I exchanged emails with Deb Griest, ACC months ago in hopes of putting together a profile on her and her practice. With classes starting in less than two weeks, it seemed like a good time to share this quick yet inspiring interview! And just like the other profiles we have featured so far (see a few here, here and here), Deb’s answers are full of wisdom and great advice. It doesn’t matter if you are heading into Launch this fall (good luck!) or if you are close to applying for your PCC – this will surely give you something to think about when it comes to your own coaching practice. Deb (from Bay Village, Ohio if you keep track of these things) is an ordained elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and has a Master’s Degree in Spiritual Formation from Ashland University. She is the Executive Director of Seeking Stillness Ministries where she leads retreats and provides spiritual guidance for women, and during the work week, Deb is a business consultant and executive coach.

How did you get started coaching? As part of my leadership and organization development job at NASA. (She says that she has been coaching since before coaching was really, well, coaching!)

What is your coaching specialty/niche? Helping educated, highly technical professionals develop leadership skills.

Who are your clients? Professional services firms, health systems, Fortune 500 companies, mid-size private and family-owned businesses.

What kind of goals do your clients typically pursue in your coaching? Improvement in people leadership skills and strategic thinking.

Best coaching story: Coaching a person who was highly accomplished in her technical field, and completely overwhelmed by fear that she would make a mistake that would end her reputation and career. Because of this, her leadership behavior was very unpredictable and emotionally charged. People were leaving her teams and did not want to work with her. She realized, through self-reflection that she was become a person she didn’t like or respect. Over the past two years her approach to her work, her leadership of others, and her joy in life have improved dramatically.

How has coaching changed you, and what have you learned about yourself? I have learned how challenging it is to not play the expert consultant role and how important it is for others to learn from their own experiences and reflection.

What’s unique about your coaching?  I am very direct yet caring in the way I work with people. I help them uncover their blind spots, but also support them through the emotionality of having to change.

What is your best advice to someone who wants to use coaching to develop the people around them? Be patient.

What have you learned while running your own coaching practice/business? Hire help (mine are contractors) for the things that distract you from doing your best work. For me, that is accounting, invoicing, and proofreading documents. Also for me, I have chosen to remain a sole proprietor and not hire employees and build a large practice. I prefer to provide coaching instead of supervising people who are providing coaching.

What would you say to someone who is considering coaching as a career? Don’t look upon coaching as just a way of making additional income, a way to use the expertise you have developed over your career, or simply to have more freedom. Good coaching is based on love and loving people through change takes a ton out of you. Too many people are becoming coaches for the wrong reasons.

What are your coaching goals? To help others achieve their goals.

What’s next in your coach development? Developing group coaching skills, I think. I really enjoy individual work, but more and more businesses want to economize by offering group coaching.

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Would you like to be featured as a working coach? If you are interested, please email Lindsey and she’ll be in touch!

Today is Profile #3: John Mocko, ACC.

A couple weeks ago I asked John some questions, and because they flow so well on their own, today I’m setting this up as a Q&A session. As you will read below, John is not looking for things to do with his time, but even so, we are very excited that soon he will be leading some of the classes we offer, and everyone here is very excited to have him join the team!

Name: John Mocko

Place of Residence: Englewood, Florida

Job: Currently I am Program Director for Faith+ Finances + Freedom for the North Carolina Synod and Coaching Lab Coordinator for coaches for mission developers and redevelopers in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

How long have you been coaching? I have been coaching since 2006.

How did you get started coaching? I was invited by my Director for Evangelical Mission to attend NCD (Natural Church Development) and Coach Training in South Carolina.

What is your coaching specialty/niche? Most of my coaching has to do with either leadership development or life coaching.

Who are your clients? Most of my clients are pastors or lay leaders in the church. I also coach some people in the business world.

What kind of goals do your clients typically pursue in coaching? Most of the time I coach toward the goal of effective development of leadership capacity, usually in a specific context such as congregational renewal or mission development. I also coach people toward particular life goals such as preparing for retirement or personal growth and health.

