Recent questions from a Success Circle participant about how to create a signature coaching program:
Does research build on your hunches or create the "starter" for your hunches about a useful process?
"I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun." -- Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice
That quote pretty much says it all. I can't say what came first--whether I had a hunch first or whether I saw something out in the world that gave me the idea for Get With the Program. I’ve learned to just be awake and accepting of inspiration, no matter which direction it seems to come from.
I know some coaches have been trained to have a bias for going 'inside' (intuition, inner wisdom, Divine Inspiration, etc.). There's nothing wrong with that, but unfortunately, some end up with a bias against going 'outside' for information. They may distrust or even discount outside input all together, which doesn't serve their business or their customers.
When you’re trying to operate a business, you have to be in touch with what’s going on in the outer world; that’s what makes it possible to meet your clients where they ARE, rather than where you’d like them to be.
Discern the difference between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ input, yes – but don’t discriminate against one or the other.
The trick is to strike a balance between keeping one ear on your heart, and the other ear (and both eyes, a keyboard and your mouse) trained on what’s true in the world around you. You have to bridge the gap between the inner and outer world, because business is transacted in the mundane (outer) world. It's important to do your research.
Your business brings you the hearts of those that you’re supposed to work with, but the hearts are wrapped in human beings with ego identities. It’s the ego identity that does the shopping; hopefully, the customer listens to their heart when it comes time to buy. (I learned this from Mark Silver, the master of heart-centered marketing).
You don't have to be a Success Circle member to ask a question! Send me an email or post a comment here on the blog and I'll do my best to find you an answer or at least get you pointed in the right direction.
