ITV BAFTA for Haiti news coverage

ITV, 10pm.  The evening's news round-up highlights the BAFTA award which followed ITV's reporting of the earthquakes in Haiti and their aftermath.  To acompany this news item, ITV provides brief footage of the lives that the people of Hait are living now - whole families living in tents in the most basic conditions and still, their spirits indomitable.

I ponder why it is that my call to my colleagues to come forward and give time and energy to raise money in support of the people of Haiti has yielded - so far - such a limited response.  I am aware that there are many potential reasons.

Of course, our news reporters move on, and new disasters arise.  Around the world our eyes are on the Gulf of Mexico as the best of BP brains struggle to contain the oil spillage and we contemplate the devastating effect on the region's wildlife, economy, culture even.  Closer to home we are aghast at the killing of 12 people and the wounding of a further 11 by Derrick Bird.

And yes, like the people of Haiti though for entirely different reasons, the people of Britain need to call on their own indomitable spirit right now - and for the foreseeable future. Today our new Prime Minister highlighted that, with our current level of debt, 10p in every pound we pay in taxes will go to pay the interest on our national debt. We are entering into hard times.

Also, amongst coaches, one reason seems widespread.  Coaches are working at full stretch to meet their own needs:  only today I was talking with a colleague about the number of people who train as coaches and discover that the journey is more than they can bear.  It's not just that you have to become a salesman or woman in order to build your own business (though this alone may well be enough).  It's also that few are prepared for the depth of the personal and spiritual journey - the learning - required in order to be able to support the learning of others.  Sometimes when you put these - and other - factors together, there's not a lot left over.
 
Still, there are ways to carry the torch and still support your own needs.  Recently, I have cut a deal with a couple of people in my life to carry out a one-off coaching session for which they will make a donation to www.JustGiving.com/CoachingforHaiti.  One has already expressed an interest in becoming a client so I know it's possible that this may in time benefit my business.  And whether it does or it doesn't, I am glad to give to the people of Haiti.

Coaching for Haiti: checking in with my clients

Two months have passed since I last wrote on the Coaching for Haiti blog. I am painfully aware that I have yet to raise a penny towards Coaching for Haiti and also yearning to contribute to the lives of the men, women and children whose lives were so dramatically affected by the earthquakes in January 2010.

I have made it a principal of my contribution that it will also support my business so that then, at least, I have an inbuilt incentive to take action. Today I publish my newsletter with the following offers and announcements in the News Roundup:

Giving something back - Coaching for Haiti: Moved by the news reportage at the beginning of the year I set up Coaching for Haiti as a way to contribute to the relief efforts following the earthquakes in January 2010. You can read about Coaching for Haiti at http://coachingforhaiti.blogspot.com or contribute ideas via the Coaching for Haiti group on LinkedIn or make a donation directly via www.JustGiving.com/CoachingforHaiti. Equally, look out for our special offers, including our offers below.

Coaching for Haiti – training in coaching skills: In case you are interested to support leaders in your organisation in developing their coaching skills, I am offering to donate 25% of my fees for a two-day Coaching Skills for Leaders course to Coaching for Haiti. Please contact me for further information.

Coaching for Haiti – coaching strategy sessions: I am offering to donate 25% of my fees to Coaching for Haiti for up to ten Strategy Sessions I hold in 2010 with clients with whom I am not currently scheduled to work. These include new clients and former clients who value the opportunity to take stock. A Strategy Session provides an opportunity to step back from your current plans and activities to review plans and to identify those areas in which taking action could provide the greatest leverage across the whole of your current agenda.

Coaching for Haiti – your referrals in 2010: Many new clients reach me via your referral. I’ll be donating 10% of fees for Month One to Coaching for Haiti for any new clients who reach me by referral.

I'd love to think that there are coaches out there who, like me, want to contribute to the lives of people in Haiti. I wonder, are you one of them?

When the universe provides

Amongst the people who were quick to come back with ideas for Coaching for Haiti, Kate Burton came back with an idea by return.

As a published author (with three books in the 'for Dummies' series and the soon-to-be-published Live Life, Love Work under her belt) Kate shared the idea that she might offer a coaching package for an aspiring author and donate the payment to Coaching for Haiti.

