A Course About People | 5 Little Things You Want To Know

Here are your 5 thought-provoking snippets of wisdom about people for this week, from the collection by Thomas Leonard and assembled by his R&D team. We hope you’ll find them  useful and meaningful in your daily life.

• People are an amazing creation whose make-up defies our own understanding.
• People often substitute approval for love.
• People want to share their thoughts with someone who is interested.
• People need physical contact to become emotionally healthy.
• People are sometimes  confounded by other people’s philosophies.

Would you like to receive 5 snippets like these in your inbox every week?  Please stop by and sign up at www.ThoughtsByEmail.com

Let us know what you think by commenting below.

copyright 2002-2010, CoachVille, LLC all rights reserved.

The Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit – 20 for the price of 1

A valuable d’iscount for business owners in it for the long haul
The Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit – 20 for the price of 1

As you know, I take very seriously the job of bringing you value. And while the word ‘ultimate’ is a big, and some might say hypey one, so why would you hear me out?

I’m a serial entrepreneur who supports more than one family with my business and I know what it means to be relied on as a business person, sometimes intensely.

What the Ultimate Entrepreneur Toolkit represents, in addition to extreme value (truly 20 times the value for the price of 1), carefully selected material that actually make up a toolkit you can come back to again and again…more than either of those things, the people behind this project are of the topmost quality. I’m delighted from within to be involved.

Personally assembled by business coach Bill Baren and his team, the Toolkit is a one-of-a-kind collection of 20 Business, Marketing and Personal Mastery products from 20 top experts in each category. Bill doesn’t know this but he is the business coach I most frequently send referrals to, and what the toolkit represents is the sum total of leverage Bill invested into securing the offerings for a very low investment for you.

Click here to see what the fuss is about with your own objective eyes, please:

http://tinyurl.com/uetool

The only caveat I have is that of course it’s very easy to get overwhelmed by this much material. My best recommendation for you is to purchase, if it suits you, with eyes wide open and determination fixed – you are not going to be trying to digest all this whole. It is a ‘look how many great tools I have in my garage for the moment I need them’ kind of investment. A serious money-savings at 95% off retail prices.

Alright, enough nattering. Putting it bluntly, these are the flagship products from the who’s who of entrepreneur success world. My own Pink Spoon Marketing program is included in the Toolkit at an eyebrow-raising price point. So if you haven’t been able to experience Pink Spoon Marketing, the follow on material to Money, Meaning and Beyond, the book, this week would be an excellent time to consider it. 

I hope that you check it out. It’s available until midnight, Friday, June 26th, here:

http://tinyurl.com/uetool

Lessons Learned From Newly-Released Book Called “Obama’s BlackBerry”

Pursuing Multiple Streams of Coaching Income?
Lessons Learned From Newly-Released Book Called “Obama’s BlackBerry”

So first let me say that as a staunch Canadian, I feel strongly that the ability to make others laugh is profoundly undervalued.

But as author of ‘Multiple Streams of Coaching Income’ which celebrates 5 years in print this year, there are a few other learnable points worth taking:

• Timeliness and speed constitute half of success, if not more. Can you fathom an ‘Obama’s BlackBerry’ coming out in 20 years? Perhaps, but certainly not to this effect.

Many, many millions of dollars are lost each year by business owners who cannot speed up their act. The team behind this title grabbed a gem of a sliver of an idea and ran.

What are you doing slowly that would do MUCH better if you would just speed up? As coaches, we understand the profound growth that becomes possible in a paradox so I invite you to consider these two idioms:

Idiom #1: Strike while the iron is hot.

Idiom #2: Slow and steady wins the race.

How can you hold both statements as true in your world as you take eye-popping action this week?

• Good ideas aren’t always the most serious (or difficult) ones. In the search for self-relevance and identity, coaches (and other business owners) can take ourselves far too seriously, and make this much more complex than they need to – highly unattractive behavior. It’s something to think about while pondering these imaginary text messages (excerpted from the book.)

