s a good thing for them, for you and our industry at large. Let’s start having more conversations that count.
In its ‘purest form’, coaching is about asking the right questions to help the client formulate the best answers or arrive at their optimum solutions, by themselves. I was taught this back in 2002 by my coach trainers, who then also asserted that ‘coaching is really more of a skill set’ you bring to the table, to go with the other skills you can utilize to help your clients.
Pure Coaching for Creatives
Let’s explore that idea. If as a coach, all you are supposed to do is help the client to work things out for themselves, to me that’s a bit lame. Maybe working with a coach is a much more direct form of help than wading through a gazillion self-help books, but if I’m trying to lose weight, manage my teams better, or become a more focused job seeker, then the kind of coach I want supporting me from the sidelines is one who will also roll up their sleeves and get involved sometimes. My weight loss program means walking or exercising with my coach, instead of sitting around just talking about what I ate last week, right? www.coachinglife. com.au
And I’d expect that working with a career coach would involve him breaking out the personality profiling tools and showing me how to improve my CV and application letters. My coaching practice is a specialist one, committed to helping nonfiction authors develop their stories, write, publish and then distribute their books and market themselves as authorities. When it comes to publishing, there’s just no room for ‘pure’ coaching at all. If there was, there would be a lot of extra warehousing space at Amazon. Books just simply would not get written.
They might be finished as manuscripts but never actually produced and even if they got that far, a lot of dust could gather on the covers before being scooped up into mulch machines because they are taking up too much space on someone’s garage floor. Every author is different and every book is diverse in subject matter and the objectives behind their creation. Coaching authors means getting into the head of the author. Before they even start to write their first draft, to pull out the stories, plan the first, second and maybe even the third book in a series. Page 17
Finally, to help them to fully Finally, a lot of fine tuning is done to articulate all that their book(s) will do ensure that the files are ready to for them. print, upload and make available to the market.
- GOING TO MARKET -
This does not happen overnight, over a weekend, or in a month. While a book can be written in record time – a little as a month – the hard work of getting a manuscript to market, is as complex as having a new Pink song get radio time. With music, what might start out as a tune, played on a guitar or keyboard, will change shape and evolve over time. Extra instruments are added to create a deeper sound, lyrics and harmonies are added, voices for background; the song is rehearsed, polished, recorded, produced (that means played around with a lot) before finally being released to the market. A manuscript has to go through the same kind of processing before it can be considered ready for entering into Literary Awards, or deemed ready to upload to Amazon. The manuscript needs a professional edit, formatting, design, the extra front and back parts of the book, sometimes research and technical checking.
As a Coach University graduate, I was given a number of incredibly useful tools to help my clients with.
Clean Sweep checklists to determine As a coach, there’s no way this can all which areas of their lives or be achieved simply by sitting back businesses needed the most and offering only to ‘coach’ the attention; Life Path or Manager client. Planning resources they could go through and decide where to take You have to share knowledge, action first. resources, make the other experts available to the team and ensure that The coaching role was mostly to help the author’s expectations are them work through whatever was moderated – up or down – helping them to start, stop, or side depending on their objectives. track their journey forward, using the appropriate resources to take actions You have to show the author, from and plan with. In hindsight, that sometimes re-writing parts for them was almost too easy. to demonstrate a difference in style, or be prepared to share proofing and With any specialist form of coaching editing points that you pick up along however, you must have experience the way. in that area, not just be trained as a coach. I’m appalled at the notion of a publishing coach simply telling their You also need to know the lay of the author to ‘get thee to an editor’ land you are guiding your clients without ever even reading the work through, including all the pitfalls, themselves to see if it’s even worthy places where self-sabotage might kick of publishing. in and how to help them either open gates or climb fences along the way. Surely the coach needs to know what the client is actually producing as a It turns out that coaching is a skill-set result of all that encouragement, you bring to the table, along with even if much of its done from the your knowledge and expertise. sidelines.
If you’re not able to demonstrate your own levels of success in the field you’re trying to assist your clients with, then arguably you’re out of integrity – and that’s breaking the number one rule of authentic coaching.
THE RIGHT COACH
There are of course exceptions to the rule. That’s assuming music producers like Simon Cowell are considered to be coach-producers as Rising stars who work with coaches What sets the ‘right’ coach apart well as coaches to any of the musical are far more likely to succeed quicker from all the rest? talent they nurture and with fewer trip ups along the If the client and coach can build way. It is probably true that many talent rapport, trust each other to play coaches who work as acting or voice But, if you are serious about success their respective roles and measure coaches have never actually won in any endeavor, then finding the the progress regularly against clearly Grammy’s or Oscars themselves, but best coach for you to personally work identified objectives, there’s a good have enough industry experience with is important. chance that they also really like each gained over many years to be other as people. If your big hairy audacious goal is to excellent coaches. Their experience take a fast track with anything at all, In reality, the best coaches in the means that they make a big world and the most highly talented difference in the lives of their clients. you’ll get what you pay for. individuals still have to like and Coaching programs and trainers who But consider whether someone like respect each other. promise a quick easy option are Michelle Bridges would have any simply not in the same league with It’s therefore well worth investing the authenticity as a personal fitness those coaches who know that you time required to get this part right coach if she did not have her own have to offer one-to-one service, with and that may mean a settling in and healthy lifestyle. Would Tony Robbins be as effective if he did not have the a diverse range of options to best suit getting to know each other period. the varied clients and their personal ability to demonstrate his rise from You can’t expect brilliant outcomes in backgrounds and objectives. the depths of despair in his Venice the first five minutes. Beach apartment as a young man? Setting a realistic pace towards the Again, if you have serious and lofty promised outcomes using the A coach can punch well above their goals, these will take time to reach combined talents, drive and focus of own weight in terms of holding a and someone who offers quick fix hand out to help their clients up and the client, with a coach who knows options is probably questionable in how to set that pace and keep their achieving at much higher levels of terms of coaching skills. clients on track, is going to deliver success than they did themselves. much better results, for both coach One final note: Coaching is not to be I don’t buy into the idea that ‘he who and client. confused with management or can does, he who can’t teaches / agenting. Especially in the coaches’. entertainment or creative industries. Some coaches are significantly better at coaching people than actually doing what their clients do, especially in the creative industries. I’m sure that behind every music/acting/artistic/entrepreneurial star is someone who held a door open and pushed them through it.