What is one of your best coaching stories? One of my clients was paralyzed by various kinds of fears. Our coaching conversations led the client to develop a series of tiny habits over several sessions, things the client would say when fear appeared in her mind. The tiny habits are proving to be effective for the client to regain self-control and self-confidence. The client remarked, “I am smarter. I am stronger. I am healthier.”

How has coaching changed you, and what have you learned about yourself? Coaching has tuned my listening skills; now I can better understand what is important to another person. I am more aware of my inner voice and how to control it so that a client can benefit from my coaching. I have learned that I have the basic skill set for coaching and that I have to continue to develop those skills day by day in order to be the best coach I can be.

What’s unique about your coaching and what’s unique about you as a coach? One client I have describes our coaching conversations as “wondrous dread’. What he means by this is that we have developed a trust level where he always finds himself going deeper in his thinking, to places where he doesn’t usually go that push his self-understanding. The conversations result in wonder and joy for him. I seek to develop trust with my clients that will allow me to ask powerful questions that produce significant growth for my clients.

What is your best advice for someone who wants to use coaching to develop the people around them? Relationship is critical, relationship that inspires mutual trust and respect. Coaching presence is also crucial. Invest in the life interests of the client. Then use the basic skills of coaching. As people experience you as someone who listens curiously to what is important to them, they grow.

What have you learned while running your own coaching practice? I have learned the importance of developing good habits for my coaching. Recording sessions and listening to them helps me grow in my capacity. I learn from my mistakes and build on good habits as I listen to a session after it has been recorded. Taking notes during a session and using them to prepare for my next coaching session with a client is very helpful. Preparing for a session at least 15 minutes before a session begins puts me in a better state of mind for coaching.

What are the key insights you would offer about developing a coaching culture? Culture change takes time, and therefore demands a lot of patience. A key leader in a system who can develop a team to promote a coaching culture has been helpful within our church body. As people are changed by coaching, tell their stories as a way to inspire others to engage in coaching.

What is your favorite CoachNet class? Coaching Habits

What would you say to someone who is considering coaching as a career? The active recruiting of clients is important. Don’t wait for people to come to you seeking your services as a coach. Go out and look for people who could benefit from your coaching, invite them to a trial period first if they are not ready for a long-term coaching relationship.

What are your coaching goals? I want to become better as a coach as a result of each coaching session that I have so that my clients accomplish the goals they set for themselves.

What’s next in your coach development? I hope to achieve my Professional Coaching Credential (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation this year.

Today is Profile #2: Ryan Dohrn, ACC.

Ryan Dohrn, ACC is the founder of Brain Swell Media, a firm that specializes in sales coaching and sales training. Ryan calls himself a business coach, a motivational speaker, and a revenue consultant.  He lives in Beech Island, South Carolina, but travels around the country (U.S.) and world, speaking to teams and using coaching to help people start and build companies. Ryan earned his ACC credential through the ICF two years ago, but has been coaching business leaders and sales professionals for the past fifteen years.  He first got into coaching when he, personally, was looking for a coach and couldn’t find what he was looking for. And just how so many great things start, he saw a need and filled it. Since then, he has been coaching leaders and leadership teams in the sales and marketing fields through his work at Brain Swell Media. He says that his main clients are media companies, technology companies and entrepreneurs pursuing overall revenue growth.

Why Coaching:  “I do not need to have all the answers.  I truly love being a coach and not a consultant all the time.” Ryan is in a unique position in that he is a coach, a consultant and also often runs sales and marketing for his clients. He says he’s like a player/coach – which often times can be challenging.  However, he says that his coaching stays relevant due to the fact that he is often times right in the middle with his clients. 

His Advice:  “Be patient. Coaching takes time. Wait until after at least three to five coaching sessions to gauge your personal satisfaction.”

“You have to learn how to market yourself and your business. No one will seek you out. For me, coaching is not the most difficult part, running a business is. Also, find a niche and own that niche. Refer clients that do not fit your niche. I do not believe that I can coach everyone effectively. Someone with a specialty in a certain area knows how to ask better questions related to their area of expertise. Too many coaches try to be a one-size-fits-all coach.  I advise against this.”       