As it happens, I immediately thought of a friend and colleague who is currently writing his first book. When I mentioned his name Kate was already a step closer to finding her Coaching for Haiti client.

This week, I said hello to another member of an on-line forum to which I belong and - in the midst of writing - thought of Kate's offer. In her personal introduction, my fellow forum member mentioned her intention to write a book. I added a PS to let her know of Kate's Coaching for Haiti offer and she responded by asking for Kate's contact details. Set the intention and the universe provides.

And just in case you want to be Kate's Coaching for Haiti client or know someone who does, you can reach her via her website at http://www.kateburton.co.uk/.

Coaching for Haiti: how do I make it work for me?

Talking to coaches about Coaching for Haiti, it's clear that some feel torn. They'd like to contribute and yet they feel thay have enough on their plate already.

For some coaches this may be a sign that yes, this one is not for me - at least not at this time. I think of my friend Len Williamson who is currently investing his time and energy to raise money for research into Multiple Sclerosis under the name 1000 Miles for Hope. It's clear that his energies are invested elsewhere.

For some, especially for those who feel drawn to contribute and still have a concern about time, this may be a sign that they have not yet found a way to give that also supports them in pursuing other goals. This posting is for this second group of coaches and carries the invitation to wonder: how might I contribute to Coaching for Haiti in ways which support my key goals for 2010?

And in case you're looking for inspiration, please sign up to the Coaching for Haiti group on LinkedIn - or look out for just one example of the way the universe provides in my next posting.

Welcoming your participation

When I started to share the idea of Coaching for Haiti with friends, colleagues and clients I did it in the awareness of the vast networks which, together, we command.

I was thrilled to see the posting below from Lucy Finney, which I use with her permission. Lucy has joined the Coaching for Haiti group on LinkedIn and has already offered ideas. I also found her energy so refreshing and nourishing.

This is what she wrote:

Dorothy, I have joined the group to see what I can do, I think the idea of coaching for charity is excellent. I am full time employed, but also a qualified coach, NLP and MBTI Practitioner and I am linked into Coaching at Work and the OPP expert network. I will see what I can do to raise the profile of this idea for you and consider how I can help. I am certainly prepared to give my time to coach where possible at events. I look forward to helping and seeing how this idea can grow. I've put my money where my mouth is and donated through all your links! Lucy

Thank you Lucy.

A special offer for International Coaching Week

It is International Coaching week next week, when coaches around the world do something to raise the profile of coaching. This annual event recognises that coaching is still a young and growing profession and reflects the commitment of coaches working in a wide variety of fields to share their passion for coaching and what it can do for clients.

This year I have decided to invest time and energy into an initiative to raise money for the relief efforts in Haiti and in recent days I have been wondering what I can do to make International Coaching Week work for the people of Haiti. I decided to make a special offer to anyone who, during the week beginning 8th February 2010, confirms and pays for coaching with Learning for Life (Consulting). The coaching itself doesn’t need to take place during that week – just the booking and payment.

This offer is available both to corporate and to private clients: whilst most of my clients are corporate clients I do reserve Mondays to work with private clients by telephone. It also applies to anything you choose to book, from a two-hour session to take stock to a coaching programme for your organisation’s senior leadership team. And just in case this offer proves overwhelmingly popular, I shall of course be taking care not to confirm more coaching than I can possibly deliver: it is, as they say, “subject to availability”.

You get to choose from one of the following possibilities:

• Perhaps you’d enjoy a discount to make it easy to book that coaching you’ve been thinking about for a while. If so, I’m offering a 10% discount on our normal coaching fees provided you book and pay during the week beginning 8th February, 2010;
• Perhaps you’d like to pay the full fees and know that some of the money will go to Coaching for Haiti. If so, I will pay your 10% and add 10% of my own to Coaching for Haiti at www.JustGiving.com/CoachingforHaiti. That’s a full 20% of the full coaching fees to Coaching for Haiti. This is, again, provided you book and pay during the week beginning 8th February, 2010.