• Value is in the eye of the beholder. What value is being brought by this little pocket gift book? I gave it away, didn’t I, in my little opening note? Where might humor have its place in your coaching offerings? Whether your current act of creation is a book or group coaching, a coaching method, podcast or CD collection, is laughter present? Why or why not? Never presume to know what someone would pay for. Be open to surprising possibilities.

What other learnings can you glean here to add to the list?

Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall…

Featuring Mark Joyella, Community-Supported Journalist
Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall…

I don’t know about you, but a little narcissistic edge creeps out when contemplating the fact that we – coaches, and coaching – now have a journalist dedicated to us.  Observing and analyzing us. Seeing things we don’t see and getting ready to tell-all about it.

Is it a little like getting a brand new, decadent and perhaps telling mirror in a beautiful new walk-in closet?

In any case, one of the questions I most wanted Mark to answer was about his first impressions about coaching.  Here is what he said:

“You asked specifically about my first impressions of covering the coaching community as a journalist.  Two things spring to mind right away: it’s a far, far bigger world than I imagined, with coaches around the worldoffering a mind-bending variety of services.  This is truly a big “beat” for a reporter to cover, and one that is expanding.

“The Variety Of Services Coaches  Offer Around The World…Is Mind-Bending”

Now I realize at some point in the days ahead, I’ll probably get one of those more traditional reporter welcomes (we’re used to being hung up on and having people use colorful language to say “please leave my property immediately), but that’s fine. 

My second impression is that the people I have spoken with, interviewed and heard from have been exceptionally kind to me, and willing to offer help to get me settled, filled in, updated, and fueled with fresh coffee (virtual and otherwise).  It’s been a great start.

I hope coaches will welcome my efforts–and ultimately support them–even after I drink down my kindly offered cup of coffee and then ask an uncomfortable question and start wandering around pointing at closed doors and asking, “Hey, what’s in there?”

To which, I have one of those ‘fascinating’ thoughts, and that is…what if, as a coaching community we thoughtfully open our doors and welcome Mark in.  What if he were to walk freely through and by dint of his unimpeded observations and questions, accelerate the process by which we get to the ‘let’s do something’ part. You know, seeing ourselves clearer is what we do for clients. As we see ourselves more clearly through third-party eyes, what leaps and bounds might we gain access to?

Idealistic? Definitely. A good idea? Methinks, but, perhaps I’m missing something… your thoughts?

Why Fund Community Supported Journalism for Coaching?

Featuring Ruth Ann Harnisch and The Harnisch Foundation
Why Fund Community Supported Journalism for Coaching?

It was my distinct pleasure to ask Ruth Ann Harnisch a series of questions about the CSJ project for Coaching. In particular, I wanted to understand her thought process and hopes for the project based on her personal experience in both coaching and journalism. 

Since as a coach I’m such a fan of asking the question ‘how much good can a person do with their one life’ a la Buckminster Fuller who famously posed that question first, it seems to me that the CSJ is an incredible example of each life being perfect for a unique purpose.  Who better than Ruth Ann, I wondered, to have spearheaded and supported this advance in journalism, and then to implement it in the laboratory of coaching? 

I can think of no other, but you get to decide for yourself via this 2-minute video and set of ‘raw and uncut’ Q&A:

Click the image at right to jump to the video page…

The CSJ concept is a little complex for people who don’t understand what’s been going on in journalism. Could you explain it simply, perhaps give an analogy?

The idea came from professor Leonard Witt of Kennesaw State University in Georgia, who proposed the concept of “Representative Journalism” on his blog (http://pjnet.org), which I read about on the Poynter Institute’s website (http://poynter.org).

Professor Witt defined a “Representative Journalist” as a journalist who covered a specific beat for a specific constituency. He proposed several possibilities – a journalist could report on a Florida wetlands area for people who cared about the ecological health of that particular region, for example.

