Ep #131: Creating Iconic Work and Coaching Mastery Q&A

Hey, this is Lindsay Dotzlaf and you are listening to Mastering Coaching Skills, episode 131. To really compete in the coaching industry, you have to be great at coaching. That’s why every week, I will be answering your questions, sharing my stories, and offering tips and advice so you can be the best at what you do. Let’s get to work.

Hey coach, I am so happy you’re here today, as always. I have something that I want to talk to you about, which is great news, right, since I’m recording a podcast. So, let’s just dive in. I’ve just been spending so much time thinking about this and I got a question the other day that really prompted me to think about this.

I’ve been thinking about it anyways. But then I got a question that prompted me to just kind of think about it in a different way and think about how can I really explain this in a way that makes sense? The way that I mean that I mean for it to come across?

So that’s what I’m going to do today, I’m going to talk to you – I’m actually going to do two things. The first thing is I want to talk to you about – and I’ve talked a little bit about this before, but in a different way. I want to talk to you about coaching mastery and becoming an icon in the coaching industry.

That’s something I’ve been talking about a little bit in my copy that you may have seen, and I want to just explain it a little bit and tell you what I mean by that. And if you’re listening in real time, we are currently enrolling for the next round of the Advanced Certification in Coaching Mastery. And this is the thing that has prompted me to really talk about mastery and becoming an icon and creating the work that you’re known for in the industry.

So I want to really give you some examples of, to me, kind of what that means. And then at the end, for kind of part two of the episode, I’m going to do a Q&A, answer some questions. I guess you’re not here to ask the questions, but I’m going to answer some questions that I’ve been getting about the certification. That way, if you’re listening in real time and you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I need to be in this,” you still have time. You can apply right now if you’re listening the week that this comes out.

If you’re listening in the future, no problem, just make sure to go to my website and get on the waitlist so that you just know when the next launch is coming, when the next time we’re enrolling is, so that you don’t miss it. So this is either going to be information for you right now or for the future, either is perfect. But I’m going to save that for the end because some of you probably aren’t here for that and that’s perfectly fine.

So what I want to talk about right now is kind of how to become known for something in the coaching industry. What that looks like and just give you some examples. So the first thing I’m going to do is tell you the kind of equation that I have come up with of what creates an icon or iconic work. And, for me, the definition would be mastery plus authenticity, plus time, equals icon. Or iconic work or however you would say that.

And in other words, a different way you could say that is being really good at something, which would be skill mastery, plus being 100% you. Like showing up in that space of whatever the thing is that you’re doing, being you. Plus time, which is just time, right?

Over time people get to know, like the more and more you show up in the world as that person with that mastery and that authenticity, the more people see you doing that, the more they know, “Oh, this is the work that she does. This is how she coaches. This is how she shows up in the world. This is how she works with her clients.”

And I’ll just give you a couple examples of this so you can see it outside of the coaching industry, and then we’ll translate it to inside the coaching industry. And I also want to be really clear before I go into these examples that no matter where you are in your journey of being a coach, this work is still for you because it starts from the beginning.

So if you’re a newer coach, don’t hear this, that’s part of why I wanted to record this episode, because I don’t want you to hear this or hear the word icon and think like, oh, that’s so far away or that’s not for me. Because I think the work to become that person or to get there, wherever there is, it starts now no matter where you are in your journey.

And for some of you, if you’ve been a coach for a long time, you might hear this and think, oh, this is the tiny piece for me that’s missing. I see it now. Some of you might already just be on the path and need a little more time, which is part of the equation. And then some of you might be new in this space or new in the coaching world and just know, this is what I want, this is where I want to go. And I’m going to give you the exact prescription of how to get there. Okay?

So if you think about just an icon, if I say imagine, like picture an icon who is a human, right? A person that’s an icon, who comes up for you? This, for me, usually when I ask myself this my mind goes straight to like a musical artist. So if I think of someone who has amazing skill, plus authenticity, who I would consider an icon, to me, that means someone who I could just hear a part of one of their songs or I could see a clip of one of their shows or a concert and just know, oh, this is 100% that person.

