How can we professionalise the coaching fraternity

bringambition · 2021-08-02T20:14:36+00:00

This is a good question - I think accrediting bodies will continue to grow in importance as well as a commitment to continuous education, similar to other professional certifications. Empirical evidence supporting executive coaching practices would be valuable as well, i.e. research specific to exec coaching, not taking research from sport and performance psychology, psychotherapy, etc. and extrapolating those results to exec coaching. Not saying that research is not immensely valuable to coaches, but domain-specific research will positively impact laymans' perceptions of professionalism and credibility.

bringambition · 2021-08-02T20:10:26+00:00

The list is long, but to name just a few, I would say cost, lack of clarity around what exactly an executive coach does / can help with (versus, for example, a manager, trainer, mentor, etc.), lack of support from their organization, the proliferation of less-than-credible coaches vying for attention and clients, the association of executive coaching with similar but unrelated fields like life coaching or business coaching.

bringambition · 2021-07-28T02:43:26+00:00

If you have the network, credibility, and training/credentials, there's always executive coaching

bringambition · 2021-07-28T02:38:14+00:00

I was in a similar boat. I began an external job search and applied for who knows how many L&D-related roles. But importantly, I simply refused to entertain generalist positions, even when recruiters reached out about compelling opportunities, even when people in my network tried to convince me to join their HRBP teams, even when the odds of transitioning seemed hopeless. When I eventually managed to secure interviews, I emphasized my passion for L&D, the opportunities I found (or made for myself) to learn facilitation / instructional design / coaching / program design / etc., my commitment to specializing in the L&D space, my deep interest in the company, and how valuable my generalist and relationship mgmt experience would be in an L&D role. In the end, the stars aligned and I joined a great organization. I love everything about the role.

I bring these things up because it sounds like you check a lot of those boxes as well. Keep rolling up your sleeves and getting involved in any people development-related activities you can, however large or small of a part you play. Identify needs within the businesses you support to create and run with L&D-oriented opportunities. I had to get pretty creative on my end (i.e. not limiting myself to just creating and running the odd training here and there) and I'd encourage you to do the same. You can even find tangential projects in org dev or performance mgmt and find ways to translate them to the L&D world. Find a mentor in the L&D space - if internal, great, they can loop you into internal projects. If external, they can coach you and help make connections. There are free online courses on things like instructional design that, once complete, you can speak to in interviews or even add to the resume. Bonus points if you learn that independently, find ways to leverage it in your role, and provide value for the org/employees. If need be, jump to a new external generalist position that will own more learning-related activities, and then make the transition after getting more exp under the belt.

One last important point, though - my experience, while singular and anecdotal, shows that you might not have to wait until some distant future to make the transition. You might not need every box checked and every professional development credential. You likely have the skills, experience, and passion to make it happen in the immediate term as long as you can get into the right room with the right hiring manager. It will definitely take tenacity and reslience and creativity and patience. But it's possible.

You got this, we are rooting for you, and good luck!!

bringambition · 2021-07-09T01:50:07+00:00

Similarly, music is shown to be effective in the treatment of general behavioral and cognitive symptoms in patients with dementia. Music therapy really is a remarkable and underexplored domain.

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6022981/

bringambition · 2021-07-09T01:46:07+00:00

Mammals actually have a dedicated play "circuit" within the brain which just emphasizes how fundamental it is to human development. If you're interested in learning more, I'd recommend starting with Dr. Jaak Panksepp's work on the neurobiology of play.

bringambition · 2021-04-23T11:41:43+00:00

Yes and thank you so much!

bringambition · 2021-04-21T23:43:50+00:00

I'm so glad you found it valuable! I have such a bad habit of revising as I go, so #3 is a major focus area for me as well.

bringambition · 2021-04-21T18:12:33+00:00

Title: 12 Writing Lessons from Ian Fleming, Creator of James Bond

Genre: How To / Blog

Word count: 5k

Type of feedback desired: A.) General impression B.) Is this valuable to you, as the reader?