www.coachinglife. com.au
Dixie Maria Carlton is a highly sought after international publishing coach, working with committed NonFiction authors wanting to write, self-publish and promote top quality books. www.authorityauthors.com.au Page 19
Are you finally ready to WRITE that book? Author-ity Authors will help you to get your ideas published and working for you – guaranteed! Your polished, published manuscript is only the beginning… We’re about the Before, During, and After you write your book. No LIMITS for Non-Fiction Indie Authors who really want to create their best book, first time – and leverage their Author-ity Status. Imagine, a world of self publishing where you are guided from the very start of your ideas to developing them all the way through the process of becoming an AUTHOR-ity in your area of expertise, inspiring stories, or shared wisdom. You’ll also be listed on Amazon, Kindle, Create Space, and assisted to get real leverage on your ability to maximise your leverage as a top performing author.
There’s MORE… Our journey together will also take you through the many parts of POST publishing phases of authorship. This includes reviewing your website, social media platforms, landing pages, database communications and everything is ‘up to scratch’ to ensure your marketing confidence in being the author-ity you are. Dixie Maria Carlton has been publishing NF Books for thought leaders, experts, coaches, trainers, and game-changers since 2006. She has worked with more than 50 books, 75+ authors, including best sellers, award winners, high achievers at local, national, and global levels. When you work with Authority Authors, you don’t get lumped into a ‘standard program’, you work one-on-one with Dixie to ensure you get the best possible publishing coaching available.
FREE RESOURCES for Authors… Head over to the Authority Authors website now for a FREE copy of From Idea to Author-ity plus many other excellent resources for authors. www.Author-ityAuthors.com Australia: +61(4)8831 8818 New Zealand: +64(21)849 948
The Third Job
By Vlad Mravac
A lot of swimmers need help, but it is simple if you know what to do. I grew up swimming in Slovakia and then studied in Russia for a year. For 15 years I coached kids working on the planning and program. Over this time, I realised that with the right program, anything is possible once you set the goal. It didn’t matter if you wanted to swim 100 metres, 400 metres or the English Channel, the program works if properly followed. In 2009, Louise Stevenson was my first long distance open water swimmer. She swam the 20 Km from Cotteslole Beach to Rotnest Island in Western Australia. Then in 2011, I had my first swimmer cross the English Channel. We added cold water and difficulty training but she finished with no problems.
I have now had 37 swimmers cross the channel and have found that the best lecture is the swimmer as every year things are changing. If I miss something in one swimmer, I have to find it in another swimmer. I’m always learning. I have swimmers from USA, Slovakia and Australia who cannot attend coaching sessions. I coach these clients via email with advice on completing big swims. Three mornings a week I have around 55 swimmers in the pool, all at varying levels. Some are working for short swims and others are aiming for one or more of the seven major open water swims. What I stress to all my swimmers is that swimming is your leisure time.
Many are already coming to relax and escape their daily problems in the pool. They are predominantly high-level professionals who need to change their life. Maybe they need to stop drinking or have an injury that prevents them from running but once they are in the pool, they are alone. In the water, you are by yourself. There is no phone, and no distraction other than what you take in.
It is definitely a form of meditation where the biggest problem is the one you bought with you. Open water swimming is becoming huge, but I still get asked about shark attacks.
A swimmer has a very rhythmic motion and sharks are just not attracted to that rhythm. Surfers are more of a target with studies showing that sharks do not approach swimmers. There is danger from blue bottles, jellyfish and other boats but the biggest danger is lack of preparation. A weak swimmer in a harsh environment is a very risky situation.
There has only been one shark attack on an open water swimmer in the last 10 years and that was because they were feeding the fish.
If you are thinking of doing a long swim, you need to treat it as your third job. It takes commitment and you should enjoy the process. I call it the third job because the first job is your family, the second is how you earn a living and the third is your time alone, in the pool, finding your rhythm and letting go of your problems.
Today, in Australia, there is an open water swim nearly every weekend. People are looking for longer swims with 2, 10 and 15 Km swims becoming more and more popular.
Vlad is the founder of the Vladswim program, which provides all level of swimming services from stroke correction at beginner to elite level through to coaching of an open water swimming squad and plan for specific endurance swim events.
Vlad’s expertise lies in increasing interesting and effective pool and ocean swim sessions covering all levels of intensity and skills to help swimmers achieve their long-distance goals. He has a clear understanding of how to structure training programs and plan for specific endurance swim events.
Ocean's Seven consists of seven long-distance open-water swims, and is considered the marathon swimming equivalent of the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge. It includes •
The Moloka’i or Kaiwi Channel: between Hawaiian Islands of Moloka’i and O’ahu, 27 miles (44km)
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The English Channel: between England and France, 21 miles (34km)
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The Irish or North Channel: between Ireland and Scotland, 21 miles (34 km)
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The Catalina Channel: between Santa Catalina Island and Los Angeles, 21 miles (34km)
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The Cook Strait: between New Zealand’s North and South Islands, 16 miles (26km)
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The Tsugaru Strait: between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, 12 miles (20km)
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The Strait of Gibraltar: between Spain and Morocco, 8 miles (14km)
Stephen Redmond of Ireland was the first person ever to complete all seven swims. Since then, six others have completed the septuplet. An alternative definition of the Ocean's Seven is one channel from each of the seven continents, just as the Seven Summits refers to the highest summit on each of the seven continents. For this definition, the list would include a South American channel and a swim in Antarctica. For example, Lynne Cox has swum channels in 6 continents and swam for 25 minutes in Antarctica.
www.coachinglife. com.au
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THE TIMES THEY
Are A’CHANGING
Anybody who believes that the business landscape is the same as it was in the ‘old days’ has their head well and truly buried in the 20th‐century sand. There is an evolution going on that is affecting the business world and how
we lead and manage within it.
