Coaching for a better life

Berks woman helps clients fulfill personal and professional goals.

By Carole Simpson
Reading Eagle Correspondent
May 30, 2004

Are you tired of being disorganized, overwhelmed, under-appreciated, and lacking focus and direction in your life? Are you stuck in the same old problem patterns with your career, money-management, commitments and stress?

If you want to redesign your life to be more simpler, more flexible and more enjoyable, you may want to consider signing up for life coaching. It’s a new and fast-growing business that helps you set personal and professional goals.

“Coaching is about change,” said Marsha D. Egan, a certified life coach. “Coaching helps people close the gap between where they are and where they want to be by setting better goals and then helping them reach those goals.”

Egan, 51, is president of her own life coaching business, Leadership Lights Inc., which she began three years ago. She completed 200 hours of Internet training seminars through Coachu.com. and is certified by the International Coaching Federation, an organization of personal and business coaches which claims 6,000-members.

She works evenings and weekends from her Cumru Township home, coaching clients over the phone and by e-mail. Her Web site is www.leadershiplights.com.

Egan said her fees range from $300 to $1,000 a month for 90 minutes of coaching (three 30-minute calls or two 45-minute calls) and unlimited e-mails. Business clients contract with her for a monthly retainer.

Who hires a coach?

“People from all walks of life turn to life coaching because they want more or less of something,” Egan said. “They want to grow and accomplish things more easily.

“Life coaching gives people the motivation to look at their inner needs, wants and desires. It gives them the support to do more than they would do on their own.”

Life coaching is similar to consulting, but it isn’t therapy, according to Egan. Coaches don’t work on “issues,” get into the past or deal with understanding human behavior. And they don’t give medical or financial advice.

Unlike sports coaching, life coaching is not competitive or based on winning or losing.

“And coaching is different from having a best friend to talk to,” Egan said. “Would your best friend be a professional adviser whom you would trust to work with on the most important aspects of your life or business? Probably not.”

Egan, a graduate of Kutztown High School and Duke University, has been active as a community volunteer, serving on the board of United Way of Berks County, president of the Junior League of Reading, and chairman of Leadership Berks and the first Berks County Day of Caring. She received the Athena Award from the Berks County Chamber of Commerce and is a recipient of the Dale Carnegie Distinguished Graduate Award.

As a manager at Encompass Insurance, Egan was the first woman to serve on the executive committee of the 30,000-member Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society. She went on to serve as the organization’s president. A member of the National Speakers Bureau, she travels around the country giving addresses at business meetings and seminars. She also publishes The Leadership Light, a bi-weekly life coaching magazine on the Web.

Egan said she has a life coach herself.

“I love being challenged and helping other people challenge themselves and improve their lot in life,” she said.

And she practices what she preaches. She said she and her husband, Robert A. Egan, who is president of Egan Sign and Awning Co., are working to achieve their life goal – to retire to Nantucket, where his family roots lie.

The 10-Second Life Coaching Reality Check:

Leaders continually grow.

They embrace and enjoy new things.

By growing, they thrive and add value to their lives.

Are you continually growing?

How often do you try new things?

How many new books have you read?

Do you listen more than talk?

Source: The Leadership Light, bimonthly Web magazine produced by Marsha D. Egan

A case study in coaching

From our news staff

Editor’s note: Marsha D. Egan related the following case study of her life coaching work. The client’s name and address are changed.

A year ago, Bill M., 33, of Memphis, Tenn., was demoted from a management position in a large, bureaucratic company. The experience hurt his confidence, and he doubted he had any future with his employer.

With a wife and two small children to support, Bill needed to re-evaluate his career goals.

After talking it over with his wife, Bill decided to contact Marsha D. Egan, a business friend who also is a certified life coach.

“He knew I could navigate the corporate waters well, and he trusted my advice,” Egan said. “I began by asking Bill to complete a questionnaire and to take the DiSC Personal File Test, a motivational analysis assessment.”

The questions Bill tackled included: What excites you about life? What are your personal and professional goals? How far have you gotten in reaching those goals? What’s blocking you from reaching those goals? Where are you most irresponsible? What are you most proud of in your life and work?

“Bill wanted to get his life back in balance.” Egan said. “He knew something wasn’t working but he didn’t know how to begin to solve the problem. For most people, life coaching isn’t about one simple fix. It’s getting people to see the bigger picture in their life.”

The test analysis helped Egan get a sense of what Bill really wanted to do in his life. And she helped him develop a career plan to achieve his professional goals and to understand better his strengths and weaknesses.

Egan also introduced Bill to the guiding principles from Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”: Don’t condemn, criticize or complain. You are in charge of your own attitude.

“Bill was critical of people around him,” Egan said. “He was a loner at work. He ate lunch at his desk. He needed to be more sincere and caring and to develop friendships on the job.”

Over three months of coaching with Egan, Bill began to develop new friendships with his co-workers. He joined new friends for lunch. And he developed a more caring attitude at work. His efforts paid off when he got a promotion.

“Today, he’s the guy who throws picnics for friends at his home,” Egan said. “He’s happy now with the direction of his life. His is a life-coaching success story.”