Immerse Yourself In Coaching!

A Rich Mosaic of Dynamic Elements

We launched our CoachVille Membership in 2001

We started our Coach Education Program in 2002; originally called the Graduate School of Coaching.

We held our first Coaching Practicum in 2003. Where coaches practice coaching each other while being observed and “scored”.

When you provide Coach Education to amazing people and then listen to them coach and play together you really learn a lot!

Most often we go: “OK. The coaching ranged from good to really great. How can we upgrade the education experience to uplevel the coaching to TRANSFORMATIONAL?”

If you keep doing that for 20 years… you get our program today: a rich mosaic of dynamic elements that provide an immersive experience; one that inspires a LOT of personal growth along the way.

The best way to grow – and enjoy the experience – is to immerse yourself in a safe space of practice, exploration, ideas and people; like the Juilliard Academy for musicians.

We have invested 20+ years in co-creating exactly this. You are going to love it.

SUPER IMPORANT!!!

If you are not the type of person who thrives on details, you may not want to read any more of this page! It’s a lot. It’s like a PhD in Coach Education. You might find it interesting or you might find it overwhelming.

You don’t NEED to know how it works to enjoy it working for you.

It’s your choice!

But first a useful analogy…

Transformation Coaching is a performance art. It is a LOT like learning to play music. When you first start learning there is a LOT going on. You are learning how to make sounds with the instrument, you are learning the techniques of the instrument and you are learning how to read and understand music.

Then after a lot of practice you figure out how to put these three things together with your personal artistry to create music that expresses YOU in a meaningful way.

On a personal note: my mom was a piano and voice coach and her music studio was right below my bedroom in our home. So I heard this process happening every weekday for over 10 years!! It works… and it is truly amazing how people can transform through coaching.

This chart will fill out the analogy for you:

Overview of the “Becoming” model

Philosphy (AKA Theory)

A Philosophy / Theory is why you approach an endeavor in a particular way.

Definition of Theory: a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena.
– dictionary.com

Whether you aware of it or not, all teaching of a craft, or a field of study, is based on a philosophy. Any time you choose to learn something from someone, you should ask them about their fundamental theory for what you are learning.

• If they can’t tell you, then you should think twice about learning from them.
• If they do tell you, then it is wise to consider if you resonate with their theory.
• If you choose to teach something to others, make sure you can articulate your theory.

Methods

A method is the sequence of activities and/or techniques; a step-by-step way of doing something to create a desired result on a consistent basis

Framework

A framework is a basic structure of something. Often it is referred to as a container.  Everything in the framework is based on the fundamental theory.

Pattern Language

A pattern language is a concept developed by iconic architect / philosopher Christopher Alexander. It is a collection of words and phrases – each that represent an experience – that can be used as a building block for something bigger. These words and phrases contain the essence of the thing they are used to build.

In our view, the pattern language of transformational coaching is infused with the spirit of play. And phrases like play plan, pivotal moments, superpowers and peak experiences contain the essence of the transformational coaching experience.

Concepts

An idea that helps you understand a pattern or situation. Concepts are the foundation of practical knowledge.

Skills

A skill is a fundamental ability to perform a specific activity.

Techniques

A technique is the body of specialized procedures used in a specific field. In our case it the techniques used to practice Human Connection

YOU

You are an individual with a unique combination qualities, awareness, life experiences, knowledge and lifestyle who will creatively apply the methods, techniques and skills of coaching to each player’s unique dream and situation.

PHILOSOPHY / THEORY

A philosophy explains why you do something in a particular way. These elements of our philosophy set the stage for how we guide you on the path to Transformation Coaching.

1. Transformation Coaching is a relationship initiated by the player who has a Dream
   A dream is a vision – to play better, to accomplish something, engage in new experiences, develop abilities and / or become a new version of themselves.
   Anyone can LIVE their Dream now.
2. Transformation Coaching is a relationship that lives in the dynamic balance between Self–Determination and Co-Creation.
   We love to journey together, to guide, to be guided, to share, to practice together, to discover, to see life through each other’s eyes… AND we desire to make our own choices every step of the way.
3. The world is a playground.
   All humans are born with the Spirit of Play. We are here to play together in pursuit of our individual and shared dreams. Any endeavor in life can be played as a quest, performance art or game. Life is a choose your own adventure experience.
4. The purpose of Transformation Coaching is to play together to play better;
   also known as practice. To coach is to practice with someone (or team of people) to guide them to play better for a shared dream; to co-create the peak experiences they desire.

Transformation Coaching is NOT an intervention for problems.  

