I’ll be honest, when someone says to you, “Hey, would you like to plan a cruise?” my first reaction would normally be, “What? Are you crazy?”
First off, it’s never been done before. And there’s probably a reason for that. Sure, there have been some “self-development” cruises out there, consisting of several figures in the business offering one or two workshops and anyone can register. But we’re talking about a COACH TRAINING CRUISE… like, just for coaches.
But then again, I’ve had a past history of creating things to deepen our discovery of coaching–our power, confidence and success in this profession.
The Coaching Skills Forum started over 8 years ago when I was looking around for someplace I could go to have deep, provocative and engaging conversations about our coaching skills with other coaches. I was only two years a coach and already sick of the calls out there that were all about getting on and listening for an hour to some other coach droning on about what they know. That wasn’t fun. And amazingly I found other coaches who felt the same way. There is nothing else like it out there.
Coaches all over where (and still are) struggling with how to find their first five clients and get started. And while there are lots of experts on building super coaching businesses, there was (and still is) precious little resources to help coaches really get moving to start building their business. So I wrote “Finding Your First Five Clients”, which to this day answers so many questions.
Then I developed the Fast Pass to MasterFull Coaching, again because there was no place really coaches could go for Advanced Coach training. Sure there were and always will be tons of workshops and classes that add to our toolbox, but precious few really sharpen our blades and provide us with powerful foundations that focus on the ART and PERFORMANCE of coaching. And I continue to find coaches who are hungry for this experience and learning. There really is nothing else like it out there.
And then I realized that while the ICF was stepping away from doing conferences, the Midwest chapters were beginning to collaborate with each other and a Midwest regional conference seemed the perfect things to focus our forces and combine our energies towards. Now in our third year, it’s bigger and better than ever and is one of the largest and most exciting coaching events in the country. And the unique part is that it’s a conference that’s created entirely “Of the Coaches, by the coaches and for the coaches.” This conference continues to thrive because I was able to find other coaches out there who believed in the same thing and wanted to be a part of it. Truly there is nothing else like it out there.
So I guess I’ve created a history of creating things that I feel are missing, that there’s a need for, and (and here’s the important part) there’s nothing else like it out there.
I think that’s what tipped it over the edge for me.
Just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean that it can’t be done. Think about it. Everything that you have experienced didn’t exist at some point.
There was a time when someone had to recognize that now was the time, be willing to take the risk and find those others out there who were willing to support and play along.
So when one of my coach students proposed this idea to me, it tapped into three powerful motivators for me.
A) It was another way for me to help coaches and the coaching profession grow.
B) There were other coaches interested in participating and helping out.
C) It had never been done before.
So I guess I’m willing to take the risk. Yes, it could be an absolute bust. Who, after all, in their right mind would spend $1000 to get out of the cold and grey winter, play in the sun, eat as much wonderful food as they could, relax and rejuvanate, and grow their coaching? Well, since i put it that way… maybe it’s not such a crazy idea after all.
I sure know it’s something that I would like. And that’s how everything else has started.