A Circle of Friends

With the ending of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and seeing Michael Phelps win an unprecedented and unequaled eight gold medals, I was reminded of one of my favorite stories about an Olympian.

Bonnie Blair, the Speed Skater, made U. S. history after becoming the only American athlete, male or female, to win five gold medals in the WINTER Olympics. Her unflappable reputation distinguished her during the Games. How did she remain relaxed under extraordinary pressure? She had two powerful secrets: she created a noncompetitive environment, and she surrounded herself with a community, a group of caring people. (You couldn’t help noticing Phelps circle of supporters)

The first step for Bonnie was a non-compete clause. A reporter asked her why she was not nervous when competing against the best skaters in the world, and she replied that she did not consider the other skaters competitors. Bonnie said, "I have no control over what they do, only what I do." Whether skating on a practice rink or in the Olympic arena, she focused on only two things: the clock and her own personal best time.

The second piece was to create a community devoted to her. Bonnie’s loyal Circle (a coach, friends & family) attended each Olympic City in which she competed. The Blair Bunch, 45 members strong in Albertville, France in 1992, linked arms and sang "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" moments before Blair skated onto the ice.

More than 60 members of Blair's Bunch traveled to Lillehammer, Norway in 1994, where Bonnie made Olympic history winning her fifth Gold medal. Someone asked if all those people accompanying her had not put extra pressure on her performance. Bonnie said, "No way!" She loved their sustained encouragement, and added, "They didn't come just to see me win. They would come anyway, to support me, because we love to be together and have fun."

Knowing what you want and accepting the challenge of going for your own personal gold attracts an environment that boosts your success. Building your own circle of friends and family to give you the support and encouragement makes you unbeatable. Let’s make sure we champion each member in our Circle to help them achieve their dreams!

Life Upgrade Coaching Tips

Check Out

Are You Ready to Coach Groups? Are you excited about adding coaching groups to your coaching business? You will have the opportunity to learn the secrets of coaching successful groups quickly and effortlessly in this new CD series. » Buy Now! « The ability to create, coach and market your groups is not simply intuitive; there are some things that you need to know! These audio CDs give you brilliant keys that will make you successful at creating profitable groups. Other coaches have had big ‘Aha’ after listening to the CDs that allowed them to create their own model and take action immediately to market their groups. These CDs contain that collective wisdom — that works! Ginger is interviewed by Steve Straus, well-known business and personal coach, so the CDs are fast paced and loaded with brand-new and powerful information.

Developing and Enhancing Group Coaching Skills
featuring Ginger Cockerham

» Register here. «

Key Benefits:

Learn and synthesize a coaching framework for leading groups within organizations.

Explore multiple group coaching models using real-life examples.

Examine the theoretical and philosophical foundations for group and team coaching.

Enhance listening and questioning skills for maximizing coaching impact.

Learn and integrate the core coaching competencies within a group setting.

Build a “business-case” for leveraging coaching in organizations by coaching groups.

Add and expand the coaching environment within organizations and companies.

Who Should Attend?

Professional Coaches who desire to expand their coaching offerings to companies and organizations so they reach more people and increase profitability; Executive Coaches who want to enhance their capacity to develop more people and use group coaching as the model for having more leverage and reach with their existing resources; OD and HR Directors who want to increase the scope and affordability of group coaching within their companies and organizations; Managers and Trainers who are committed to creating a coaching culture internally to promote individual growth and performance.

Costs: Available for 3 credits [ORLD 5819.004]
$1,030 per credit, or 3.0 CEUs for $1,495

Accredited by the International Coach Federation. This course is also certified by the International Coach Federation (ICF) and provides a total of 28.5 CCEU credits, broken down as follows:

25.5 hours – ICF Core Coaching Competencies
3 hours – Development of Coaching Practice

In this highly experiential course, participants will examine and define the role of the coach by making clear distinctions with other leadership roles in group settings.

By exploring several group coaching models including a multi-media presentation of a live group, participants will identify key criteria for designing their own group coaching model.

There will also be opportunities to coach and be coached in a group coaching practicum. Register here.

Click here to order the
Group Coaching CDs.
Learn to create and market
your own groups.