Since Ryan often works with groups of people, both small and large, he is constantly working toward building a coaching culture in different settings. He says he can’t coach those that do not want to be coached (and we agree with that!), so, he will start with group work and assessments. He thinks that assessments can be the best guide toward coaching a person and a company.

Client Story:  Ryan started coaching a woman who had recently purchased a failing media company. At the start of their conversation, she mentioned that she had $200 in her business checking account.  After that first coaching session, she and her team sold over $24,000 in business – and it saved her company.

Most Meaningful CoachNet Class: The team coaching sessions where the most helpful.
Coaching Goals:  To have coaches under me and specialize even further.
What’s Next in Your Coaching: ICF re-certification.

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Today is Profile #1:  Greg Schaller, ACC.

Dr. Greg Schaller, ACC and his family recently moved from the west coast of the United States to Dubai, the largest city in the UAE. Having been a full-time pastor for most of his career, Greg left his pastoral role to transition into a new role as full-time leadership coach (he had done some coaching previously).  Now he works mainly with pastors, church planters, church leaders and missionaries in the USA, Dubai and the Middle East. But, he says coaching also gives him the ability to mix and work with business people in the Muslim world, which his past role as a full-time pastor might not have led to so naturally. Dubai is right in the heart of the 10/40 window where Christianity has very little in-roads – and Greg feels like this title of leadership coach helps him cross cultural and religious boundaries.

Why Coaching: About ten years ago, Greg was sitting at a conference when he had his ah-ha moment. Something clicked for him that day and he has been coaching ever since. “Coaching has made me more in tune with people. It’s made me realize how important trust is in relationships and it has made me a much better listener. I’ve realized it’s not how much you know, but often it’s how well I listen and that I am present to hear my client’s issues and discoveries.”

Client Story: In passing, a client of Greg’s shared a ministry dream that the client had little hope in and little energy to pursue. They began to discuss this dream, and started brainstorming ways and possibilities that this could come to life. Together, they designed an action plan, and in a matter of weeks, the dream came to life with funding to make it happen.

Personal Development: Gregg’s next steps are to gain coaching hours and the education required to apply for PCC credential. He works with a peer coach and has done some mentor coaching with the CoachNet staff.

Some of Greg’s coaching goals include:

1. Being a gift to those he coaches.
2. Becoming the best coach he can become.
3. Growing leaders.
4. To be used of God in the coaching process.

On Finding Clients: Greg says that positive, personal relationships are what help him find and maintain clients. He likes to quickly move from email to a phone conversation or a face-to-face meeting when geography allows. In Dubai, which presents different challenges than perhaps most other locations, he offers pro bono coaching for churches and pastors. This way the church takes very little risk upfront, but can quickly experience the power of coaching. Once he sees the pastor/leaders feeling supported and finding clarity, he moves into a formal contract.

In corporate settings, he aims for a face-to-face meeting with a high-level executive or employee. He talks through their needs and shares how coaching can help with those needs, adding in testimonies when they fit the context of the conversation. And he added that he always asks for referrals, leading to a client funnel that he says is “highly personal, very low cost, and simple”.

The Business of Coaching: Since starting his own coaching practice, Greg has learned that the business side of coaching is important. He’s learned that marketing is essential and that finding and focusing on his niche has been critical. He says “people are not so much interested in coaching as they are finding the solutions to their issues and problems. Coaching is not the end point rather the client’s growth and performance.  Many times it takes multiple exposures of the coach to a company, group or person for them to decide ‘yes, I’m signing up’. I find it’s helpful to start with people with whom you already have some kind of a relationship.”

Why CoachNet: “The training offered at CoachNet Global is outstanding. The trainers exceed my expectations in every offering. I would recommend 100 Launch as a baseline for every coach. It gets to the core of how to coach people. Someone could take this course to see if they want to proceed with ICF certification. And also, it’s important to put into practice what you’re learning right away – even with one or two people.”

Next Steps in Coaching for Greg:  He’s working on a PCC!