Coaching Predictions for 2007

Are you curious where coaching is going during the coming year? We were too! So Milana Leshinsky gathered 8 of the top experts in coaching – including me! – and we did a 2.5 hour call (!) on January 10 with our top predictions for the year.

To listen to this call, you can do so as my gift here: http://www.2007coachingpredictions.com/recordings.html

Also check out the bonuses the speakers have offered on the page too – including our brand new Coaching Experts Network series http://www.coachingexpertsnetwork.com (next call is this Tuesday Jan. 16 at 2 pm ET, “What is Your Personal Brand?” with William Arruda.

(Ask him YOUR question about branding here: http://www.coachingexpertsnetwork.com/askwilliamarruda/ )

Here is a written summary of my predictions for coaching in 2007:

1. Coaching specialties that help people achieve meaning will be the highest growing specialties. Why?

• Boomer retirement – desire for new career (75% will keep working in “retirement”)
• People feel anonymous the more automated society becomes and need to find meaning
• Dan Pink – A Whole New Mind – as our culture becomes more abundant (one of the 3 trends in the Conceptual Age along with Asia and Automation), even ordinary items (like a toilet brush) are purchased for what they mean, not just what they can do
• Examples of these specialties include career coaching, retirement coaching, and spiritual coaching

2. As more coaches pay attention to the business of coaching – using tools such as the wonderful ones Milana and others have developed – the role of technology (blogs, podcasts, audio, video, mp3, etc.) will increase. After all, consumers are using it more and more! (John Naisbitt, Megatrends, with high tech is corresponding need for high touch.) How you use it will be determined by:

• Your market niche – age, comfort level with technology etc.
• Your vision for your business – hopefully you’re aiming to leverage yourself and develop ways to coach and sell and earn passive income while you sleep. But if you want to stay 1:1 only, you won’t use technology much!
• Your geographic market – some coaches (a minority in my experience) want a local, face to face market only. If you want to broaden our market to include all prospects within your ideal client profile – around the world! – then you will need technology both to communicate and to transmit information back and forth (coaching homework etc.)

3. Training and credentialing will increase in value and credibility-building.

• Effective April 2007, ICF will change its member categories to “credentialed” and “affiliate” members – so you must have completed or be pursuing an ICF credential to be a full member. This has been coming for a year, and I predict it will increase the importance of credentialing (and with that, coach training) going forward!
  This is one of the reasons 2 of our programs (ACCC, CECC) were approved for ICF credit last year, and we expect approval of our retirement coaching program any day now.
  

4. BONUS PREDICTION: Narrowing your niche and clearly communicating it will be the one most important factor to create marketing advantage this year.
a. Continuing the training and credentialing discussion: there are now over 200 coaching schools (several represented on this call!) – and increasingly, niching within coach training is every bit as important as within coaching itself.
b. Put yourself in the minds and heads of your prospective clients and think about what they are looking for – NOT what you want to sell! If you tune into WIIFM, and hone your niche, target market and brand down to one 30-second sound bite that leads people to ask you, “How do you do that?” – you will have more prospects and clients than you know what to do with.

For more insights from coaching leaders, plan to attend the Third Annual Coaching Telesummit January 22-31, 2007 – see full details here: http://tinyurl.com/ykbhym

Visit Career Coach Institute