What is your ministry?
I recently ran across this
question and found it not only provocative but when I stopped to think about
it, very thought provoking.
For many of us, “ministry” is
something associated with religious service and when looking up the word, most
of the definitions I found had to do with “profession, duties and services of a
minister”, “the Christian clergy” or “a governmental department presided over
by a minister”. But one of the
definitions I found was simply “the act of serving”. It is with this definition that I began
thinking, what is my area of service?
As a professional executive
coach, the idea of service as a profession is closely aligned with the nature in
which I work every day. It is that idea
of serving others that drew me to coaching in the first place.
 |
| Maria Deotto |
To say that I have always been interested in coaching,
personal development and mentorship, is an understatement. In fact, 20 years ago as I was growing more
and more successful in my career as a marketer, I was exposed to a new and
emerging category in executive development called “professional coaching”. I researched this new category and learned
quite a bit about how this new field could support and grow leaders and that,
in this changing world, executives (and non-executives for that matter) were
seeking more balanced, holistic and fulfilling business lives. The area was very appealing to me, yet I did
not feel that I had the business experience to provide corporate leaders with
the essential “on the job” value that would help me show empathy and
understanding for what they encounter on a daily basis.
My career blossomed and success brought with it a number
of outstanding opportunities to work with major North American blue chip clients
and our agency grew to be the number one content development agency in
Canada. As a SVP and Managing Director
of this marketing agency, I saw our agency’s growth as part of an emerging
market in Canada and the US that launched an industry that married marketing
with content, and that today has applications beyond the printed word and into
the digital arena. However, something
always seemed to be missing for me. What
I did know was that I thoroughly enjoyed the human interaction and development
of those that I managed and found true fulfillment in working with those that
needed mentorship, direction and support in becoming the best that they could
be.
At that point in my career, I felt that I had the
professional experience in the corporate world to understand how business needs
are directly impacted by the strengths and weaknesses of their leaders. Launching a successful Coaching practice
involved a great deal of thought and focus, not only would I need to hone my
coaching skills but I would need to define my target market, develop my
business vision and mission, understand my unique selling proposition and
ultimately understand and define my “Ministry” – that thing in which I will
stand firm on how and why I serve those that are looking for support and
development.
This is the basis of the course that we have developed for
all Executive and Business Coaches.
Many coaches focus the majority of their
non-coaching hours on refining their coaching competencies and developing their
coaching presence, in order to deliver high quality coaching experiences for
their clients. But, what about building
their coaching businesses? Building a
successful coaching practice must be grounded in a strong, well-articulated
corporate brand identity and a defined marketing strategy, in order to position
the business, to attract, retain and nurture a desired client base.
In these highly interactive sessions, you will get feedback from your peers and expert advice and will walk away from the sessions with:
- Brand bible – articulated, clear brand identity
- Strategic Marketing Plan
- Defined target audience
- Communications Plan
- Content Plan
- Sales Tools
- Targeted Clients
- Tracking progress
- Goal Setting documents
- Sales Strategy
What is my ministry? Serving innovative leaders to enrich
organizational cultures!!
How about you?
Join Maria Deotto and Jennifer Crocker for their upcoming course, Marketing Your Coaching Practice for Success-ONLINE, March 2-29.
Visit us at cstudies.royalroads.ca.
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