All things about coaching in the direct sales profession

I love this quick YouTube video.  I like reading and and can find myself neck deep in details very quickly.  That’w where I like to play.  My preferences often lead me to foget that others are more visual learners.  I was reminded of that yesterday when coaching one of the fledgling coaches in the Coach Excellence program.

As we were talking, she mentioned that she had to be able to visualize the process we were talking about in order to really hold onto it as her own.  So for all the visual people, here is a great cartoon to give you a picture of the whole coaching process.

Margaret Moore works in the realm of health and wellness coaching and is instrumental in helping the Harvard Institute of Coaching get off the ground.

Is the video helpful, entertaining, useful?  Please comment and let us know if you would like to see more like this.

About the Author: Neil Phillips is Director of the DSWA Coach Excellence program and founding partner of Team Connections.  Get more from Neil on his Direct Selling Notebook  and Twitter.

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The Worldwide Association of Business Coaches informed me, as the director of the DSWA Coach Excellence program, that our program is now accredited by the WABC as a coach training program.  While we were jumping up and down, you might not know why this is so important.  Here’s why.

 The Direct Selling Women’s Alliance is committed to creating and offering quality programs.  This commitment led us to go beyond the creation of a coach certification program to the creation of an accredited program.  We tend to confuse the terms ”certified” and “accredited” but they have different meanings. 

A certificate is a diploma.  It means that you have met the standards set up in the program.  There is really nothing to distinguish between the quality of education offered by Joe Smith’s Coach Training and Telepathy program and the quality of education provided by the DSWA Coach Excellence program.  All you have is our word versus Joe Smith’s word.

WABC accreditation is a different matter.  The WABC has no ties to anyone.  It is an impartial organization that is committed to edifying the coaching profession.  When you are credentialed by a professional organization as a coach, your education has come through an institution that provides you with the tools, skills, and attitudes of a professional.  A credential is very different from a certificate.

Wendy Johnson, president and chief executive officer of WABC, has this to say, “WABC Accredited is a one-of-a-kind designation. It recognizes training providers whose focus is on business coaching, not coaching in general, and whose programs are at the most advanced level. The standards for this designation are high, and the assessment process is rigorous. Those who make it through are truly superior at what they do.”

We are proud to offer a program that is accredited.  This designation also shows you one of the commitments of the DSWA.  We want to be at the front edge of innovation.  We are proud to announce that the DSWA Coach Education  program has achieved a couple of firsts

• The first WABC accredited program based in the United States.
• The first program focused on the direct selling profession.

For more information on the DSWA Coach Education program, click here.  The program is now open for June enrollments.  Contact neil@dswa.org for more information.

About the Author: Neil Phillips is Director of the DSWA Coach Excellence program and founding partner of Team Connections.  Get more from Neil on his Direct Selling Notebook  and Twitter.

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Welcome to this edition of Monday Magic.  One of the core coaching skills that all coaches cultivate is heart-centered listening.  We can divide our “aural” activities into:

• Hearing (recognition of sounds)
• Listening (recognition of word and sentence meaning)
• Understanding (recognition of the intention behind everything).

The most satisfying and effective listening is what the DSWA calls heart-centered listening.  It is the listening that allows us to create an unconditional space within which both the coach and the person being coached are heard with body and spirit.  Grace Keohohou talks about this in the second edition of Principle Centered Coaching and offers some great ideas to help us maintain this space.

This week’s Monday Magic post offers some additional insights found around the web to help understand heart-centered listening.

Nine Questions about Caring.  How do you know if your caring shows?  Rajesh Setty offers a nine question self-assessment to help you evaluate your listening habits.

The Greatest Gift.  This post comes from the Coaching Commons just before Christmas.  We don’t often think about listening as a gift.  Patricia Burgin offers three simple steps that allow you to give this one daily.

Fundamental Coaching Skill.  This past week, the DSWA Coach Excellence program kicked off 2010 with a three day session to get everyone working in the same direction.  One item we discussed was Lisa Gates definition of coaching which has listening as one of the three core skills (the other two are curiosity and open-ended questions).  Talking Story has a great take on this definition by talking about our responsibility to be interesting.  