If you’d like to take advantage of this offer, please drop me a line at dorothy@learningforlifeconsulting.co.uk with ‘Special offer for International Coaching Week’ in the title. And please feel free to pass this offer on to anyone you know for whom this might be the right opportunity at the right time.

And if you’re also a coach and would like to make the same offer to your clients, please do.

Coaching for Haiti: what's our target?

Sometimes, you just have to set your target and work out how you might meet it. It's on this basis that I have set my targets on the page for donations at www.JustGiving.com/CoachingforHaiti. I've gone with my gut.

As an overall figure, I've gone for £100,000.00. I'm hoping that this will comprise contributions from coaches and their clients all over the UK and beyond and reflect our passion to contribute, our conviction that we can make it happen with ease - and our individual and collective imagination. Tomorrow, I'll be posting a special offer for International Coaching Week, the week beginning 8th February, 2010.

I have also opted for a personal target within that overall figure of £10,000.00. Again, I don't know how to make it happen and still, I am full of ideas and will be sharing them as time goes by.

Whether you are a coach, a client of coaching, or simply someone who would like to contribute, please join in.

Coaching for Haiti: do I have to be a coach to get involved?

Alongside "what can I do to help?", "do I have to be a coach to get involved?" is the most common question I have received so far. The answer is no. There's room for many contributions to this project. I thought I'd share a few thoughts about what those contributions might be.

Firstly, anyone can join the Coaching for Haiti group on LinkedIn and get involved in the discussions which will be shaping the project as it goes on. It's especially helpful to have people's ideas at this stage - it's early days and people are clearly looking for inspiration.

It's also a time of spreading the word - something everyone can do. The more you are involved in the project (via the LinkedIn group, for example), the more you will know who to reach out to and what to say to them when you do.

Maybe you have some specific skill that might support the project. I can imagine that a great marketeer could help me to jazz up the page for donations on JustGiving. A great salesman might "sell" some sponsored coaching to some person or organisation that's keen to support this project. I may be wrong and still, I am imagining that for as many "sponsored coachings" sold there will be coaches who are eager to support this project by giving their time and coaching skills.

And of course, if all else fails, you can make a donation via www.JustGiving.com/CoachingforHaiti. This will go directly to the Disasters and Emergency Committee together with the tax they reclaim on your behalf.

Coaching for Haiti: what can I do to help?

One of the most common questions that is coming back to me is "what can I do to help". I thought I'd take a moment to answer it here.

Maybe it's worth prefacing what I say with this thought: that I hope that everyone who contributes will do so because they are following their natural inclination to do so. For me this is about joyfully giving in ways which meet one's own needs. Let there be no sense of obligation in this project.

Right now, of course, it helps to spread the word. This is a project the success of which depends on many contributions. For this reason I took two simple actions to spread the word. One was to programme an automated PS on my e-mail signature and the other was to programme my autoresponder so that everyone who sends me an e-mail will get a brief introduction. This is my automated PS:

PS This automated message is to let you know that this year, Learning for Life (Consulting) is sponsoring Coaching for Haiti to raise money for the men, women and children of Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquakes in January 2010. If you'd like to support this initiative, you can read more at http://CoachingforHaiti.blogspot.com, or join the Coaching for Haiti group on LinkedIn or make a donation directly at www.JustGiving.com/CoachingforHaiti.

It also helps to have people's ideas and involvement. For this reason I have set up a discussion page on the Coaching for Haiti LinkedIn group. If you join the group and sign up to 'follow this discussion' you will be notified of any new ideas people choose to post.

I don't know about you but I am interested in what often gets called 'enlightened self interest'. For this reason, I am enjoying some of the ideas that support me as well as the project. For example, I have made a commitment to donate a percentage of the first invoice that is paid this year by any new client who reaches me by referral. Am I enjoying sharing this commitment with people? You bet I am.

And what about you? What ideas do you have?

Making your donations: it's all set up!

It's amazing what you can do in between the cracks and what you learn in less than a day. One person has signed up (so far) to the Coaching for Haiti group on LinkedIn. My intray has been blossoming. Some people are making offers. Some are letting me know they have passed my e-mail on to friends (great idea! Why didn't I think to ask people to do that?). And... and... and...

