One might think that with all the topics I write about that I would be an arrogant know-it-all type. This is really, really far from the truth. In fact, the more I learn in life the more I realize that I know very little. This year as I was preparing for 2012 and making my personal success plan, I knew that it wouldn’t be the best year ever, nor would I be able to complete my goals without a network of people to help me.
Harvey Mackay once said, “I have had twenty coaches, if you can believe it. I have a speech coach, I have a writing coach, I have a humor coach, I’ve got a language coach, and on and on. “
In that spirit, this year I sought out individuals, and resources that I could turn to for help when I needed guidance in improving a particular area and pushing me to greater success. My goal in this though was that I did not want to spend a crazy amount of money on coaches that would cost me hundreds of dollars an hour. So the search began. These are the coaches or needs that I was looking to fill:
- Productivity Coach
- Personal Performance Coach
- Writing Coach
- Public Speaking Coach
- Executive Coach
- Life Coach
- Technology Advisor
- SEO Coach
- Social Media Coach
- Relationship Coach
- Personal Branding Coach
- Career Coach
Phew… I know it sounds like a lot. Let me explain 4 steps I used to find coaches and resources without breaking the bank:
- First I scanned my networks. This consisted of friends, colleagues, associates in groups, and my social media networks and I identified individuals that were qualified to be my coach in each of the areas. I then approached them and told them what I was trying to achieve and why I wanted to achieve it. Then I offered them something. This might be helping them to promote something, or perhaps I would coach them on leadership, execution or goals. I firmly believe that you have to give more than you take, and my hope is that I am doing that for all those that agreed to assist me.
- Then after that, I scanned my networks for organizations to join that would help me in my progress on a particular topic area. The “coaching” from that might be an individual or a group of individuals that I could reach out to if I had questions or needed assistance. Sometimes these organizations did cost a small amount of money to join, but in my opinion were worth it.
- Next I looked at programs I could take part in. For example on the relationship coach, I joined Keith Ferrazzi’s MyGreenLight. They had a great offer at the beginning of the year that was too good to pass up. This course is a step, by step program for self-learning the methods that they teach. You also get to interface with lots of other individuals that are in the courses, and there are challenging assignments to stretch you. They have coaches and community directors that you can interface with. I joined a few other courses as well.
- At this point, I had narrowed the list and looked for coaches and individuals that would be worth paying to help achieve my goals. I vetted and selected a couple individuals.
After all this, I left nothing to chance. I organized recurring meetings with the coaches that were individuals and made schedules to go through the programs I had signed-up for. It is so comforting to know that I have a network of people that are genuinely concerned about my success and are pushing me and helping to hold me accountable. I have not and will not use the “coaching” services forever. I use them as I need them, always trying to give more than I take.
=========================================================================
Are you looking for coaching and/or have something to offer in exchange? Subscribe and send me a message and I will see if I can make some connections for you.
So, now that you’ve read this article, how are you going to use this information to gain better success through coaching?
Please take a moment and share your ideas in the comments section below, share this with your social media friends, and subscribe to receive A Slice of Leadership notices, and occasional leadership advice, articles, tips and freebies.
=========================================================================
