Adapting to Change: Maintaining a Thriving Coaching Practice

Gallup Called to Coach Webcast Series -- Season 10, Episode 11.

Below are audio and video plus a transcript of the conversation, including time stamps.

What does your coaching practice need to look like in 2022 and beyond? How can you ensure that the coaching relationships you have started keep moving forward? How can you diversify and scale your coaching business so it continues to grow? The coaching journey of TyAnn Osborn, founder of Osborn Consulting Group, has seen all kinds of twists and turns over the past 2 years. She has had to reimagine and restructure her coaching business, and her insights can help you do the same as you plan for your own future success. Join us for an informative webcast.

One thing I always like to think about is, What are people asking for? And in a little trick from improv, instead of saying "No," try to say "Yes."

TyAnn Osborn, 15:30

If you're new to this space, there are coaches out there that will help you, but definitely respect their time. And ... you can pay them to mentor you. So I think that is a really good investment.

TyAnn Osborn, 42:53

When I can help other people recognize their greatness and that they have a place in the world and other people need what they have to offer, and I can see that spark go back in their eyes, that's the part that lights me up.

TyAnn Osborn, 49:11

Jim Collison 0:01
I am Jim Collison, and this is Gallup's Called to Coach, recorded on March 11, 2022.

Meet Our Guest on This Episode

Jim Collison 0:20
Called to Coach is a resource for those who want to help others discover and use their strengths. We have Gallup experts and independent strengths coaches share tactics, insights and strategies to help coaches maximize the talent of individuals, teams and organizations around the world. If you're listening live, love to have you join us in our chat room. There's just a link right above me there on our live page. Sign in and you can ask your questions live. If you're listening after the fact -- and most of you do -- but if you're listening after the fact, you can always send us an email with your questions: coaching@gallup.com. Don't forget to subscribe to Called to Coach on your favorite podcast app or right there on YouTube so you never miss an episode. TyAnn Osborn is my guest today. TyAnn is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and Founder of Osborn Consulting Group, which sounds a little Marvelish. It sounds like one of those, you know, the Osborn Consulting Group, which serves -- like you have superheroes, right, in that -- which serves a national client base in leadership coaching, organizational effectiveness and performance acceleration. She's trained and coached over 10,000 people using a strengths-based approach to help enable effectiveness, increase productivity -- and I love this one -- and win at life. TyAnn, TyAnn often partners with other strengths coaches to deliver training around, around the country, and her favorite format is large group events; we'll talk a little bit about that. Her Top 5: Maximizer, Significance, Learner, Communication and Futuristic. TyAnn, thanks for coming on. Welcome!

TyAnn Osborn 1:44
Thanks so much, Jim. Super excited to be here!

Jim Collison 1:46
Get, let's, let's have you talk about you, because I think that's always way more effective than what I just read. Most people kind of checked out for a few minutes while I was reading. So give us a little bit of your background and maybe, you know, when you're meeting people, what do you say about yourself?

TyAnn Osborn 2:03
Yeah, you bet. So I've got a corporate background. Started out after undergrad in one of those consulting firms. You know, back in the day, all the big accounting firms had their consulting arm that went along with it. And then had a stint in PepsiCo, and then joined Dell, the computer company, and then eventually went over to the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, which, as I like to say, giving away $2 billion for a living is not a bad way to make a living. But eventually, well, and I also had some expat assignments where I got to live and work in India and China. So had some pretty interesting assignments there. But one thing that was super fun for me is I came across the Gallup body of work, and then was able to bring in a Gallup trainer, so Dan Kincaid back in the day, and had him come in to one of my organizations. And when I found the Gallup work, I was like, Oh, my gosh, these are my people! And so that kind of started the whole snowball, and here we are today.

Jim Collison 3:11
You've been coaching a long time, and I think certified 2014. Is that right, 2014?

TyAnn Osborn 3:17
Yeah, started in 2013 and got it, got it finished early 2014. That was back in the day when it was the, you had to do it the, the long and painful way.

Jim Collison 3:26
Yeah. Well, longhand. Everything was written out in longhand. And sometimes we chiseled things on stone. It was, it was tough, you know, not all the digital stuff that we have today. But some, you know, some interesting -- if you think, if you reflect back for a second and you think about, you know, that 2013-2014 time frame for you becoming a Gallup-Certified Coach, what was the, for you, what was the drive, if you can kind of remember that? I know it was a while ago, but what was the drive to get certified? What were you hoping for?

TyAnn Osborn 3:58
So I just loved it. And part of what I was doing, Jim, is I'd already put together like my own training from the Gallup materials, because I loved it so much. I mean, it really spoke to me about, you know, finding your passion in life and getting the right person in the right seat on, you know, on the right bus. And I just loved it so much. So I really wanted to bring the message to people. And then when I got the email about, Hey, we're certifying people, I thought, Oh, great! I want to get in on this. And so I just, I wanted to be at the front of the line in doing this. And so I was really excited to be one of the first Certified Coaches in Texas at the time. So that was kind of, I just wanted to be at the front of the line.

Jim Collison 4:46
Yeah, no, right on. We've grown and changed a lot in, over those years, and if you think about, you know, from an expectation perspective, or from maybe your own coaching perspective and some of the things you do, what, what, what do you think's been the biggest change for you, in that, over that time period? And maybe in your coaching or what you've seen from a trend perspective with people, but what's the big trend, big change that you've seen?

TyAnn Osborn 5:12
Ooh, there's been so much that's happened, you know, in this space I think, professionally, personally. I mean, one thing that we all have to think about when we're going through this journey, you know, for ourselves is kind of where are you going to be in this space? One thing, you know, you and I were talking about before was, when I went to the training, I kind of assumed everyone was going to be like me. And then when I got to the training, I realized no one else was there who was like me. And everyone who was at the training was coming at it from a really different point of view. There were people who were faith-based, who were, you know, doing this as a part of their church. There were people who were embedded in their organization who were, as part of their learning and development groups. There were, you know, people from just all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life.

