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.