I thought that was a brilliant idea, and got in touch with Professor Witt. “I’d like to hire one of those,” I told him. “It would be great to have a Representative Journalist cover coaching.” Len explained that his idea was, at that time, just an idea. There weren’t any Representative Journalists. After much discussion, he convinced me to postpone the hiring of a “Rep J” to cover coaching. Instead, he asked me to fund an experiment in Representative Journalism that he thought would prove his concept.

“It would be great to have a journalist cover coaching. I’d like to hire one of those,” said Ruth Ann Harnisch.

So The Harnisch Foundation granted initial funding for a journalist to work in the community of Northfield, Minnesota, producing local stories for a specific geographic region.  This journalist paved the way, pioneering the concept of engaging the readers in the journalism. 

Read more

A Course About People | 5 Little Things You Want To Know

Here are your 5 thought-provoking snippets of wisdom about people, from the collection by Thomas Leonard and assembled by his R&D team. We hope you’ll find them  useful and meaningful in your daily life. Enjoy!

• People are making decisions faster.
• People are running on adrenaline more.
• People are starting to have more sophisticated health concerns.
• People do what they do in the hope that it will bring them love.
• People are unique and will receive the most joy for a life designed around this uniqueness.

If you’d like to receive 5 snippets like these in your inbox every week, we invite you to stop by and sign up at www.ThoughtsByEmail.com

Any thoughts about this week’s snippets?

copyright 2002-2010, CoachVille, LLC all rights reserved.

What do you do when the client just isn’t making progress on their goals?

Feature Article
What do you do when the client just isn’t making progress on their goals?

by Thomas Leonard, from ‘How to Coach Anyone | Solutions to 68 Common Coaching Situations’ (print edition now available at early-launch pricing until Thursday June 18 at 5pm eastern.)

[ed. note: What do you do when YOU aren't making progress on your goals? Try reading this through a personal lens, too.]

Let’s just say that it’s not all that unusual for clients to stop making progress on their goals.

Here are several approaches that can work well…

Instead of pushing harder, take the pressure off and find out why the client isn’t making progress.

And don’t accept the first thing the client says. Press for honesty. Press until YOU can get it. Believe it or not, this type of questioning/pressing/evoking IS coaching because it helps the client find out important stuff about themselves and their dynamics. There is ALWAYS a ‘real’ reason that the client isn’t moving forward at the pace they or you expected.

Double or triple the support structure.

If you’re only chatting once a week, double it to 2x. Or put the client on IM (instant messenger) so you can support them between calls. Or, over respond to the problem that a single client is having by offering an integrity day type support evening for all clients to participate in.

Change the goal.

No, this is not sacrilegious, nor does it mean that the client or coach has failed. It just means that the goal probably isn’t the best one for right now.

So, either pick a totally different goal, or tweak the current one so that IMMEDIATE results are made (like within a day or two of the coaching session). If the client still can’t make progress, then something else is going on (see next strategy).

Abandon all goals, promises, expectations.

My best guess is that 20% of people just are not built to set/have goals because they react to them, suffer from performance anxiety, get stuck in pseudo parental push/pull cycles with their coach (“you can’t make me!” etc.,) and so forth. Yet, most clients feel like they should have goals in order to work with a coach.

So, part of what the coach can do at the beginning of the coaching relationship is to have a brief conversation about how well the client works with goals. It’s perfectly acceptable, if not delightful, for the client to have no specific goals/objectives/accountability with their coach.

Instead, the coach and client have very productive/expanding conversations each week. And, more often than not, results occur as a by product. Wonderful.

Connect the goal to a personal value.

Goals seem to be easier to reach when they are an ‘expression’ of ourselves, meaning an expression of our values.

One trick to use with a client is to ask them to make a list of the 5 most important things to them in life itself (aka values, like beauty, discovery, happiness, creativity, love, etc.). Then ask them to make a list of the top 5 goals they have for themselves. Once this is done, ask/help the client to connect one goal to one value.

This will help the client to true/align their goals and values. If they find a value without a corresponding goal, then it’s time to add a goal. If they find a goal without a value, it’s usually a good idea to tweak/change that goal so that it DOES express one of their values. This is a great calibration technique.

