ICF's 10th Annual Conference:
Don't Miss This Special Event!

Note from ICF President Steve Mitten, MCC:
The annual ICF International Conference is the highlight of the coaching year. It's a gathering of the coaching clan, a coming together of kindred souls with common interest and purpose. It's the ideal time and place for coaches to learn, laugh, play, network, build their businesses – and ignite a passion that will inspire them through the coming year.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the ICF. We are determined to make this year's conference a very special event – one you will not want to miss. We urge you to block out Nov. 10, 11 and 12 on your calendar today, then visit our beautiful new conference website, where you can register, reserve accommodations and book your flight.

To learn more about this exciting event, please read the following message from hard-working Conference Committee Chair Tracy Leighton.

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Greetings, Coaching World Readers:
I am delighted to have this opportunity to tell you about our plans for this year's conference in San Jose, California! It's so amazing to me that coaches attending our conference can be from Seattle to Minneapolis, from Frankfurt to Moscow, and from so many other places around the globe.

As I write this, it occurs to me that what we are creating at our 2005 conference is balance. We are offering opportunities for education, inspiration, connection, relaxation and just plain fun throughout each conference day.

We've had some amazing conference experiences over the past nine years, and as the Conference Team started to plan for our 10th anniversary, we asked for feedback from participants in these earlier gatherings. We used this feedback to shape a carefully balanced conference – one that will offer something meaningful to everyone who attends. Below is a "sneak preview" of some of the special things we have in store for you in November.

Inspiring keynotes
On Thursday, we'll start off with a keynote address from Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom. Dr. Remen is one of the pioneers in linking mind and body in healing, and one of the best storytellers you'll ever hear. When she speaks, her audiences are so quiet you can hear the proverbial pin drop!

I'm thrilled to announce here for the first time that Cheryl Richardson, MCC, will be our Friday-morning keynoter. The first president of the ICF, Cheryl is an internationally known coach, speaker, author and media personality. Her books include the bestselling Take Time for Your Life and the recently published The Unmistakable Touch of Grace.

Friday will also include our organization's annual meeting. To honor our first decade, this year's meeting will feature a celebration of the richness of the coaching profession – past, present and future. You won't want to miss it.

On Saturday, Riane Eisler, author of The Power of Partnership, will open our day. Dr. Eisler, active in the field of leadership and cultural theory for many years, will share her wisdom and experience in shaping the leaders of today and tomorrow for a successful future society. This topic is what we coaches are all about!

Breakouts for every interest
All three conference days will be a wonderful blend of business, education, overview and depth. Whether your focus is executive, corporate, small business or personal coaching, we're confident you'll find sessions that will meet your needs. The breakouts will balance new information with deeper examinations of what many already know. Formats will include experiential sessions, coaching demonstrations and traditional presentations. As you read this, our Program Committee is busy selecting the best of the best for all of you.

Relaxation, connection, free time
In keeping with our focus on balance, we'll be offering the ever-popular Balance Sessions again this year – some in the early morning to energize and enlighten, others in the late afternoon to help you unwind. Balance space will be available all day long in a quiet area of the convention center, so you'll be able to take a mind/body/spirit break any time you feel the need. The main hall has plenty of space for conferees to sit and relax, to recharge between breakouts, or to network with other coaches. You can also take a stroll through the exhibit hall, where you're sure to find products and services of interest, and plenty of people to meet and greet.

It's difficult to create free time in a three-day conference, but we've managed to! Friday afternoon will be open, so you and yours will have a chance to explore San Jose, San Francisco or Monterey. You can also use this time for those special conversations with old and new friends within our wonderful community.

Party time!
Thursday will conclude with an evening of hors d'oeuvres and conversation with our exhibitors. The Saturday Night Gala will end the conference, with fun, food, entertainment and – of course! – dancing. The dancing will be in a room that adjoins the banquet hall, so those who prefer to finish their dessert, talk and wind down from an amazing three days in relative quiet will be able to do so.

Registration
The discounted early-bird conference rate for ICF members of $599 (USD) is now in effect. An extended payment plan is available. For the first time, we're offering limited registration for conferees' spouses, partners or guests. For $299, they will have access to all three keynote presentations and conference-included meals.

Whether you have decades of experience or are just considering coaching as a profession; whether you coach CEOs or artists; whether you work in a corporation or run your own life-coaching practice, the 10th Annual ICF International Conference will have something for you to try on, to enjoy, to learn – and to light your fire!

