Careers To Go

Coaching As A Mobile Career
By Julia Ferguson Andriessen

Life Coach Julia Ferguson Andriessen explores the growing field of coaching as a portable career.

Women by nature support, coach and nurture each other through times of transition and change. Professional coaches take this a step further. They support someone through the process of daily living, help that person determine what sort of life they will live and support them to become the best they can be.

What is a coach?
'A personal coach does just what an athletic coach does, only in a more complete way. A coach finds out what winning in life means to you and works as your partner to help you accomplish personal and professional goals. A coach holds you accountable for your life, to make sure you really live up to your potential,' writes Drew Rozell, PhD, in Evolution Coaching.

Coaching is NOT therapy.
I worked in Social Services for 10 years in the US doing a lot of what is commonly called 'trench work'. While helping people with the difficult, painful and traumatic areas of their past, I found myself working extremely long hours and feeling drained by the weekend. Coaching as a profession spoke to me because a level of ability to function and progress is the starting point for coachees. Coaching focuses on today and the future. It works to provide a plan for where you want to take your life. It does not look back to where you have been.

Coaching goes everywhere.
Coaching is a profession with no boundaries: coaches and clients are everywhere. Coaching is a profession you can do part time, full time, in addition to another job or for a consulting or coaching company. The opportunities are endless. Alain Verstandig MD of http://www.netexpat.com hires people to coach trailing spouses on dual careers and trains and works with potential coaches all over the world.

'The beauty of coaching as a career is that through the use of technology, a coach can be in partnership with their clients from any place in the world. A coach from The Netherlands can make phone appointments for sessions with clients while spending the Summer in Paris for example, and still maintain a thriving business,' says Darelyn 'DJ' Mitsch, President of the International Coach Federation.

Work you enjoy.
Relocating to The Netherlands, I referred to myself as a 'love immigrant'. I left my life in Southern California behind to be with the Dutch man I loved. I knew it would take years before I had mastered the words and nuances of the Dutch language and culture and wondered what on earth I would do in the meantime.

It was after watching a show on the BBC featuring coaching that I realised that this was what I had been doing for years with social services clients and I decided to begin coaching. I had extensive education in psychology, self-development and management training and had been assisting people in solving their problems and developing their life paths for a long time. I registered with the local Chamber of Commerce in The Netherlands and sent out emails announcing myself to expatriates worldwide. I immediately got clients. Eventually I explored other ways to market myself and set up a website http://www.juliaferguson.com/jafa.html which attracted several clients and numerous enquiries in the first year.

Networking and training.
I quickly realised I wanted the synergy and support of other coaches and began searching for them worldwide. I also began researching various schools and programmes to maintain professionalism and quality. I was personally drawn to the approach of the Coaches Training Institute (CTI) http://www.thecoaches.com and scoured the fabulous book, Co-Active Coaching, written by the founders. I enjoy the eclectic approach and today continue to add training programmes to my repertoire of experience from several different schools.

Professional support.
Living abroad provides enough challenges, but starting a new career without support and guidance in a foreign country can be a recipe for failure. I found the International Coaching Federation (ICF) essential in giving me a format for ethics in the field and ongoing support. I started the ICF Chapter in Holland and we are developing a strong supportive community. There are ICF Chapters all over the world.

I still found something lacking in my support system as many coaches didn't understand my unique struggles as an expatriate coach. Last September, fellow expatriate and Woman Abroad resident coach, Linda Mason-Hahn and I launched an online community for coaches living abroad and working with expatriate clients http://www.topica.com/lists/CoachesLivingAbroad.

Schools around the world.
When I attended University, coaching was not on the curriculum. Today, coaching programmes are popping up all over the world. Major universities offer Corporate Coaching as a degree and 'coaching specific' schools provide an outstanding foundation in the profession. Many schools offer telecourse programmes usually combined with online study and hard copy material to read. They have based their telecourse approach on Coach U, http://www.coachu.com, the school founded by Thomas Leonard in 1992 with over 5000 graduates to date from around the world.

The Life Skills Coaching Company provides a terrific listing of coaching schools around the world by region at http://www.becomeacoach.com/. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) also lists schools around the world and accredits them based on their set of education standards. http://www.coachfederation.org. Thomas Leonard has set up a http://www.coachville.com, an extensive coaching portal for anyone interested in learning about coaching or improving their coaching practice, with a membership fee. Coaching & Mentoring Network at http://www.coachingnetwork.org.uk is to my knowledge the only free (and independent) information resource on the web dedicated to coaching and mentoring anywhere in the world with a community focus.

Are you coach material?
Most coaches feel they were coaching for years before they became professionals. As expatriates know they can be uprooted and relocated at any time, having a career that moves with them is essential. If you think you would enjoy helping others live their best lives, get a coach yourself and see how it works and feels. Most offer a free 30 minute session to explore coaching. Do as I did, type 'life coach' in a search engine and see what comes back. You could be about to embark on the career of your dreams.

Click here to view a list of coaches around the world.

Julia Ferguson Andriessen copes with the often gray and overcast weather in Holland by coaching people around the world, writing for expat websites and promoting Woman Abroad. Contact her on julia@jafa.nl