So I think of Lizzo, Whitney Houston, Snoop, Mary J Blige. I could just keep going. I don’t why those are the names that just came to my mind. Maybe that was just the playlist I was listening to recently. But let’s just take Lizzo for example. I know I’ve talked about her on the podcast before, I’m a huge fan. But recently – I think I’ve already said this, I recently watched her documentary. And when I watched it, I think it’s called Love Lizzo. I think maybe it’s on Netflix, but don’t quote me on that. But this is a perfect example of what I’m talking about.

So, for her, if you picture her now, whether you’re a fan or not does not matter. But if you picture her now, even if you’re not a fan, you probably know some things about her. And you could probably see a picture of her in a show or whatever, or hear a song and possibly even know like, oh, that’s Lizzo, right? It’s 100% who she is, her vibe, whatever.

And if you think about what she does, and what she has worked on creating over years and years, she is an excellent vocalist, right? Her vocals are incredible. If she were to just stand on the stage and sing, you would probably, I would recognize her voice. If you’re a fan, you would definitely recognize her voice. And then she has other things that she includes in her shows, in her concerts, in her albums that make her just completely who she is, right? She plays a flute, which is incredible. She dresses in very small clothes, she shows a lot of skin. This is like part of what she does. She has the best backup dancers. She creates a scene during her shows.

And when you put all of it together, that entire package is what creates her being an icon in the industry that she’s in. And if you separate each of those things, she could stand on stage – And actually in the documentary, you see her doing this, where she’s just standing singing. And you can tell she feels uncomfortable. She’s not totally comfortable in her body. She talks about this also in the documentary, but she’s just not comfortable with who she is, right?

So that authenticity piece, she’s not in full alignment and accepting of this is just who I am, this is just how I’m going to show up in the world. She still has thoughts that are like, “I have to be someone different. I have to look different. I have to do whatever.” But she could still stand on a stage and belt out a song and sound incredible, right?

So she could have incredible skill and be missing that other piece and she’s not the Lizzo we know now, right? She’s not the one we would say like, oh, she’s an icon. But then you add in all of the work, which is what a lot of the documentary is about, but all of the work and her just accepting who she is, owning like I take up a lot of space, I have this big energy. Just owning all of it and being totally comfortable in her own skin and kind of shedding the layers of fear of letting people see it. And now she becomes the Lizzo we know, right? When you combine that authentic piece of like, this is just who I am, you get what you get, with the skill mastery and then, of course, the practice over time. Now she is the Lizzo that we know.

Now, if you think of an icon in a different industry, the one person that comes to mind is Thomas Keller. He’s a chef and he has a lot of restaurants, lots of Michelin stars, all the things. And I don’t really know a lot about this world, I just happen to have been to a couple of his restaurants and I met him, actually. And I noticed something about him that is pretty incredible. Just being a person who’s worked in a lot of restaurants, in a lot of really nice restaurants, or several really nice restaurants, it was just really interesting being behind the scenes in some of his restaurants.

So if you don’t know who he is, it doesn’t matter. But I’m going to tell you because, again, this isn’t about if you’re a fan or not a fan or whatever, but more about just the concept of becoming that person in the world, right?

So Thomas Keller is a chef, but he spent years and years training to be a chef. His skill is, if you read about him, it’s like compared to none or whatever. I have food allergies so for me, I don’t appreciate that as much. But the other piece of it that shows up in his restaurants is when you go into his restaurant, you can expect certain things.

The way you’re treated is incredible. Just the experience from the time you walk in the door to the time you leave, at least this is the experience I had. Again, who knows? Maybe not 100% true. But both times also, we were invited into the kitchen, or two times that I’ve been to his restaurants. I’ve been, I think, three times. But two times that I’ve been to his restaurants I was invited into the kitchen to just look and walk around, which is very interesting. What restaurant does that?

