Personal Coaching

Are you achieving your personal best in Mexico?

If not, try hiring a life coach.

Kevin, a US executive of a large multinational consumer products company, was brought over to Mexico with his family a year and a half ago. After a few hurdles like finding a place to live, getting his kids, 8 and 10, in the local American school, and learning his new responsibilities and staff, his life seemed to be moving along smoothly.

However, about 8 months into his expatriate experience, his work became more demanding and his travel increased, sometimes taking him away for three out of four weeks a month. His wife started complaining that she was bored (she had left behind a part-time career as a computer consultant) and Kevin felt work pressures weren't allowing him to spend the time he would like with his family.

Kevin, determined to make his experience in Mexico a success, but wanting a more balanced life, didn't turn to a psychotherapist or consultant, instead he sought the help of an amalgam of the two: personal coach. After four months of working one-on-one, once a week (and infinite emails), Kevin has found coaching to be just what he needed to get his life in Mexico back in sync.

What is a Personal Coach (Life Coach)?

And what is a personal coach (often called a life coach)? Well, according to Cynthia Kaplan, a personal and executive coach, and founder of crossbordercoaching, based in Dallas and Mexico City, "It's like having a personal trainer or sports coach for life."

Unlike a therapist who analyzes and tries to fix you, or a consultant who is an expert and advises, a coach helps you get organized, better understand your values, and helps you find answers. Coaching can be as varied as improving performance in business, deciding to leave a job and change careers, or understanding how to communicate more effectively.

A Growing Profession

In the US, there are now more than 25,000 personal or life coaches and the field is growing. On the corporate side, headhunting and executive search firm companies like Shore Associates, Drake Beam Moran, Hiedrick and Strugles and others are getting into the field to coach high level executives.

The international Coach Federation, the field's non-profit organization, has about 5,000 members. It has created ethics guidelines for coaches, but the field is unregulated, so you need to make sure that your coach has been properly trained, and has a personality and coaching style that matches yours.

Why Have a Life Coach?

Sandra, the wife of an expatriate who was transferred to Mexico last year from New Jersey, left behind her career as a dental hygienist, as well as a network of friends when she relocated. When the novelty of living in Mexico began to wear off and her children were well adjusted with many new friends, Sandra began to think about what she might do to lead a more fulfilling life in Mexico.

That's when a friend referred her to Cynthia Kaplan and crossbordercoaching. With Kaplan's help over a three month period that included three coaching sessions (of 50 minutes each, some in person and some by telephone) and unlimited emails, Sandra was able to discover a new passion she wanted to explore: writing children's books. Together they established a set of goals and a detailed action plan to get there.

The Kaplan Factor

Kaplan's approach to coaching, like many, is focused on a co-active partnership. She works with the client to set goals, come up with a concrete set of actions, and determine what is necessary to achieve them. She is often tough on her clients, giving them homework assignments that include writing, getting out and networking with colleagues in the same field (or one that they want to enter), doing internet searches and perhaps completing a resume or biography.

Kaplan's training includes a coaching certification program from Coach Training Alliance, where she completed six months of tele-clases and coaching sessions. She has also had her own mentor coach for the past year, who also helped her make the decision to transition from the corporate world (where she was director of marketing and business development) to going out on her own and starting her own business. Now she coaches Mexicans and expatriates, many living in Mexico City, who are looking to make significant changes in their lives.

Kaplan's Methodology

¨I enter into a co-active relationship, a partnership with my clients here, both Mexican and foreigners, helping them bridge cultural or communications gaps, create more effective business or life strategies, and ultimately lead more fulfilling lives,¨ explains Kaplan. She loves her work and the new found freedom that working from home gives her. You may even find Ms. Kaplan taking a client for a coaching session through the canals of Coemanco´s ecological zone, where from Club España they can launch kayaks and have a creative brainstorming session while paddling through some incredibly scenic and inspiring waterways.

Kaplan´s partner, Laura Delgado Dippel, a Mexican who recently left her job, married and relocated to the US, is finding her niche of clients north of the border, from crossbordercoaching´s Dallas office. ¨There are many American´s of Mexican descent that seem to relate to me, and my experience of leaving my home to move to the States. Picking up and moving, changing your entire life, and keeping a positive outlook is inspiring for others, and that´s what many of my clients can relate to…foreigners and local Americans alike.¨

Also in Mexico, Transition and Change Management, a company already involved in organizational development, change management and outplacement, has licensed an executive coaching program developed by the Innis Company of Dallas, Texas, which it has just launched in Mexico. According to Ana Dominguez, one of the company's partners, TCM decided to launch a coaching division because "companies like Transition and Change work with the Human Resources and/or Personnel directors at major multinational and Mexican companies wanting to implement new programs that help their executives deal with change (such as a move, or merger/joint venture), motivate their sales teams, or simply be more effective managers and mentors to their staff."

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