Let's talk about the word "Trailblazer" and why I chose it for my professional identity.

I started my full-time coaching practice in January of 1991. That made me one of the first professional coaches. For over 10 years, I identified myself as "Jim Earley, Performance Coach." Then, in November of 2000, I sensed it was time for a new professional identity.

Without being conscious of it, I knew I wanted a name that would fit me, and would also fit my clients. I wanted a name that spoke of creating a direction in life more than finding one.

I wanted a name that hinted at the important choices we sometimes face in life that would be the context of our coaching.

The name Trailblazer Coaching came to me and I realized how well it fit. I had certainly blazed lots of trails in my life, including one for the business/personal coaching industry in Minnesota, so the name fit me. I also knew that nearly every person who had hired me had faced the need to do something they had never done before. Every coaching client saw a trail they needed to blaze.

Next, in July of 2001, I woke up one morning and had an insight for myself. My life was great, better than ever. Yet there were a couple of areas of life where I was dissatisfied. I realized that in those areas, I had been so consistent in how I'd approached them over the years, that what I had was as good as I could expect things to be. If I wanted something more, I would need to live differently. I'd need to blaze some new trails.

Photos: To the right, you should see a sequence of photos of me and my wife Wendy Sharpe. Lucky guy? Absolutely.

Out of that, the tag line for my business card was born:
When you realize the road you are on won't get you where you want to go.

I imagine that, if you're reading this, you are facing a situation in your life where you realize the road you're on, the way you've been doing things, won't get you where you want to go. You've come to the right place.

If you're curious, here are some factoids about my background

Traditional Education:

MA, Industrial Relations/Human Resources, University of Minnesota, 1983
BA, cum laude, Journalism, University of Minnesota, 1978

Coaching Training:

The foundation for me were the classes I took in Speech Communications, Psychology and Counseling Psychology I took in supporting my BA and MA degrees.

The first coaching specific training I took was the Coach University program. Frankly, it didn't add much.

The most useful coaching training I have taken so far (I'm always enrolled in something new) has been:

• The Academy of Coaching Excellence, a program developed by Maria Nemeth. In addition to taking her training, I'm a mentor coach on her staff working with students in the program.
• I participated in the first ever coaching program developed by The Arbinger Institute (which published the book, Leadership and Self-Deception. Since then, I've become a member of the Arbinger Helping Professionals Network.

Non-Traditional Education:

Too much to list here plus some of it a bit too alternative to admit to in print.

The Grandsons: Above, you see Alex, to the right, Jace, and below is Levi.

Pre, found-my-life's work, employment:

Connect Computer, 1987-90
Target Stores HQ, 1982-87
[Completed Master's degree, 1980-82]
Boy Scouts of America, 1979
[Completed undergrad degree, 1977-78]
NHC-AC, 1971-76

An Inside Look at Jim

Below are some of the insights about motivation and abilities relevant to my choice of coaching as a career and my ability to do it well.

Signature Strengths
From the book, Authentic Happiness, by Martin Seligman.

• Creativity, ingenuity, and originality
• Humor and playfulness
• Perspective (wisdom)
• Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness
• Love of learning

Strengths Finder Results:
These come from the book Now, Discover Your Strengths.

• Relator
• Strategic
• Maximizer
• Connectedness
• Responsibility

Reiss Profile of Motivation and Desire:
Dr. Steven Reiss of Ohio State University developed an instrument for measuring motivation on 13 scales.

The bottom line here is that Jim is driven by

• Curiosity,
• Independence and
• Sense of honor

He also is:

• rather humble, and not very concerned with image (neutral Status score),
• able to deal with conflict reasonably well without being mean (neutral Vengeance score),
• more spontaneous then planful (low Order score),
• a bit of a risk taker (low Tranquility),
• not interested in telling others what to do (low Power).

Myers Briggs type: INFP (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving)

Professional Organizations:

Minnesota Coaches Association, since its inception, former President and board member.
International Coach Federation
University of Minnesota, Industrial Relations Center, Alumni Association, current President and board member.
American Society of Training and Development (ASTD), former board member.

If you'd like to know more, give me a call at (763) 521-9981.

If you'd like to send me an e-mail, just click here.

Or, write to me at:

Trailblazer Coaching
Jim Earley
3017 Noble Ave No.
Golden Valley, MN 55422-3012