We are all being forced to rethink how we behave and what we do. The changes of greater society — changes in generations, gender dynamics and technology — are leading to a shift in business from large, highly structured corporate entities to agile, innovative entrepreneurial enterprises. This evolution isn’t about to stop any time soon—if anything, the pace of change is only going to increase exponentially — and it is challenging us to rethink what we do, how we communicate with each other and how we will operate as individuals into the future. It is challenging us to develop new operating systems to future‐proof success. It is challenging us to learn to lead movements in a way that supports others feeling secure enough to think and act collaboratively. Page 24
The evolution is: Changing leadership styles from ‘tell’ to ‘engage’, with leadership now about inspiring and becoming truly authentic Evolving traditional business structures to become more fluid and blended Requiring innovation and invention as essential business tools as consumers want better products and services, delivered more quickly, than ever before Demanding agility and decisiveness as prerequisites in individuals, teams and leadership.
So what approaches will work in our rapidly changing environment?
Let’s get this straight – the starting point is you. You have to believe in yourself, first and foremost. Your dream and vision for yourself and your future is yours, and until you get this sorted there is no leading out. Choose to be someone who is brave, honest and authentic. Step into your spotlight and share your message with conviction because being authentic benefits everyone. Have the confidence to emphasise your strengths, what you add in terms of value and most importantly your point of difference. Lead out and embrace diversity of thinking and opinion because that is where the opportunity exists. www.coachinglife. com.au
The collaborative economy is where networks of diverse and connected individuals, communities and businesses work together to drive success. The power of this is inestimable as it connects people, businesses, skills, services, products and space to drive new opportunities and strategies for future‐proofing. The collaborative economy is a space where, if we are authentic, play by rules of openness and transparency and follow our passions, we have the opportunity to build collective intelligence, trust and connection, and surprise and influence many.
It makes economic sense to engage and collaborate commercially with women to gain balanced insight and leadership as part of strategic decision-making for the future. And yet it’s not happening, as it should. Unless we collaborate, the lack of female leaders now will drastically affect the pipeline of female leaders for tomorrow. There will be no funnelling of talent, no monitoring or active sponsoring of younger women– because the senior female leaders simply won’t be there to see these things put in place. The lost investment in talent – in smart, savvy, knowledgeable and strong women who are able to make a difference and ensure that equality is kept – is astonishing, and yet organisations are willing to let this happen and incur the cost to re-recruit versus retain. The disappearing female leader means a management team devoid of perspective. Decisionmaking is one-dimensional. Discussions around innovation, new product development, marketing and consumer engagement strategies become gender-silo’d. Unless we all collectively engage and take action, that glass ceiling is never going to develop more than a few cracks.
www.coachinglife. com.au
Become someone that is willing to step out of status quo and challenge the baseline reality of the statistics on diversity. Speak up and become accountable for change, recognising the need to reach that little bit further or higher to make change happen. Take the leap and collaborate with others to mutual commercial benefit. Become a change maker. If we don’t speak out, we are not showing willingness to have the courageous conversations that will drive the change that is needed.
A powerful and diverse network can become your lifeline. It has the ability to transform, to give individuals and businesses an edge. As Jim Rohn said,
“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
An effective network, bridges smaller more diverse individuals with differing levels of expertise, age, gender and experience. Powerful networks are cross functional, cross hierarchical and cross industry, delivering balance and diverse thinking. They provide;
Company, market or wider industry information - Influence through sharing insight, experience and connections - Mentoring to accelerate your personal growth plan - Energising you to take action, holding you accountable - A sense of purpose, of balance and worth The cross-fertilisation of connections, skills and ideas that are openly discussed and shared through network creation, in their turn create new opportunities, innovation and new solutions to existing problems.
Be brave and diversify. Step out of your comfort zone, strategically expand your circle of influence, diversify your connections, and explore other people, businesses and experiences. Consciously consider who else you need to learn from, add value to, engage and collaborate with. Explore the possibilities of what diversity and 100 per cent involvement could bring — how the benefits of a collaborative environment, one that is wellrounded, well influenced and well distributed, can widen perspective and create opportunities that have not as yet been tapped into.
Build a circle of influence that understands what you want to achieve and whom you want to support in kind.
ABOUT JANINE Sydney-based Janine Garner is an internationally-acclaimed entrepreneur and Fortune 500 mentor, keynote speaker and author. She is a partner at Thought Leaders Global, which helps clever people to become commercially smart, and the founder and CEO of the LBDGroup, a networking community that connects like-minded women together to help them achieve extraordinary growth. Janine is passionate about bringing brilliant people together to achieve remarkable results through collaboration, connection and influential leadership. She is the author of It’s Who You Know: How a network of 12 key people can fast-track your success (Wiley 2017) and From Me To We: Why Commercial Collaboration Will Future Proof Business, Leaders and Personal Success (Wiley 2015). www.janinegarner.com.au www.coachinglife. com.au
A Referral Plan
For many coaches getting business can be one of the hardest things. You’re great at teaching, training, getting others to implement and take action, but unfortunately you don’t have enough people to work with. We are told, do a great job with your clients and then ask them who they know who needs help with their challenges. Pay your clients and your networks to pass you referrals. Go to networking events and hand out business cards. Unfortunately, all of those strategies are missing important ingredients to get you more referrals and more business. So hence they don’t work to the extent that you would like them to.