TyAnn Osborn 6:09
And so really, I was, I think, the only one who had their own business and was doing this as an independent coach. And I thought, Gosh, I thought everybody was gonna be there like me. And so even other independent coaches are kind of doing this in a wide variety of ways. And so I'm, I was one of the few people who was doing large sessions. You know, and I still don't run into many people who take on large-session kind of events. You know, a lot of people just coach one-on-one or small teams or that kind of thing. So, as we go through this stuff, just personally, you really have to kind of figure out your sweet spot.

TyAnn Osborn 6:58
And then professionally, I mean, we always talk about bringing the message to, to more and more and more people and organizations. And, you know, I like to say, there is no shortage of work out there for us. And I like to operate with an open hand, because there's no shortage of businesses and people who need this message. So there's plenty of business for all of us.

Jim Collison 7:24
There's a lot of work to do out there. It's, it's funny you mention the, kind of the independent coach, because here in you know, I, we started doing these 2013, I want to say, Called to Coach. And we focused primarily on independent coaches. So there kind of became this kind of persona in the community that it was a lot of Certified, a lot of Certified Coaches were independent. The numbers don't actually hold up that way. The groups that you mentioned, right, we have a gigantic education group -- coaches that have come through that are working in university settings. You know, we have a lot of embedded coaches, and we actually have more embedded coaches now than we've ever had. And so it's a, it's a, there's been a little bit of a shift that way too.

Changes, Lessons Learned During the Pandemic

Jim Collison 8:08
I hear from, and we see a lot of the kind of, you know, what we would say independent coaches; you guys kind of group together in that way. But that's certainly, for some folks who might think that's all there is, there's certainly a great, a big population of others as well. As you think about lessons learned, like, let's get to some nitty gritty on this. Like, Hey, I'm a new coach. By the way we've had, you know, I don't know the exact number, but let's just say thousands. We've had thousands of new coaches since the pandemic. It's been 2 years. You and I, as we record this on March 11, we're coming up to that ominous, at least here in the United States, that March 17th date. It was a Thursday, right. That, like, that's, do you know where you were? I mean, it's one of those kinds of events, right? Two years into this. If you're, if you're thinking, let's, let's, let's do some lessons learned. As you think about, for a new coach, or even for someone who's been doing it for a while, what, what kind of things have you learned through this time?

TyAnn Osborn 9:11
Well, let me back up to that date and kind of give people my story of what was happening, because it was a good lesson learned, in terms of not putting all your eggs in one basket. So I was literally at the airport kind of 2 years ago today. And I was getting on a plane to fly to Miami to speak at a Bank of America conference. So that was my jam was big, live speaking events. So I was going to be doing a conference on stage, big event. And I happened to look down at my phone and check my email. And an email had come through from the conference organizers that said, "Conference has been canceled. Everyone don't come." And I thought, No, I'm at the airport. I'm like, en, en route! Like I've checked a bag. I mean, I'm, I'm on the way. And I thought, Who cancels a conference the day before? That, I mean, I've never heard of such a thing. That's, that's so silly. I mean, that's gonna be a colossal waste of money.

TyAnn Osborn 10:12
And then I had to go through the process of like going up to the Delta counter, and, you know, unwinding the ticket and all of that. And I just thought, That's so weird. And I go home. And then in the course of about 6 days, my entire book of business collapsed. Because when you do live speaking and training, big events, big conferences, guess what's the first thing to get canceled in a global pandemic? And so, I mean, it was like, a series of dominoes, like, and it was a big lesson learned there that, you know, when you have, your entire book of business is kind of a, a one-trick pony, you know, it had been going great. And then it didn't.

TyAnn Osborn 11:02
And so, you know, up until that point, I can count on literally one hand the number of even virtual calls that I had ever had. And I remember someone asking me, "Do you ever do virtual events?" And I was like, "I don't do that stuff. I love that in-person energy." Right? "My themes are Influencing. I'm high Significance. I like that thing." Well, let me tell you what happens when all of the rest of your business is canceled. You figure it out real fast, you know. You go get some equipment, and you start figuring out that virtual stuff real fast.

Jim Collison 11:45
Let's talk about this, this diversity of business concept for you. Certainly, you saw, Uh-oh, like, my, my business is wrapped up in in-person events, and I need to diversify. If you look at your, your book of business today, or the coaching work -- book of business sounds so, so impersonal; we'll say your coaching practice, right? That sounds more personal. Have you, have you successfully diversified? And what will keep you from, you know, certainly, as we get back in person, what, what will keep you from returning to that habit going forward?

TyAnn Osborn 12:24
Yeah. Well, so the first thing I had to do was think, Can I even do this? And does what I do possibly translate? And like, technically, can I do this? So I kind of had a moment of, you know, well, first, you're scared. And then you have a moment of like, Can I do this? And then you're like, Well, I better figure it out. Like, mama needs new shoes, you know; I gotta figure this out. You know, and I'm breadwinner for my family, you know, I gotta do this. So you do. You kind of figure it out real fast. And then how do I translate the energy that I bring on stage and the energy that I bring to my clients, which is my thing, that's really what I help differentiate myself with and for my clients? How do I bring that in a virtual capacity? Because we've all been on those virtual events, which are just, they drone on and on, and they're just sort of death by webinar, you know. Nobody wants that. I don't want to be that.

