Coaching and mentoring career

[Buryblue]

For 20 years, I successfully ran my own dental practice, which I built from scratch. I gained extensive experience in all aspects of running a business, including recruitment, training, sales, managing staff, training graduates, and treating patients.

Unfortunately, I became very ill and not knowing if I would recover sufficiently I had to sell the business. After an 18 month recovery period, I realised I could no longer continue as a dentist due to the physical demands of the profession.

One of the reasons I am reaching out to this group is that I need a new career and direction in life. I believe I have a wealth of experience to share. Consequently, I have embarked on a two-year Level 7 course in Coaching and Mentoring with the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). As part of my assignments, I need to coach or mentor individuals at the management or executive level.

I am happy to offer mentoring within my own profession but would also prefer and welcome the challenge of working in other fields. I would greatly appreciate advice on the best ways to find people to whom I could provide pro bono coaching or mentoring over several sessions.

 

[NickZ]

I am happy to offer mentoring within my own profession but would also prefer and welcome the challenge of working in other fields. I would greatly appreciate advice on the best ways to find people to whom I could provide pro bono coaching or mentoring over several sessions.

Godspeed to you.
As with most startups you need to knock on doors.
Being a former Dentist will help to open doors.

 

[Ozzy]

I would greatly appreciate advice on the best ways to find people to whom I could provide pro bono coaching or mentoring over several sessions.

Hi, welcome, and I wish you every success in this new direction.

Answering your question, some immediate off-the-cuff thoughts that may help could be;

• Hang out on these forums and help others, demonstrate your experience and knowledge.
• Be active on LinkedIn, build yourself a reputation as a business coach and mentor by posting snippets and short videos of advice on there (and perhaps TikTok, etc). (using current language, become an influencer)
• Start writing a blog and building a newsletter subscriber list to complement your social media. As a past guest on my podcast, Gary Turner achieved this here.

That's some quick fire thoughts, basically all based around growing your reputation and image in that field.

 

[fisicx]

@Buryblue the biggest obstacle will be your lack of experience at actual mentoring and coaching.

A senior manager will want to know you can deliver. Which means you need to show your mentoring is effective at lower levels building up to management.

If you already have this experience maybe go back to the companies where you mentored and offer your further services.

 

[Buryblue]

Thank you for your replies.

You are correct that I lack formal mentoring and coaching experience. However, I have proven myself within my profession and business through my consistent track record of success.

My current course requires written evidence of coaching for assignments, which is why I am offering my services for free.

I understand the value of social media for networking for business opportunities, but I’m a novice in this area and just turned 50. How do you grow a social media presence from nothing?

In the past I have relied on the quality of work and word-of-mouth recommendations to keep my practice busy. Which it was for 20 years. The new owners have lost so many patients and staff since I sold.

Given the insular nature of the dentistry profession, I have felt the impact more acutely now that I am not practicing. I don’t have a large network of people to contact.

Therefore, if anyone here is interested in receiving free coaching, please feel free to reach out. I would appreciate the opportunity to support others while fulfilling my course requirements.

Thank you!

 

[fantheflames]

Welcome @Buryblue! I think joining and participating as yourself in dental and business associations would be a great place to start. Many novices and professionals are seeking mentorship.

But first, you need to reframe your digital presence from professional to coach and professional. Highlight your coaching and mentoring focus, share regular updates based on your experience.

As someone with lots of experience, I think creating short videos with tips on business management and coaching would be a great venture for you and a way to connect with people on a deeper level.

As someone that uses a coach and helps coaches also in the marketing world, it's important to integrate your personality and background as much as you can.

I have worked with several coaches now, and they are all completely different, and this is down to their personality and background, and they all offer different things.

Some offer self help guides, courses, group work, events, company talks, or one-to-ones. And others combine one or two in their coaching and mentoring.

You'll want to find your value through content, be that videoing, blogging, newsletters, podcasts/webinars, or something else alongside your coaching services.

I think coaching is similar to marketing in some ways. You want to identify the problems, understand the benefits of solving them, and show why it failed before.

Get yourself a coaching qualification as soon as you can, these are relatively inexpensive and doesn't take long to complete.

 

[Buryblue]

Welcome @Buryblue! I think joining and participating as yourself in dental and business associations would be a great place to start. Many novices and professionals are seeking mentorship.

But first, you need to reframe your digital presence from professional to coach and professional. Highlight your coaching and mentoring focus, share regular updates based on your experience.

As someone with lots of experience, I think creating short videos with tips on business management and coaching would be a great venture for you and a way to connect with people on a deeper level.

As someone that uses a coach and helps coaches also in the marketing world, it's important to integrate your personality and background as much as you can.

I have worked with several coaches now, and they are all completely different, and this is down to their personality and background, and they all offer different things.