That Works Getting referrals is an art form, a system, a process that anyone can put in place. When you do the right activities, you will get the right results. So, what are the key things you need to be thinking about?
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First you need to understand the referral process. Skipping any step will ensure you end up with no results. For most people they believe as long as you know what I do, then you should be able to pass me referrals. So, they go out and hand out business cards, have coffee catch ups and try to spread their message as far as possible. I don’t care what you do, I care that I can like you, trust you and that I can put my name on the line for you. Therefore, we always have to start with TRUST.
START WITH TRUST
Get people to trust you and they will be willing to do a lot more for you. So, forget about spreading the word and handing out cards and start connecting with people so they can trust you. Next, we need to build our referral teams. Teams of people that sell to the same people we sell to and we don’t compete with one another. So, ask yourself, where else does my client spend money? All of those people could be potential partners. Building teams of people that can refer business to you because you have the same sort of clients, same sort of networks and you actually want to help one another becomes very powerful. Once you find these people you need have regular conversations and strategies on how you can help one another.
The reason why most referral relationships fail is that there is a lack of communication and a lack of creating action plans to help one another. Therefore, both parties don’t see the benefits and the relationship fizzles out and dies.
Once we have found referral partners we need to train them correctly. You wouldn’t expect your sales team to create sales without training them, so don’t expect that your referral partners will create your referrals without training them. We do this through our referral training manual. (You can grab a copy in the resource section below) By training our referral partners they now understand how to find you the right sorts of referrals, how to position you correctly and to ensure you win more business.
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The second part to building your referral system is using your networks more effectively. You all have a network, but how well do you use them? For most people they grow their network with no real purpose and therefore they can’t really use their network as well as what they should. I say you should be growing your network with people that can buy from you, partner with you and people who can open doors for you.
This rarely happens for most people, because they don’t use their networks correctly and they treat their networks as a transaction rather than taking an interest in them and caring about them. Just imagine if you were treated as a transaction, meaning the only time I spoke to you was when I wanted something. Would you go out of your way to help me?
We talk all the time about building a team of 66 people in your referral teams. We break those down into - people that we will speak with weekly (Profitability Partners), - people we speak with monthly (our Super Group), - people we do one off things with (Cross Promotion Partners), - people we get to promote us on social media platforms (Content Distributors) and - people who will make sales for us (Affiliates). Every person in your referral team understands their role, the framework they are a part of and it is because of the structure that you actually have referral partners doing real things that you get real opportunities and results.
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When you grow your networks with the right sorts of people you can then engage better with you networks, create conversations and therefore create new opportunities to do things that help one another. However, all of this starts with having the right sorts of people to speak to in the beginning. Your networks should be great promoters of you. They should be able to share you into their networks and most importantly, they should be ready to promote you if given the chance.
When we show our networks that we care, when we grow our networks with the right sorts of people and when we personally engage with our networks it is amazing the number of opportunities that will be created for you.
www.coachinglife. com.au
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The third and final thing that will help you create your own referral plan is to create leverage and partnerships. When you leverage into other people’s networks then you get seen by people who previously didn’t even know that you existed. You are getting more exposure without having to pay for advertising.
Doing things like cross promotions, getting on other people’s podcasts, webinars, speaking at other people’s events are all great ways to get more exposure into other people’s networks. Again, there is an art form to making this happen. If you went up to a podcast owner and said, “Can I be on your podcast?” more often than not the simple answer will be no. You need to find ways to collaborate, find win/wins and help others.
Michael Griffiths is the founder of Referral Marketing Guru and helps coaches and consultants to build their own referral marketing machines to generate endless amounts of referrals and opportunities into their business.
RESOURCE BOX You can grab some great tools and resources, including the referral training manual from www.referralmarketingguru.com.au/resources
www.coachinglife. com.au
I have a simple motto, look to help someone else before asking for help. Partnerships help you build your audience and ensure that you always have a full funnel of people to talk to. When you build your referral teams, use your networks more effectively and start leveraging into other people’s networks with partnerships then generating referrals and opportunities daily becomes easy.
ALIGNING CULTURE AND CAPABILITY Embracing Diversity As A Tool For Enhanced Workplace Culture An integrated approach to assessing organisational capability that considers culture as key to the developing organisation is essential to proactive identification of functional barriers which have the potential to impact the achievement of organisational goals.
By Kim Yabsley
True collaboration requires the right balance of people, skill and corporate power to achieve outcomes that are derived from both insight and then leveraged and scaled for application. This concept represents a revolutionary approach which prioritises people in the context of their contribution and commitment to commercial outcomes. This prioritisation is then evidenced through engagement and results in outcomes at both the individual and organisational level
Innovation is a foundation requirement for the age of automation. Page 30
Engagement that enables insight and leads to action is fundamental to innovation. While automation is essential to the developing organization, we must prepare our workforces for this new era with more emphasis on the balance between strategic insight, interpersonal skills and commercial outcomes. By revisiting the basics of human dynamics and psychology, we can bridge the gaps that arise during this time of great change. The digital age trend towards less human interactivity represents the potential risk of greater inter-relational issues.
We need proven ways to apply enhanced interpersonal skills if we want increased efficacy in workplace environments moving forward. Mayer et al. (1995) proposes an integrated model, originally designed to enhance safety in operational environments which defines trust as based on perception, specifically relating to three key factors: 1. Ability (Perceived Competence) 2. Benevolence (Perceived degree of Care shown) 3. Integrity (Perceived honesty and openness)
www.coachinglife. com.au
Overlaying management and communications theory onto this model suggests that the perception of care and communication activity have tangible impacts on organisational outcomes.