And the first thing I noticed is that it’s so quiet and it’s pristine. And that is the authenticity piece, right? That’s like him knowing what he likes, creating that in his food and also in his restaurants, and wrapping it up in this whole package of like, this is what you get. This is what someone can expect when they come to my restaurants.

And, of course, the time piece. He didn’t start doing this yesterday, he’s been a chef for a really long time. And if you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, you know what I’m talking about. Usually, kitchens are a little wild, very loud, lots of yelling, whether it’s from the servers, or the chefs or whoever. Usually there’s just like very high energy, and it’s a lot. I loved it, I thrived on it when I worked in restaurants.

But seeing this, it was more like watching artists just be in the kitchen doing art, which is how the food comes out. Which to me, that was the most impressive part about any of his food, is just what it looks like in the presentation. The taste is fine. Everyone else enjoyed it way more than I did, I’ll be honest. And mine was always different because I have allergies, so it was always like, here’s everyone else’s and then here’s yours. Which, whatever, that’s always my experience at restaurants. So that’s fine.

Okay, a third example would be an athlete, like Michael Jordan. And I use him because most of you probably know who that is. And if you think about him, he obviously had the skill, right? He spent years and years developing his skill, practicing his skill. And then, add on top of that he just had a way of showing up, of showing up on the court with this kind of intensity, mixed with kindness, mixed with seriousness of like let’s just get this done.

And I’m not a huge basketball fan, but Michael Jordan, I think, is fascinating. And he’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about, right? It’s like the skill, plus the whole vibe that he just brings. You just know, okay, this is him.

And it’s a very quiet, calm vibe compared to, or energy however you would say that, compared to some other basketball players, right? Compared to Kobe Bryant or Dennis Rodman, for example, who I think has a different name now, like world peace or something. I don’t know. I just heard that recently. And I was like, oh, that’s so interesting. I had no idea.

But they all just bring a different energy, right? If you think about each of those players, watching them play, watching them be on the court, they just show up with a very different energy that surrounds them.

Now, let’s translate this into coaching and what does this mean for you? So when I think about the coaching industry, I can also do this in the coaching industry, right? I can come up with coaches that I think are icons. And some of them are icons that we all may know, right? Like Tony Robbins, whether you’re a fan or not, doesn’t matter. You probably know who I’m talking about when I say that name.

You can probably hear his voice, picture the intensity that he delivers coaching or asks questions with, right? He has the Netflix special that a lot of us have seen or however many, probably thousands of YouTube videos. And you can just picture who he is and what he does.

And one thing that I would say about that is – And I could go down the list and keep naming, like Byron Katie, right? I’m a big fan. You can also picture the energy she shows up with, the way she coaches, the questions she asks. If you’ve ever seen videos of her, she just has a very distinct style and a very distinct energy.

A friend of mine actually saw her in person recently, totally jealous, and was describing her and just talking about how you could literally feel that energy ripple throughout the room. Like this big room that they were in, that you could just feel the love and the calmness and whatever that energy is that she brings, you could just feel it throughout the room.

And so one thing I want to say about this, first of all, it doesn’t mean being an icon, creating your iconic work doesn’t mean that everyone loves you. It doesn’t mean that it’s the work for everyone or that everyone’s going to want to do it. It just means that people know who you are and what you do because you’re consistent, because you’re so authentic, because your skills are so good that people talk about them or they’ve experienced them.

And I think that that’s important to know because I think sometimes, me included, we can get stuck in the like, well we have to create the work that everyone is going to like. I know some of you probably don’t experience that, but I certainly do. We have to create the work that everyone’s going to like and be a fan of, but that’s just not true.

If you think about even just within the coaching space, coaches that you can think of who are pretty big names in the industry, they are very different and you probably have different opinions on them, right? You probably like their style or don’t like their style, or don’t resonate maybe with their style or do.

