Notice is given of the VI Coaches Annual General Meeting to be on:

May 22, 2013
12:30 pm
Kinsmen Fieldhouse at Westshore Parks and Recreation Centre
1767 Island Hwy, Victoria, BC (next to the Bear Mountain Arena)

Your attendance or Proxy is required for the purpose of approving the minutes of the previous AGM, approving the previous SGM, and to receive the President’s report, the financial report and the motions, which are fully described on the Agenda.

Members of VI Coaches will have received an email containing all the above mentioned documents.  Should you have missed this email, please contact your Membership Director or Secretary to request copies of the AGM documents.

Details:
April 8, 2013
4:30pm – 6:00pm
Nanaimo, BC

Location to be announced.

Details & RSVP on the Mid-Island Coaches Network Facebook Group (use the search groups feature to find them if you are not a group member). If you are not a Facebook user you can RSVP by email to Tania Walter Gardiner.

By Tania Walter Gardiner

As a business leader working with teams, what values do you work and live by? What is your vision? Mission? When there is agreement on vision, mission, and values the rest is small stuff. You can move effortlessly past any issues that arise.

 Vision, Values, Mission

Values define the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the vision, connecting vision to actions. Action steps cannot be planned unless the team is in alignment, having values each member of the team can agree to. One tool that can assist a team to elicit values and develop a strong vision and mission is a charter.

A charter is a structure for agreements so that team members can be relaxed, resourceful and engaged. With these agreements, dialogue flows, moving forward in a productive way. Alignment fosters innovation, inspiration, and high performance. Teams that perform well enjoy their work, have better lives and create sustainable results through time.

Do you have a charter of agreements?

Do you have a charter of agreements with those you work with, whether stakeholders, a team of employees, or family business? Having a charter on how you agree to be with each other and work together deepens commitment, collaboration and contribution. Imagine a day-to-day experience of really contributing in your best way. What difference might that make in your business?

Contributing member: Tania Walter Gardiner, MA, BA, ACC
Tania is a certified professional solutions and values focused coach and consultant who works with individuals and teams helping them to gain clarity, focus and direction, enabling them to live their definition of success in business and life. To explore coaching with Tania, visit her website, Integral Connections.

Click image for larger view

 By Emma-Louise Elsey

Sometimes I think we coaches get so used to seeing “The Wheel of Life” that we forget it’s still new for most of our clients. Not only that, but the “Wheel of Life” may just be the most powerful and flexible coaching exercise in our coaching toolbox! So, as it’s one of my favourite tools I’m excited to share some new ideas below for how you can use “The Wheel of Life” in your coaching practices.

Here are 10 Fresh Ways for Using the Wheel of Life in Your Coaching Practice:

1. The Wheel of Progress. When used on a regular basis The Wheel of Life is a great tool to measure progress. Use it monthly or quarterly with your clients, as both a check-in to see how they’re currently doing AND as a way for them to see how they’ve improved and grown. Improved scores demonstrate concrete value from coaching and create tangible progression. It’s like looking back over an old journal and seeing how far you’ve come!
2. The Wheel of Stress (or Wheel of Frustration). Start with a blank wheel and ask your clients to list the top 8 areas that stress or frustrate them most. Then ask them to score each area out of 10 as to how much each area adds to the stress in their life. Then review and coach them around the scores. Tip: Ask, which area frustrates or stresses them out the most? Are there any surprises? How could they lower their scores? What actions could they take to lower their frustration or stress?
3. The Wheel of Happiness, Fun or even Joy! Does your client need help to create more happiness, fun or joy in their life? Well, ask them to identify 8 areas or things that are fun or make them excited or happy. There are different ways to score this – you could ask them to score how satisfied they are with each area, or how MUCH each area excites them, or how much they WANT to ‘do’ or feel drawn to each area. Then ask your client for an action or commitment for each segment. Tip: Ask how could they bring more of each area into their lives? Help them find multiple wins – where one action raises their score across a number of areas.
4. Going Deeper. Use the wheel to drill down into a single wheel segment and help your clients understand their lives and issues more deeply. Take one of the segments and then using a blank wheel ask them to write out a further 8 areas that make up that segment for them. Eg. a ‘Finance’ wheel could include saving for a house, budgeting, focusing on buying needs and not wants, saving for a rainy day, paying off debts, getting a pay-rise etc. Tip: This is great homework – to identify areas to bring to the session and work on.
5. The “Skills and Knowledge Gap” Wheel. What are the Top 8 skills and knowledge gaps your client has that get in the way of that job, promotion or new career? Ask your client to identify their gaps and then score out of 10 where they are on the road to filling this gap. Then identify action steps for each ‘gap’. Tip: It helps to clarify whether each gap is a skill or knowledge gap. AND it’s also important to do a ‘sanity check’ that the gap is 1) fillable and 2) that it’s a skill they are able or want to fill!
6. The Wheel of Compassion. There aren’t many of us who couldn’t do with more self-compassion. Ask your client to list 8 areas where they could be more kind or compassionate with themselves. Get them to score HOW compassionate they are currently – and to identify an action for the top 3 areas that need kindness or compassion most. Tip: Try this one on yourself – you may be surprised – where do YOU need to be kinder with yourself?
7. Set MORE Meaningful Goals. The Wheel of Life is a great way to help a client who is struggling to identify goals. Low scores point to areas where a goal could be identified to raise their score. And high scores suggest areas where a goal could really give your clients a boost. When we work on where we’re already doing well – this spins off into other areas in our lives and lifts them too. Tip: This is a great exercise for business and career/executive coaches to ease clients into thinking about their personal lives – which of course will benefit their careers and businesses in the long run.
8. The Wheel of Priorities. Ask your client to label their Top 8 priorities – across work, home, relationships – basically their priorities in life overall. Next ask them to review their wheel and identify their Top 3 priorities. Then, get them to score their satisfaction out of 10 for all the areas. You can use this approach to look at a specific area of life like their career or finances, or you could even use this exercise to prioritise their goals! Tip: Ask them how does their score for the Top 3 priorities compare to the lower priorities? Do they have their priorities ‘straight’ or do they need to shift their focus? What actions could they take?
9. The Wheel of Sales (or Wheel of Marketing). A wheel can also be used to help identify actions rather than identify and score ‘areas’ to work on. So, take a blank wheel and ask your clients to identify sales or marketing actions to complete in the next month (or key actions to complete in the coming year). Tip: You could also pre-fill some of the wheel for them so a Marketing Wheel might include social media, networking, advertising, workshops, a newsletter and a Sales Wheel might include clarifying a sales process or funnel, writing a script for complimentary sessions, calling enquiries back, learning more about Sales. You might even like to try this one for your coaching practice…
10. General Action Planning. The visual wheel format is also great to make action planning more fun and a great way to BREAK DOWN bigger actions into smaller more manageable chunks. So, using a blank wheel, write the goal or required outcome at the top of the page. Then ask your client to write out the next 8 actions or chunks of work that make up their goal. Tip: If you get them to put a date against each action – they can then use the segments to shade and record the % complete for each area!

Final Tip: And whatever you’ve used the wheel for I like to ask this question when complete, “So, if this wheel represented your life/relationship/career/marketing strategy, is it a bumpy ride?”

I hope this has given you some new ideas for using The Wheel of Life in your coaching practice. Why not give one a try – it’s wheely good! 

And remember - we’d also love to hear how you use The Wheel of Life – just add a comment below.

Contributing member:  Emma-Louise Elsey
Emma-Louise is a professional life coach and founder of The Coaching Tools Company.com. Sign-up at www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com to receive 549 Powerful Coaching Questions FREE by email.

**Please credit the author with any use of or excerpt from this article in any form.

One of the greatest values of membership in VI Coaches, from my perspective, is the opportunity of co-creating a vibrant and dynamic community of practice.

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.  - Etienne Wenger-Trayner

According to Wenger-Trayner, who coined the phrase with Jean Lave, three characteristics are critical in cultivating a community of practice.

1. The domain: A community of practice is not merely a club of friends or a network of connections between people. It has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest – in our case that of standing in services as coaches and advancing the coaching profession. Membership implies a commitment to this domain, and therefore a shared competence that distinguishes members.
2. The community: In pursuing their interest in their domain, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other. Having the same job or the same title does not make for a community of practice unless members interact and learn together. An example that Wenger-Trayner uses is that of the Impressionists, who used to meet in cafes and studios to discuss the style of painting they were inventing together. These interactions were essential to making them a community of practice even though they often painted alone.
3. The practice: Members of a community of practice are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, and ways of addressing recurring problems – in short a shared practice. This takes time and sustained interaction.

We encourage you to engage with us in developing and contributing to these elements. As we do this together, our VI Coaches community of practice will flourish.

A heartfelt thank you for who you are and what you do in our community!

Sarah Evans, President, VI Coaches

PS Please remember to renew your ICF membership

Details:
March 11, 2013
4:30pm – 6:00pm
Nanaimo, BC

Come out for networking goodness this month at the Coast Bastion Hotel, Minnoz Lounge. No speakers this month, instead a casual get together to meet and chat with your fellow coaches.