Focus on things other than goals.

Personal foundation, skills training, personal evolution, sounding board discussions, situational advice, and conceptual discussions are all part of the coaching menu of services and foci. Again, most clients feel that they have to accomplish a specific ‘result’ in order to ‘justify’ coaching and the coaching fee. It’s simply not true. Make sure your potential and current clients understand this.

I hope this was helpful,

Thomas

***

The above was Lesson 4 of 68 from the newly-produced resource called ‘Thomas Leonard’s How To Coach Anyone | Solutions to 68 Common Coaching Situations.’

Did you know that Thomas was once homeless as well, living out of his car?

To add your comments, click here.

To purchase your copy of ‘How To Coach Anyone’ and save before Thursday June 18 at 5pm eastern, go here.

AuthorTeleseminars.com Presents Provocative Discussion On The Topic of Keith Ferrazzi’s New Book ‘Who’s Got Your Back’

Tuesday June 23. 2009 from 300 to 400 pm Eastern…
AuthorTeleseminars.com Presents Provocative Discussion On The Topic of Keith Ferrazzi’s New Book ‘Who’s Got Your Back’

Speaking of books, on Tuesday, June 23 at 3pm eastern time, I’ve been invited to be a guest expert on a call with Keith Ferrazzi, bestselling author of Never Eat Alone, hosted by Elizabeth Marshall of AuthorTeleseminars.com.  On the call, you’ll hear about Keith’s new book, Who’s Got Your Back, and discover his process to build powerful relationships that won’t let you fail.

You’ll also get to hear from another expert and leading entreprenuer who’s demonstrated how to leverage key relationships for business success, and that’s Ivan Misner, NY Times bestselling author and Founder of BNI.

http://www.authorteleseminars.com/keithferrazzi4.html <- SIGN UP HERE

The AuthorTeleseminars.com author calls are particularly thought-provoking, allowing for a productive exchange of ideas seen in very few places, and it’s my honor to be invited. I’m looking forward to connecting live with Elizabeth, Keith and Ivan to probe the themes and practical advice in ‘Who’s Got Your Back’ and more. Perhaps I’ll even throw in a challenging questions or two – maybe even about how ‘Never Eat Alone’ can help someone go from homeless to highly successful business owner! Come ready to rock, ok?

Go ahead and register for the call, even if you can’t make it live.  Elizabeth, host and founder of AuthorTeleseminars.com, will send you a recording of the call after it is over. See you there!

The **New World** of Book Publishing, Revealed | An Open House (no-fee) Call

Timely — This Thursday, June 18, 2009 from 100 to 200 ET
The **New World** of Book Publishing, Revealed | An Open House (no-fee) Call

Have you ever wondered when is the Right Time (and the wrong time) to publish a book? Or why books matter now more than ever?

That’s the topic of this open house call with Janet Goldstein (who I’m incredibly thrilled to be working with and Suzanne Falter-Barns, long time colleague and branding expert.

My husband Mike and I attended a live event in New York City with Suzanne and Janet a short while ago on this topic, and it was very strong indeed.  In that same vein, this no-fee call gives you the opportunity to get an insider view from a 30-year publishing veteran. The topic they promise to cover is how radically publishing is changing right now – dramatically – and just how important books continue to be.

DATE: Thursday, June 19, 2009
from 100 pm ET

Want to get up to date on the scoop behind book publishing? Register for the call now by visiting this link:

http://tinyurl.com/lfa6j3

Second posthumous title proves popular…

Second posthumous title proves popular…
Thomas Leonard’s How to Coach Anyone | Solutions To 68 Common Coaching Situations Now Available in Early-Launch

The first 100 copies of the newly-released ‘How To Coach Anyone’ case study compendium are almost all spoken for in just 4 short days. This happened much more quickly than even I expected!

Not one to make empty offers then – an adjustment – you are invited to take advantage of the early-launch pricing NOT until the 100th copy is sold, but until Thursday, June 19 at 5pm eastern time.