And that’s okay, because I think the more authentic you can be to yourself and combine that with incredible skill, the more your people are going to love you so much, and love what you do, and come to you for help when they want the help that you’re offering. And it also is a signal to people who aren’t your clients that maybe you aren’t for them.

And that’s okay, I think we sometimes get really scared of that, of thinking like, oh, no, but all of these people are going to think that I’m not for them. But that really is okay because I think the more that happens, the more it also really pulls in the people that do resonate with your work and that do resonate with what you do.

So one thing I’m helping my students, my clients do in the advanced certification as I’m helping them create this work, their iconic work. And I do this by helping them with skill mastery, right, which by the time you come into this space you have the foundation’s, right? You have your coaching foundations. You’ve learned them either through me through The Coach Lab or somewhere else, or maybe multiple, multiple other spaces.

You have all these tools, you know the foundations, you know how to coach. So you have that down. Now we’re going to work on mastery, which is being extremely proficient at those skills, and authenticity. Really looking at your values in a way that you’ve probably never done before. And using them as a lens for everything you create in the certification.

So whether that’s your process, or a project that you’re working on, or anything that you are creating in the space, you’re using the lens of your values and just you being you, right? Your personality, the things that you are naturally good at. All of you have them, and the more you hone those skills, and of course you can learn other things, but the more you hone those and say, “Here’s what I know I am good at.”

I am amazing at motivating people. I am really good at staying calm, no matter what someone brings me on a call. I am great at listening to someone and really digging into what’s underneath of it. Any of those things are things that you can be known for.

It doesn’t have to be, you know, sometimes I think we go to these big, huge things, like especially when I say the word icon, which is why I wanted to talk about this because I don’t want it to be this big thing. But I think your iconic work is the work that’s just the most you, right? The thing that you stand out for because people come to you because they want that thing.

So it’s the skills, your skills as a coach, your authenticity of being who you are, and then just the time of continuing to go, go, go, go, go, go and continue to do that work. What a lot of coaches do is one of two things. They either, as far as the skill side, they’ll continue to learn more and more and more and more and more skills. Which don’t get me wrong, I’ve said this before, I’m a big fan of having lots of skills and lots of tools. But a lot of coaches will do that before they create mastery in what they already have.

I would recommend getting really good at the skills you already have instead of thinking, “This isn’t enough, I always need more,” which will keep you in this constant loop of never creating mastery around anything. So that’s the first step.

And the second step, the authenticity piece, is really digging into the things that we do in the certification, which are who you are, what your personality is, how does that come out in your coaching? What are your values just in the world as a human and how do you use those in your coaching? How do you use those as a lens to create everything that you want to create? And really examining what sets you apart.

And I don’t mean by this, I think sometimes people explain this, especially in business coaching containers, they’ll explain it as in your marketing or your selling or your branding. And all of those things definitely play into it, right? To me, these things are just all connected.

I just like to approach it from the coaching side and from the skill side. And from just you being you and creating containers for your clients that I think, for example, if you listen to the interview I recently did with my client Christine, such a good example, right? Her creating this program called Camp using one of her values, using all of her values, but specifically incorporating one of her values which is nature and looking at how do you incorporate nature as a value into a coaching business? And this is how.

And she did it so beautifully. And I’m just so excited for this program to be kind of birthed into the world, which is happening right now. It’s so fun, as her coach it’s so fun for me to watch that and just know that this work feels very personal to her because it is, right? Because she really created it using so much of what she’s an expert at and like the real iconic work that she wants to put into the world.

And I do want to encourage you, I think a lot of coaches in the space, if you think about coaches that you know in the space that you would consider someone that has work that is very recognizable, right? That’s like, oh my gosh, this work, of course that’s her, or that’s him, or whatever.

Work that you can see and just know exactly whose it is, sometimes that work can take up big space, right? It can be loud and in your face with loud branding and bright colors and flashy stuff. And that’s totally fine. That is one reason that you know it’s their work, because they’ve done that. That is who they are.