RSVP on the Mid-Island Coaches Network Facebook Group (use the search groups feature to find them if you are not a group member). If you are not a Facebook user you can RSVP by email to Tania Walter Gardiner.

Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Berwick Royal Oak, 4680 Elk Lake Drive

 As the International Coach Federation operates on calendar year cycle (Jan to Dec), it has been suggested that we adjust our current fiscal year (Apr to Mar) and conduct business henceforth on a calendar year. In keeping with the exigencies of the BC Societies Registry, the AGM will be held following the year end, that is to say in January of each year. This will take effect in January 2014 and the AGM scheduled for May 2013 will proceed as planned.

In order to facilitate a smooth transition, the current board is prepared to stay in position for a short fiscal and program year from Apr to Dec 2013 and then remain in service (advisory) to the new board for a period to be mutually decided.

SGM Resolution 1
It is resolved that the annual cycle for VI Coaches operations be changed from a “Apr 1 – Mar 31 Year” to a “Jan 1 – Dec 31 Year”. This is an ordinary resolution and requires a 50% majority vote. Votes can be provided in person or by proxy.

SGM Resolution 2
It is resolved that the VI Coaches Bylaw Section C, 2.1.” The term of office is one year” be waived for the current Board between May 2013 to Jan 2014 in order to accommodate the transition period to the new annual cycle. This is a special resolution and requires a 75% majority vote. Votes can be provided in person or by proxy.

If you are unable to attend the SGM, Click Here to Download the Proxy Form

Proxy instructions: The proxy form is posted separately and can be downloaded for use locally. Please complete according to the Proxy Form instructions. Once completed, e-mail either the form or the name of the person hand carrying the form to the SGM to the Secretary. Thank you for your participation and support in making your Association a successful and robust organization.

What is it to bring kindness into the practice of coaching?

At the heart of this question is the concept of coming from a place of service for our clients. Being kind to your clients can mean a number of things relating to how you self-manage and support yourself in maintaining your attitude of service. 

How do you support clients to be kind to themselves when you hear them beating themselves up?

Being kind doesn’t mean letting them off the hook, it means holding them as fully capable to make the changes they desire.

As we (the authors) were discussing this blog’s theme we had a quick discussion on how keeping our coaching skills sharp can add to our ability to elevate our client’s experience with kindness. None of us wish to admit our skills may get a bit loose now and then, but it is certainly something to continually draw our awareness back to in service of being truly masterful coaches for our clients.

 What could this look like?

Professional development – Ensuring you are keeping your craft fine-tuned and that you are challenging yourself to stretch as a professional coach.

Accountability – This could mean two things. It refers to really holding your clients accountable to their goals, their vision, their values. It also means holding yourself accountable to really being with your client and challenging yourself to have all your skills, all the core competencies, at work in your coaching.

Curiosity – Do you listen to what is being said and what is not being said and support your client in exploring their story, the judgments, distinctions, assumptions, etc., that they may be making? Do you dig in and help your client dig down into the underlying motivations or beliefs your client may be holding onto and do you do this without judgment?

Championing – How you encourage exploration of new behaviours and actions that forward your client’s learning.

Acknowledging – Who they are being, who they are becoming, pointing out their magnificence as they are stretching towards their fullest potential.

Ethics – There are so many small and big ways to let this slip.  Here are a few examples:

• The coach who encourages a client to sign up for coach training…at the same program that coach is an affiliate of and receives a kick-back from. 
• Coaching multiple members of the same work team.
• Continuing to coach a client you have lost interest in.
• Telling your client what to do.
• Advertising yourself as an ICF credentialed coach when you have let your membership lapse. 

When was the last time you read the ICF Ethical Guidelines and Professional Standards? 

These are just a few of the ways we can be of service to our clients.

• What does being of service to your clients mean to you?
• What have you noticed when you bring these to your attention and into your practice of coaching?
• What do you notice when you don’t; when your skills get a little loose?

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. ~Lao Tzu

This blog article was co-produced by the VI Coaches communications committee.

Details:
4:30pm – 6:00pm
Monday, February 11th, 2013

Location: South end Country Grocer – (upstairs – stairs at the north end of the building – behind the deli), Nanaimo, BC
Guest Speaker:  Maureen Miller – Mind mapping and how to use it for coaching.

RSVP on the Mid-Island Coaches Network Facebook Group (use the search groups feature to find them if you are not a group member). If you are not a Facebook user you can RSVP by email to Tania Walter Gardiner.