This way, you as a reader of Creating What Matters have a fighting chance of accessing this excellent new print book at its lowest price. Just go to the below to select between the digital and traditional options. (It’s a succinct web page with not too much scrolling…)

http://www.bestofthomas.com/htca

On that page, you’ll see the cover, full index of 68 case studies (an education in and of itself) as well as some examples of the very personal insights Thomas shared within the lessons.

Over the years, this compendium of 68 ‘exactly how to’ coach anyone case studies has become beloved, known as some of the most compassionate writing about human nature in existence. To take a closer look for yourself, visit the link above before Thursday June 19 at 5pm eastern.

A sample case study is also reproduced in full, by clicking on the image below.

Succinct, current and direct – from the pen of a master…”

A Course About People | 5 Little Things You Want To Know

This week, we list the following 5 snippets of wisdom about people, from the collection by Thomas Leonard and assembled by his R&D team. We hope you’ll find them  thought-provoking, useful and meaningful in your daily life.

Enjoy!

• People want help setting better goals and they want help reaching those goals.
• People want to figure out how to have adequate time and freedom in their life.
• People get along best with other people who are like themselves.
• People make choices based on emotion/intuition/gut and then use logic to support those choices.
• People are learning to communicate better.

To receive 5 snippets like these in your inbox every week, please stop by and sign up at www.ThoughtsByEmail.com

What do you think about this week’s snippets?

copyright 2002-2010, CoachVille, LLC all rights reserved.

Starts Today | The Money & Meaning Exclusive Shopping Mall Grand Opening: Save 25%

Starts Today | The Money & Meaning Exclusive Shopping Mall Grand Opening: Save 25%

You Can Make Money And Meaning, Sustainably In Your Business…without spending a mint.

Have you shopped the Money and Meaning Store lately? It’s for thinkers and doers who love great deals on cool stuff and we’ve recently had a facelift.

As you would expect of the creators of ‘Multiple Streams of Coaching Income,’ ‘Pink Spoon Marketing’ and ‘Money, Meaning & Beyond,’ we take what we do very much to heart.  We walk the talk because NOT doing so would be a failure of humanity and good citizenship. For who can think to lead others if they don’t first lead themselves?

I invite you to visit the Money and Meaning store with new eyes, inparticular to see:

• An example of what a full inventory of products looks like, yes, even online, including the tone of the messaging there, the better to derive ideas for your own market positioning…
• The Multiple Streams Product Funnel at work…using your X-ray vision, can you see the shape of the business model?
• What topics might be of significance to YOUR learning at this time, because…

…in celebration of the facelift, we are having a storewide sale of 25% off — everything.

More goodies (and development of the shopping mall concept) to further mark the fete are forthcoming, but starting today, all purchases at the store will be eligible for a 25% savings.

When checking out of the store, simply enter the word:

SHOPPING

…in the discount field, and our fancy store robot will take care to ensure your 25% off is calculated.

While we always concern ourselves with reasonable, ‘everyman’ pricing, for a short time,you have even LESS reason to spend a mint to learn the perfect thing for you right now. (Satisfaction guaranteed or your money cheerfully refunded with no questions. And hey, we’re told our customer services is purty darned good too.)

Just click the cloud graphic to head over to the Money and Meaning Mall (or, any of the linksbelow)…we’ll see you there! Sale ends next week.

Got 30 implement-able ideas from reading…

“I devoured Multiple Streams of Coaching Income on a 4+ hour ride and the punchy writing style unleashed within me a torrent of very worthwhile ideas.

I landed with over 30 implementable actions written in the back of the book. I am most grateful…”

- Dave Carpenter, Host of Exceptional Wisdom radio davecarpenter.com

Like Having Thomas Leonard as my very own mentor…

“The Full Practice lessons are comforting - like having my own mentor looking over my shoulder, pushing me to be a better coach, business owner, person…”

– Ellen Lerner mydramaticsolutions.net

I earned $10,000 this month using ‘Pink Spoon Marketing’…

“It still astounds me that this simple business model is so incredibly powerful.  With thousands of people on my list and this kind of income, I didn’t need an MBA, all I needed was Pink Spoon Marketing!”