On behalf of the authors of the DSWA Coaching Center, we urge you to subscribe to the blogs that you find worthwhile.  If you are a blog neophyte, the process isn’t painful.  Most blogs, like this one, offer you an opportunity to subscribe by email.  If you are just starting, choose that option and when something new is posted, it will show up in your inbox.  If the article isn’t working for you, hit delete and wait for the next one.  Not every post will touch your head, heart or hands, but none ever will without your initial click.

We’d love to hear your reactions to these references.  Pick one, read it, and offer a comment.  Are your listening skills important?  How do you stretch your skills?  Share it in a comment or even a guest post.  Get Free Updates to the DSWA Coaching Center by Email here or via an RSS reader in the top right sidebar.  We would love to have you on board.

About the Author: Neil Phillips is Director of the DSWA Coach Excellence program and founding partner of Team Connections.  Get more from Neil on his Direct Selling Notebook  and Twitter.

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Welcome to this edition of Monday Magic.  While coaches don’t often talk about it, positive self regard is one of those healthy core concepts that we like to see in our clients.  Positive self regard is not a tricky concept; it basically means being happy with yourself.  You like what you see when you look in a mirror.  It doesn’t mean that you see yourself as perfect but it does mean that you see yourself as worthwhile. 

Without this healthy self concept, coaching becomes very difficult.  The person you are coaching doesn’t see herself as instrumental in changing what happens and, even if change can happen, often doesn’t feel that she deserves it.  Nicki Keohohou talks about this concept as the “inner critic” in the second edition of Principle Centered Coaching and offers some great ideas for getting past it.  This week’s Monday Magic post offers some additional strategies for coping with an inner critic.

Quiet Your Inner Critic.  One of the newest coaching centers is the Harvard/McLean Institute of Coaching, which is particularly interested in evidence based coaching and the health field.  Susan David describes how the inner critic can affect even the most successful executives and offers three steps to push through.

Conquer Self Doubt.  Alexandra Levit offers five great ways to beat back the doubts.  They each have some merit.  I especially like the breadth of the list.  There is something there that everybody should be able to use.

Defeat Blue Monday.  Heather Bestel swears that January 18 is the worst Monday in the UK.  Frankly, the long winter days can push anybody into the blues.  Do you need a strategy for not taking winter doldrums personally?  Heather’s Top Ten Tips may help turn the trick.

Beat Back Perfectionism.  For someone who is a recovering perfectionist, the inner critic can be a real buzz kill.  Turn that perfectionism on yourself and you can struggle getting out of bed.  April Dykman has some great ideas on how self study can face down those perfectionist tendencies by giving you the opportunity to see the other side.

On behalf of the authors of the DSWA Coaching Center, we urge you to subscribe to the blogs that you find worthwhile.  If you are a blog neophyte, the process isn’t painful.  Most blogs, like this one, offer you an opportunity to subscribe by email.  If you are just starting, choose that option and when something new is posted, it will show up in your inbox.  If the article isn’t working for you, hit delete and wait for the next one.  Not every post will touch your head, heart or hands, but none ever will without your initial click.

We’d love to hear your reactions to these references.  Pick one, read it, and offer a comment.  How do you control debilitating self doubts?  Share it in a comment or even a guest post.  Get Free Updates to the DSWA Coaching Center by Email here or via an RSS reader in the top right sidebar.  We would love to have you on board.

About the Author: Neil Phillips is Director of the DSWA Coach Excellence program and founding partner of Team Connections.  Get more from Neil on his Direct Selling Notebook  and Twitter.

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We all know about the power of visualization.  When we can combine that with a sense of fun, we can create some very powerful possibilities—and you don’t even need a coach to do this!  It’s a coaching technique you can do by yourself. To illustrate this, I want you to do a little role-playing, a little visualization in your mind’s eye, and then we’ll sort through the ideas behind the activity.  I’ve chosen a situation from a typical party plan, but you can easily use the same technique, using a networking business opportunity meeting.