To get to true diversity, organisations need to walk the talk. Employees see straight through the rhetoric of tick and flick culture. They sense whether their opinions are valued based on their experience of being heard. At the leadership level, its often easy to collapse the inability to deliver on requests, with workforce perceptions of not being valued.
When individuals feel considered, have the opportunity and access to mechanisms which enable them to contribute meaningfully to the organisation, they feel like their unique insights, skills, personality and potential have a place within the environment. When managed, this sense of belonging creates a commitment, that leads to loyalty, which translates to organisational competency. Diversity is an expansive quality for organisations, but it requires genuine commitment to enhanced communication in action; a two-way dialogue for improved relationships that spans the gap between compliance and strategic intention.
Census data provides us with a snapshot of modern Australia. This snapshot reveals that over a quarter (26%) of Australia's population was born overseas and a further one fifth (20%) had at least one overseas-born parent.
Throughout the 100 years since the first National Census in 1911, migrants have made up a large component of the Australian population. Diversity in workplaces represents a complex challenge for culture, which is all about regulating the employee experience. “Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more, communication, adaptability and change�. Improvement ideas often come from the floor and social resilience is one key to organisational success. The barbeque test shows us that the way individuals interact and/or discuss their organisation socially, has an enhancing or undermining effect on employee perceptions of culture.
This effect represents a significant contribution to culture. Culture is nothing more than the sum of relationships which includes attitudes, approaches, communication styles, preferences and likeability. The complexity of diversity adds to the challenge of building and sustaining improved culture in any organisational. The more different people are, the less likely they are to connect socially. And social resilience is key to organisational change and ultimately, development. The less we have in common, the more important it becomes to find common ground if we want to create sustainable cultures and organisational effectiveness.
Identifying culture barriers is a key component of organisational analysis which is often overlooked. Culture can be hard to define yet deeply impactful. It weaves together key elements fundamental to the developing organization, shaping how it attracts and retains talent, influencing competitiveness, guiding leadership expression, enabling engagement, determining change and ultimately, optimising growth. Culture refers to the collection of inter relational skills that drive human interactivity. Aligning culture and capability gives us a unique and effective way to consider the link between people and corporate power.
We can then apply design thinking for the development of integrated solutions which are systemic and responsive, considering long term needs of the organization and its people.
The Cultures of Excellence Framework offers a proven method for sustaining enhanced culture which considers the essentials:
The hidden value of aligning culture and capability is an integrated approach to developing strategic insight and planning for growth that prioritizes culture in the context of organizational achievement.
1. Pillars of Excellence: A 10-step plan for individuals to develop insight, take-action and contribute meaningfully to organizational outcomes.
True organisational achievement must consider the needs of the developing workforce more broadly than just the immediately organisational environment.
2. Principles of Excellence: A structured model for review and analysis of organizational enablers and barriers that ensures operational impacts, risks and measures of success are appropriate and clearly defined.
Future shaping is defined as the trend by which we “identify and share emerging trends”. At its most basic, this is an organisational approach for recognising and strategizing around potential and barriers while still being able to strike the balance that considers the following aspects: 1.
3. Inspired Engagement: The integration of individual and organizational efforts.
Relationship management 2. Outcomes based 3. Action orientation 4. Human performance improvement Once we have an alignment of culture and capability, diversity becomes intrinsic to culture. It can be represented by a range of views, skills and backgrounds/ experience. If this is then supported by an organisational commitment to respect and inclusiveness that transcends these elements and suggests that the more contribution to solutions, the better and more considered an outcome. Don’t forget that employees are often representative of client/ stakeholder interests. Diversity depends on an alignment of culture and capability which is genuine, integrated and outcomes focused. that has practica
Kim Yabsley As a leading consultant in the field of organisational development Kim has helped many organisations ‘future proof’ themselves through the development and implementation of strategic frameworks to manage change and develop resilient workforces. Kim has significant experience in various communications, organisational development and strategy roles across the public and private sectors and has assisted clients to identify and understand organisational gaps, develop tools to address these gaps and facilitate the implementation of tools to ensure sustained change in the workplace, measurable through business outcomes. Kim’s experience extends to, project
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organisational development.
EMPOWERING YOUTH TO THRIVE A new innovative pilot project, Empowering Youth To Thrive (EYTT), funded by Commonwealth (DET), run by charity trust, Pathways To Resilience, has been launched in Logan City, to explore new ways to incorporate neuroscience and growth mindset for young disengaged Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders and Pacifica youth aged 15-24 to employment or learning opportunities. The project is utilising a multi-strand of engaging techniques, ranging from Neuro (brain)games, rock climbing, Hip Hop music making, Body Wisdom, African Drum Circles, Yarning Circles, Cultural awareness, Hero’s Journey, Camps and Arts Therapy. Four specialist youth guides use a range of methods to engage the youth to participate in the project to improve social and emotional wellbeing of participants. “The work we do is to help them from the inside out. Empower them to explore their inner genius, or spark, to fire up the passion inside them to help them make better decisions for their future,” says James Ryan, Project Manager of EYTT. Griffith University are the research partner and are looking closely at the results to develop the pilot project as a potential national roll out. In order to move people towards the goal of employability, we must consider the impact their life circumstances may have had on their brain development.
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Research shows that people from low socioeconomic areas often have overdeveloped limbic system’s fight, flight, freeze networks, and an associated reduction of higher-brain executive functions.
The team also give ongoing mentoring throughout the two-year project.
EYTT Project includes examining in more detail how using a model of understanding, based in neuroscience and growth mindset, can structure a program of emotional healing, transformation and the building of social and emotional skills necessary to engage in work or learning.
The next project in January 15, 2018.
