Why Coaches Struggle with Ezines

Why (Some) Coaches Have Trouble Writing Their Own Ezines
(Just one opinion, of course!)

I have a theory about why so many coaches struggle to write
their own ezines. Maybe not all coaches struggle, but I hear
about this all the time.

Many coaches are extreme extraverts. In the Jungian sense,
this means that they are people who derive their energy from
interacting with others. Carl Jung, a renowned Swiss
psychiatrist and colleague of Freud, studied how people take
in information, process it, and act according to habitual
preferences.

Later, his theory was used to devise a measuring tool for
these preferences, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI) was developed. It has since been widely used and
expanded. It is an excellent tool for understanding how
one's own thought process preferences show up in life and
work.

Many people confuse the terms extraverts and introverts to
mean either socially outgoing or shy and withdrawn. The
terms are actually defined by how one derives energy.
Extraverts get it from other people. Introverts find energy
through internal thoughts, reading and thinking. They may
interact quite successfully with others and appear outgoing
and sociable. But for the most part, social interactions are
an energy drain for them and eventually they need to renew
themselves by retreating. An extravert just continues
getting energized as social interactions continue throughout
the day or evening.

Coaching is a People Business

So, getting back to coaches, many people who are outgoing
and energized by interactions are drawn to the field of
coaching because it is concerned with growing and developing
others through conversations. Coaching really is a people
business.

When it comes to sitting down and writing an ezine, who do
you think is going to be energized and excited by this task,
the extravert or the introvert? Right: the introvert who
goes inside, asks questions, searches for answers and
expresses him or herself on paper! Activities such as
researching, reading, and writing are all very energizing
activities for introverts.

But for the extravert coach, who derives energy from others,
the task of writing an ezine does not seem very appealing.
He or she is faced with the computer screen or blank piece
of paper. No energy there, for them. They may have many
things to say, but they prefer saying them to people.

People are multi-faceted and just because you have a
preference for one way of thinking and behaving does not
mean you are incapable of acting in the opposite direction.
Extraverts are all capable of studying and writing and
introverts are all capable of interacting successfully with
others. I do not mean to imply that these preferences are
rigid and concrete. They are simply preferences and habits,
and we and all called upon to act out-of-preference in order
to be successful in our work and lives.

The Law of Human Economy

The law of human economy says that people seek the greatest
amount of benefit with the least amount of effort. Boy, do I
know this to be true! Think about it, Every day we seek out
the maximum results with the minimum of effort. Here are a
couple of questions we ask ourselves when organizing our
work:

1. How much time should I spend on this task to get it done
and still get what I want out of it?

2. Is there a simpler way to do this?

3. Who can I get to do part of this, or all of it?

4. Which tasks do I like doing because I know I do them
well, quickly and efficiently?

5. Which tasks can I put off because they'll take too long
and I'm not sure I'm going to get good results anyway?

Choices and Advice

„X Do not choose to skip writing an ezine.

„X Spend your time on the 20 percent of the activities that
bring you 80 percent of your results and revenues (Pareto
Principle).

„X Do what you love, outsource the rest.

„X Do what you know, learn about the rest.

„X Learn to love parts of what you don't love.

„X Get to know which parts you can learn, which things best
left to others.

„X Always ask the people you hire to do tasks to tell you
how they do them, so you can at least learn to understand
better.

„X Do not be overwhelmed by tasks you don't know anything
about, everyone starts somewhere (even the so-called
expert).

„X Spend some time and a little bit of money learning (buy
books, hire a coach, take a course, etc.).

„X Get good advice for your particular needs.

„X Use the internet to find good resources.

„X Use your association memberships to find others to help.

„X Ask for help.

As always, here's to your successful coach ezines!

Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.
www.customizednewsletters.com

Comments

[Denise Wakeman]

Thanks for this article Patsi. You're right on, in my experience. As an introvert who had an extrovert partner, it was always a struggle to get our ezines conceived and published on time. We were able to work out ways to brainstorm outloud for the extrovert, then get it down on paper (or the computer) and then do the introverted work from there. Having a colleague or partner to bounce ideas around with is very helpful for extroverts, and I have to say I like best your "advice": "Do what you love, outsource the rest." I'm experimenting with that now and it really relieves the pressure.