And you can always tell when that’s happening and when it’s authentic, and when it’s not. Or at least I can. I can look sometimes at a sales page or an email or a social media presence and just know like, oh, they’re trying something that maybe doesn’t feel totally aligned with who they are. And that’s okay, there’s a lot of learning in that.

I have definitely done this before, I’m sure we all have, especially on social media, right? Because that is the place where we are trying things out and just putting things out there and seeing what happens. And sometimes you can just tell like, oh, there’s something not quite right here and I don’t know what it is. And to me, that usually comes down to the authenticity piece. I guess it could actually be the skill piece too, but specifically when you think about marketing that you’re seeing that feels just a little off even if you’re like, this product sounds amazing and there’s just something off here, that’s just something to notice. To me, that usually comes down to the authenticity piece.

And then the other side of it, the mastery, you can tell sometimes too, and this more, for me, usually shows up more in copy when I’m reading someone’s copy. It’s like, oh, they’re trying to sound like they’re more of an expert in this area than they are. Which I also think is something that you can read, right? I think you can pick that out. Even if you wouldn’t know those exact words to say, it’s just that feeling of like, ooh, something’s just a little off.

So for you, for anyone listening no matter where you are on this journey, no matter who you want to be in the industry and who you see yourself as, to avoid those two things, I think, when it comes to the copy and the mastery, the biggest thing you can do, and it’s where we start in the certification, is to really be okay with exactly where you are right now. Because wherever you are is perfect.

If you’re a brand new coach and you have a few tools that you think are amazing, you don’t have to make it sound like you have more tools than you do or like you do something that you don’t do. Because what you do right now is perfect. And people need that, period. I’ll just stop there. Some of you just need to hear that piece.

And then the other side of it is really learning to show up as you, right? To be authentic. To have authenticity come through in everything you do, really is that inside job piece, right? Which of course we know as coaches, we know that our thoughts, our emotions, everything we’re experiencing in this moment, everything we’re doing in this moment, when you sit down to write an email or when you are posting on social media, all of those things show up in the teensiest ways, right?

So if you’re doing it thinking, “I need to be someone other than who I am in order to make this work,” that’s where that inauthenticity comes across, right? When people are just like, oh, I don’t know, like the message is amazing, something is just a little off. So, mastering your skills, learning to be authentic, which is always a constant evolution, I think, for everyone.

And then allowing it to take time. Allowing yourself to continue to show up in the world, or in the industry, or for your clients the same way over and over and over and over again, refining it, of course, the whole time. That is the equation, for me, of what creates iconic work in any industry, especially in the coaching industry.

Okay, so hopefully that felt really helpful for you, even if I’m not the person you want to do this work with. Just consider, if that is who you want to be in the industry, how can you do this work? I know for me, if I look back, I was thinking like how does this apply to my journey? This morning I started thinking about when I was first a coach. And at first it really is just learning the coaching skills, right? Like learning some skills and practicing them.

And there’s always going to be a piece of authenticity because you are just you, no matter what. So even in the beginning there’s the opportunity to just own this is just who I am, I’m a brand new coach, this is what I’m doing. And that really is attractive to people, right? That piece that, like it all lines up. It’s all aligned, it feels really good. Yes, that will attract people to you.

And then, for me, as I kept going, one thing that I kind of learned over time, and one thing that you can start to do, too, you can just listen to the words your clients say about you. When you think about being authentic and what really attracts your clients to you, and why they love working with you, and who you are in the industry, just listen to the words they say.

So many of my clients, they say it all the time now, but when I think back to my first clients, even my first clients were saying, “You’re just so calm. I can bring you anything and you don’t flinch. It doesn’t matter, you don’t care, you always help me.” I’m like that now, too, I just lean even more into it now because I can see, oh, this is a skill that I have that I do want to be known for in the industry.

