Chris Barrow’s Blog

It happens to me when I work in one spot for more than, say, three days.

I suppose it’s because I have become such a reluctant road warrior these days, that when I sit in my UK apartment for three days solid, answering emails in the morning and then spending afternoons and evenings on the phone (call-in days and webinars this week), that by the third day I’m feeling quite claustrophobic.

A client today asked me for a strategy to deal with her feelings of passion, excitement and overwhelm as she starts a brand new coaching practice and cannot sleep with a head full of ideas.

There are a couple of responses to this:

1. Yesterday I received my copy of Coaching Insider, the new e-newspaper created by Susan Austin and team – and she featured a quotation by Thomas Leonard, which I paraphrase as “don’t keep stuff in your head – it’s a lousy filing cabinet – write it down and go to sleep with your head empty” – not Thomas’s exact words but my spin;

2. And for the last 25 years, the way I have “straightened out the spaghetti” in my own head is through exercise – notably running.

Yesterday started badly – I discovered that my internet connection was down and after four and half hours in call waiting systems and chatting to increasingly dumbfounded engineers I was ready to scream.

Credit here to Guy Levine, who I called to request help. He arrived 45 minutes later from his home in North Manchester and fixed me up in 10 minutes. The problem? My wireless router had somehow disconnected overnight and the laptop couldn’t find it. All the engineers hadn’t thought of that.

Guy Levine, computer repair man – turn out charge a glass of diet coke. Knowing what to do – priceless. Thanks mate.

Anyway – back to “funk”.

The computer problems set me back and there was no time for my late morning run – before the call-in day started at noon.

By 4.00pm I was in a funk of my own – just stir crazy and staring the the laptop screen like Jack Nicholson after the lobotomy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest”.

Solution – a break in calls at 4.30pm – off comes the jeans and t-shirt – on goes the running gear – and I’m off – through Dunham Massey Golf Course, down to the Bridgewater Canal and back through Dunham Massey Hall and Deer Park.

As I ran along the canal, the skies darkened and I was drenched by a short and severe thunderstorm – raindrops the size of golf balls, a freezing east wind and I struggled to see my path ahead.

It was wonderful.

I returned to my apartment wet through, cold, oxygenated, metabolised and ready.

A bracing shower with my favourite lemon soap from Lush.

Jeans and t-shirt back on.

Ready for coaching from 6.00pm till 10.00pm last night and two of our best recent bridge calls with dentists and coaches.

Training for the London Marathon has really lifted my whole well-being.

So your lesson for today is – if in a funk – empty your head and fill it with fresh air.

And run in a rainstorm.

Day three of “Funnels, Pies and Schools – the three building blocks of a successful coaching practice” was completed yesterday.

We welcomed our largest audience yet, over 20 people, to an day that had always promised “overwhelm” with the quantity of information that I wanted to share with the delegates.

The training in my core programme, The Dental Business School” is delivered in 4 full-day workshops – one per quarter – over a calendar year.

I decided to deliver the Powerpoint slides, workbooks and assessment forms for each of the 4 days – in 90-minute sessions.

The objective was to give my delegates a sense of the material we deliver in the “8 key strategies”, a description of what goes on in the workshop rooms and a host of tips as to what works and does not work, based upon my 20 years + of delivering presentations.

Unlike the first two webinar days, there was little conversation on the call, as I hurtled through the content and break-neck speed, pausing occasionally to request feedback and answer specific queries – although there was a healthy dialogue on the “IM chat” part of the webinar screen.

By 11.00pm last night (UK) I had all but lost my voice.

I wouldn’t want to facilitate days like this all the time – but did feel a great sense of achievement at the conclusion.

So we have now delivered our first 3-day event by webinar – and I’ll be asking Team CB to convert this into a passive revenue product over the weeks ahead.

We also have plans to repeat the event – possibly in European time and Australian time, over the months ahead.

I may have discovered a way to coach globally without becoming more of a road warrior.

Thanks, as always, to Kimberly Black for her role as back-stage technical wizard – and to Jen Haver for all the work she did in client relationships, managing the flow of information to our delegates before, during and after each day.

Tuesday was a call-in day for clients – 15-minute laser coaching sessions by telephone.

They are always a rich source of wisdom, emanating from the “good conversations” (see yesterday’s blog) that take place.