See you in San Jose!
Tracy Leighton, PCC
Conference Committee Chair
confertracy@tlscoaching.com

For more information, visit the conference website at www.coach-federation.org/conference/sanjose05/default.asp
To register online today, go to
www.coach-federation.org/conference/sanjose05/registration.asp

 

ICF Management Transition As we announced recently to our membership, the ICF is moving its management contract from Bostrom Corporation to Host Communications. During the transition period, we ask those of you who have communicated and worked with people in the ICF office to continue to contact the same people. If you have any concerns or experience communications problems, please send an email to icftransition@icfstaff.com.

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Why Should Coaches Follow
The ICF's Code of Ethics?
By Sara Miller
Member of ICF Ethics and Standards Committee
sara@drsaramiller.com

The ICF recently published a newly revised Code of Ethics. This code is a statement on how members are to conduct themselves as professional coaches. It publicly declares that as a professional organization, the ICF stands behind these standards, and will hold members accountable to them. The spirit of the code clearly demonstrates that members of the coaching profession are to put the interests of others before their own interests.

But why should we abide by a code of ethics? First, following such a code protects our clients. Given the level of trust present in a coaching relationship, a coach has the ability to impact significantly the mental, physical, social and financial well-being of his/her clients.

Second, the code helps protect our profession. As a professional organization, the ICF must regulate our members to gain public confidence. It is essential for a profession to establish and uphold the highest standards. Without self-regulation, there is little chance that the profession will become prominent in promoting the public welfare.

The need for many of the standards in the ICF's code is obvious; for others, it may not seem so obvious. Some standards may make you pause and reflect on how your actions might be serving your interests, rather than your clients', or on how they might do actual harm to others. For example, consider Standard 14: "I will accurately identify my qualifications, expertise and experience as a coach."

Imagine it's your first year of business, and you have coached six clients. The CEO of a company is interviewing you for an external coaching position. You badly want the contract because it would provide enough money for you to quit your day job and fully devote your time to coaching. The CEO asks you how many clients you have coached. You'd like to say 100, or even 10 – both numbers sound better than six.

Would you inflate the number, and justify your dishonesty by reasoning, "After all, no one will find out, and it does not harm anyone, right?" Wrong. Misrepresenting your experience harms your client, the profession and you. The company may be led to hire you based on your inflated number. It may need or expect a higher level of applied knowledge, which comes with coaching more clients.

Imagine how you would appear, sound, and act if you chose to mislead. Would you feel at peace? Authentic? Trustworthy? Now imagine answering truthfully, selling yourself on your actual merits. See yourself speaking unapologetically, your confidence based on your true abilities, and not on a falsehood. Do you feel different? Your clients will see and feel the difference, too. Many will be more likely to hire you, not less. And you want to be hired for situations in which you will be able to perform confidently and competently.

Furthermore, your behavior as a coach reflects back on our profession. Let's return to the earlier rationalization: "No one will find out; it doesn't harm anyone." Our profession is comparatively new, and as we learn more about coaching and conducting our businesses, many of us are observing each other. Let's say you inflated your client number and landed that good contract, and an observant coach finds out. Could this kind of behavior become a "silent norm" in our profession? If so, the harm to the profession would be tremendous.

Trust is essential to being a coach. Even if only a small number of coaches started to inflate their numbers, the public perception of the profession would be at risk. Do we want to be perceived as trustworthy professionals, or as amateurs trying to puff ourselves up?

Ethical behavior is about choosing to do the right thing, even when it isn't an easy choice. Ethical decisions are made internally, within your own heart and mind. Use the ICF Code of Ethics as your guide. Make the right choices and you will serve your profession, your clients and yourself well.

Editor's Note: To read about the recent revisions to the Code of Ethics, see the Ethics Essentials column in the March Coaching World. To view the entire code online, click here. To view the updated standards section, click here.

Sara Miller is president of True North (www.tncoaching.com), a company that specializes in coaching professionals in the fields of medicine, management and health science.

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Where Are All the Coach Blogs?
By Patsi Krakoff
patsi@customizednewsletters.com

If you keep up with the news and with online marketing developments, you've probably heard a lot about blogs lately. Now I am not a tech person – in fact, I am very shy about trying out new software (I've been called a "techno-weenie"). But I kept reading about how easy blogs are to set up and use, so last summer I took a deep breath and signed up for a free trial over at TypePad, a popular blog service provider.

I surprised myself. In about three hours, there I was in living blog color, on the web – and I did it myself!

The term "blog," short for web log, is a mini-website where you can post text that is immediately published on the web. It's been called an online journal or diary. The software that hosts the blog provides interactive features, so readers can comment on your content.

Since I created my first blog, traffic to my website has tripled, and my business has increased by at least 25 percent. I am not selling anything on my blogs; I started blogging to share ideas about coach ezines. I wanted a way to write spontaneously without starting another ezine and having to build up another subscriber list.