So for me, it’s that authenticity piece of like this is just who I am in real life. And it’s very translatable into my coaching. And now people know me, people that have worked with me or that I’ve even heard of other people working with me will say, oh, I hear this about you. So I use that as an example to show you it doesn’t have to be like the big flashy thing, right?

Your authenticity can be that you’re calm, that you show up consistently, that you are reliable. Any of those things that might describe you perfectly, but you’re like, oh, that’s boring or whatever. I used to think that sometimes about myself. No, it’s not boring. It’s exactly why your clients will love you.

Okay, so let’s move on. Now I want to answer, I’ve been collecting some questions about the certification and I’m going to answer them on here for you. If you would love to join us in the certification and you’re listening in real time, there will be a link in the show notes.

Again, if you’re listening in the future and we’ve already ended the launch, then just go to my website, we’ll put that link in the show notes too, and just see when the next one is. I’m sure there’s one coming up. Unless it’s like 10 years in the future and this is still living in the world, which is so fun to think about, then who knows what I’ll be doing.

All right, let’s dig into some questions. Okay, so I made a list of the questions from emails that I’ve received. And I’m just going to go through them and answer them just on the fly. I don’t have any notes. The first two are just obvious. What is the certification? Who is it for? These aren’t the exact questions that I’ve received, but they will answer all of the questions, hopefully, that you have sent me within these two areas.

So what is the certification? Great question. It is the Advanced Certification in Coaching Mastery, and it is to do the work that I was just talking about. To make your mark in the coaching industry, to create your iconic work, to make sure that all of your clients are getting the best results possible while you are doing work that you just feel at home in.

I think that that’s the best way to kind of explain how some of my clients have described it that are in it right now. Just that feeling of being at home in your business, in your coaching, in the way you work with your clients. Being the expert at what you do, and that’s the mastery, right? The skill mastery.

And then doing it in a way that is so authentic to you. Like super authentic in a way that makes you stand out from other coaches in a way that when you name your thing, or when you show up in a space or when someone recommends a client to you, they know exactly what they’re getting. This is just who you are. It’s how you show up in the world. And it’s also how you show up in your coaching. So that’s the first thing.

The next question is who is it for? It is truly for any coach that is ready to move past the foundations in their coaching. So you have to have foundational knowledge of some sort. It does not have to be through me, although it can be if you’re a member of The Coach Lab, of course, I would love to have you in the certification. But it can be other places, you could have other certifications or not certifications or trainings or anything that you have, just if you know how to coach.

If you know foundational coaching skills and you are working with clients, it is for you no matter what your niche is. So I could name all of the niches that I’ve worked with but it truly is all over the board. It can be health coaching, business coaching, general life coaching, marriage coaching, relationship coaching, sex coaching, parent coaching, sobriety coaching. There’s so many, I could name them all. And coaches for artists, coaches for, who else? Somatic coaches, right? Like coaches that have all different types of training.

One of my favorite things about this space is that so many coaches that come into it have trainings that I don’t even have. So it’s not like I’m the expert of all experts and everyone else is just learning for me. We are all learning from each other. And I am not an expert in everything that my clients do or include in their coaching practices.

There are so many clients who come to work with me who have trainings that I’ve never even heard of, that are either coach trainings or coach adjacent, right? So like somatic training, or trauma training, although I do have that. But just different things that I – Maybe Reiki, or breath work, meditation trainings, just things that are outside of what I generally do.

And it doesn’t matter, because the entire goal of the certification is that we take everything you have and using my process, so I am going to teach you a process. But using my process, we make it more you, right? We learn what is the best way to combine all of these things? What is the perfect structure for your business, for your clients?

What is the process that ensures that all of your clients are getting results using all of the tools that you want to be using? So it’s not like a cookie cutter like, okay, you come through the certification and then everyone leaves, their businesses might have different niches, but they all look the same. It’s not that. It couldn’t be more opposite, everyone is working on something else, something different, because everyone is working on their unique work.