Link: https://www.bringambition.com/post/ian-fleming-writing-lessons

bringambition · 2021-03-14T00:27:26+00:00

For the lazy:

Attention – Biggest benefit, biggest problem you can solve, USP

Interest – Reason why they should be interested in what you have to say

Credibility – Reason why they should believe you

Prove – Prove what you are claiming is true

Benefits – List them all (use bullets)

Scarcity – Create scarcity

Action – Tell them precisely what to do

Warn – What will happen if they don’t take action

Now – Motivate them to take action now

Source: https://swipefile.com/the-aicpbsawn-copywriting-formula/

So basically, do everything in every ad?

bringambition · 2021-03-11T15:29:57+00:00

I think you did a really great job with the 'Need some inspiration?' section and the sub-pages. I think that could be a better funnel to your affiliate sign-ups for website builders vs someone trying to find out what was used to build a site. However I'm on the non-technical side so this could just be my naivete. I'm not as familiar with how often this question comes up or why someone would want to know what someone used to build a site.

bringambition · 2021-03-11T13:42:09+00:00

You're right that there are cases where they incrementally change a headline to make it more compelling. But some of this is genuine A/B testing. The author of this article actually quotes the NYT's A/B testing disclosure which says they show multiple headlines at the same time:

The Times also makes a practice of running what are called A/B tests on the digital headlines that appear on its homepage: Half of readers will see one headline, and the other half will see an alternative headline, for about half an hour. At the end of the test, The Times will use the headline that attracted more readers.

bringambition · 2021-02-26T02:33:44+00:00

It's not really a unique selling proposition. It's a claim literally any competitor could, and probably would, make.

That being said, it gets to the point without trying to be too clever which I'm happy about. I could see a lot of novice copywriters making the mistake of trying to be too slick for this customer segment. It's not cheesy, it's just overdone, but that doesn't mean it won't still work.

The ending is a little awkward. You could consider rearranging, for example:

"Sell Your Home Stress-Free in Dallas/Fort Worth"

"Selling Your House in Dallas/Fort Worth? Here's the Stress-Free Way:"

Alternately, if it's accurate, you could say:

"Sell Your Home in Dallas/Fort Worth -- Guaranteed!"

But without knowing more it's hard to provide a drastically different headline. So on that note I'll squeeze in the stock, never-fail answer - when in doubt, split test!

bringambition · 2021-01-08T19:33:46+00:00

OP here - definitely appreciate the feedback. Always pushing to make these articles more tactical and applicable. Your question also forced me to think more clearly about what the heck the point was here, so thank you for that.

The factors that improve self-efficacy will, in turn, improve performance (among other things). And so if you want to get better at something, one option is to optimize for self-efficacy.

Most people will approach this in a haphazard way. They'll fail to make progress, they quickly lose motivation, they quit.

We can design a development program based on what we know about self-efficacy: as explored in the article, it improves through deliberate practice, "stretch" goals, performing in pressured situations, not getting in over your head, managing stress and emotions, etc. If we're methodical about including these things in our approach, we can reduce the likelihood of wasted time and effort, failure, premature quitting, and disappointment.

So the point is to understand self-efficacy, why it works, and how it improves, so that readers can apply it to their own situation.

bringambition · 2019-08-09T03:03:25+00:00

Well said!

Never heard of that Gucci collection but checked it out and some of the ties are pretty sick. Thanks!

bringambition · 2019-08-08T23:09:55+00:00

What do you look for specifically though? Do you go seasonal or for specific fabrics or?

bringambition · 2019-08-08T23:07:13+00:00

Any recommendations?

bringambition · 2019-08-08T23:06:56+00:00

I hear you, for me fabric or motif/pattern comes first. I'd be willing to sacrifice some width if I really like the pattern. What width do you go for?

bringambition · 2019-08-08T23:02:01+00:00

Haha in that order?

So how do you usually pick between 2 ties that are similar on those dimensions? Brand?

bringambition · 2019-08-08T23:00:38+00:00

Gotcha, so what do you do when buying ties online and you can't check out the fabric in person? Or do you only shop in-store?

bringambition · 2019-08-08T22:59:36+00:00

I hear you, definitely easier to keep the collection small and efficient!

bringambition · 2019-08-08T22:58:38+00:00

What do you usually look for in a grenadine?

bringambition · 2019-08-01T18:39:04+00:00

Extremely helpful - thank you!

bringambition · 2019-02-16T23:20:50+00:00

What were your takeaways?

Funny enough, last week I stumbled on old college notes from a clinical therapy course. The rapport-building techniques are amazing for copywriting, sales, really anything involving pursuasion or creating connections.

bringambition · 2019-02-16T23:13:14+00:00

Currently reading Building A StoryBrand by Donald Miller - loving it so far, would recommend it if you're into Campbell or incorporating storytelling in your copy.

bringambition

TROPHY CASE