The following is taken from David’s interview with Philip Cohen in 10 Super Coaches.
Would you advise coaches to pursue certification? If so, at what stage in their practice, and through which accrediting body?
I believe strongly in certification. Having a certification or being on the path to one, sends a strong message to my prospects and clients. It says I’m serious about what I bring to our relationship because I’ve gone through training and been willing to prove myself. I believe certification gives me a competitive edge over other people who call themselves coaches, but they are that in name only. I also believe certification is important to give credibility to the profession in the eyes of the public.
The certification process starts on the day a person decides to become a coach. The process starts with a mental attitude. A person who decides to purse certification is saying this is a serious process and they are committed to being the best they can be.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Marcia Reynolds in 10 Super Coaches.
What are your coaching niche(s)? How did you discover this?
Technical corporations. It is important to build your practice on your past experiences, at least at first. Many of my clients are engineers, scientists and researchers since I speak their language (I spent 11 years working for technical organizations).
Emotional intelligence. It is also important to begin to define an area of expertise early on. I am passionate about researching and teaching the latest techniques in emotional intelligence. I also speak and write on the subject, which has helped me to become known as an expert in the field.
Government. I do a lot of work for local, state and national government agencies. This niche found me.
I also mentor coach new coaches, sharing my ups and downs to help them build their practices avoiding the mistakes I made.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Anna Dargitz in 10 Super Coaches.
Are there any particular school(s) you would recommend?
I have a few biases about coaching schools. Go to any school you like. Ask yourself, “What is easy to integrate into my lifestyle, what fits with the values I want to enhance in my life? What makes my pocketbook feel respected?” Go there. And then finish your training at The Schools of Coaching (SOC).
Your training (and here comes a bias) will never be complete if you don’t finish it at the Schools of Coaching. My formal training for coaching began at the University of Maine with a BA in psychology in 1972. It took me through all kinds of other trainings including Coach U. And because SOC promises a lifetime of training, I plan to live the remainder of my days taking the latest and greatest classes as a student of SOC. You could just start there too – they have beginner and intermediate training. The choice is yours. In my opinion, if you aren’t learning throughout your life, you aren’t living all of your life.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Michael O. Cooper in 10 Super Coaches.
What words of advice would you give to a coach starting out?
Double the amount of time you estimate it will take to build your business.
Practice EXTREME profitability on every project you undertake (profits can be virtual metrics, not just cash).
Establish enough reserves to be financially solvent and emotionally secure for at least one year.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Anna Dargitz in 10 Super Coaches.
Would you advice coaches to pursue certification?
Yes and no. If you have no other forms of credibility to the public, pursue certification immediately.
The thing that makes pursuing the International Association of Coaches’ certification most attractive to me is the sophistication and progressiveness of the 15 proficiencies that the exam is based on.
The IAC doesn’t care how many hours of classes you’ve taken or different clients who will attest to your competence. They rely on real world demonstration of your skills and knowledge with the world’s most highly researched set of proficiencies for advanced communicating and relating. No hoops to jump. Just “show us what you’ve INTEGRATED in your life in a rigorous written and oral exam”.
On the other hand, if you’ve already integrated the high level of relating that is illustrated in the 15 proficiencies, along with knowing how to listen for a couple hundred different things and you’ve ripened your ego to such a level that most people would say you don’t have one… You definitely don’t need any other designations. You are a powerful facilitator of human evolution and a magnet for what you want in life.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Andrea Molloy in 10 Super Coaches.
What are your coaching niche(s)? How did you discover this?
Our practice specializes in personal (mainly socio’s 1&2, primarily 25-40 year olds) and corporate coaching (within organizations that respect coaching as a discipline, predominately market leading organizations and 3 month contracts for a team rather than individual executive coaching) – we identified these areas in our original business planning process.
Personally my niche is in personal coaching and media related fields (ie writing books, magazine articles).
How would you suggest coaches find their niche?
Look at your background and experience, the areas where you already have respect and a healthy reputation…that will easily lead you to your niche. In a way, you need to analyse your personal ‘brand’ – people do judge you on what you look and sound like, so make sure you reflect how you want to be perceived, and that will lead you to your niche too.