TyAnn Osborn 13:23
So how do you do that? And so I had to figure that out, Jim, and then figure out, How do I reach out to my clients and convince them that, Hey, I have these offerings, and they can be awesome, and that you need to spend your money in these ways. So I mean, that's, that's sales right there but really leaning in to those Influencing themes. And this is where, you know, we, we tell our clients all the time, You got to lean into what you got, right? So leaning into those and like, Hey, you know, go with me here. And because I have that trust with my clients, they're like, OK, you know, we can do this. We still have training dollars. Let's, let's test this out and see if it works. And then they do. So now what I'm finding are, you know, for a while all the clients went virtual. So, and then, but now, you know, we were talking about, kind of last year, some clients started to poke their heads out a little bit and say, OK, we're back to some in-person. And then they kind of retreated when we saw another spike up in the virus.

TyAnn Osborn 14:27
But now it's kind of interesting. I've got a great mix of virtual and in person. And then now it's kind of fun to have offerings in all the spaces. So now I've got everything from, you want a 45-minute kind of fun virtual thing, all the way up to full day or 2-day, you know, in person events. So I kind of feel like I've got a whole menu of offerings now that I didn't have before. So it's been even better than it was before.

Diversifying Your Coaching

Jim Collison 14:58
From, for other coaches thinking through that discovery process, so the actual behind the scenes as we think about what, you know, what you did to diversify, walk, walk me through or walk the listener through like just, What would be your recommendations to them if they're kind of looking, like, Well, all I really do is this kind of thing, and I want to branch out. How do you think differently about that? And what kind of things did you do to help you kind of think differently to do more, and more variety?

TyAnn Osborn 15:28
Sure. Well, one thing I always like to think about is, What are people asking for? And in a little trick from improv, instead of saying "No," try to say "Yes." So listen to what people are asking for. And then think, OK, what are my core things? And how, if people are asking for certain things, how can I potentially link, link my core to some of those other things? So for example, diversity, equity, inclusion, so the DEI space is really big right now. So potentially, how can I link strengths to some of that DEI content? Those are, there's a lot of potential linkage there. And that's a really potentially lucrative thing that you could do. Could you talk about strengths and DEI and come up with a 45-minute talk on that? That could easily be a 45-minute session that could fill a, you know, a Rotary Club Lunch and Learn sort of thing. And, you know, that could be an interesting offering that you add to supplement your, your offerings that you currently have. That could be virtual; that could be in-person. So I start to look at those things and then start to add to my collection of things that you offer.

Jim Collison 16:51
Ty, do you have a process that you go through when you're thinking about a new -- wellbeing would be another one of those hot topics right now --

TyAnn Osborn 16:58
Absolutely, absolutely, yep.

Jim Collison 17:00
Do you have, for your thought process -- and I know everybody's different -- but for your thought process, do you have a way of onboarding new content for yourself or new subjects for yourself that you kind of work through? Certainly, you just can't say, "Oh, I'm going to start delivering wellbeing," and bam, it's there. Right? You, you kind of got to work through that material, right? Do you have a method that helps you onboard new content?

TyAnn Osborn 17:23
So again, I like to have core content and then stuff I can kind of add on a little bit too. So it's not like creating whole-cloth, brand new content. I like to have kind of a core and then add on a little bit. And then I've got some, some great clients that are really fun partners that are, they're so always eager for new content, and they're very fun. They're always up for, Hey, I've got some new stuff; would y'all be open to having like a Lunch and Learn? Would you be interested in this topic. So it's kind of that partnership with the client and some core content with some new stuff to it. So I think both of those things work really well.

TyAnn Osborn 18:10
And again, Jim, that's part of that relationship you build over time; those things serve you. So that's been a recipe that's worked well for me. But that could be something too, even if you don't have a paying client, you could develop something and then pitch that to your church or a community group that you belong to or your local library. You know, you could say, Hey, I've got this seminar that I've developed. Could I present this? Who's gonna say "No" to that? Groups like that are always looking for new content, you know, so it's a real low-risk way to test it out.

Jim Collison 18:46
I know you're also part of a rock-star mastermind group. And we won't say the names to protect the innocent, but we'll forget one of them anyways, but do you ever, how important are they as -- they're important in a lot of ways. But is that another avenue? Do you guys spend time talking about new, creating new content or at least discussing it?

TyAnn Osborn 19:08
We do. And, you know, I think some of them are a little more formal than others. But one of the things that does for us is it gives you a safe space to talk about both challenges -- you know, "Here's what I'm seeing. Has anyone else faced this? Does anyone else see some creative solutions?" As well as, "Hey, here's something that's worked for me." And then we all kind of pitch an interesting solution, like, "Oh, that's such a cool idea." Or, "Hey, here's a template I've developed" or, you know, "Here's a new client or here's something," and we all end up working with each other too. For example, one of our members moved recently overseas. And so I'm working with her to kind of be a delivery arm for her for a client that's here in the States, because she's overseas now. And so if we didn't know each other and have that relationship, that couldn't be possible. So I highly encourage people to develop their tribe. And again, that's not going to happen if you're just sitting in your basement at home kind of wait --

Jim Collison 20:17
Hey! You're talking to me!

TyAnn Osborn 20:18
Or sitting in your home office here with only your cat to talk to. You know, you got to put yourself out there a little bit.

Jim Collison 20:24
Yeah. How did you, how'd your group form, your, your mastermind group form? How did that come together?

TyAnn Osborn 20:29
Oh, gosh.

Jim Collison 20:31
It's been a while, right? I mean, you guys have been getting together for a while.

TyAnn Osborn 20:34
Yeah, it has been a minute, right? Part of that was going to the summits and, and meeting people in person. You got to put yourself out there. Some of it was, Hey, I met this person who's good friends with that person. Some of it was just that energy. Honestly, I'm not even sure how; it just kind of, a group that got together over time. A lot of it was through summits, and just kind of friends of friends. And, you know, that group at the last summit, one of, Lisa Cummings, she couldn't be there. And so I kind of stepped in for her at one of those summit breakout groups. And just, you know, over time, it just kind of congealed that way. So it just encouraged people to, you know, always, again, say "Yes" to opportunities, because it always leads somewhere.