If you are a coach, a blog is an ideal way for you to create an attractive web presence, to establish your expertise, and to be "heard" by many more people than are probably hearing you now. Since it is an informal medium, a blog is also a great way to communicate authentically – a place where you can show your personality and your heart. Here are some more reasons for coaches to start blogging:

1. Blogs are inexpensive. Some are free, such as Blogger (www.blogger.com); others, such as TypePad (www.typepad.com), charge between $5 and $15 a month, depending on what bells and whistles you want.

2. Blogs are user- and reader-friendly. They're easy for even us "techno-weenies" to set up and maintain, and they're easy for visitors to navigate. Every post is archived as a separate page on the site.

3. Blogs are search engine-friendly. This has to do with the fact that they're content- and keyword-rich, with few graphic distractions to interfere as the search-engine spiders do their jobs. Before your eyes glaze over, that means there's a good chance your blog will be picked up by the search engines, especially if you're posting frequently and using keywords. And that means your search rankings go up and your site gets more traffic.

4. Blogs are link-easy. When you post great content, other bloggers will refer to you and insert links to your site, just as you link to theirs. Soon you may find yourself in a viral explosion, as your ideas spread to more readers than you could ever reach on your own with a website or an ezine. As blog pro T.L. Pakii Pierce (blogforfunandprofit.blogware.com/blog) says, "Blogs are powerful social tools."

5. Blogs are interactive, fast and fun. You get feedback from your readers, and you can post in 10 minutes or less.

6. Blogs can be a good addition to your website or ezine – and can even replace these and/or other marketing tools.

7. Blogs allow you to show not just what you know, but who you are. As I mentioned above, they are a great place for authentic communication, which makes them a good fit for coaches.

As I discovered the benefits of blogging, I started wondering: Where are all the coaches? Why isn't the blogosphere clogged with coach blogs? I have been interviewing bloggers for a book, and it has been difficult to find many coach blogs – and even more difficult to find ones that are regularly updated. Here are a few good ones that I've found:

Barry Zweibel's Gotta Get A Blog (www.ggci.com/blog); Bea Fields' The Seduction of the Mind (theseductionofthemind.typepad.com); Milana Leshinsky's Milana on Tap (www.milana.com); Kathy Mallary's Café la Coach (spiritspring.typepad.com/cafe_la_coach); Michele Corey's Knee Deep (advanced-approach.blogs.com/knee_deep); C.J. Hayden's How To Be A Hero (www.howtobecomeahero.com); Terri Levine's Terri Levine Coaching U (www.bloglines.com/blog/terrilevine); Sunny Hills' Sunny Thoughts (www.sunnythoughts.com); and Andrea J. Lee's Multiple Streams of Coaching Income (multiplestreamsofcoachingincome.com/blog).

If you think blogging might be for you, do a Google search for blog service providers or just start with TypePad, which is very user-friendly. You can set up a basic blog yourself on a trial basis; later, if you want your site to appear more professional, you can buy a blog guide or attend some blog teleclasses.

You can also consult one of the experts, several of whom are now specializing in helping coaches set up blogs, including Andy Wibbels (www.easybakeweblogs.com), Kathy Mallary, PCC (spiritspring.typepad.com), and Denise Wakeman (www.buildabetterblog.com). You'll find there are many tips and tricks that can help you turn your blog into an effective tool for communicating your ideas and for marketing your coaching services. See you in the blogosphere!
Copyright © 2005 by Patsi Krakoff

Editor's Note: For more on how ICF members can use blogs, see the letter in the Readers' Forum, below.

Patsi Krakoff is a business coach, journalist and psychologist. Through her company, Customized Newsletters (www.customizednewsletters.com), she writes articles for coaches' customized newsletters, ezines and blogs. She also maintains three blogs: www.coachezines.com, www.bizbooknuggets.com and www.buildabetterblog.com. Patsi is currently updating the interview sections of her two ebooks, Secrets of Successful Ezines and The Build a Better Blog System, and is interested in hearing from ICF coaches about their ezines and blogs. She can be reached at patsi@customizednewsletters.com.

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Using a Blog to "Dress Up" CRS Page

Dear Editor and Coaching Colleagues:
I just told ICF's Coach Referral Service (CRS) Administrator Jeanne Bongo about an exciting discovery I'd made, and she urged me to share it with all of you. What I found is a no-brainer way that we all – even non-techies like me – can dress up our CRS profile pages. We can even insert live links to our own websites.

I made this discovery after I decided to start a blog and signed up at one of the many blog services on the web. (To find one, just ask Google.) I found that when you create a post, the service automatically creates HTML code in a hidden window. This code formats what you type, so you can have bold, italicized, underscored and colored text. You can click on the "Edit HTML" tab, copy the HTML text – and paste it into your CRS profile page!

