How are Coaches Responding to the Major Problems of the World?

A few days ago, I asked the Ad Hoc Committee at School of Coaching Mastery, If You Had Only 4 Years to Save the World, How Would You Coach Differently?

What prompted my question was a video put out by the Institute of Noetic Sciences, featuring Ervin Laszlo that suggests that the year, 2012, is Earth's tipping point. Watch the video here.

The answers that came back reflect the awareness and responsibility that professional coaches are known for - and they vary widely. Do you see yourself in any of the following?

"Those of us with the awareness and capacity to teach others about our personal capabilities with energy, how to get in touch with our higher self, why its important, and how to consciously live are being drawn to work with others. To bring awareness through curiosity, assist people in becoming more enlightened, this is my purpose. This is why I do what I do." - Jane Saylor, Life Coach, www.Jane-Saylor.com

Do you bring awareness through curiosity? Do you assist people to become more enlightened? What is your purpose?

"I think the biggest change I'd make is in who I am being (or rather not being) as a coach. I'd step up and step out in a much bigger way and share of myself fully, rather than continuing to "hide" in more training, more groups, more ... excuses." - Wendy Foster, Your Joy Coach

Who are you being as a coach? Do you need to step out in a bigger way? Are you hiding behind any excuses?

“Despite the ages - old human desire to prophesy disaster, I choose to do little differently. Why? Because the world will allow me to be far more effective and rewarded by loving one or few unconditionally than trying to influence the masses.” - Andrea Feinberg, M.B.A., http://coachinginsight.com

Do you love others unconditionally? Are you certain enough of your purpose that you know what you're doing today is exactly what you would do, even if you only had a few years left? If not, what needs to change, now?

Thanks again to the three coaches who agreed to let me quote them for this post. You've all inspired me.

Al Gore: We Can Solve It 7-17-08

If You Had Only 4 Years to Save the World, How Would You Coach Differently?

If you had only 4 years to save the world, how would you coach differently?

I’ve been asking myself this lately. Why? Well, apparently some very smart people think we really DO only have four years. So I’m passing this question on to coaches with a sense of urgency.

If the window of opportunity to save the world from disaster is only 4 years, what does that mean for coaches? What would you do differently? What ARE you doing differently?

Okay, you’ve probably read, heard or watched movies about 2012 predictions. Some come from ancient wisdom traditions. But did you know that leading scientists agree that we have reached the tipping point with the environment and that we must take drastic action now? And that mass starvation, drought, killer hurricanes and tornadoes, massive wild fires and “500 year floods” are just the early warning signs.

Trust me, I’m not going into a panic over this, but I’m also not foolish enough to pretend it isn’t calling to me. But exactly HOW are coaches being called? What unique gifts do we have to offer? What will it take to mobilize us?

I’m asking, because these questions impact the choices that I make for School of Coaching Mastery.

As you probably know, I believe coaching has emerged at this time for good reason. That we’ve here to help facilitate a transformation among humans. Did the time line just get a whole lot shorter?

If so, then how can SCM turn out coaches who are ready to have the necessary transformative conversations with people who need to change – and do it a LOT more quickly?

Your thoughts, please: As a talented coach and a responsible human being, what and how would you change what you do as a coach, if you had only 4 years to help save the world? What and how would you change if you were a coaching school?

Please post your comments below.

We Need a New Word for Art

In the 70's to the 90's, I considered myself an "artist". Occasionally, I would overhear complaints that art was degenerate. Eventually, unhappy with the lifestyle, I left the world of art. Happily, I discovered "coaching", which is far more fulfilling!

Since then, I've grown increasingly disinterested in the art world. It seems to have little to say or add to my life.

Today, I got an email plea to sign a petition to prevent an "artist" from starving a dog to death as part of a gallery show. The email stated that the "art" had already been presented before, with the medium, a stray dog that was tied-up in a gallery without food or water until it died. Even though the email contained several convincing pics of an emaciated dog with well-dressed patrons sympathetically looking on, I checked www.snopes.com to see if it was real.

Snopes calls this story, "Undetermined", because those connected with the show now claim the dog was well-fed at night, but ran away. Sounds like, "We lied before, but let's see if you're dumb enough to believe us now." Either way, they're lying.

Degenerate doesn't describe it. Pathetic? Depraved? Sociopathic?

Whatever it is, today, I'm done with "art".

I still have friends who do beautiful work, but if I were them, I don't think I'd want to be associated with much that passes for art. These are creative people, why not call what they do something else? (I'm half-serious, here) For me today, Too-crappy-to-care-about sums it up. Sorry!

I admit to indulging in a fantasy of Tony Soprano (a fellow animal lover) getting his mitts on this guy. Funny, how one act of cruelty makes us want to be a little cruel, too. All the more reason to ignore.

Remembering something about how the art world works, I suspect the artist and gallery owners were cynically hoping the notoriety they got from this would ultimately make them rich and famous. "All press is good press." But who they are is irrelevant.

Please do sign the petition here. Then go shake off the crappy energy of this story by doing something good for an animal.

The Biggest Opportunity in the World

How do I know I am blessed and wealthy? Because I can afford to believe that climate change is our Number 1 problem in the world. In the long-run, the larger scheme, etc., it is way bigger and potentially more devastating than the economy, the war, human rights, health care and all else combined (as huge as all of those really are). If I were out of work or fighting in Iraq, no doubt, my point of view would be different. Lucky me.