A favourite yesterday was with a coach client who is developing a new programme for clients in the healthcare sector and was concerned that potential clients would find her material “too simplistic”.

I reminded her of my own experience in coaching dentists for the last 8 years – that they are looking for:

1. less things “to do” and not more things “to do” and

2. simpler things “to do” and not more complex things “to do”

Maybe that’s what coaches do for their clients – create environments in which there is less to do and it all seems simpler?

On another note – I was reminded last night of the fact that the client is responsible for getting the outcome they desire from our coaching – its not my responsibility – I just create the environment.

Example – we ran our 6th bridge call last night for the “Get your practice finances in gear” programme – a 6-week mini-coaching course for dentists on financial control.

Here’s the rub – 17 dental practice owners have paid £500 for the programme, to receive 6 e-lessons, a whole batch of Excel templates and 6 one-hour bridge calls with my good self (the greatest dental business coach on our street) and Tim Thackrah – a £2m dentist and one of my most successful clients – CB & TT live and uncut for 6 hours – compelling – especially if you have paid in advance.

What happened? Well for the last 6 weeks we have averaged about 6 of the 17 on each call and last night we chatted with three dentists, one of whom joined us from a darts match as his local rugby club. By the way, I admire the latter individual for making the effort, even though the noise from his mobile phone was a problem in the rugby club, the men’s room, the car park and every other place he tried to hide.

As for the 14 who didn’t make the call – well I suppose they can listen to the recording later – but I long ago detached myself from this situation and do not worry about their non-attendance.

What I have learned is that clients take what they want most from our programmes and often leave the rest “on the plate” even though I get all excited about how good “the rest” may be.

I have also learned that what they want most may be different from what I imagined – and that’s OK.

The title of this blog is a quotation from fellow coach John Niland – I first heard John say this some years ago and don’t believe there is ever a week goes by that I don’t quote John to a client or friend.

Yesterday I was able to have a good conversation with Jen Haver, Managing Director of The Coaching Business School, my right arm in coaching coaches and friend.

We spent two hours on the phone, just updating each other on what’s going on in my life and hers and we intend to continue the conversation every day this week, so as to fully understand each other’s present reality and future vision.

Why? Because this will facilitate an action plan for the next 3 years, 12 months and 90 days.

The more “good conversations” I have, the better we all function in Team CB.

The more “good conversations” we all have, the better we all function both professionally and personally.

“Good conversations” avoided create stress and stress is a killer.

Is there anyone you have avoided having a “good conversation” with – for fear of the outcome?

Working until 11.00pm local time again last night with a group of coaches from North America, the UK and Germany.

Yesterday’s webinar covered our “coaching pie” – the various ways in which we deliver coaching to our clients.

I shared with those attending my professional evolution – from 1994, 8 clients, a flip-chart and me – to 2005 and the amazing technology that we use to deliver workshops, bridge calls, weekly reporting, laser call-in days and more besides.

I was thinking after we finished last night, how much I take for granted the technology that we use – many experienced coaches on the webinar were simply amazed at our business systems and the low price that we pay for them.

A request came for a summary and explanation of our technology and this gave me the idea to create a passive revenue product to explain “how we do it”.

After the “oil-rig shifts” (a term I use to describe the occasional very long days that we have to invest – yesterday was 6.00am to 11.00pm with a few breaks along the day) I usually feel pretty “fuzzy” the next day – kind of OK but tired – and tend to take an “amble day” to recover – still working but at a much slower pace.

In fact, today I am traveling again, down to London for a meeting this afternoon with yet another immigration attorney, hopefully to make some progress with that chapter of my life.

My prayer is that the luck of the Irish will be with me today. My maternal grandparents came from Ireland, possibly accounting for my hair colour although not my temperament.

In fact, my Mum has always maintained that the day of my birth, 9th September 1953, was a Jewish holiday and that a fortune teller explained that I would always be lucky as a result.

Well Lady Luck clearly works in mysterious ways if one takes the last 12 months into account – but then I can already see many silver linings in the adversities that we have dealt with.

As Thomas Leonard said, “look for the perfection” – it’s there somewhere.

Busy day today. I wrote my two ezines first thing this morning – a little later than usual because of my weekend travels and yesterday’s webinar.

After some professional niff naff and trivia I then welcomed Guy Levine to my Manchester apartment along with his fantastic equipment pack – and we turned my place into a recording studio for the rest of the working day.