Just imagine yourself sitting in an invisible corner of a living room watching a party taking place.  As you sit there listening and watching, your mind starts to wander a little bit.  You say to yourself, “wouldn’t this be fun if I could just direct this party like it was a play?”  Your mind suddenly starts racing as if a light bulb came on, and you start to think back to everything you can remember about dramatic play productions.  Your mind now shifts into overdrive as you think about the different elements of your production.  You think about five dramatic elements too fast almost to even write them down, but then you remember that you were going to write down all of your inspired thoughts.  You pause just long enough to scrawl down five words that you’ll revisit later. 

You’re getting ready to write in your journal the next morning.  You remember your scribbled message and pull it out to look at your five terms.  If only you could produce this play! 

Scene.  Every play has scenery or a situation within which everything occurs.  A dark and stormy night produces a much different production than a sunlit meadow.  You think about all of the background that makes up a party and then realize if you had the party set in a different scene, the party itself would often be different.  A bingo held at a traditional party is much different than one held with multiple hostesses.  You also realize that a lunchtime party is much different from an evening one because the scenery is so different.  It’s the same basic party, but because the scene changes, the party changes.

Act.  Every production has different acts.  You giggle as you think about the one act play you almost got involved with in high school.  Then you start to think about a party as a drama in three acts, with a beginning, a middle, and an end.  You keep going as you realize the party guests expect different things to happen at different stages in the party: introductions, product explanations, your recruiting bid, a question-answer time, and finally the order processing.  Getting into this whole thing, you start to think about doing different activities during the different acts because they might fit together better with the audience’s expectations.

Actors.  Drama just wouldn’t be a drama without people playing their parts.  When you hold your demonstrations you’re the main character, but you pause to think about the possibilities.  Could I make the hostess and the guests the main characters?  Maybe if I was more of a director and let them be the actors, they’d enjoy the experience more.  Why do I need to prepare all the samples?  Let’s let the guests be the characters who make samples.

Props.  You’ve never seen a play without all that other stuff being present for the actors to use.  You smile as you think of a western gunfight happening without any guns.  Then you have a serious moment as you think about how your choices of products influence the rest of the party.  Maybe you should tell more about what the host offers to help with your dating bids.  Those really are very important!

Theme.  Think about the different types of theatrical productions that you’ve seen over the years.  The melodrama (“not at my party,” you vow); the comedy (they keep coming back because we have fun) the drama (that hostess and her sister really had a terrible fight); stand-up routines (you grimace as you think about how practice might have helped that one).  Thinking about themes, some synonyms come to your mind like the purpose of the party: 

• Was it to sell?
• Was it to recruit?
• Was it to just get together and have fun?

Thinking about your theme also leads you to wonder about key motivations. Why should the hostess have the party?  You always hear directors talking about motivation.  Finally consider attitude:  Did we all really want to be here?  What’s our attitude about this play?

You’ve finished writing in your journal and it’s time to start your day.  You think about those five key terms: scene, act, actors, props and theme and realize you’ve found a new way to think about your demonstrations.

How can you see your activities through the camera’s eye?  We’d love to hear about how you can shift the framework for your visualizations.

About the Author: Neil Phillips is Director of the DSWA Coach Excellence program and founding partner of Team Connections.  Get more from Neil on his Direct Selling Notebook  and Twitter.

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In the direct selling profession, we often hear that “facts tell and stories sell.”  Great trainers in direct selling recount stories of their success, failure, and growth.  These autobiographical vignettes make presentations enjoyable, and also create a warm learning environment. 

In coaching, where the agenda is set by the client, when if ever, are these autobiographical stories appropriate?

 As a coach, I am to “be the mirror,” “create the space for my client,” and “stay in their world,” so should I avoid talking about myself?  Should I hesitate before telling of something similar I went through? 

Yes! 

Avoid the autobiographical references.  Don’t color the water with your story even if it seems to fit.  Stay away from what you did, what you have done, how you would have done it.