5. Human Nature is Awesome!. Transformation Coaching unleashes the superpowers of human nature: The pursuit of a BIG Dream and practicing to play better, culminates with the player expressing their Human Nature Superpowers for good in the world.
6. There is more to success than taking action.
   Plugging away at a mountain of tasks will NOT make your dreams come true. There is an energy side to life – like mindset, attitude, beliefs, flow, environments and connections – that have a huge impact on what happens, and what doesn’t happen. The bigger the dream, the more Energy Alignment will come into play.

The Quick Version…

The purpose of Transformation Coaching is
1) Live the Dream now

2) Unleash awesome Human Nature

3) Practice together

4) Align Energy

As a CoachVille Coach the theory, and core beliefs, will give you confidence in every coaching situation.

For contrast… a very different theory

Many Coach Education Programs have a very different theory:

They are loosely based on a theory that goes something like this:

People have all of their own answers. Therefore, a coach should only ask questions so that the person can find their answer within them.

This is often referred to as the “Socratic Method”; or Humanistic Coaching.

WE DO NOT agree with this theory of coaching because it thwarts the Human Nature superpowers of both the coach and player.

This theory is misguided because it confuses self-determination with having answers.

We humans DO have self-determination and the capacity to choose what to do, and who we become, what believe and where we belong. BUT we don’t have all the answers. In fact, that is the point of the human superpower “The Love to Befriend”!

The Love to Befriend… is a Human Nature Superpower

We LOVE to learn from others.

We LOVE to see new perspectives from other people.

We LOVE input and guidance when we are making important choices.

We LOVE to let go of our own idea and try someone else’s idea sometimes.

AND…

We want to make our own choices.

And this feeds into the reason why being a transformational coach is so awesome…

We LOVE to share from our experiences with others on the adventure.

We LOVE to contribute, guide, practice and grow together.

It makes no sense to become a coach only to then withhold our wisdom and stifle our Human Nature Superpower to co-create as this theory would assert.

What we do need to do as Transformational Coaches is do all of these things knowing that the player makes their own choices and we respect and support those choices.

We are guiding, NOT controlling.

The CoachVille Framework

Life is so vast and dynamic, and the possibilities are expanding fast and growing faster all the time.

As a Transformation Coach is can seem overwhelming and intimidating.

This is why we need a framework – or a container – to hold it all. So that no matter what is happening with your player or Human Culture, we have a way to know what we are doing at a high level.

This is the value of the CoachVille Coaching Framework!

In the model you see what we are doing as Transformation Coaches.  As you dive into it, it will help you understand what coaching is and how to get good at doing it. You will be able to pull out the component parts and expand your understanding of each one over time.

Observation ~ Co-Creation

The main thing to notice is the center which is the core of the coaching experience: the yin~yang type balance between observation and co-creation. This is the core of the coaching relationship!

This notion is super important for two reasons.

1) Coaching happens by practicing with someone and by observing and co-creating as you guide them toward playing better; also the player learns from the Coach by observing them.

2) We are ALL yearning to be seen… for who we really are… for the value we co-create with the world… by someone who can truly appreciate what we are doing.

This is what a great coach brings to the relationship!

The coach and player practice together. The coach observes the player and shares what they see and can offer alternatives. And the player observes the coach to learn new ways of playing. Along with observation there are life-changing co-creative conversations that lead to new awareness and bigger possibilities. It is a powerful form of balanced partnership. It is a magical experience that can lead to transformation.

In the model you see elements described in the theory:

• The Dream of the Player
• The Relationship between coach and player.
• The focus on Social Play: Relate, Create, Explore and Experiment.
• The focus on Energy Alignment
• The focus on the players Superpowers
• The focus on practicing together
• Guiding the player to find their own Way.

Then some new elements

• The focus on the dynamic balance between support and challenge.
• The focus on the dynamic balance between expertise and judgment-free awareness.

THAT’S IT!

No matter what is happening with your player, this is what you are doing as the Transformation Coach.

At CoachVille you will discover how and when to do all of these things step-by-step… and become a Transformation Coach!

Coaching Pattern language

The language of play is the natural language of coaching.  In all CoachVille programs you will develop fluency in the Play Pattern Language. 

A pattern language is a collection of terms that brings an experience to life.  So, for example the simple phrase “play better” would evoke a wide variety of thoughts, feelings and experiences.  And while two people may have different experiences there would be enough common elements that each would understand what the other is saying.

Examples of terms in the play pattern language include: strategy/approach, play plan, pivotal moment, peak experience, desired results, skills, inner game, mindset, winning environment, practice and rest.

In addition, every playable endeavor has its own unique pattern language.