Jim Collison 21:22
Yeah, it's funny you say that. I think of that improv trick in saying "Yes" in my support role for the coaches around the community. Listen, I get asked a lot of questions I have to say "No" to, but I always think -- it's funny -- that, OK, how, is there a way I can say "Yes" in saying "No," right, in that?

TyAnn Osborn 21:41
Right. And even when clients come to me and ask for things that are outside of my sphere or outside of my wheelhouse, even if I say, "That's not something I offer," I always say, "But here's a resource for you." Because then they still come to me, you know. But if I just say, "Aah, nope," and I'm a dead end. Guess what? They stop coming to you.

Jim Collison 22:08
Yeah. Yeah.

TyAnn Osborn 22:09
You know.

Jim Collison 22:09
Although, in my role, sometimes I have to say "No."

TyAnn Osborn 22:13
Well, you have, you know, you're, everyone comes to you, Jim, you know, cause you're, you're like a single point of contact; everyone comes to you.

Working With Large Groups, Fostering Coaching Relationships

Jim Collison 22:22
Or a single point of failure, depending on how you looked at it, right; depends on the day. Richard says he can highly recommend being a part of a mastermind group. And I think we talked about this a little bit with, with Charlotte when she, when she was on as well, and with, with, with Brent, when he was on, I think important. Lisa's asking a question; says, You talked about presenting and giving talks. When you're working with large groups, how do you balance speaking versus team exercises? And, and I want to add in, not just team exercises but conversation. And, you know, I like to sprinkle in -- and this is a, this is a technique I've learned from, from my Gallup friends -- is put some things out there and then put them together in pairs. This has been harder during the pandemic, but I think we're coming back to it. So as we think about that question, How do you balance that speaking versus team exercises or feedback in the group? How do you do team exercises with mega groups? Can you talk a little bit about that?

TyAnn Osborn 23:16
I can. So Lisa, great question. And I also want to circle back to something Richard said here in a sec. So don't let me forget what Richard said. Lisa, so one of the things I do when speaking from the stage -- and I've done this with groups of up to 200 -- it is really important for me to have still a catalytic experience for people. Because I don't want to sit, I mean, just personally, I don't want to sit there and just watch a talking head for hours. Because that's no fun. So I immediately get people up and moving and talking. So always want to have people talking in table groups, getting people up, even doing a physical representation of those continuum activities. Having people partner up, doing some, you know, let's do a table thing; let's do an engagement activity where we divide the room into things.

TyAnn Osborn 24:09
So I'm always, like, we're gonna be talking, we're gonna be doing this. And I always, always, always present this as, This is a beginning. This is a beginning of your strengths journey, because there's no way we can do a full strengths journey in 2 hours or 4 hours or whatever period of time that I'm allotted, right. So another thing that I just started doing, which I'm having good success in, is saying, OK, if I have you for X amount of time, 2 hours or 4 hours, then I've started selling clients on, This is the beginning. We're gonna follow up then with a virtual session after this. But the clients then know me; they know me in person. So when I have a series of virtual sessions afterwards, we have a much better relationship because we've met each other in person, rather than just starting virtually, which is fine, but you miss a little bit of that relationship.

TyAnn Osborn 25:04
And then even when I'm sending out email drips afterwards, people still have a relationship with me, and your click-through rate is a lot higher. Because they're like, Oh, it's an email from Ty, not just a spammy-feeling email. And they're like, Oh, it's a Ty exercise, so I'm much more likely to do it, rather than just like, Aah, it's one of those other autogenerated kind of emails. I'm always about exercises. So anytime I talk, we immediately do an exercise right after that slide -- not just like, Aah, it's Ty droning on forever. Oh, and I do a lot of giveaways too. And every time I do a giveaway, the person has to come up on stage and get it.

Jim Collison 25:44
And like, what kind of things do you give away? What, what are your, or what are popular items for you?

TyAnn Osborn 25:49
Well, Jim, I give away Gallup books, obviously,

Jim Collison 25:53
I didn't pay you to say that. That's not an endorsement, like, but it's certainly, in those settings, it's a good idea, right?

TyAnn Osborn 26:00
I mean, not to be pander, pandering or anything. But I'm a big believer -- and I always say this -- that Leaders are readers. And in fact, this was funny. I had someone in a session one time and they said, "Oh, I like your virtual background." And I was like, "No, this is my office." And they were like, "No." And I actually had to get up and go touch my bookshelf back there so they would believe me. So anytime I do a session, I have like my stack of books, and I hold them up and I talk about why I like, you know, Strengths Based Leadership, or It's the Manager. So I always give those books away. But I also sprinkle in, like, the Gallup picture deck, or even some Starbucks cards, you know, every so often.

Jim Collison 26:41
Everybody likes Starbucks, right? Not everybody, but most people.

TyAnn Osborn 26:45
Well, most people. But not to forget Richard, I wanted to bring him back in, because I very much count Richard as a part of my, my tribe as well, because he is such a great resource. And actually, he and I are working on a project together to, so love Richard over in the U.K.

Jim Collison 27:03
Great! And then, when the, you know, what I love about giving away books, whatever they happen to be -- and our books are great for this, but tie those into the topic that you're covering right then.

TyAnn Osborn 27:20
Exactly.

Jim Collison 27:21
Right.

TyAnn Osborn 27:21
Yes.

Jim Collison 27:22
And so that, it kind of, it kind of makes sense while you're doing it. You know, if you're, I think it's just a good exercise to let them know why they're getting that and maybe even talk a little bit about it, right -- and -- "Here's what's in here that you can use today."

