To Be Or Not to Be (an RTO) THAT is the Question – Sharon Pearson

Published on May 13, 2013 in Life Coaching, Research and Sales and Marketing. 33 Comments

Sharon Pearson

 

Warning – this is a commercially ridiculous post to make… 

I am probably taking a risk here of stirring the Powers-That-Be, but enough is enough.

ASQA – the national regulatory body for Registered Training Organisations – is turning our business into a government department. We are weighed down in red tape, stuff-in-triplicate, checking and double checking and worrying if we have every single record perfectly in place. And if we don’t, registration is pulled.

I realise the argument for years has been that regulation keeps ‘shonky’ RTO’s out of the industry. We have been audited by four separate auditors in the past four months, all saying we are anything but ‘shonky’ and run a great RTO, so this is NOT me attempting to defend bad practices.

 

Innovations and outside-of-the-box thinking is now not possible, and here’s why…

  1. ASQA doesn’t guide you or tell you how you’re not compliant. They refuse to assist, recommend or advise in ANY way about what has let you down when it comes to compliance. You have to figure it out for yourself – these are the exact words our AQA auditor used. Think about what this means… No one knows where the line is in terms of being compliant, so everyone goes way overboard in compliance, to ensure they get over the line. Because of this we have excessive compliance processes in place.
  2. ASQA audits don’t in any way take into account the individual learning experience. And I MEAN it when I say they don’t take this into account, in ANY way. It’s not about the student, it’s about proving we followed a system, a process or a compliance checklist. This means the quality assurance a student thinks they’re getting when they seek out an RTO is no longer true – all it’s ensuring is that the student will be burdened with excesses compliance protocols.
  3. ASQA is not in the business of consulting with RTO’s in any way. It actually says they don’t consult or answer questions from RTO’s on their web site. I’m not making this up. There is no guidance, FAQ’s or advice you can get that you can count on as being accurate at the moment. The reason for this is that ASQA is so new, and has done less than 1,000 or the 4,000 audits they need to do. Everyone is trying to figure out what compliance is, and how to achieve it, so there’s no one to ask who actually knows.
  4. ASQA does not provide a Help Desk for RTO’s. They are NOT here to represent RTO’s in any way. Something they make very clear. So where do we get great, accurate and timely advice from? I have no idea. Who represents us? No one.
  5. External auditors are making a killing right now. They charge a fortune to come and advise RTO’s on how to be compliant. Thank goodness we can afford it. Pity the regional RTO run by a husband and wife team who can’t afford a single day of this advice!
  6. If, in the first audit, you’re not compliant – and 100% of RTO’s are not compliant in that first audit – yes you read it right – then you are not told how you didn’t meet the standards. It’s as if we have to have a crystal ball to try to anticipate what it is they don’t like. Weirdest stuff I’ve ever seen. If we treated our students this way, we would – yes, you guessed it – be noncompliant.
  7. With ASQA being unable to audit all the RTO’s, they are moving to drive many out of the industry. Again, it’s not just ‘shonky providers’ – that is grossly unfair – it’s business owners who are so tired of the limits that being an RTO places on great business. For example, we have removed our new school, the Executive Coaching Academy, from our scope of registration because of the limits it would place on our delivery style. That is a huge decision to make but a necessary one.
  8. There is an attitude of ‘them and us’ right now between ASQA and private RTO’s. I’m not alone saying this. Nearly every RTO provider I come across is feeling the same way, and is getting out. I guess ASQA would be pleased to read this.
  9. There is a culture of fear in private RTO’s because of ASQA’s incredibly unyielding attitude towards us. Again, don’t dismiss this as ‘you just don’t want to comply’ – we have been an outstanding RTO provider for nearly ten years. Surely if I’m asking these questions after so many years there must be something to my concerns? Should they be dismissed so readily?
  10. ASQA’s requirements for us to be compliant change. This is probably the biggest one, and means we are spending over $250,000 on compliance each year and attempting to keep up with compliance changes. On top of that, each change has the potential to affect our students and their experience. We are tired of going to our students with yet another change, amendment, requirement or adjustment to their experience.
  11. This one is more personal. Our ASQA auditors actually questioned my personal integrity. They implied, with nothing in writing, that there is something suspicious about my hiring a CEO at about the same time we were notified of being audited. The CEO has since left because of heart issues. I guess this is suspicious too? We have actually made the decision to provide written proof that the recruitment of our CEO began before we were notified of the audit. That is how ridiculous this has become. How do you deal with such an aspersion? How would you deal with this accusation being levelled at you (three times)?

