training. After working with
clients from hundreds of
nonprofits, I’ve found that
bringing practical results to the
client is always challenging.
Conferencing technology has
given us the ability to partner
with clients more or less ondemand, working through
stuck points and enacting the
solutions we identified during
on-site sessions.
4. Changing desires
Virtually all of the nonprofit
executives I’ve worked with
in recent years are suffering
from a measure of corporate
post-traumatic stress disorder.
Most organizations that have
weathered the past several
years want to get “leaner and
meaner.” They want to know
exactly how you will boost their
bottom line, and exactly how
long it will take (and at what
financial cost).
Practically speaking, there
may be little difference in
how this affects our coaching
methodologies, but we must be
ready to define and demonstrate
success in a context that fits the
needs of executives emerging
from their recession foxholes.
5. Changing coaches
Remember all of those retiring
executives I mentioned before?
They’re not simply evaporating.
They have tons of experience, and
they‘re ready to monetize. With
few natural barriers, many are
becoming “coaches” and diving
into an increasingly saturated
marketplace. It hasn’t reached
deluge conditions yet, but soon
enough it will be tough for the
public to single out who among
us have the talent and training of
truly qualified coaches.
What does that mean for us?
While it may have seemed to be
of nominal value in years past,
partnering with organizations
like the ICF will eventually
become standard in identifying
trusted, professional coaches.
It will also force us to more
closely identify our niche
clientele and tune very closely
into their needs. What area is
your “stomping ground,” and how
strongly do you own it? Over
the past 23 years, I’ve coached a
variety of corporate and private
clients, but I can confidently say
that I “own” the nonprofit sector.
What area do you own?
Excellence will always triumph
over mediocrity. In order
to succeed, we will have to
continuously improve ourselves
as coaches and prove that there’s
more to being a coach than
simply hanging out a shingle.