TyAnn Osborn 27:39
So that's just it, like, sometimes I'll show even Paul Allen reading the "Let the rabbits run" clip from the Soar With Your Strengths. So then I'll give away that -- the Soar With Your Strengths book. So that's always a good one, because it's small, so it doesn't seem quite so overwhelming to people, or the Strengths Based Parenting book, if we're talking about kids, or whatever it is. So those, that, that's easy stuff. And because it has a code in the back, it kind of feels like a twofer; people are getting something. Or, an easy thing -- I do this all the time -- people always laugh because I'm like, "You won a business card from me!" But it's, I say, "Send me an email, and then you'll get a coaching session with me or I'll unlock your Top 5 and I'll give you your full results." But it also makes them engage with me, you know?

Jim Collison 28:33
Yeah. Well, those are some, I mean, there's some great ideas in there. I think we thought with Zoom, we couldn't give away things like that; we couldn't use that same engagement. And you still can, right? There's plenty of digital products, right? I mean, all that stuff is available digital. And if you talk about it in the beginning, say, you know, "Hey, I've got a, listen, I got a stack of things I'm giving away to those who are paying attention." I mean, be super clear. Like, I'm pandering to your attention right now.

TyAnn Osborn 29:02
Oh, 100%.

Jim Collison 29:03
Because this is what we do in person, right? We do the exact same thing. It's the reason we give stuff away is so that they stay engaged in what we're doing. Why not do that via Zoom? Right? Has that been successful?

TyAnn Osborn 29:14
Totally. I had a great session yesterday; a guy jumped in and had a really great comment. I had a great comment in the chat box. And then I had a guy who came off of mute; he had a super profound thing that he said, and you could tell he was more introverted. You can tell he really wasn't like one of these big, charismatic kind of speakers. And he made this, like, super profound connection. And I was like, "Trevor, I am gonna send you a prize." And, you know, you can totally do that.

Jim Collison 29:43
Yeah, no, same, same effect, right. I mean, it gets, it gets people engaged. Justin has said in chat, he says, That's interesting. I have a 4-hour face-to-face event coming up and we're doing a preevent Zoom, which I think's a good idea. The purpose of that is to start the relationship and allow us to start a bit faster when we meet. Wow, who would have thought, like, we would have started bringing in the virtual first to speed up the relationships now? I think that's a good lesson learned, right, and that now that everybody is virtual-efficient -- proficient is probably the better word -- you really could do it virtual first. Right? Nate, Nate also says that Richard is awesome and should be a part of everybody's tribe, whether he likes that or not.

Focusing on the Future in Your Coaching

TyAnn Osborn 30:28
Highly agree. Yeah.

Jim Collison 30:30
So yeah, it gives us, I think, that, those digital assets, I think, Charlotte, who we had on a couple weeks ago, did a blog post that had a bunch of information in it. And it could even just be about leaving some of that, Hey, I've got some tips beyond this to provide to you. Here's a, here's a, you know, here's the link to come back to it. Any other thoughts as we think about virtual -- and now, and I really want to think, I don't, I don't want to spend any time focusing on what we did, because the world's gonna change again on us, right, where we are going to be more hybrid. Any thoughts, as you look ahead and any advice you'd give to coaches, about things you learn that you're going to implement going forward in, in whatever situation it turns out to be here in the future? I can't stop predicting it.

TyAnn Osborn 31:19
I know, right, Jim? I think it's just, we always have to be adapting; we always have to be nimble. And we can't ever say, Well, this is my business. Like, I've got my one deck, and I've got my one handout. And this is, you know, I'm good to go. I mean, we always have to be adapting and adapting our material, adapting our content, and always keeping an eye on what's happening. And obviously right now, I mean, you and I've been talking about this, but The Great Resignation, The Great Discontent, the great, whatever you want to call it, that is so top-of-mind with our clients, you can't just show up and say, "Yeah, but all I'm here to talk about is strengths," when that's what's on people's minds.

TyAnn Osborn 32:01
So whether it's engagement or DEI or discontent or resignation or wellbeing, or whatever it is, you have to be able to link in strengths and that stuff. So you've got to keep yourself relevant, on top of the market, as well as, you know, prepared for whatever medium that we need to be in to meet our clients where they are. So that's my advice.

Presenting Yourself Professionally in Coaching Sessions

Jim Collison 32:33
Yeah, I think that's, I think that's good advice. I want to shift gears a little bit, because when you joined the call this morning, and I saw you had a great microphone, and it sounded great, and your lighting was good. You know, we meet early just so that I get a chance to test all those things. You committed to a studio at some point. And I am surprised, after 2 years of doing this, how many people still really have bad sound, bad equipment. They're doing this, they're, they're, you know, this is their professional presentation. How important, and how did you get to a point where you got kind of the right gear, and you got comfortable with it? And you, you know, you've you even added some lighting to what you're doing, which is super helpful. Right? Walk me through that thought process -- one, one for me, because like, I really like talking to people who care about their sound, because I hear it. Right. They don't, but I do. What was that, what was that thought process? And what kind of advice would you give post-, you know, as we're going into this new era. Cause I think, I don't think this goes away, by the way. I think virtual still has a spot. But talk a little bit about equipment.

TyAnn Osborn 33:40
Oh, Jim, it's so important. And I think from a, well, it only takes one webinar where you're using what I call the nostril cam, which is the, the webcam that's in the corner of your laptop, and you're in front of your window that's backlit. And, you know, you have terrible lighting, you have terrible sound, and someone's, webcam is shooting straight up your nose. It only takes one of those, and you watch yourself. So I would encourage you, if you haven't ever done it, go back and watch a recording of one of your sessions. And then just see it; listen to it and see it, and think, "Is that the best me? And if I were a client, is that what I want to pay for?" And then, you know, just ask yourself that question. It's like, OK, if the answer is, "Oh, that looks like crap," maybe you ought to reconsider.