A number of blog services offer free trials, so you don't even have to pay to get this fancy text. But I urge all of you to consider creating your own blog for keeps. It's a great way to create dialogue with your target market and to help them find you. But I must issue one warning: Blogs are so much fun, they can be addicting!

Gail Sussman Miller
Inspired Choice Coach
gail.sussman.miller@onebox.com
www.inspiredchoice.com

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Norway to Play Host to 400 People At This Month's European Conference Last-Minute Registrants Welcome More than 400 people from about 25 countries will descend on Norway later this month for the ICF European Coaching Conference 2005 (ECC). If you've been thinking about attending but haven't signed up, it's not too late! Although online registration has closed, you are welcome to register on-site. And although the main conference hotel is booked, you can still reserve a room at one of three other hotels that are only minutes away. Organizers may handle last-minute registrations with ease, but participants may have a difficult time choosing from among the many enticing offerings. Carrying the theme "Discover and Explore Coaching," the conference will feature five plenary sessions, more than 50 breakouts and several renowned keynoters. About 70 presenters from a dozen different countries are contributing to the educational program. ECC 2005 will be held Thursday, May 19, through Saturday, May 21, in the 1,000-year-old Viking town of Tønsberg. Members of the Conference Team are urging everyone to come early to join them in celebrating Norway's Constitution Day on May 17. The Nordic Coach Federation (NCF), host of this year's conference, has planned several holiday events for conferees, including an evening garden party at the home of NCF President Frank Pedersen, PCC. A Viking Feast will be offered Friday night, and an array of national costumes will be on colorful display at the Conference Dinner Saturday night. To learn more about the conference, to make a hotel reservation or to sign up for the Viking Feast, go to the ECC website, www.icf-ecc.org. And if you've made a last-minute decision to attend, please send an email to info@icf-ecc.org and let the Conference Team know you're coming. •    • Australasia Conference Promises To Sparkle With Innovative Content Event set for Sept. 29-30 This fall's Australasia Conference is still in the planning stages, but its program is already bursting with extraordinary presenters and leading-edge content. Dedicated to the exploration of "Professional Coaching…from the inside out," the region's third annual gathering will be held Thursday and Friday, Sept. 29-30, on the campus of Queensland University in Brisbane, Australia. In an effort to raise the profile of the ICF with Australasia's corporate community, the conference will feature a new and innovative "corporate stream" designed for corporate human resources managers. This special half-day event will offer two breakout sessions: one to showcase the lessons and legacies of organizational leaders who have championed cultural transformation through coaching, the other to discuss corporations' experiences with internal and external coaches. Organizers announced they have selected a third keynote speaker, Marcia Reynolds, MCC, president of Covisioning, past president of the ICF and author of Outsmart Your Brain. For 25 years, Marcia has worked with organizations in the areas of leadership development, emotional intelligence and team building. She will speak on "Blending the Science of the Brain Into the Art of Coaching." Two other keynoters will be Patrick Williams, MCC, ICF Board member and head of the Institute for Life Coach Training, and Sir John Whitmore, co-chair of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council and honorary vice president of the Association for Coaching UK. Pat's topic will be "The Future of Professional Coaching: Taking a Stand for Quality," and John's will be "Professionalism From the Inside." Other highlights will include an interactive community event, "The Theoretical Foundations of Coaching" with Pat Williams; a workshop, "Integrated Goal Setting Tool" with Tony Grant; and a role-playing session, "Walking the Line" with Travis Kemp, which will demonstrate the difference between counseling and coaching conversations. For more details on the program, and for information on accommodations, travel and sponsorships, visit the conference website at www.icfaustralasia.com/Conference2005.html. To register today, go to www.icfaustralasia.com/Registration.html. Back to top

SUN Takes Its Program to Europe

Success Unlimited Network (SUN), an ICF Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP), has announced it is supporting the global coaching initiative by expanding its program to Europe. SUN now offers training in Italy, Spain, Belgium and Holland. Started in 1981 in London, England, by the British company Results Unlimited, the SUN coaching program (www.successunlimitednet.com) was introduced in the United States in 1987. SUN Director Teri-E Belf, and John Collings, Diane Hetherington, Giuseppe Meli, Elaine Gagne and Vicki Escude, all Master Certified Coaches, are participating in the international training.

World News Roundup features news from around the world about events and developments in the field of coaching. This can include news of wide interest from coach training programs that are aligned with the ICF. If you'd like to submit an article for this section, please obtain our submission guidelines by sending a blank email to cwguidelines@coachfederation.org.

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