 

We spend inordinate amounts of time on compliance. It would be easy to dismiss this and say, ‘That’s what a good RTO does’. I used to believe this, too. But it’s gone beyond that, now. Being an RTO means HUGE business for us. It makes NO sense me posting this blog. It’s commercially nuts to do so, as I know many people choose a school based on them being an RTO. But I can’t stay silent on something that is choking an entire industry of innovation, of creativity and of the ability to just get on and run a great business.

I have no idea what will happen because of this post. Maybe nothing. Maybe it’s an early morning rant that, along with thousands of others, will hit cyberspace and lay dormant. But perhaps it will generate at least a discussion about the direction our private sector RTO’s are heading.

 

Sharon Pearson 2013

Why I became a Life Coach

Published on February 6, 2013 in Life Coaching and Personal Development. 8 Comments

personal_devI became a life coach because I didn’t feel successful and I didn’t know how to change that. I felt trapped by my circumstance and by my past. I was obsessed with how hard life seemed to be, and anxious because I never thought it would get better.

I didn’t become a coach to help masses of people, or to make money or to find my purpose. I just wanted to find a way for it not to hurt so much and for me to like me.

I wonder if sometimes I disappoint people with this story. It’s definitely not filled with visions of finding my true purpose in life!

In the beginning I worked on me. I focused on challenging my beliefs and my attitude about life. I figured that if I kept ‘blaming’ life for my circumstance, nothing could ever change. So perhaps I would try taking responsibility for my life, instead.

After 37 years of blaming others and hoping it would get better, this was not easy.

I coached for free for some time, as I slowly overcame my limiting beliefs about what I could contribute to create a better life. It was sloooowww going. I was frustrated part of the time and annoyed with myself for most of the time.

It took several months before I finally began to see a true change. It didn’t happen because of any one thing. There is no ‘secret’. It took me focusing on what I could change and influence. It took me taking responsibility for my beliefs and attitudes about what I could do to create my life. And it took me stopping blaming others, my past or my circumstance for everything that went wrong.

I kept coaching for free for months. I needed to learn how to provide value, and to not worry about me when I was meant to be helping them. A big dose of getting over myself was needed, and that took time.

My first paying client is still in my life. She’s in a training with us right now. Nine years later, I can see how far I’ve come. I can also see how far I still want to travel. The difference is, I am now traveling with someone I like (me) and enjoying what comes along.

Becoming a life coach didn’t ‘fix me’, but it did give me the tools to apply to show me how to create the life I want.

Why did you become a Life Coach?

Published on February 1, 2013 in Life Coaching and Personal Development. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , .

What better time of year than right now to stop and ask yourself exactly why it is you chose to do what you do.  Why did you become a life coach?

Most of us began our journey in an effort to understand ourselves and get our stuff together.  Perhaps this is true of you, too.  And along the way, something amazing happened.  We realised that this stuff actually works.  We began to witness positive and constructive change happening.  We felt the weight and pain of years begin to dissolve away from our shoulders.  And we knew this was something we had to share.

Consider the implications of your choice to become a Life Coach.  Consider the value of what people have achieved with your assistance:

  • Strengthening and even repairing damaged relationships.   Marriages have been saved with children spared the unfortunate experience of a broken home.  Lucky couples are having the best sex of their lives.
  • Discovering a brand new relationship to money.  Actively planning and building for the future, to achieve their goals.  Valuing themselves enough to value the money that comes their way.
  • Learning to love themselves and through this process, attract loving people.  Becoming well on their way to achieving life-long goals and kick-starting their life in brand new and highly exciting directions.
  • Making their fitness, health and general wellbeing one of their top priorities in life.
  • Connecting with their children on a closer and more fulfilling level, through awareness and understanding of the dynamics and interplay of their relationship with their kids.

Become a Life CoachIn other words,because of your decision to become a Life Coach, because of what you do there are many people who now have a newfound belief in themselves, their abilities and what they can achieve.  They have discovered their drive, motivation and the inspiration to do something meaningful with their lives.  And many, like you, wish to pass on the magic and become life coaches themselves.  Yep, it sure is rewarding.

Here at The Coaching Institute, we are very proud of the calibre of coaches we have trained over the last nine years.  Because of you, thousands of people are now planning on 2013 being their best year yet – full of inspiration, vision and achievement.  Some have quite possibly found hope for the first time in their lives.  Others who decided to become a Life Coach will be taking massive global action and contributing to the future of this planet.