TyAnn Osborn 34:34
And then the good news is, the price of technology has come down so much. And so I think on, on a positive note -- and Positivity is one of my Top 10 -- if we're looking for things that the pandemic has helped with, it actually accelerated technology in a way that I think might have taken otherwise like 10 or 15 years to do so. Because it really dropped the price and accelerated, you know, external webcams, external microphones, external lighting, and brought to the forefront the importance of these things. So for less than $100, you can get a great webcam, a microphone, a ring light, and all these things. Again, for under $100, you can get all three of those things and get yourself in business with Prime delivery within 2 days, you know, you can get all that stuff set up. So I highly encourage y'all to do that, and then see the difference it makes. So if you're charging a client, I mean, this really makes the difference between offering something for free, being able to charge $200, and being able to charge $2,500 or more to a client and having a professional-looking product.

Jim Collison 35:49
Yeah, yeah, I think it's really, really important. And I'm always surprised how many people still just want to join with their laptop in a big empty room that, you know, the laptop, like you said, the laptop's not positioned correctly. And you're like, Oh, have we not learned anything over the last, you know, 2 years in this? Makes me sad a little bit.

TyAnn Osborn 36:11
Here's another just kind of thing that bothers me a little bit. And I realize, you know, not everybody's house has a dedicated office. I totally get that. But one thing that kind of bothers me, especially when I'm doing one-on-one coaching is when someone has their bed in the background, because it makes me feel like I'm in your bedroom with you. And that's a little too intimate for me. And even though I'm a high Influencer, you know, and we've got some of that Woo and, you know, we build relationships really quickly, that's a little too far, even for me, to feel like I'm in bed with you. And I would prefer not to see your unmade bed in the background. So even if you can just switch that camera a little bit to see, like, a blank wall behind you, I would much prefer that to an unmade bed.

Jim Collison 36:56
Yeah, and there's some different, there's just some different, you know, the, the angle behind you is pretty small. And so if you can, you know, if you can pivot some things. When, at the beginning of the pandemic, and I actually, my work orientation goes this way, and I have a black curtain here, and it looks a little bit different. And everybody was kind of used to see me coming in from the studio. And they're like, "Where are you?" And I'm like, "I'm in the same spot. I just turned this way." Like, really? Like, yeah. And so you can, I think there are some things that you can do, and you can just take it up a notch a little bit as a coach. I think, yeah, you're never going to get, for those that you're coaching, you're never going to get, I mean, there's just going to be various levels. But I, I really do appreciate it -- this just a personal thing for me -- when somebody's made that effort to kind of up it a little bit. You've, you know, you got an external mic with the, with the external webcam and got earbuds in, and you're making sure like, OK, this is gonna sound great. And it doesn't, like you said, it doesn't take much and it doesn't, it doesn't necessarily have to cost a lot. You can make it, if you want it to, you can make it cost a lot.

TyAnn Osborn 38:03
If you want it, but really under $100 will get you pretty far these days.

Scaling Your Coaching Business

Jim Collison 38:08
Yeah. Let's, you've got Maximizer No. 1, and, and I, you know, I have it 3. By the way, I think -- this is not scientific, but I think a lot of coaches have Maximizer. It's really weird. Whenever I get on calls with coaches, and we we're talking about strengths, Maximizer always pops up. As you think about scaling going forward, the new, this, you know, in whatever this turns out to be and scaling your coaching practice, what to do more, more efficiently, what kind of things do you think you're going to do or you want to do, or what's on the horizon for you going forward, when we think about scaling what you do as a coach?

TyAnn Osborn 38:48
You know, Jim, that Maximizer, we just can never leave good enough alone, right? And, which is both good and bad sometimes. But for me, I mean, I had this big Aha! last year that I had really become kind of the bottleneck for my business. And I've been in business now for 10 years. And I had gotten to the point where I don't think I can grow anymore, because I'm the limiting factor here. So I had to start to put a team in place, and then to let go of some things and to let other people start to help me, which is always a little bit like Aaah! You know, but now I've got some coaches that I can rely on that are taking some of that work, and I've got some administrative help, finally. And then you also really have to think, What's the highest and best use of my time and what's not? And then again, how can I leverage some things?

TyAnn Osborn 39:43
And, you know, one thing that I really struggle with as a Maximizer is every time I look at content, I really want to mess with it. So I have to ask myself, Is this good enough, or do I need to spend time messing with it? But one of my favorite things -- and this was actually, I was on the way to the last summit, and I came across a sign in the book, in the airport. And it was a bookstore, and they had one of those sandwich boards outside of the bookstore, you know, where people like advertise, you know, specials and that kind of thing. So it was a board and it said, "World's closest bookstore." And that made me laugh so much. And I took a picture of it. And I thought, This is just what my Maximizer needs to hear. Because sometimes close is good enough. Like it wasn't the best bookstore, wasn't, you know, the best one on the planet; it was the closest. And I thought, That's so true. Sometimes "close" is the best option.

Jim Collison 40:42
Yeah. Well, we sometimes say, "Luck is where opportunity -- where preparation meets opportunity." And like, they were there, I, and I love that because I think sometimes we may get locked into a scenario where like, all these things have to line up just right for me to coach people; where it's like, there's those, there's those moments, you just might be the closest coach.

TyAnn Osborn 41:09
Just jump in. Jump in. I mean, if you wait for everything to be perfect, you know, as my mom says, perfect doesn't exist, right? So you're never gonna have, I mean, I have friends that have always talked about having their own business, right. But then I have this one friend, and she says, "Well, I'm going to another conference on, you know, entrepreneurship, and then I'm going to get this certification on whatever. And then I think I need a master's on whatever, and I need this and I need that. I need a better, you know, light, and I need a better this." I'm like, "Are you ever gonna get that business started?" Or "I'm still designing the perfect business card on Moo." I'm like, "No one cares!" I mean, or people who are like, "I'm still futzing around with my website." I'm like, "There are people who don't have websites," you know,

Jim Collison 41:59
Get it launched.

