Happy New Year!

This time of year typically sparks the creation of resolutions, intentions, or goals. A few questions that I considered coming into this year were:

• Why is being a coach important to you at this time in your life?
• What do you hope to accomplish in 2015?
• What impact do you want to make in the lives of those
  you serve?
• How do you want to be remembered by those with
  whom you serve

As you reflect upon your responses to these questions, ICF-NJ is here to support you by offering programs that increase your effectiveness as a coach, position you to be seen as the expert that you are, and/or help you build the business that you desire.

Here are a few things that we are talking about doing for the year:

Opportunity Exchange Discussions: A number of coaches have mentioned that they would like to get more business. One way to do that is to support each other by sharing opportunities for coaching and speaking. There is an African Proverb that says "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." Most of the coaches that I have met and talked to over the past year want to go FAR.

Professional Development: This year we will continue to offer webinars and in-person events that help build your skills as a coach, prepare you to achieve credentialing, and build your business. In addition, we have partnered with some of our sister chapters to offer teleclasses on core competencies. Whether you are new to coaching or a seasoned coach, we are identifying programs that meet your specific needs. 

Outreach Campaign: This year is the 20th anniversary for ICF Global, which presents a wonderful opportunity for us to be positioned as the go to authority for people as well as companies in NJ who want to learn about coaching and hire coaches. Why is this important? The more people and companies that come to us when looking for coaches, the more opportunities we have to share with those of you who want to grow your business.

One of the things I noticed is that very few people open up our newsletters, and we only have between 8% to 10% of our membership attending our events. Certainly I understand that location and the distance plays a big part in whether you can attend. 

My hope is that in 2015, you begin to feel as if we are providing so much value that our participation rates increase! In order to do that, I need to hear from YOU! What will it take for you to attend and participate in the programs that we offer virtually or in your area of NJ?

A virtual ICF-NJ Town Hall meeting will be held on Monday, January 26 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time. So place a hold on your calendar! During this call we will discuss more about out plans for the year and allow time for you to ask questions as well as share ideas. We look forward to speaking with you on the call.

ICF-NJ wants to be a part of your support system. I invite you to be more engaged in 2015 so that we can all go FAR together. 

Wishing you GREAT success!

Take care,

Jennifer Smith

2015 ICF-NJ President

president@icf-nj.org