One thing that I do in this space is on the very first call, one thing that we do is you set your own goals. So instead of me saying, “Here’s the goal, this is where I want you to be at the end,” you set your own goals. You decide exactly what you’re working on. We also have a project that we work on, and you pick that too. It’s something that you think is going to be a really fun addition to my coaching.

And I think I’ve given examples previously of the projects, but they’re really all over the place. Some people are creating a podcast. Some people are learning to streamline some of the back end of their business or have just more set up business structure, because maybe they’ve had a lot of clients and all of a sudden it feels a little chaos and they want to just start from scratch and say like, okay, I need to restructure everything so it makes sense for me.

Some people are working on just projects all over the board. And one thing that I talk to them with in-person when we’re really digging into our projects, is finding the thing that feels like, one, your growth and, two, the thing that’s going to be the most beneficial for you at the end of the six months.

So we’re not looking for the thing that’s like this bright, shiny thing that’s like you’re just doing it to do busy work and to have something to say, ta-da, I did it. That is not the goal. It’s really something that’s going to help you in the future along your coaching journey. So that’s what it is and who it’s for.

Is there a live event? Yes. And I didn’t say this when I was talking about what it is, but we begin July 12th. And it’s a six month certification and we meet weekly on Zoom. There’s a Facebook group, there’s epic guest coaches, a few of them who come in and teach something that’s very related to what it is that we’re working on, but also kind of adjacent.

So it helps them take the work that we’re doing and apply it into some other areas like business, marketing, et cetera. And then there’s a live event. And the live event is in August. It is in Boulder, Colorado. It’s at this incredibly beautiful hotel, St. Julien Hotel and Spa. You do not have to stay at the hotel, that’s just where the event will be hosted.

And I can’t wait for this part, it is one of my favorite pieces. What we do during the live event is we work on your project. So everyone picks a project, we coach on it when we first get there, and you leave with either the project almost complete, or at least have the entire thing planned out so that you know over the next six months or however long it’s going to take, that this is what I’m going to do.

This is one of my very favorite parts. I think I already said that but I’m going to say it again because it is. I just love the connection. I love being in-person. If I could be in person with my clients like monthly, that would be ideal. I know some of you wish you could take me up on that. Of course I would probably hate it. I’m sure that would be too much, just with travel and whatever. But I just love it so much.

So, yes, there’s a live event and you should definitely be there. It’s going to be beautiful and so fun. And maybe unlike live events that you’ve been to before. It’s very laid back. I’m very laid back, which means so as the event. Just like I was talking about before, that authenticity piece, right? Like how do you create that in your coaching? That’s what I am also bringing to my spaces. So that’s what you can expect when you’re with me.

Okay, the next question is, who is the certification through? And the answer to this is, it’s through Lindsey Dotzlaf Coaching. So just like if you were getting a certification through Byron Katie, or through Tony Robbins, or through whoever else, that’s what it is. Is it connected to any other schools or anything like that? It is not.

One question that I’ve had a couple of times, which I think is an excellent question, is what’s the difference between an advanced certification versus a master coach certification? And I love this question because the answer is totally made up but I’m just going to tell you my answer. Because the industry is what it is and there aren’t necessarily rules when it comes to such things, even though some schools would like you to think there are. But there are not.

Anyone listening right now could create a coach certification today. And there are steps to go through to make the certification piece, like make it legit, which I’m working on with my lawyers. But anyone could create a certification, like today you could do it if you wanted to. So for me, I’m just going to tell you my definition and why I chose to call it an advanced certification instead of a master coach training.

To me the difference is a master coach training, I think, usually has a regular certification first. So there’s the certification, and then the master coach certification. So it’s like the basics and then the advanced thing, and they’re very connected. So you’re kind of learning the same things, but in one you’re learning the skill. And then the second one, you’re learning the advanced skill, but they’re very connected.