TyAnn Osborn 42:00
Just launch it!

Bringing Other Coaches Into Your Coaching Journey

Jim Collison 42:01
Get rolling. We've got a few minutes left. I want to open it up a little bit for, we've got a festive live audience. So I want to give them a chance to ask some questions as well. What do you think, if you were to give a piece of advice, anything I've missed from an advice standpoint on your side that you wanted to talk about? What, what would that be -- to either new or existing coaches, kind of going forward? Anything that we've missed so far?

TyAnn Osborn 42:27
One thing I see on the Facebook groups a lot, and I will first of all caveat with Facebook is not my love language. So I'm only periodically in there. I have a book rattling around my head, and that might be the title of it. But there are coaches out there who help quite a bit. I think, Ralph in Germany, and then Charlotte, obviously, kind of has the, the help on Facebook locked up, in addition to you and Brent O'Bannon and some people like that. So I would say, If you're new to this space, there are coaches out there that will help you, but definitely respect their time. And they offer paid help. So definitely respect them, but you can pay them to mentor you. So I think that is a really good investment. And I would encourage you to do so. So rather than just ask for all of their knowledge for free, recognize that they have put years and years into this space, and respect that. And because, because we've built all of this over time, and I would just ask for that respect.

Jim Collison 43:31
Yeah, no, it's, it's great advice. Steve says, The ABC, right: Always Be Coaching -- but I like this -- but don't be annoying!

TyAnn Osborn 43:40
I say that too. I would say, always be coaching, always be selling and always be learning. Those are things I say.

Jim Collison 43:45
You might be the closest coach. I like that; I'm gonna, that's a story I'm gonna steal. Because like, there are moments were just opport -- you're not the best. You weren't in the best position. You might not be ready, but you're the closest, and, and you got to jump on it. Lisa asks a question. She says, Ty, you speak so well. Well, well-paced and no "ums"! Have you done any training as a public speaker? How do you prepare before you speak? Any intentionality in that, or are you just naturally a gifted speaker?

TyAnn Osborn 44:14
Well, gosh, Lisa, thank you! I will be sending you a Starbucks card after this. I think, Lisa, it's just a function of how often I do that. And that just goes back to what we're saying: Get as much practice as you can. So if it's speaking at your church or the PTA or your women's group that you belong to, or whatever it is, get as much practice as you can. Watch tapes or videos or those recorded Zooms of yourself. And I know, Jim, I've heard you say this, that when you hear yourself you're like, Oh, I shouldn't have said that. I would say that differently. But that's good learning too. I'm always learning. That's part of that Maximizer where we say like, Oh, I wish I would have done that better. But that's good learning. It's all learning. It all goes into making us better the next time.

Jim Collison 45:07
Yeah, you have to review your own stuff. You've got to record yourself and go back and listen to it. You just have to, have to, and it kills, for some people that's, causes anxiety; you got to figure out some ways to get around it, because it just makes you better in the end. Ken says, we share Maximizer 1 and Learner 3. When do you find the perfectionist side of Maximizer sneaking into your coaching? Oh, this sounds personal!

TyAnn Osborn 45:33
Ken -- all the time, all the time! But it just goes back to, Do you feel like you did the best you could? Did you offer the best advice? I was listening to Jim and Charlotte the other day talking about that difference between coaching and consulting. Because I have a consulting background, and often my clients come to me for consulting advice, my coaching tends to be more on the consulting side, rather than pure coaching. So that's the framework and the paradigm when I set up my engagements, that's usually the side I am more on. But I make that explicit at the front end. So I think that helps when you set up your engagements, to really flesh out where are you on that spectrum? And, you know, you do the best you can when you talk to people, and then when you know better, you do better, right?

Jim Collison 46:33
Yeah, yeah, well, it's practice, right? It's just, people always say, you know, they like the way I do what I do here on Called to Coach and I'm like, Well, you know, I've done this 1,000 times.

TyAnn Osborn 46:43
I was gonna say, you've done it a few times now, right, Jim?

Jim Collison 46:46
I wasn't good at it in the beginning, this, just to be honest. And you know, I've gotten better, hopefully, I've gotten better as I go. But sometimes it just takes practice. Melanie in the chat room says, Toastmasters is one of those groups that you can, and they're really good at this because they're very, very structured, right, very disciplined. And they bring that approach to it. I did, I had the opportunity to do a Toastmasters group when I was in high school. And that was just such a foundational change for me in thinking about the way I present and I talk and I do the things the way I do. I actually find if I try to concentrate on what I'm talking about, I'm worse than if I just let it, like, just let it be. Because I'll stumble and not finish sentences. If I'm trying to do it, it's a disaster. Whereas if I'm in the flow, if I'm in the mo -- I have to trust my instincts, right? I have to trust the training that I've done, and just go with it. It gets, it gets, it's, works.

TyAnn Osborn 47:43
You've got that, Jim, we've got that Influencer thing. I've got high Communication. I've also been in some other groups, not quite Toastmasters, but some other groups that did public speaking. I did Model UN when I was in high school. So I think those experiences together all lend to some of that speaking experience.

Using Your Talent Themes to Help Others

Jim Collison 48:02
Yeah, good. It's good. Jennifer asks this question. She also has Significance too. And this is, this is a great question, Jennifer. How has this theme worked well for you? And because it's, it's a, you know, it's a, it's a, it's not as a common as a theme. Right. So we don't see this a lot. And when's it been a hindrance? I'm more interested in how has it helped you? But, but talk a little bit about that. How does your Significance fit in?

