Patchogue, NY – In the 1980's, the business world focused on management and how managers could better manage their team members. In the 90's, the buzz word was "leadership." Much research was dedicated to this subject in order to better understand the nature/nurture debate, that is, whether leaders are simply born with a genetic bent or if leadership is something that can be learned. Hundreds of books were published during that decade just on this specific topic.

Today, the current focus is on coaching/mentoring, and the corporate sector isn't the only group seeing its value. For-profit and non-profit organizations alike are recognizing the immense need for raising up the next set of generational leaders. However, the means as to how this is done is quite different than most traditional modalities. Ironically, neither the classroom nor the best textbooks are seen as the ideal way to develop such individuals.

Within the coaching movement today, the overarching belief is that the greatest learning is found within the context of a healthy relationship and the milieu is really a moot point. In fact, it appears the more natural the setting, the greater the success the relationship has to thrive and grow.

One such organization feels they are already making such a difference. The Center for Advancement of Christian Coaching (CACC) is bringing together men and women who feel a unique calling to coaching and mentoring individuals in a variety of contexts.

Early 2007, CACC contacted Skylar to begin the process of developing their very first website. Here were their objectives with this project:

Objectives

• Website will serve as a storefront for people interested in coach training and certification.
• Website will serve as an information and resource hub for the CACC organization, specifically for supplemental training content, other services, and an online bookstore.
• Provide a secure part of the CACC website where trainees could access and download coaching resources.
• Long term, the site will have members-only resources section.

Solutions

Whenever I begin a project, one of the first things I do is capture the very essence of the organization or person of whom I'm working for. No matter how big the project is, I do my best to summarize the heart of the organization/person with one word or picture. Then, I progress outward and start brainstorming specific concepts or ideas.

With this project, the immediate words that came to mind was "intentional relationships." After speaking with CACC's President, Mr. Roger Erdvig, on several occasions, the real crux of CACC was developing people. Whether it was training and equipping people, certifying coaches, or simply connecting those seeking a professional mentor, people would always be the focus of this organization.

Thus, it was a given that the site would portray that same tone. The targeted audience were people between the ages 35-50. These individuals use the web on a daily basis and feel comfortable working with technical things. Several web designs were created for this project and hours were given to researching the most optimal images for each section. For the trainees section, a secure login page was developed just for CACC's trainees. Therefore, once the correct credentials are inserted, trainees can download documents, presentations, and even listen to pod casts.

The next step of development for this project will be the creation of a secure membership section to the website. It has been a pleasure working with CACC on this project and look forward to helping them succeed in the future.