However, Climate Change is discussed less than 1% of the time in presidential politics. Not good. (Can you say, Armageddon?)

Is this the end or is it just a really big opportunity? Did greatness end with the Greatest Generation, or are we up to a really great challenge?

To find out more, visit: wecansolveit.org, view Al Gore's New Thinking on the Climate Crisis or watch the following brief clip:

If I Were Coaching Hillary She'd Win in a Heartbeat

It occurred to me a few weeks ago, that if I were coaching Hillary she'd win easily, but I didn't really get it until I heard myself say it out loud.

It's really true. I know what the crucial ingredient is that she's missing (And Barack seems to have it in abundance) and it's really something we all have (including Hillary) and it's quite easy to express - but only if you know how.

It's one of the key things I do for clients with my coaching and if Hillary asked me to help her with it, I could bring it out of her in minutes (this is not my ego talking). And it would be available every time she speaks. Imagine Hillary making speeches that are as moving as Barack's.

There would be a seismic shift.

I don't know if Barack always had this ability, or if a coach helped him with it, but what I'm talking about is the same quality that Reagan had and Oprah has. It's sometimes called 'charisma' and I used to think it was something only the lucky few possessed. It's not.

You were born with it and so was I.

This is the real reason people flock to Barack's rallies. Maybe they like his message, but his message is not really new. In fact, it's pretty similar to Hillary's message. It's just so much more inspiring when he says it. There's a very specific reason for that.

The reason I'm so confident that this is the crucial ingredient is that Hillary expressed it right before the New Hampshire primary (when rumors of her demise were a bit premature) and the voters immediately swung back her way.

Remember the infamous "crying" scene? Cynics accused her of manufacturing tears to get the sympathy vote, but tears had nothing to do with it. In that one moment, Hillary spoke from the heart about why she wanted to serve. She expressed her passion for making a difference and her lifelong career as a servant leader. She wasn't manufacturing anything. She was expressing her Personal Greatness. New Hampshire voters got it and voted for her overwhelmingly and thereby embarrassed virtually every political pundit in America.

That's Greatness.

The difference between me and the average voter is that I not only feel Greatness, I know what it is, where it comes from and how to elicit it from my clients. It's actually quite easy.

If you're a good coach, you know how to do it, too.

Now the election is complicated, of course. But Hillary's biggest threat is that Barack expresses his Greatness via the spoken word. We don't really know if he expresses it by doing great work, because he really hasn't done anything, yet. Hillary has and that's why she would win if she could just get past those frozen smiles, carefully crafted statements and those dratted 5-Point Plans.

Hillary also suffers from Good Girl Syndrome, but that's another post.

And of course we are at the stage of the election where mud slinging reigns. Today, the day of the Mississippi primary, the NY Times ran a piece that compared Hillary's red phone ad to the Ku Klux Klan. Talk about fear mongering. So much for the new clean politics we were promised by Barack.

And prejudice is an issue on both sides. Bill Maher, whenever he makes fun of Hillary, says, "I'm not sexist." (Me thinks he doth protest too much.) But it was on his show that I first heard of the poll that says twice as many Americans would refuse to vote for a woman than for a black man. Most of us are past this, but not all of us. Greatness however, overcomes prejudice.

Seth Godin says Hillary will damage her brand if she doesn't give up quick. What brand is that? Surely it's not her Comeback Queen brand.

If both sides keep getting dirty, both will suffer, but Barack more than Hillary, because his brand is specifically based on a new clean approach to politics. (Just watch what's happening to another politician who ran on a "clean politics" platform, Elliot Spitzer. Once you say it, you'd better live up to it.) Hers is based on being a smart, tough broad who just keeps coming. (Jon Stewart calls her the Terminator!)

If Hillary learns to express her inner Greatness, there's no stopping her, because it takes a lot of time to develop experience and Greatness, as important as it is, can be had just in an instant.

The reason people are so attracted to someone who's expressing their Personal Greatness is because they start to slip into their own Greatness, as well. It's contagious and it's intoxicating and it helps us be better people. We DO want a President who inspires us to Greatness!

Anyhow, that's just how powerful masterful coaching can be. It can change world history in a moment by shifting just one client. Cool, huh?

So Hillary: I'm available. Want to win an election?

Coaches Have Ultra True Fans

Kevin Kelly's blog, The Technium, gets referenced a fair amount on the blogosphere and for good reason, he's quite insightful. Today, Seth Godin directed me to Kevin's latest, True Fans, about how a good solid living can be made with just about 1,000 people who really believe in your work. Now Kevin is writing about how artists make it, but what he says is rather familiar.

Most coaches thrive and prosper with perhaps an even smaller number of fans. I'd call them Ultra True Fans. This is because an Ultra True Fan will pay a coach hundreds of dollars per month to work one-on-one or in a small group. And it's not unusual for Ultra True Fans to return to the same coach again and again and to buy many of the coach's products, as well.

The "big mailing list" myth can be a real waste of time for a coach. Do outstanding work and cultivate great relationships with your all your fans, especially your Ultra True Fans, and worry about becoming a mega star only if it really lights you up.

Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2008

www.yourlifepart2.com