Through using creative arts, music, stories, exercise, brain training and social and emotional programs, the project aims to empower young people in learning and happiness, assist with transitioning into employment or learning, increase confidence in themselves, and ensure they build stronger relationships in the workplace and community. The Project Team will work collaboratively with families and caregivers, as well as employers, education providers and job service providers to ensure participants receive a range of case management support. Following an initial participant interview, participants will complete training and activities integrating neuroscience and creative arts for 4 days per week for 12 weeks. Participants will be provided with transport, exercise sessions and catering during the daily sessions.
The project has five more to deliver, 20 in each program, and concludes in 2019.
www.PathwaysToResilence.org
Coaching Where the deep ocean of hope Meets the firm sand of Discovery Stewart Fleming
In 1992 I could have done with someone’s help. A coach? A therapist?
By Anthony Venn-Brown
A friend?
My life was a mess Within a short period of time I’d gone from being one of Australia’s popular Pentecostal preachers, a respected leader in the denomination, married with two beautiful daughters, to being publicly humiliated, losing everything I’d spent years building and living in a dysfunctional, abusive co-dependant relationship with the man I’d fallen in love with. Then he tells me he’s just been diagnosed HIV+. A coach? I hadn’t heard of coaching or Thomas Leonard, the man often attributed with formalising the coaching philosophy and fundamentals. A therapist? I didn’t believe in them and even if I did, I couldn’t have afforded one. The successful national, religious organisation I’d founded had been closed down leaving me financially stranded and struggling to find a new career. A friend? I no longer had any. Page 36
I’d gone to the dark side and ‘become’ a homosexual and therefore shunned. They say that when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up. I’m not so sure. I think I found some deep, dark underground caverns. It got worse. They were tough years. Even with a subconscious belief that I’d probably go to hell for ‘giving into my homosexuality’, I somehow found the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I had a degree of forward momentum but that was all. A bit like a drunk tripping as he’s staggering home. I’d always been a practical preacher and speaking engagements at churches, leaders conferences and youth events were heavily peppered with personal development themes and principles.
Finding a new career, with no formal education beyond high school, except half a year in bible college, was impossible. A resume? What was that? In my twenty-two years as a Christian, I’d never needed one. And the many skills, vast knowledge and experience I’d gained in ministry belonged in a church, not in the secular world as far as I could see. Two things I knew I did have. Firstly, an inbuilt desire to help others and make a difference. Secondly, reasonable communication skills. After all, I’d made a living for many years as a high-profile preacher, speaking regularly in Australia’s megachurches such as Hillsong. After getting sacked from my first job as a sales person in a budget furniture chain, because I was ‘too gay’, I landed a job working with long-term unemployed clients. www.coachinglife. com.au
At that time, the government was investing large sums of money to get people off unemployment benefits. Training companies were clamouring for the contracts. I was desperate for work and they were desperate for trainers to fulfil the contracts they’d won. I did the unforgivable in an interview and talked about the drama of my past life. They took a chance. ‘Can you start Monday’? The manager and CEO asked enthusiastically. I walked out of the interview relieved that once again I was getting a wage. I had bills and child support to pay. They gave me a box of materials and a training manual. I spent the weekend familiarising myself with the next six-week curriculum. On Monday morning, I went to a rented hall in Bankstown to commence with my group of sixteen people, who’d been forced to attend or they would lose their unemployment benefit. You wouldn’t exactly say they were selfmotivated. The group was a mixed bag of migrants with poor English, people with substance abuse problems, sole parents struggling to get work and a couple of guys on parole. A baptism of fire for a former preacher who’d always spoken to captive, highly-motivated audiences in their thousands. Over the next six weeks, every day from 10am to 4pm, I went through the program of personal development concepts about selfworth, positive mental attitude, goal setting, time management, personal grooming, communication skills and job seeking. I enjoyed the challenge of tyring to engage these people in their own lives and future. Lives and futures many had given up on or resigned themselves to fate.
I saw potential though they had never considered or had let die. My confidence level increased as I began to see the transformation in the lives of those others had written off and as I gained the respect of my students. The more courses I facilitated, the better the results, till I was getting the top job placement rate of all providers in the state. The sense of purpose that had driven me for years, that had been obliterated by the horror of a public scandal and a sense of failure, was being reignited in my life. It was one morning, during a break, I was scanning the Sydney Morning Herald that I read about this new phenomenon called ‘life coaching’. Even though part of the article was derogatory, making out coaching was the latest American fad, not unlike the times when everyone in LA was seeing their ‘therapist’, the description of what coaches did with clients resonated with me. ‘Surely, I can do that’ I thought, ‘I’ve been through so much in my life, I could easily TELL people what they SHOULD do with their lives.’ I cringe now at the arrogance. I even created a business card with Life Coach on it. No training, no understanding of what coaching really was, no accreditation, but I was a Life Coach. Or so I thought. I began investing in my own personal development. Around $60,000 worth actually. During this time, I also discovered a new sense of spirituality and that in walking away from my faith, I’d thrown the baby out with the bathwater. It was an awakening not unlike a conversion experience. Dynamic and life changing. It felt like my life was no longer in a holding pattern. Reading ads for coach training, it all sounded so appealing and easy.