Whoa!  That is hard to do when you switch from trainer to coach.  Trainers are so used to telling things that will engage their audience, it is almost second nature to find a personal story to share.

Is there ever a time to share an autobiographical reference? 

I think if it is to the client’s benefit and the story can help the client get clarity, it may be appropriate.

When do you think it is appropriate to share a personal example or story?

I welcome your comments and thoughts.

About the Author: Dana Phillips is Director of the DSWA Leadership Development program and founding partner of Team Connections.  Get more from Dana on her Direct Selling Notebook   and Facebook.

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 Welcome to this edition of Monday Magic.  I have been flat out amazed and awed by some of the different ways that leaders and coaches have for developing a focus for their new year without setting the usual plain-old resolutions.  While it’s a little late to be talking about resolutions, these seem to me some excellent ways to reframe possibilities, push creativity, or get unstuck.  As I work with coaching clients throughout the year, I’ll reach into my toolbox for these occasionally.

Stimulation.  Pamela Slim has a great list of 10 ways to stimulate the economy.  They are also great ways to break out of a funk.

Unstupid Goals.  I did not make this up.  Naomi Dunford has a series of posts on goal setting and the first one is about making unstupid goals.  CAUTION:  Naomi uses colorful language and the occasional F-bomb.  Please don’t read if if you might be offended.  Otherwsie, check it out.  She makes great sense and puts a smile on your face at the same time.

Detect Your Passion.  The Detroit Free Press carried an article about finding a new career. The question that made me take notice was a simple one, “What are you working on at 3:00 a.m.?”  It’s a great start to detecting your best future.

Pick Three Words.  Chris Brogan has a great rationale for picking three words to help maintain your focus for the year.  Read about his and then pick yours.  (Send an email to neil@dswa.org  if you want to hear mine.)

Seven Questions.  Michael Hyatt wrote this article with seven questions to reflect on your past year.  While you can do that, I preferred to use them as questions about my upcoming year.  For example, his first question is “If the last year were a movie of your life, what would the genre be?”  What movie genre would you pick for 2010?  (Send an email to neil@dswa.org  if you want to hear mine.)

On behalf of the authors of the DSWA Coaching Center, we urge you to subscribe to the blogs that you find worthwhile.  If you are a blog neophyte, the process isn’t painful.  Most blogs, like this one, offer you an opportunity to subscribe by email.  If you are just starting, choose that option and when something new is posted, it will show up in your inbox.  If the article isn’t working for you, hit delete and wait for the next one.  Not every post will touch your head, heart or hands, but none ever will without your initial click.

We’d love to hear your reactions to these references.  Pick one, read it, and offer a comment.  How do you keep your resolutions or year long goals in place?  Share it in a comment or even a guest post.  Get Free Updates to the DSWA Coaching Center by Email here or via an RSS reader in the top right sidebar.  We would love to have you on board.

About the Author: Neil Phillips is Director of the DSWA Coach Excellence program and founding partner of Team Connections.  Get more from Neil on his Direct Selling Notebook  and Twitter.

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Brainstorming is about expanding your thinking and generating new ideas. Bringing people together to brainstorm with you about your business and personal life can be a very rewarding and powerful experience. This has proven to be an effective tool for use in businesses, relationships and setting personal goals. Brainstorming helps people overcome the feeling that they are alone in solving the challenges in their lives. It also promotes ideas that no one may have thought of without the benefit of the team.

While brainstorming, everyone tosses out ideas on a given subject. Having a scribe to put down all the ideas either on paper or on a white board is helpful so the team as a whole can keep their focus on throwing out ideas off the top of their heads. Again, not in any particular order. This process may look like a lot of ideas going in all directions, but this is normal. Later in the process you will have the opportunity to prioritize those you would like to explore further.

An important piece to this process is to share any and all ideas that come to you, whether you think they will work well or not. Write all of them down, even if they seem mixed up.  You can categorize them into personal or business goals later.  If you stop and try to evaluate them during the brainstorming process, you may cut off the flow of creativity and the process will be less effective. Remember, these are just ideas and later in the process you have the opportunity to eliminate those ideas which you do not wish to take on.