So playing business has language like: marketing, visibility, enrollment, close the deal, deliver the service, customer satisfaction, referral marketing, key performance indicator etc.  Each word or phrase has a life of its own – just thinking of “close the deal” can evoke a variety of memories and emotions.

As you learn to coach you will use the language of the endeavor your player is pursuing, which you probably already know, and combine it with play language.  The three BIG benefits of this are:

1. a) People already know play language – even if they don’t currently speak it – so it will be a natural way to talk about coaching and life.
2. b) Using play pattern language will bring about aliveness like nothing else! ENJOY IT.
3. c) Play language is unique to coaching, so what you are doing can’t really compared to any other approach or profession.

In our program you will become thoroughly fluent in Play Language… and by doing this you will become more playful in your life (a major benefit!!)

Coaching Superpowers

A superpower is the ability to do a skill in a way that impacts a situation or other people. The Coaching Superpowers are an uplifted version of the original ICF Core Competencies. (International Coaching Federation)

As a coach you will use these skills all the time. All of these superpowers are a natural part of Human Nature AND you can practice them to bring them to a professional level!

Your ability to demonstrate these skills in a coaching session is how you earn your Professional Coach Certification.

We will guide you through this every step of the way with lots of practice.

The Purpose of Coaching Techniques

The Role Play Technique model above is an example of a Coaching Technique and how we make it easy for you to learn, practice and apply them in your coaching sessions.

The purpose of a coaching session is for the player and coach to practice together. So that the player groww and becomes more capable – able to play better – during the session. A player should expect this from a coaching session and then the player is able to go forward in living their dream with that expanded ability or awareness.

This is what Transformation Coaching techniques do for you!

If you were a basketball player and you had a coaching session with a basketball coach, you would expect to practice basketball.

If you were a singer and you had a coaching session with a vocal coach, you would expect to practice singing.

As a Transformation Coach you need techniques to do with the player to practice life; or business or leadership etc.; activities of playing together and exploring new possibilities also known as Guided Practice.

The techniques of Transformation Coaching are activities that a coach can use with a player to co-create guided practice growth experiences; with an emphasis on co-create. These are not techniques you do TO someone. They are techniques you do WITH someone. This is why in the player playbooks we teach the player about the techniques; so that they can proactively participate in the experiences.

There are several such techniques that are essential to CoachVille coaching:

• Dream Activation
• Plan-Play-Grow,
• Role Play,
• Pivotal Moment,
• Co-Create Awareness and
• Peak Experience
• Intentional Co-Creation Series.

These techniques are a common bond in all of our Coaching Skills and Coaching Methods courses.

With these CoachVille Transformation Coaching techniques you will become a capable and confident coach!!! AWWW Yeah!

The Value of Methods

A Method is a step-by-step approach to creating something. A method is something that you can use in a variety of situations and adapt to unique circumstances as they arise. Becoming confident with a method is the way to get into the flow experience.

We have 3 core methods in our program:

Play Life Method

Inner Freedom Method

World Power Method

Each Method is 9 steps and provides the structure for a powerful 12 Session Coaching Experience. These methods will be the foundation of your business model as a professional coach. Each has an accompanying Player Program that enables you to co-create the experience with your players. WOW!

The Value of YOU

Coaching is a personal relationship between a coach and a player.  Coaching is not a “generic” service. YOU matter. The “YOU” that oozes out of you – metaphorically speaking – has a HUGE impact on your players’ experience of coaching. Remember… they are observing you as much as you are observing them. So, you need to be prepared to bring “all of you” to every coaching session in a positive way.

The model is a vintage Thomas Leonard Venn Diagram…

Who you are (Qualities)

Who you are is a combination of who you were born to be and who you have become through the challenges you have faced and the choices you have made.

Where you’re at (Path of Development)

Where you’re at refers to the accumulation of your experiences and knowledge.

How you live (Life, Lifestyle)

How you live is about how you see the world and how you express your uniqueness.

Being an awesome life coach requires constant personal growth. AND in many ways that is the fun of being a coach!

In the CoachVille environment you will learn all of these things easily because they are STRONG in your Human Nature.

It will happen naturally if you come to play.

Being a CoachVille Transformation Coach…

You will become a wise soul with deep understanding and awareness of Human Nature.

You will become a “go to guide’ and leader because you foster personal growth, peak experiences and desired results.

You will become a happier and more playful person. For real.

Center for Coaching Mastery Program

In the Center for Coaching Mastery Program the curriculum is organized with classes that focus on each of the essential superpowers of human nature; so you will gain in depth knowledge.

You will become a master at seeing and bringing out the greatness and unique power within each and every individual.

Link to Center for Coaching Mastery Features

Link to Center for Coaching Mastery Program