It’s time to acknowledge yourselves and take a bow folks – although keep it short, there’s still much to be done :)

There’s Never Been a Better Time… A New Year’s Resolution

Published on November 22, 2012 in Life Coaching and Personal Development. 8 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

As 2012 draws rapidly to a close, it’s time to reflect.  Has the year brought you happiness and fulfilment? Did you fulfill last year’s New Year’s Resolution? Did you make the best possible choices you could?  Have you achieved your goals?  Have you helped someone else achieve theirs?

Or… are you no closer to your dreams than you were a year ago.

Consider what is standing in the way of your fulfilment and satisfaction.

If you had the knowledge and understanding of what is at your very core, what drives your behaviour and what has influenced your thinking, do you think it would change your life?

You bet it would, and not only would it change your life, it would enrich and elevate it beyond your wildest dreams.

If you were able to discover the REAL reasons your relationships aren’t working, why your finances are poor or why you struggle with your weight – and discovering this then placed you in the position to turn it all around – wouldn’t you want to know what these reasons were?

Now imagine you have overcome your obstacles and created the life of your dreams. Your relationships are high quality, full of happiness, fulfilment and connection.  Your finances are growing steadily, as your relationship to money has changed and you attract more of it.  You have developed a deeper level of love and self-respect and glowing with vitality.  Everyone wants to be around you.  Everyone wants ‘what you’re having’.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to go out into the world and help others make the same changes?  To raise their own standards?

It’s never been a better time to decide to change your life.  To be honest with yourself about what’s just not working, and commit to changing it.  Because you can.  Until now, you simply haven’t known how to.

In December, hundreds of coaches will be flocking to The Coaching Institute’s most popular bonus event of the year, ‘Your Best Year Yet’, with Alice Haemmerle.  In this value packed event Alice will be teaching our coaches, their family and friends how to set and achieve their goals, and how to help others to do the same.

Isn’t it time you started to hang out with a community of like-minded positive people who really want to make a difference?

Can We Position Ourselves As An Expert When We’re Just Starting Out?

Published on November 13, 2012 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

The short answer to this is: Yes.  We can position and present ourselves any way we choose.  However this does come with ethical considerations.

There is a lot of competition out there, and yes, there will always be someone who knows more than us.  But here’s the thing.  We all have life experiences that make us experts.  If we experience divorce, we are experts in that.  If we overcome serious illness, we are experts there as well.  If we make ten million dollars in two years, we are certainly experts there.  Being an expert implies experience and extensive knowledge.  And this is where the ethical considerations come in.

Would we position ourselves as an expert in mechanics if we have never completed a trade?  Would we claim to have the secrets to fast wealth if we have never actually undertaken the formula – or have the finances to show for it?  Would we set out teach people about spirituality if things are chaotic and unharmonious in our life?  I would suggest we would do none of these things.  We cannot teach that which we do not know.

HOWEVER, if we do have the knowledge and expertise, there are a number of things we can do to position ourselves as an expert in the eyes of our audience, even if we are just starting out:

Know a lot about your subject.  Show your prospects and clients you have the knowledge, by weeding out the junk and presenting them with informative and valuable content,   consistently.

Write a blog, articles or a book on the subject.  Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.  Share what you know, regardless of how small or insignificant it may seem to you.  It could mean the world to someone else.  And these people will SHARE with others!  Your information is valuable.  Getting your name out there by putting pen to paper is one of the fastest ways to expert status.  Experts take action!  There are loads of ways to put a book together, and the simplest and fastest is access to Word or PDF.

Do what you are teaching others to do.  Be authentic and come from the heart.  People DO smell insincerity.  Make sure you have done the things you are teaching others to do and come from a place of experience (the do) and reward (the pot of gold at the end).

Tell them you are.  As long as you have actually experienced your subject first hand, you are an expert.  No one can say otherwise.  The key, once again, is to come from authenticity.  A reputation is hard to restore once tarnished.

Give an interview or get an interview.  Being a guest on someone else’s blog or website, or having a guest on yours, adds to your expert status.  Make sure they are quality interviews, not random.  They need to have a relevance and connection to your subject.  Also shows you travel in compelling circles.

The key is to keep moving, keep writing, keep posting, keep pouring out relevant and highly useful information.  Come from a pure place and a servants heart.  You are an expert, so SAY SO!

Older Posts