When: Apply for the waitlist
Where: 1871 at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago
4 training days + 3 months of mentorship
Limited enrollment of 10 applicants
Apply now if this sounds like you
Therapists and other helping professionals
who want to expand their business and market to support the career market
HR professionals
looking to gain leading insights into the emerging career coaching industry, both internal and external
Life coaches
who want more specialization around career coaching. Or those looking to begin a new career as a coach.
What you’ll learn
Flank 5 Coaches Academy involves 4 days of intense training followed by 3 months of mentorship to help you launch your future as a Flank 5 Coach. All classes will be held at tech incubator 1871 surrounded by the brightest entrepreneurial minds in Chicago.
During the course you will learn:
- What career coaching entails and why it is an exponential growth industry
- The primary principles of successful career coaching
- Coach Foundational Skills: building rapport, establishing trust, empowering your client, active listening and more
- Leading edge research on how to facilitate insights and accelerate progress toward goals
- How to set goals in collaboration with your client; design action plans with milestone and accountability
- The future of “career” – and preparing your clients for the changing job landscape
- How to build a coaching business that leverages technology, social media and networking to attract and retain clients
What you’ll get
Learn how to grow your own coaching business:
- Effectively leverage social media and email lists
- Defining your niche to stand out
- Resources, workbooks, and materials to use in your coaching practice
- One-on-one business coaching to support the development of your brand
- Professional headshots and video testimonials to use in marketing
- Our proprietary Flank 5 Academy coaching framework to optimize successful career transitions and success
Upon graduation you will:
- Be a featured career coach on Flank5Academy.com
- Become a member of our Flank 5 MasterMind community to continue your professional growth and business opportunity
- Access referrals and clients through the Flank 5 Academy network
- Be given a business toolkit including professional headshots and video collateral to use in your independent marketing
Deliverables:
- Career Strategy Workbook
- Various psychology exercises & worksheets
- Flank 5 Academy Journal
- StrengthsFinder© Assessment
- DiSC Assessment©
- Numerous books, supplemental assessment tools, and resources
- A new, robust professional network to grow your business
About Your Facilitators
Meet Your Facilitators:
Eric Connor - LPC, MS Lead Facilitator
Eric Connor, licensed therapist, has “re-booted” his own career multiple times over his working history. From being a management consultant for Fortune 500 companies to writing software for cutting edge platforms, Eric has participated in a variety of work cultures and domains. Now, in his role as a therapist and career coach, he draws on his experience to help others discover their deeper career passions and aspirations. Part of this work is assisting others to identify those messages and fears that inhibit us from moving forward on what we know is best. A primary truth Eric has seen in action is that there is power in groups. The group construct in therapy yields powerful changes in its members that could not be achieved individually. Flank 5 is founded on the premise that this same group construct can have a profound, multiplying effect on those making career transitions. Eric holds a MS in Computer Science from the University of Chicago, a MA in Counseling from National-Louis and a BA from the University of Michigan, and is a frequent speaker on the topics of addiction, trauma, and facilitating change in our lives.
Todd Connor - MBA, Co-Facilitator
Todd Connor is a former management consultant, U.S. Navy veteran, and has held many leadership roles in the public and private sector – with the belief that we can all change and redirect our lives. His inspiration for facilitating the Flank 5 Academy experience was derived from a short-course he taught to graduate students at the University of Chicago to help students figure out how to create a personal strategy to go do the work that naturally connects to their skills and aspirations. Todd found that while students were in programs to advance, they spent little time answering “what is it you would like to do with your life, and how do you get there?” Flank 5 Academy was created as a Personal Incubator to help people realize their professional potential by bringing psychology and strategy to work in a context that helps people do self-discovery, create a personal strategy, and ultimately take action to realize their professional aspirations. Todd holds a BA from Northwestern University, an MBA from the University of Chicago, formerly led the Service Leadership Academies for Chicago Public Schools, and is the author of two books on leadership and personal strategy.
What others have said about Flank 5 Academy
“I re-discovered what my true passion was. Before Flank 5 I think i was still feeling a sense of guilt for not loving ready to wear and not finding full creative fulfillment in it. After my experience on “style to rock” reality fashion competition I think my confidence in my skills and talent had been shaken and had left me feeling a bit lost creatively. By being in Flank 5 I was able to reaffirm what I really loved to do. The group was a big help in making me realize this as well.”
“It’s a no-nonsense course which helps people see themselves objectively and the group gives them strength enough to see their ideas through. At the very least it keeps people focused on their ideas enough so that every week you are forced to share your progress with the group. That part is addictive.”
“It’s a highly strategic and a cutting-edge approach to a problem we are all wrestling with: how to drive our careers forward to achieve fulfillment and success. Flank 5 Academy gives a path for both. It’s fun, challenging, highly engaging, and yes inspiring to explore the possibilities for our future in a group of like-minded successful professionals.”
“A group of 10 can generate and inspire more ideas as compared to only 1 person (myself).
• I made the decision to return to a career where I felt passionate and alive.
• I gained a deeper understanding of my strengths and my passions, and how they influence my work choices and relationships now and in the past.
• I was introduced to the skill of networking. I learned that it is helpful to give something in order to get something.
• I was introduced to strategic planning.
• I learned how to build a plan to achieve goals.
• I learned that I become paralyzed when I focus on “future unknowns” without a plan.
• I realized that each success I have experienced in my life so far, has never been accomplished in isolation!
• I learned that when I remove self-imposed limits, anything is possible for me.
• Most importantly – I have an action plan and I have hope.”
So what are you waiting for?
- Are others already seeking you for advice and counsel?
- Are you self-motivated and driven?
- Can you build relationships with others?
- Are you already coaching others… but not getting paid?
Take your coaching to the next level…