TyAnn Osborn 48:25
OK, Jennifer, I will let you know: Significance is No. 2. I've also got Self-Assurance in my Top 10. So those are the twins, right? And those are two of the least frequently found themes. And I've also got, yeah, I've got some Competition in there. So people can say, Gosh, that probably makes for a real jerk. But I, that's the, Significance especially is one of the themes that people have a hard time really accepting and liking. Oftentimes, that's the one people are like, "Don't tell anybody I've got that one," right. But I love it. Because for me, it's all about importance and legacy, meaning that we want to work on things that are important and help others see their contribution to the world.

TyAnn Osborn 49:11
And when I can help other people recognize their greatness and that they have a place in the world and other people need what they have to offer, and I can see that spark go back in their eyes, that's the part that lights me up. And if I can do that from the stage in a bigger audience, like the more people I can impact in that way, that's a good day for me. And so that's how it manifests in my life. So there is a little bit of a performance element from that Significance that shows up for me, but really, it's about, How many people can I impact to help them see their place in the world?

Jim Collison 49:55
You know, I love that answer. Because as we, you know, we spent a lot of time on Theme Thursday talking about this "me" versus "we," and I think both those themes get mis, mismaligned because they get the "me" focus only. And, and what you, what you just said is, "I do this for others; I turn this, this Significance on because I want to impress the importance of legacy in others," right? I think that's so powerful, right. I think sometimes, and I've been a little -- over the last couple years, I've been a little, I've been a little hesitant. We sometimes drive to the negative side of things way too fast. And I love that, I think sometimes if we're struggling with that, if we just take that theme and point it to others, it removes that negative thing that's happening inside of us pretty fast. It's, listen, it's I think it's really hard for it to be a hindrance when it's helping others, don't you think?

TyAnn Osborn 50:53
Absolutely, yeah, right. It, yeah, it these are strengths, right? It's called the StrengthsFinder, not the WeaknessFinder.

The World Needs You as a Coach

Jim Collison 51:01
Although, I shouldn't say this, but there, somebody made one of those years ago now, just kind of as a joke. And super, super funny, from that perspective. Last call for questions from the chat room. Ty, anything else, you've got the community's ear. Anything else you'd throw in just in the final few minutes that we have left here? Maybe, maybe some, OK, let's, maybe some Self-Assurance and Significance put together, facing forward, to these coaches? Can you inspire them in just 2 minutes? Like, for those that are feeling down or they're dragging a little bit today? Let's, let's get a little inspiration on the way out.

TyAnn Osborn 51:38
Yeah, absolutely. So I very much believe, Jim, that everyone is here for a reason. There's a reason we're all together right now, and that you are a coach, and you've chosen this as your journey. And so it's really important that you are doing this work. And the world needs you. And so the world needs what you have to offer. So if you ever are having one of those days where you're thinking, Oh, I don't know, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if, you know, I've got the passion or if there's enough business out there for me or if I should do something else. Just know that doubts are normal, but you're in the right space, and there is enough business for you. And you've got the talent. So stay the path, and you are exactly where you're supposed to be.

Jim Collison 52:33
I like it. I like it. If you could take your mic off, you could drop it. But I wouldn't recommend you do that. Ty, if folks want to get connected to you, what's the, what's the best and easiest way to do that?

TyAnn Osborn 52:46
So while Facebook is not my love language, LinkedIn is. So please come over. Just go to TyAnn Osborn -- that's the one benefit of having a unique name is I have all the handles -- so TyAnn Osborn on LinkedIn. Please connect with me there. And you can also hop over to my website, tyannosborn.com. Those two places will get you connected with me.

Jim Collison 53:09
Super great. Well, I hope everything's OK, for whatever fell in the background there.

TyAnn Osborn 53:14
I'm gonna chalk that up to my cat, who's very naughty and sitting right here slightly off camera.

Jim Collison 53:19
If I hadn't, if I hadn't brought it up, it probably wouldn't have even --

TyAnn Osborn 53:22
It was my cat.

Jim Collison 53:22
It wouldn't even have been a point. Ty, thank you for taking the time today to be a part of this. If you'd hang tight for me one second, we'll, we'll close this up. With that, we'll remind everyone to take full advantage of all the resources we do have available now in Gallup Access. Head out to gallup.com/cliftonstrengths. For coaching, master coaching or if you want to be a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach like Ty is, you can send us an email: coaching@gallup.com. We'll get some information out to you about how you get that done. Join us on any social platform by searching "CliftonStrengths." And if you want to join us in the Facebook group, it's, it's not Ty's love language, but it is for some. Head out to facebook.com/groups/calledtocoach, and that, that'll let you get in that group. We have almost 15,000 in that group now, and, and so it's, it's quite the conversation, although the Certified group -- we have a, just a Certified group as well -- that one has caught fire over the last year or two. And that thing, there's more, there's more threads in there that I can keep up with. So appreciate you guys out there helping each other doing that. Don't forget, if you, first time you've joined us, and you want to join more of these, you can always follow all the events that we do: gallup.eventbrite.com. Follow us. You'll get a notification from me whenever I post anything new. We want to thank you for listening. If you found this helpful -- and why wouldn't you have found this helpful? -- we'd ask that you'd share it. Just take the link and send it to some friends, and we appreciate that as well. We'll do a little bit -- Ty, can you stay around for a little postshow? Would that be OK?

TyAnn Osborn 54:45
Absolutely! Yeah.

Jim Collison 54:46
OK, we'll do a little bit of postshow for those that are listening live. With that, We'll say, Goodbye, everybody.

TyAnn Osborn's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Maximizer, Significance, Learner, Communication and Futuristic.