People from all over the world call you while you’re in your PJ’s or around the pool, you have this amazing lifestyle and people pay you $100’s, even $1,000’s an hour. It reeked of a network marketing product sell. It didn’t take long for reality to sink in. Some coach training companies made a fortune, but in reality, about only two percent of those they trained actually ended up as coaches and the majority earning less than enough to make a living. People calling themselves coaches seemed to be coming out of the woodwork. I couldn’t get through a networking event without at least one starry-eyed coach offering me a complimentary coaching session. I didn’t want to BE coached, I wanted to coach. I didn’t NEED coaching; to have another person TELL me how I should live my life. And besides, I didn’t want people to see how disorganised I was, that I procrastinated like hell and that the person I presented as might not be the real person when the public façade was peeled away. Obviously, I still had to learn exactly what coaching was. Page 37
Eventually, I got my coach training, but I learnt quickly that really no one can really teach you to coach, your clients do that for you and the most challenging clients teach you the most. Every experience grounds you more. Coaching becomes a way of life, an outlook, an approach that enables you to transform your own life and relationships. You are never the same when you finally GET it. I loved the early International Coaching Federation (ICF) conferences in Australia (late 1990’s and early 2000’s) and the depth of information being presented along with the professional outlook. The coaching profession had a credibility problem at that time, which ICF was very much aware of and was working to change. I’d been working for Optus Telecommunications in the call centre, selling internet and cable TV. I applied all my personal development principles of goal setting, visualization etc and became the leading sales consultant in Australia. The company KPI was 27% conversion on the calls. I regularly achieved over 60% and became a bit of a sales legend. The company decided that I should be the call centre’s sales coach. I’d obviously learned the difference between training, mentoring, consultancy and coaching by this time.
Yes, I’m a purest coach. The company had goals and targets, but I allowed my coachees to create their own. They didn’t need to be TOLD what areas needed improvement, they identified these themselves then I gave them the tools I’d applied to create self-improvement. All began to see marked improvement in their sales results. They were happy, I was happy, management were happy. I really had no desire to climb the corporate ladder. I wanted to have my own business again and be independent, as I was in the ministry. I’d been coaching clients on the side hoping the business would build. It hovered around 3-6 clients for some time. I set a goal to get 10 clients on board by December (four months away) and if I reached that, I’d determined I would burn my bridges behind me and resign. What’s the worst thing that could happen, I asked myself. Nothing like a challenging goal with a deadline to give you focus and a higher level of motivation to kick in. By December I had twelve clients.
That was 16 years ago. Since then I’ve coached nearly 1,000 clients through my Dare to be Your Best 12-week program. In all those years, I have never moved beyond the same program. At first, I was using it like a tradesperson; a bit clumsy but got the job done. Then I felt I moved to being more of a craftsperson, then finally a master. Same tools, but well refined skills created by countless hours of experience and practice. Who have I taken through that program? Entrepreneurs, CEO’s, team leaders, people in midlife transition, gay men and lesbians in straight marriages, people in the closet wanting to live authentic lives, celebrities, community leaders and successful business owners. About sixty percent of my clients are LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender). The program has worked for every single one because of its structure, simplicity and imbedded personal growth fundamentals. I’ve never been bored and have run the same program for over 17 years as each client is unique. I had to watch blind spots though. What has coaching given me? Did it make me financially wealthy? No. It provided me with a living. The coaching principles I applied meant I became a bestselling author when my autobiography, A Life of Unlearning, was released 2004. It sold out twice and the third edition continues to impact lives globally. Coaching also funded me while I established two not-for-profits that help people on the journey of reconciling faith and sexuality. In 2007 and 2009 I was voted one of the 25 most influential gay and lesbian Australians. www.coachinglife. com.au
I’ve had the enormous privilege of seeing clients awaken to the potential in themselves, their dreams become reality and experience genuinely transformed lives. I’ve been a privileged observer of what some might call ‘miracles’. Remember that thing about believing I didn’t NEED a coach.
I let that go a long time ago and have ensured ‘I walk the talk’ by regularly meeting with MY coach, Chris, working with me on projects or one-off sessions. After all, a person would be crazy not to have a supportive, nonjudgmental safe space, sounding board, cheerleader and someone to hold up the mirror and ask the tough questions when needed a coach.
Richness in life-experience is what makes Anthony Venn-Brown stand out as a coach. His proven ability to pioneer new opportunities, negotiate challenging situations and commitment to achieving the best outcomes, enables him to connect insightfully with clients. Since 2000, Anthony has coached a broad range of clients as well as mentored other coaches. Anthony has presented to audiences of up to 5,000 around Australia and overseas. His autobiography ‘A Life of Unlearning’ detailing his journey from married, highprofile, Pentecostal preacher to openly gay man, became a bestseller in Australia and again on Amazon.com when the eBook was released. Anthony has founded several not-for-profit organisations including Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International of which he remains CEO. His contribution to creating understanding and acceptance for LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex) people has been recognised by numerous community awards such as being twice voted one of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians. www.anthonyvennbrown.com
Coaching Asking the right questions to get to the truth that lies just beneath the surface.
Stewart Fleming
NEW SALES
By Bob Urichuck
I started in sales 50 years ago, in my family business which was a European bakery. From there I got an honours degree in business administration. In the first semester, I got 4 A’s as they were teaching me what I had learnt as a boy in my parent’s business. I majored in marketing and sales before moving into network marketing, first in cosmetics, then to fire alarms before working with Petrol Fina as oil representative. From there I moved into large-scale property development, lost my shirt at 30 and started again. Why do you go to work? Most people answer about money or to pay the bills. One of the techniques I teach is to never to accept the first answer from yourself or anyone else. Your job is to be like a doctor and diagnose it. Question the answer. Listen to your answer, question your answer.
Listen to your answer, question your answer.
www.coachinglife. com.au
Money is nothing but a stepping stone to help you get where you want to go, as long as you know where you want to go. The problem for most people is that they haven’t defined where they want to go. At age thirty, I realised that it was going to take fifteen years to pay off my debts, so I asked the question, “Where do I want to be in fifteen years?”. I saw there were two options. One was to be a senior executive in the corporation or two, to travel the world as a speaker, trainer, author. So, I used my job to get the best education and training I could, so that at 45, I had the confidence to leave my 6-figure job and benefits. At that time, my goal was to become an internationally recognised speaker. I defined international as speaking all around the world. I started by getting on the internet and finding the ten best hotels in Singapore. I then sent them all a fax offering them 8 hours of sales training in exchange for a suite for a week.
