Last weekend, I saw the movie, It's Complicated.  It was sidesplitting hilarious, heartwarming and poignant all at the same time.  A divorcee of ten years steps out of her very tidy and perfect comfort zone and experiences a few adventures and new discoveries.

The movie made me think about how important it is to step out of your comfort zone when you're delivering your group coaching programs.  It means you have to shed your inhibitions; or share yourself generously; and listen to your learners (or group members) with compassion.

When you step out of your comfort zone, you're free to coach your learners with depth, skill and authenticity.  You stand confidently in your expertise and it readily shows in your interaction and how you deliver your content.

Thomas Leonard coined this sense of freedom in your coaching as "coaching from your big toe."  I just love that!

I know it sounds absolutely wonderful, right?!  You CAN step out of your comfort zone when you know the steps to easily guide you:

Step 1:  Invest in your own personal foundation

Very simply, get your own proverbial house in order.  As coaches, we sometimes overlook the importance of looking within ourselves for understanding, clarity and direction.  Hire your own coach or therapist to work through your personal goals and challenges.  In THE FOUR AGREEMENTS, Don Miguel Ruiz' agreement #4 is: Don't take anything personal. Having a strong personal foundation almost guarantees you're well-positioned to follow this agreement whether you're in an individual or a group coaching setting.

Step 2:  Know your content like the back of your hand

You developed your group coaching program from your own experiences and research.  You know your content because you developed it!  That makes you the expert, right?  I challenge you to get very familiar with your content so you don't have to rely heavily on your notes or an outline.  Wear your content like a new outfit so you grow more comfortable with it.  Then, you can focus on being the expert you truly are.  How kewl is that?!

Step 3:  Bond with your learners, compassionately and purposefully

Get to know your group learners and give them an opportunity to know, like and trust you, too.   Bonding begins by listening and caring for your learners with one clear objective in mind:  understanding how you can help solve their problem.  Remember this is the problem that brought her to you in the first place.  Keep this in mind as you continue to build the relationship with the individual learner and the group as a whole.

Now, you it's your turn to try coaching from your big toe for yourself.

Get ready to step away from your notes.

Focus on staying in the present moment by listening to your learners.  Then, surrender to your expertise and knowledge.

Step out of your comfort zone whether it's complicated or not.  You'll experience rich rewards and so will your learners!

What will you do to step out of your comfort zone a little more each time you lead a group coaching program?

Wendy Y. Bailey - Master Certified Group Coach

Wendy Y. Bailey is a Master Certified Group Coach, Certified Experienced Coach and Certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner. Affectionately called "WendyY" by her business associates, colleagues and friends, she's also the Creator and Founder of Group Coaching Mastery - Master Group Coaching with an NLP Twist. WendyY helps coaches, speakers and trainers learn to create, design, market, fill and deliver bestselling group coaching programs using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (persuasive marketing, language skills and influence strategies.) More about Group Coaching Mastery programs

Developing content for your group coaching program is vitally important if you truly want to help your participants learn and grow.  When you build on the design or content, the delivery falls into place quite easily.

Having masterful content ensures you know exactly what your ideal client wants from your group coaching program and you know how to make sure she gets it.  You develop masterful content based on what you want your learners to see, hear, think, feel, know and do after being in your group coaching program.  Listen to this audio and you'll discover the keys to designing masterful content that guarantees a content-rich, insightful and transformational group coaching experience specifically for your ideal client.

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Wendy Y. Bailey - Master Certified Group Coach

Wendy Y. Bailey is a Master Certified Group Coach, Certified Experienced Coach and Certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner. Affectionately called "WendyY" by her business associates, colleagues and friends, she's also the Creator and Founder of Group Coaching Mastery - Master Group Coaching with an NLP Twist. WendyY helps coaches, speakers and trainers learn to create, design, market, fill and deliver bestselling group coaching programs using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (persuasive marketing, language skills and influence strategies.) More about Group Coaching Mastery programs

On Friday, my 19 year old son and I went to see the movie Avatar.  The movie is an amazingly innovative tale about an indigenous community living on a planet named, Pandora.  If you know me, you know the compelling story, cutting edge special effects, riveting drama and powerful love story are all right up my alley for a great movie.

My son turned to me about twenty minutes before the end of the movie and said, "I think there's a big secret to this movie."  I laughed and replied that I was reminded so much of lessons I've learned that I knew I had to write a blog post.  No big surprise there!  The movie was filled with lessons about community, networking and most importantly - group coaching.

As a real movie buff, I know how difficult it is when folks share too much about the movie before you ever see it.  Rather than give away too much of the kewlness about the movie, I'll share a few quick lessons I remembered that speak to me powerfully about group coaching:

1. Look to the members of your group for energy, guidance and insight before, during and after your group coaching program. Appreciate the pace, intrigue and flow from the learners in your group.  Remember, you're creating a content-rich experience for each individual, as well as, for the group as a whole.  Listen and pay close attention to how your learners are learning to design a positive and highly interactive climate in the group.  Be sure everyone wins!
2. Borrowing the energy, guidance and insight is acceptable when you know you have to give it back. The people in your group coaching program are there because they know you can help them solve a very unique challenge.  Through your content and delivery of your program, you feed them with your own energy, guidance and insight.  They count on you as the group coach and resident expert to pave the way for transformation and it's a two-way, multi-dimensional approach to learning, sharing and growing.
3. The group is an interdependent network that you're tasked with helping to grow and thrive. Leverage the power and depth of the learning environment you create to benefit everyone.  Tap into the senses, memories and minds of your learners to challenge them to creative action, massive connection and lasting change.  Create masterful content using metaphors, compelling stories, powerful questions and more.  Transformation is guaranteed when you do!

Well, my son was right!  There is a big secret:  The learners in your group coaching program have two births. The first occurs when they enroll in your group coaching program.  Like babies, they need your support and expert direction wrapped with lots of caring and knowledge.   The second birth or rebirth happens after they've experienced major breakthroughs as a result of your amazing content and the compelling experience you create.  The rebirth is symbolic of the transformation created by your group coaching program.

Like Avatar, group coaching is compelling, cutting edge, riveting and truly transformational.  What group coaching lessons did you learn about watching this exciting movie? Leave me a comment

Wendy Y. Bailey - Master Certified Group Coach

Wendy Y. Bailey is a Master Certified Group Coach, Certified Experienced Coach and Certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practictioner.  Affectionately called "WendyY" by her business associates, colleagues and friends, she's also the Creator and Founder of Group Coaching Mastery - Master Group Coaching with an NLP Twist.  WendyY helps coaches, speakers and trainers learn to create, design, market, fill and deliver bestselling group coaching programs using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (persuasive marketing, language skills and influence strategies.)   More about Group Coaching Mastery programs