Congratulations, you’ve become an Executive Coach. Perhaps you’ve been one for a while in your career. But you learned that accreditation makes it, and you, all fancy and official. So well done! You’ve got the hours logged, you’re badged and certificated. 

There’s just one snag. 

It seems everyone else is too. 

It appears you’re in a pool teeming with other fish. Teeming! So, what are the options for differentiating yourself, apart from sink? And no, becoming pescatarian is not an option. 

One answer might be to write a book. Build your own intellectual property (IP). While this might seem daunting here are 5 top tips to get you reaching for that pen and pad.

# Tip 1 Decide, believe and begin. Just begin. Delve in. It might seem overwhelming at the start, but you’ve just got to start swimming. After all you’re not a sinker or a cannibal. 

So how to then? Well first you make the decision and commit. You’re doing this and seeing it through. Seeing it through means one day you’ll have a book in your own hands that you wrote yourself. There’s no compromise here, no backing down. You make this deal with yourself. 

Next. It’s all about execution. Pose a question. Recognize a problem. Address a concern. While you start to hone your ideas, think about the solutions. Ask other people. Shampoo, rinse, repeat. 

It might take a while to grapple down the real issue you’re trying to solve. You may find as you go through this process that the book you thought you were writing becomes an entirely different one. This is not failure.  It’s simply changing course. The big decision was made. You’ve decided and believe you’re going to write a book. And you’ve begun. Trust the process and your ability to get this done. Ignore the gremlins that tell you to stop. If you keep thinking deeply about it, you’ll get there. 

# Tip 2 Be you. Sit up straight, shoulders back. Yes, you’re going to have to put your back into it if you’re going to stand out from the crowd. But hang on a minute. People like unique, authentic people. So rather than worrying about being different from the crowd, how about forgetting them altogether and focusing on being yourself? Afterall as the wise Mr Wilde once said, “Everyone else is already taken.” So, here’s some advice.

This is where ‘U’ ‘nique’ equals ‘You’ and your ‘niche’. OK, the word plays a bit dodgy, but you get the gist. In your uniqueness potentially sits your brand. And your wider message. How can you use this as you write your book? Four questions that might be helpful to ask yourself here are:

What have I done in my life that was different? 

How did I excel?

What defined me in my career? 

What do I really care about, or what bothers me that needs solving?

# Tip 3 Create a habit of writing. Some days are that word that begins with s, ends in t, and has a couple of asterisks in the middle. In fact, many days may feel like this at the beginning. Or perhaps you get off to a blazing start and then writer’s block kicks in. The days are passing, and you feel you’re nowhere. 

Successful people do what they don’t like every day. Maybe writing’s not fun at the start. Or later it irritates you to do it when you start to feel jaded. But as you see your hard work pay off, and that manuscript grow, so too will your confidence. You’re building a new habit. You’re building a writing habit. So, you have to write. Like any muscle it will get stronger over time. 

While it may feel like somedays you rambled, producing nothing but hogwash, one day you’ll be churning out PhD dissertations before lunch. So, keep writing. You’re already doing more than 99% of the population if you do. 

It can seem overwhelming at the start, worse still when you’re halfway through. That can be when the doubts creep in. Maybe you feel you’ll never be done. Or you start to question who you think you are for being so smug that you could pull this dumb stunt off. Sometimes then a break is the best thing. But don’t give up for good. The passion will return. 

Remember everyone ‘wants’ to write a book. But what defines the ones that do? 

Discipline and persistence. 

# Tip 4 Interview interesting people. That involves reaching out, perhaps to new people, people in high status roles, experts. Be brave, just try. What’s the worst that can happen? They say no. Big deal. Boo hoo. Move on. You’re still alive and loved. And here’s the news. Sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince (or princess). Approach other intellectual thought leaders, authors, researchers. And academics. People with big names in industry, or writer’s whose work you admire. You’d be surprised how frequently people say yes to an interview if you expect them to.

Having a conversation and sharing your ideas with others will stimulate new ways of thinking for you. It might also expose gaping holes in your theory or script that you need to and can address. What’s more it highlights areas worthy of more attention. Capitalize on other people’s brains and experiences. This can turn your IP from mediocre (code for yawn), to decent (code for small fish, big pool, de ja vu), to phenomenal (code for true thought leadership). Up your game. Ask other experts. Broaden your knowledge. And then some. And then some more. 

Because sometimes perfection isn’t that. It’s striving for excellence. 

And everyone wants to swim with that fish.

# Tip 5 Challenge the current thinking! You don’t become a thought leader by agreeing with what’s currently out there. Turn the current idea on its head. Look at it from another angle. 

If you need inspiration take a leaf out of the Dalai Lama’s book. Do what Buddhists do. Look at the thing from different perspectives. A key technique, call it state of mind, is to self-distance to get a wider perspective. This concept revolves around the idea of uncoupling our emotion and own situation to see things through a wider lens. Three ways to do this might be by describing the problem as it happens to you, using your name as a third person, rather than with the words, I, me or mine. Imagining the same problem from the perspective of a day, month, week or even decades from now. And looking at the problem from a universal perspective, the so-called God’s eye view. 

If that’s too zen for you, go the Edward de Bono route and use his lateral thinking approach, applying the 6 thinking hats. In brief this is looking at the problem in terms of facts; from a state of optimism – adding value; by considering feelings and emotions; viewing how to manage and control it; considering alternative new solutions; and approaching it with realism and caution, i.e. playing devil’s advocate.

Remember when things aren’t changing there’s usually a reason. Everyone’s looking at it in the same old way, and usually mostly from their own perspective. People who think deeply, which is what you’re supposed to be cultivating here, sit in other people’s shoes all the time. 

So go bold, be brave, and turn a thing on its head. To do this, good questions to ask yourself might be:

What assumptions might be wrong here? 

Who else might this effect that hasn’t been considered?

How might that feel to them?

What aren’t we seeing?

Lead in a new direction. And think a lot. Because doing both these things usually involves going against the flow. Away from all those other fish. And this is true in a pool of coaches, or in the pool of life. 

Writing a book leading people to think in a different way is thought leadership. It will set you apart, while at the same time connecting you to the whole world.

And it’s great to swim in a quiet pool!