After some discussion on our strategy for The Online Business School (OBS) we recorded our first audio-presentation for coaches:

“What do you do for a living?”

How to stop people running the other way when you tell them you are a coach.

Are trying to define or redefine the service that you provide as a coach?

Have you wrestled with identifying the niche market that you want to work with?

Do you struggle to answer the question “what do you do for a living”?

In this 60-minute audio presentation, Chris Barrow, founder of his own single-handed 7-figure coaching practice shares, through a combination of his own personal evolution as a coach and a series of practical tips and “how to’s”, the answer to three essential questions:

1. How do I decide on what service to offer as a coach?

2. How do I identify the best niche market for me and for service?

3. How do I introduce myself at professional events in a way that will have people asking for more information?

Watch out for the launch of this virtual product in a few weeks time.

Lots of fun to create the presentation, including ringing phones and passing police cars.

This evening I fulfilled my duties as a loving son – visiting my mother and listening patiently to a vivid description of all of her illnesses and the illnesses of all family members.

Then as a caring father, taking my 12-year old daughter and her best friend out for a pizza and vanilla ice cream. The two of them never stopped talking for 2 hours – and I enjoyed my pizza (rocket and Parmesan) and a cappuccino.

Tonight I co-presented Lesson 5 of our “Get your practice finances in gear” programme with Dr Tim Thackrah.

What a good day!

I’m tired and will grab an early night.

Well I completed the Duchy 20-miler in 3 hours and 18 minutes – not bad for a 51-year old who hasn’t been training well for a year.

It was a pretty cold and grey day in Cornwall but thankfully the wind on the North Cornwall cliffs was down to a murmur and the views across the Atlantic spectacular.

I put on a spurt for the finish line (after hobbling the last 2 miles), thinking that it would impress the crowd of spectators.

I was disgusted to discover that they were all gathered around a full marathon runner who had completed his 26 miles just ahead of me and then promptly collapsed across the finish, passed out and needed medical attention.

Typical attention-grabbing behaviour – should be banned.

Today – the first day of our global webinar conference and another tribute to Team CB and especially Jen Haver, who has done a magical job of contacting all the delegates and letting them know just how it works. World-class support – I am very blessed.

We have delegates today from Canada, United States, Britain and Germany.

I am writing this blog at 9.15pm and we will be back on-line and bridge shortly until 11.00pm tonight – a late night and a long day but I’m having a blast.

Once again, I am inspired by clients and team.

Sorry – been traveling this week.

Exeter on Thursday for a great Dental Business School board meeting with Barbara and Simon. The business is really healthy.

Today I have been on a business development day and catching up with some client emails before the weekend.

Sunday I will be running in the Duchy 20 – a 20-mile road race based in Redruth, Cornwall – and a preparatory run for April’s London Marathon.

Its cold, bleak and grey in Cornwall today and I hope the weather improves.

Another good week comes to a close and I am once again in admiration of the work that Team CB have done behind the scenes.

So there we are, launching the world’s first practice management webinar for coaches to 2000 ezine readers last Friday.

And the people who run the shopping cart facility don’t tell us that their systems will be down over the weekend.

Result? Small bouts of chaos and confusion and yours truly incandescent with frustration.

Its now Wednesday and we are still not 100% sure that the systems work – hopefully that will be checked today and the ever faithful Jen Haver will re-contact all 2000 readers to say “hey – we can accept your bookings now – for a conference beginning next Monday!”

I suppose this qualifies as real-time marketing.

What has been fantastic is the way that Jen and other Team CB members have rallied around and offered solutions and options – firstly as I traveled across Europe on Sunday/Monday and since then.

Details of the conference are at http://thecoachingbusinessschool.com/opmc.html and we do have some readers who have managed to book a place on-line – so we are good to go no matter how many attend.

It will be fantastic experience.

What do we learn from this?

1. Next time you broadcast an event, make sure that any external service providers are up and running with you.

2. You are only as good as your team, it is said – how true.

Just in case you don’t receive the ezine that announces this direct – the web address is:

http://www.thecoachingbusinessschool.com/newsletter/cgmar1-05.html

So go take a look.

After spending the weekend off-line and driving from Como, Italy to Manchester, England – I arrived home this afternoon to a plethora of emails from potential webinar attendees having difficulty registering through our shopping basket.

If you clear out the cookies on your PC the system should work OK – Team CB have tested it and it works.