Some offer self help guides, courses, group work, events, company talks, or one-to-ones. And others combine one or two in their coaching and mentoring.

You'll want to find your value through content, be that videoing, blogging, newsletters, podcasts/webinars, or something else alongside your coaching services.

I think coaching is similar to marketing in some ways. You want to identify the problems, understand the benefits of solving them, and show why it failed before.

Get yourself a coaching qualification as soon as you can, these are relatively inexpensive and doesn't take long to complete.

Many thanks for the great advice @fantheflames I'm already on a ILM Level 7 course. Hopefully this will help. I've just on the other side of middle age so a social presence is new a little daunting, but will have a go!

 

[fisicx]

Your biggest challenge is still convincing potential clients you can deliver. Without examples and case studies to show people there is zero incentive to employ your services.

Are you just planning to mentor dentists?

 

[Buryblue]

@fisicx I planning to coach/mentor dentists, along with other professions. I have found a few underperforming dentists to mentor for my coursework assignments. I have to start somewhere......

 

[fisicx]

@fisicx I planning to coach/mentor dentists, along with other professions. I have found a few underperforming dentists to mentor for my coursework assignments. I have to start somewhere......

Excellent. It’s just that your opening post said you were looking for management and executive posts. Those will be more difficult to find.

 

[Ivanzyt]

I use a coach as have my senior team. I have seen firsthand the amazing results this can have. I’m not exaggerating in saying that I have seen coaching interventions that may have saved lives or at least prevented serious mental breakdowns.

Getting the coaching qualification is obviously a great first step. Then maybe look at certification in various other methodologies? I selected the coaching company for my senior management team because they were qualified in the Leadership Circle. This is because the books around that particular methodology really spoke to me and I knew that was the style that was going to fit in with the vision for the business.

There are many many different methodologies and practices in coaching and whilst certification may be expensive it might be worth getting a few under your belt because my initial searches on google were things like "leadership circle coaching UK". Now, obviously, it does not have to be The Leadership Circle, that is just the one I like, there are many, and you need to find one or several that speak to your style. Then promote yourself via social media as a practitioner of that method. Perhaps, select one that has literature around it so you will have a fair number of people reading the books and then perhaps googling around for further reading.

As for pro Bono work with execs that might be tricky, but I think posting in places like this is a great idea. Let me ask a few questions in my company there might be a couple of people who would be up for it. Send me a PM if you want to chat.

 

[Gecko001]

I agree with the above that getting this qualification is just a first step. I do not know exactly what @Ivanzyt has in mind as a second step, but I think you probably need more qualifications and experience in the field of business to go it alone as a coach or mentor. Your experience in setting up a dental practice, is invaluable, but that is very niche and unless you get wider experience in business, you might struggle in reaching your goal of becoming a mentor.

 

[Buryblue]

I use a coach as have my senior team. I have seen firsthand the amazing results this can have. I’m not exaggerating in saying that I have seen coaching interventions that may have saved lives or at least prevented serious mental breakdowns.

Getting the coaching qualification is obviously a great first step. Then maybe look at certification in various other methodologies? I selected the coaching company for my senior management team because they were qualified in the Leadership Circle. This is because the books around that particular methodology really spoke to me and I knew that was the style that was going to fit in with the vision for the business.

There are many many different methodologies and practices in coaching and whilst certification may be expensive it might be worth getting a few under your belt because my initial searches on google were things like "leadership circle coaching UK". Now, obviously, it does not have to be The Leadership Circle, that is just the one I like, there are many, and you need to find one or several that speak to your style. Then promote yourself via social media as a practitioner of that method. Perhaps, select one that has literature around it so you will have a fair number of people reading the books and then perhaps googling around for further reading.

As for pro Bono work with execs that might be tricky, but I think posting in places like this is a great idea. Let me ask a few questions in my company there might be a couple of people who would be up for it. Send me a PM if you want to chat.

Hi @Ivanzyt, thank you so much for your thoughtful reply and the valuable advice. I completely agree that having a variety of certifications can be incredibly beneficial. The Leadership Circle sounds particularly good, and I will definitely explore it.

I apologise if my initial post wasn't clear. For the course I'm taking, I am required to coach or mentor individuals at a managerial level who are decision makers. As mentioned I’m currently completing an ILM Level 7 course, and I will soon have membership with the ICF, EMCC, and AC. I have dental mentoring accreditations and also a PG Cert in teaching and learning.

Having built a business from scratch with no real business knowledge and no staff to a successful business over 20 years, dealt with serious illness, and now unable to practice, I believe I can offer a unique perspective and valuable support to others. I am determined to give it my best shot, and if it doesn't work out, at least I can say I tried.

I'll definitely PM you to discuss this further. Thank you again for your reply and for considering asking around in your company. It means a lot!