Here are some steps to help you as you start thinking about brainstorming:

1. Gather the troops (friends, mastermind teams, similar business owners or other direct selling team leaders).
2. Establish a topic.
3. Set a time limit.
4. Communicate ground rules on what can be discussed and what is off limits.
5. List all ideas or suggestions that are made and encourage creativity.
6. Do not evaluate ideas. Allow whatever is said to be listed.
7. As a group, consolidate all like ideas and/or categories.
8. Prioritize all the ideas based on your commitment.
9. Put a plan of action into place.
10. Thank your brainstorming team for supporting you, and make a plan to continue to brainstorm on a regular basis (i.e. quarterly, semi-annually or annually).

Have fun brainstorming and allow others to support your personal development as you grow your business.

About the Author: Kimberley Borgens has a mission in life, to inspire, empower and educate entrepreneurs to step through their fears, improve their life-style and reach for their financial dreams. She speaks to groups throughout the world about accountability and action. She is the CEO of  Be A Legacy and is known as the “Accountability Coach.” She is a Certified Direct Selling & Business Coach. Kimberley is a Leading Confident Kids Trainer who works with parents to instill solution-oriented children.  She can be reached at dreamteam@BeALegacy.com

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Welcome to this edition of Monday Magic.  Our theme this week is about doing something differently.  We’ve all heard those stock quotations about being different:

• Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results
• If you want something different, you have to do something different
• We are creatures of habit

We all also know that it is easier said than done.  Thinking and acting differently require a conscious effort to break out of the rote.  Today’s version of magic will highlight resources and thought streams to help you create differences in your work, life, and attitudes about both.

Opposite Week Tracker.  David Seah is a designer who creates some of the most usable productivity tools that you will ever encounter.  And most of them are free.  One of his latest tools is an Opposite Week Tracker designed to help you create and use a checklist when you reach decision points.  Try his tracker.  It will not only remind you to think about what you are doing, but will give you the opportunity to evaluate your success in doing different things.

Find Different Friends.  One way to discover and implement differences is to hang with different people.  In direct sales, we can do this easier than in other professions. For example, if you want to recruit more people, then rub elbows with the consistently successful recruiters.  When we think about social media, the opportunities become nearly endless.  Who are your online friends?  Who do you follow?  Susan Payton, of the Sparkplugging Blog group, discovered that she needed some different online friends.  You can read about her process when she asked the question, “Are you hanging with the wrong people?”

Plan for Renewal.   The blogosphere was overwhelmed with year end and new year resolution posts.  This is one I found just before the holidays that I want to mention now that we are past the holidays.  Thinking and working on alternative actions requires mindfulness.  It  doesn’t just happen randomly.  Karen Wallace recommends some simple, quiet, and soft ways to create that space in The Calm Space.

Pick Wisely.  One of the bloggers I consistently read is Leo Babauta, who has created a new blog, 6 Changes, to explore a method of creating change by working on six in a year.  You can read about his reasons by clicking here.

On behalf of the authors of the DSWA Coaching Center, we urge you to subscribe to the blogs that you find worthwhile.  If you are a blog neophyte, the process isn’t painful.  Most blogs, like this one, offer you an opportunity to subscribe by email.  If you are just starting, choose that option and when something new is posted, it will show up in your inbox.  If the article isn’t working for you, hit delete and wait for the next one.  Not every post will touch your head, heart or hands, but none ever will without your initial click.

We’d love to hear your reactions to these brief articles.  Pick one, read it, and offer a comment.  What have you been reading lately?  Share it in a comment or even a guest post.  Get Free Updates to the DSWA Coaching Center by Email here or via an RSS reader in the top right sidebar.  We would love to have you on board.

 About the Author: Neil Phillips is Director of the DSWA Coach Excellence program and founding partner of Team Connections.  Get more from Neil on his Direct Selling Notebook  and Twitter.

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