Lynne, my coach in the US sends me a link to an article about Charlie Simpson, the seven-year old boy whose sponsored bike ride has become a major news event. It's not news to me but it does remind me that one simple way to organise fundraising is via Just Giving. So, today, I set up a page at http://www.JustGiving.com/CoachingforHaiti.

Where will the money go? Via the Disasters Emergency Committee in the UK to a range of charities who are supporting the relief efforts in Haiti.

Now, dear friends and colleagues, it's time to get creative.

Coaching for Haiti: what's it about?

In recent days I have been watching news of the terrible aftermath of the earthquakes in Haiti and I found myself wanting to do something that goes beyond putting my hand in my pocket – something that goes beyond anything I can do alone. From this thought the bare bones of an idea – which I am calling Coaching for Haiti – was born.

For a few days I have been watching the to’ing and fro’ing of my thoughts. What if I put the idea out there and nobody responds? What if the response is so overwhelming that it takes over my life? What if...? What if...? Today I have decided to share it and to let you know how you can, if you feel moved to, get involved. This way, I get to see if the idea does indeed have wings.

What’s the aim of Coaching for Haiti? The aim is to leverage the power coaching has to do good in the world in order to raise money for the men, women and children of Haiti. As the ICF’s International Coaching Week (7th to 14th February) approaches I am also aware of the potential for Coaching for Haiti to raise the profile of the coaching profession.

How might it work? I see Coaching for Haiti as a time-bound (one-year?) project that could capture the imagination of coaches, their clients, their friends, family and many other contacts: the essence of Coaching for Haiti is to leverage the support of many people who, like me, are moved by the plight of the people of Haiti and recognise the long road ahead. I imagine there may be a key sponsor that provides practical support (setting up a website, managing receiving funds for Haiti and passing them on, helping to raise interest in the media etc.). I also imagine many ways in which coaches might help to raise money using their coaching and other skills.

How can you contribute? If Coaching for Haiti is to take flight it will need a wide variety of contributions. These range from offering ideas, through helping to find a sponsor or sponsors right through to offering coaching in exchange for sponsorship for Coaching for Haiti. Right now, more than anything, Coaching for Haiti needs your ideas.

Over time, I imagine different ways that coaches might set about raising money. Some of them may be in exchange for coaching (writing to offer coaching to five people you’d really like to coach in exchange for a donation to Coaching for Haiti, for example). Some of them may involve coaches rather than coaching (going on a sponsored walk with members of your coaching supervision group, for example). Some of them may involve people other than coaches.

What can you do if you are interested to learn more? Coaching for Haiti is an opportunity to follow your heart and to make the contribution that suits you. At this stage, it is an idea that may or may not have wings. If you would like to belong to the community of people who are interested to support this idea, please sign up as a member of the Coaching for Haiti group on LinkedIn. This is a place where you can get involved and contribute ideas. You can also follow the progress of Coaching for Haiti here at http://coachingforhaiti.blogspot.com/. I look forward to seeing you there.

Stepping over the threshold

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?'
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Source: A Return to Love – Marianne Williamson

Moved by the terrible aftermath of the recent earthquakes in Haiti I was inspired last week to take action - to do something which would leverage the power of coaching to raise far more money than I could hope to give myself. The vision that came to me has been inspiring and my brain has been full of ideas about how to make this happen - even as I write they are multiplying. At the same time, I have been having the ultimate 'Marianne Williamson moment'. What if I put the idea out there and no one comes forward to help? What if it is so successful that I cannot handle it?


Tentatively, I pop the idea on an e-mail on Sunday night to share with my dear friend Andy. By Monday 5pm I know I have to share it with Lynne, my coach. As much as anything, this is about giving voice to the idea, about stepping into the fullness of what's possible, about stepping over the threshold. For this is the beginning of what Joseph Campbell describes as a 'hero's journey', the time when the hero of the title hears the calling and gets to choose. Do I or do I not cross the threshold and embark on the journey?


By the time we finish our call I am ready to embark on the journey and eager to take a couple of steps that will get me going. I set up this blog and prepare my first posting. I set up a group on LinkedIn called Coaching for Haiti. I set aside time on Wednesday to take my next steps. I have stepped over the threshold.