I don’t have a regular certification. I do have The Coach Lab where I teach coach skills. And who knows, maybe in the future, that will be a certification, but right now it’s not. So, for me, when I thought about, okay, what do I want to name this because I want it to be a certification, but I also want to make it clear that it is a little advanced. It’s for moving past the foundations.

Sometimes I hesitate to say that because I know all of you perfectionists are like, “Oh, that means it’s not for me.” And that’s probably not true unless you really are a brand new coach and you really are still learning your foundational skills. Otherwise, it is for you. Okay? So I just want to put that out there.

But to me, it’s indicating, okay, it’s a little more advanced work. And it’s a certification, which is why I landed on the Advanced Certification in Coaching Mastery. What you can call yourself afterwards is totally up to you. You can call yourself a certified coach. You can definitely call yourself a certified coach.

Someone asked me, “Can I call myself a master coach?” I said, “Listen, I am not the authority that’s going to come and shut you down and say you can’t call yourself this.” You can literally call yourself whatever you want.

So I just want to put that there just in case. And to me, I’ve done a lot of thinking about this because I do have several coach trainings and certifications. I do have a master coach certification. And I used to think, years ago, I used to think that these were very important and like the exact name of what I call myself is very, very important. And what I know now, years later, is that no one cares.

Literally, no one cares. Even if you say I’m a master certified coach, if someone really, really does care about it, they’re still going to have so many questions. Where are you certified through, right? Like they’re still going to have opinions that are positive and or negative.

So what I’ve learned is that you can just call yourself a coach, it’s going to be great. I know some of you are like, “Lindsay, I don’t like this.” But I really wish someone had said that to me. It probably would have caused me some heartache along the way because I really thought that I needed certain titles, certain names.

And now I pick coach trainings, which I’m looking for one currently, a somatic training, and I just pick them in very different ways. I don’t care what my title is after, I’m more concerned with what are they going to teach me? I’m just more discerning, instead of like, ooh, this feels prestigious, let me do this thing. Which is exactly why I have created what I have created because that is what we do in this space.

For me, it is not about what you call yourself afterwards or any type of prestige. It is truly about learning to be the best possible coach for your clients in a way that feels incredible to you, and that is so you that when people see it, or when people hear you coaching, or when people interact with you as a coach, they get it. They’re like, “Oh yeah, this makes so much sense. Of course you do this. Of course this is who you are.”

And then one question I get quite often about The Coach Lab and about the certification, really about any thing that I create is, oh, am I going to learn XYZ work from another place? Like, am I going to learn that in these spaces? And the answer is always no. I’ve never taken someone else’s work, this comes back to the authenticity piece, right?

I’m never taking someone else’s work and saying, “I’m going to certify you in this.” It makes no sense. And if you’re doing that, please don’t. But it just doesn’t make sense, right? Now, teaching a tool, so for example, I am certified through the Life Coach School. The Life Coach School uses a tool called the model. There are coaches who teach that tool in their things, which totally works if you’re not doing what I do.

So because I’m teaching coaching skill, which is similar to teaching the model, I would never take that tool and just teach it in my programs. It doesn’t make sense. I’m sure they wouldn’t like it. It is probably against the rules, right? So I would never do that. And so anything else that I create, a certification, an advanced certification, I’m not taking anyone else’s work and making it mine or putting a bow on top and saying, oh, I’m teaching it in a different way. It just doesn’t make any sense.

So, if you are interested, if you would love to join us, if you’re listening in real time, enroll now, get your application in. And I can’t wait to see it. And if not, I can’t wait to work with you in the future or to just hear how this resonates with you, how this episode, like what you think about it. What you think about when you think about your iconic work. And I can’t wait to cheer you on. I’m here for it.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Mastering Coaching Skills. If you want to learn more about my work, come visit me at lindsaydotzlafcoaching.com. That’s Lindsay with an A, D-O-T-Z-L-A-F.com. See you next week.