I used my frequent flyer points to get the flights, trained each night and networked during the day. This was where my current business was born. For the last 15 years, I have used Singapore and Dubai as my hubs and have trained people in over 47 countries. This was a goal I had since the age of 22. I had stayed home from work and quizzed myself for 24 hours on everything I wanted to be, do and have. I wrote some crazy things that day. I remember going to work the next day, holding the book, saying this is all I want from life. Unfortunately, I lost the book but 18 years later, I moved and found the book again. Amazingly, the things in the book had all come true or were still in the plan. 1. I want to make a difference in the world 2. While I see the world 3. Preferably first class 4. On expenses 5. While making big U.S. dollars. Page 41
For me, retirement meant having a certain net worth, having a business that is global in nature where business would find me. That is the way it has worked for the last twenty years. I spent a year working for a franchise company who wanted a sales training program. I spent the year going to over 40 of the world’s best sales workshops. It was an amazing experience and I then used this information to develop the velocity sales program. Of course, I delivered the program in the franchise company before taking it direct to market. In late 1997, I wrote “Disciplined for Life” which was an interactive book that allowed people to work their way through and find their own path. The opposite of selling is buying and I found that people would prefer to buy than be sold. Buyers have a system and sales people need a system that works with the buyer system.
Attitude You attitude towards your customer, your organisation and yourself is the foundation to the entire sales process. We go deep when talking about attitude. This involves your rights; your right to ask, your right to fail, your right to like yourself. We spend a lot of time looking the difference between role and identity. The BAFAR System helps you understand how your beliefs determine your results.
B A F A R
Your Beliefs, determine your attitude.
Behaviour The other foundation is your behaviour towards your customer, your organisation and yourself. Here we start by setting personal goals and then get into corporate goals. Once the goals have been set, we then look at the behaviour towards the client. Here we follow the 80-20 rule. 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers. Understanding who is in the 20% gives you a strong focus for driven results.
Your Attitude determines how you feel.
How you Feel determines the actions you take. The Actions that you take that will get you the Results.
If you want different results, start with different beliefs.
Understanding the buyer There are three things that people need to understand before we get into the buyer system.
1. Focus
2. Engagement You must engage the buyer early in the conversation and keep them engaged all the way through. You can only work off their answers. You are not there to talk, so for 70% of the time you are listening and 30% of the time you are asking questions. This leaves no room for telling, but that will come when it is time.
The first is being buyer focused. It’s not about your product, brand, solution… it’s all about the buyer
3. Empowerment The third is buyer empowerment. Here we allow people to make their own decision. One way is to ask “On a scale from 1 to 10, how interesting has been this conversation?” You then ask, what would you like to do next?
Step 1 - Build Trust Building trust starts with setting a few key parameters. This removes ambiguity and forms the basis for the development on trust.
Summary
The
Set the parameters – • • • • •
How much time have we allowed for this call? What do you want to accomplish in that time? Is it OK if we ask each other questions? Can I take notes as we go? If I cannot help you, are you OK if I tell you?
One thing I have found is that ‘I’ll think it over.’ usually means no.
Step 2 - Motivators We start by working to uncover the buying motivators. What are the reasons people buy from you? Then we ask questions, so that they will uncover their own solutions. That solution will solve their pain or pleasure and then what question do I need to ask to expose that pain or pleasure.
Never be the first to put price on the table.
Build Trust
Decision Making
System
Motivators
Financial Ability
Step 3 - Financial Ability
Step 5 - Summary
Never be the first to put price on the table. Your job is to find out what the clients pain is and how much budget they have set aside. This way you will avoid leaving money on the table.
Then we summarise. “If I’ve got this correct, you have this problem and this problem, you have this much budget and your prepared to make a decision if we can find the right product. Is this correct?”
Where possible, I will not work off my numbers. So, we must ask, “Have you got a budget set aside to solve these problems and would you mind sharing that with me in round numbers?”
Remember
If they won’t share it, then we work on bracketing, because it has got to be their number.
Step 4 - Decision Making When and who besides yourself is involved in the decision-making process?
PRICE
•
•
Competencies – A 7-step sales process to make effective sales. Discipline – Defining your daily disciplines to ensure your daily activity supports your efforts.
How to attract buyers
Bob Urichuck is an internationally renowned “velocity selling� specialist.
We engage buyers and take them through self-discovery. When they find and feel their own pain, then you can talk about budget and decision making. This way you lead the customer to the point where they want to buy from you rather than you selling to them. If you can help them, then you move forward together. We shorten sales cycles, we prescribe What should a sales person walk in with? You should go in with nothing but a notebook to takes notes on their needs. By changing some of our behaviours, we make big changes to our bottom line.
With over forty-five years of sales experience, ranging from door-todoor sales to corporate high-value boardroom sales, he has accumulated a wealth of experience in selling to individuals and big corporations. For the last sixteen years, he has inspired, educated, and empowered Fortune 500 companies and midsized businesses to increase the velocity of their sales while strengthening their bottom lines. Using Singapore, Dubai, and Ottawa as his ongoing hubs, Bob has spoken in more than fifteen hundred cities in over forty-five countries to audiences of up to ten thousand people. He has been recognized as Consummate Speaker of the Year by Sharing Ideas News Magazine and ranked in the top ten since 2008 in the World’s Top 30 Sales Gurus.
For some free sales training go to www.velocityselling.com and register for the free trial. Also check out www.bobu.com for more free sales resources.
From all of us at
Coaching Life Wishing you all
Merry Christmas
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