- Alicia Forest, MBA, CEO ClientAbundance.com

Adult ADHD Coach and Thought Leader Jennifer Koretsky Lands On NBC’s

Congratulations are in order for a big PR win…

Adult ADHD Coach and Thought Leader Jennifer Koretsky Lands On NBC’s
Today Show

Proof that dream PR happens, Coach Jennifer Koretsky did, as she puts it, ‘nothing’ to get this publicity, but we all know that being ready to say ‘yes’ when opportunity arrives is a day-in, day-out thing.

So how marvelous that The Today Show called when it did, and Jen was there to not just pick up the phone, but welcome producers into her home on a Sunday, and then head over to the studio on the strength of that. Wonderful.

And okay, so maybe this part was luck…even funnier that the incredibly embarrassing Freudian slip on the part of the host has led to bits of this video flying around the internet, even landing on Howard Stern.  What was the gaffe? Sorry. You’ll have to have a watch/listen for yourself.
(Hint: it’s at the very end.)  Click the screenshot to access the clip. Ahh, now that’s viral magic!

Congratulations to Jen on the big bump – and welcome to well-earned, and bona fide Amazon
bestseller status for Odd One Out, The Maverick’s Guide to Adult ADD.

Thomas Leonard’s How to Coach Anyone | Solutions To 68 Common Coaching

Available soon in first edition print format…

Thomas Leonard’s How to Coach Anyone | Solutions To 68 Common Coaching
Situations

There may never be a biography of Thomas Leonard, I can’t say for sure.

But as I made the final preparations for the second posthumous title of Thomas Leonard’s to go to print, I realized that the ‘How to Coach Anyone’ title was for now, likely the closest thing.

In it, he not only shares specific ways (scripts, questions, obstacles to overcome) to address 68 remarkably universal client situations, but brings a great deal of himself to the writing as well. Just as we as coaches bring much of ourselves to our client sessions, I suppose.

He calls himself an ignoramus on page 41. Really!

Tellingly, he also acknowledges he was just being ‘selfish’ when he created the 28 Principles of Attraction a few pages later.

The very personal tone is just one of the reasons I so cherish this collection. At 250 pages in beautiful paperback print, it’s another literal bounty for the client-centered coach.

As is now our tradition here at Thought Partners International, the first 100 volumes of every new Thomas project is put up at reduced pricing. It’s our way of ensuring our initial costs are covered and making it possible for coaches who really want to collect these titles to do so at the lowest possible price.

If you’d like to be the first to hear when the compilation of case studies is available for purchase, hit reply to this email and put ‘HTCA’ in the subject line. I’ll be in touch very
soon.

Terrence Real’s ‘The New Rules of Marriage’

A must-read for every coach who works with human beings… Terrence Real’s ‘The New Rules of Marriage

Long-time readers of Creating What Matters may recall a topic I’ve covered here before – this idea aimed at successful A-type career women and their spouses. “Your Husband Wants His Pants Back” was the focus of quite a bit of my energy about 18 months ago.  It stemmed from work with clients who fit that same description.

Frustrated successful women who were tired of buying their own anniversary gifts or adventure travel.

Upset and exhausted career women who knew no alternative to berating their husbands for being so god damned henpecked already!

You get the picture. And of course, the flip side of that, for the men.

Not long after my flirtation with this topic, the very noteworthy Terrence Real came out with ‘The New Rules of Marriage: A Breakthrough Program For 21st Century Relationships.’

I recommend it to you most highly, the highest recommendation I can give.  If you work with clients who are in relationships, this book will help you be the best coach you can be, for them. If you are in a relationship, this book will help you both too. Really.

The dance between dominant, male, yang energy and ‘submissive’, female, yin energy, has a new tune to follow, and thank goodness! Thank goodness. Thank you, Terry, for this seminal work!

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