Masterful Coaching at the inaugural UK ICF Regional Event - North West

"The human soul longs, perhaps more than anything else, to express itself and be heard or seen. It doesn't need to be fixed, or told what to do next, or given a solution. It simply longs to be witnessed. Coaching that does not include this capacity to deeply listen misses out on the essential core of the client’s being, and can only really be skin-deep." Aboodi Shabi

May 16th, 2012
I'm writing this on the train on my way to Newcastle for the UK ICF Regional Event in Durham tomorrow.  The event has been organised by UK ICF Ambassador, Jan Portillo, as part of the UK board's strategy to increase our Chapter's presence and reach throughout the UK during our year as host country to the ICF's first global conference outside of North America. Regional face to face events have been on our agenda for some years and we are delighted to be now getting them off the ground, thanks to the commitment and efforts of our regional members.

As many of you know, we operate as a volunteer workforce, both as board members and as ambassadors, and often things take longer to organise and achieve than we might like given that we are fitting commitments into our otherwise busy personal and professional lives.  Why do we do it?  For me that's easy to answer!  Because it feels great to be actively involved in a global network of like-minded people committed to raising awareness about this wonderful profession called coaching.  I've been an ICF member since 2005 and on the UK board since 2009. I have enjoyed my membership most since being on the board. Why? Because it’s given me insights into the behind the scenes developments concerning our commitment as an organisation to continually strive to set the gold standard for coaches globally.

What do our board roles involve?

• Answering member queries;
• Interacting with other coaches across the world;
• Meeting coaches from other professional coaching bodies;
• Networking with people in the media and with people dedicated to research into the impact of coaching,
• Being called upon to debate and tousle with real life ethical dilemmas in which we and/or members find our/themselves,
• Being part of a global leadership team working through both diverse cultural coaching issues and the varying stages of professional coaching maturity experienced in the 100+ countries where the ICF Chapters are represented and are continuing to emerge; and
• Talking to buyers of coaching to establish what they want more of from us as a professional body and from our coaches.

All of these activities have stimulated my own thinking and awareness about professional coaching and cause me to truly take on the identity of a professional coach far more deeply than I had previously done.
Coming to Newcastle is like coming home to me.  My parents are both Geordies, originating from a small hometown in Newcastle called Hebburn and, as a child, I came here for family gatherings and to be with our extended family. Happy times!  My father was a professional sports coach and gained his professional coaching certificate from the Professional Football Association in 1961, the year I was born.  So here I am now, many years later, to attend a UK ICF regional event in the North East thanks to the commitment and dedication of Jan Portillo (ably supported by Christine Huntley) to bring world class coaching mastery to your home territory - on your doorstep.

May 17th, 2012
The participants arrived at the fabulous venue, South Causey Inn, where we are welcomed by the owners and settle into a delightful room complete with a roaring log fire (I know it is May, but this is England and the event preceeded our current heatwave!) 

UK ICF North East’s inaugural event – May 17th, 2012

Participants on the day comprised coaches, non-coaches, ICF members and non-ICF members.  Aboodi started the day by the group asking:

“Why are you here?” 

Because…

“ It’s in the North! I will support anything that is here”

“Of Aboodi’s reputation”

“The publicity for the event talked about letting the soul speak”

“I want to learn more about deep listening skills to enhance my work as a chiropractor”

“It’s a 2 hour journey rather than 5”

“I’m passionate about the North!”

“Of the style of communication and identity in the North East”

“I want to practice weaving conversations beyond techniques”

Comments affirming Aboodi’s opening comment that we long for connection and community more than anything else.

What followed was a highly experiential masterclass (working alone, in pairs, as a group, with archetypes) which was thought-provoking and stimulating, offering questions and new perspectives about coaching and the world in which we work. Through several interactive exercises (and a bit of dancing after lunch!) we experienced what it is like to truly deepen our capacity to be present to the client, to listen and understand beyond the narrative and to serve our  client in discovering the true expression of who they are.

Aboodi Shabi - one of the UK's most senior coaches and a pioneer and leader in the European Coaching Community. He was a founding co-President of the UK ICF and has served the profession at all levels internationally.

“Coaching is about challenging the paradigms by which we live, not about doing more things faster”

“Coaching is about helping our clients to create possibility and building new capacity in our clients”

All agreed that it had been a fantastic day* and that they got real value from the material*.  The sense of belonging and community was intense and the excitement for a whole range of events being hosted here in the North East was heartily welcomed.  

Our great thanks to the participants, to Aboodi and to Jan for making this happen!  Looking forward to hearing more about your community in the not too distant future...

Here’s some participant feedback about the day:

• Re-connecting on lots of levels;
• Opportunities for reflection;
• A different sort of engagement which deepened throughout the day;
• Challenging my thinking and shaking me up;
• Listening to, and learning from, a highly professional coach;
• Working with others and learning from their open hearts and minds;
• Valuable exercises to highlight my unconscious and learned behaviours;
• Completely experiential;
• A different approach: I got everything and more;
• Watching and hearing a master in action; and
• Loved it. Getting back to my coaching roots.

If you’d like to get more involved in the UK Chapter, keep an eye open for news of elections coming soon for the 2013 Board or contact Anji Marychurch and become an Ambassador now!

If you’d like to know more about the UK ICF coaching projects going on around the country, take a look here - Community Coaching Projects – and if you are involved in a project we don’t yet know about, contact the UK ICF office and tell us about it!

Deborah Price

Article written by Deborah Price, PCC - UK ICF Past President.
An ex-barrister with 25 years of experience as an executive in both large corporates (Chappell International, CBS Songs, Virgin and BMG) and SMEs (Hit & Run Music, The Performance Partnership) plus 10 years of experience in the field of personal development has given Deborah a depth of expertise that gives her a sound understanding of learning and development theories and combines this with a very practical ‘hands on’ approach as a coach. She is a credentialed coach with the ICF, a certified NLP Coach, a Boas professional certified coach in the via™model, a Good Boss Practitioner and an Archetypal Profiling & Branding Coach (Pearson Marr Archetypal Indicator).

Deborah has a great knowledge of people and behaviours which she uses to challenge people's thinking and actions at a deeper level. This encourages self reflection and stimulates changes in behaviour enabling clients to achieve and be leaders of sustainable high performance.

Currently running her own training, coaching and consultancy practice based in London, Deborah works with international clients (both corporate and individual) across various sectors. This involves a variety of Management Development and Executive Coaching assignments in UK, mainland Europe and the Middle East.

What story is told by your actions?

The plane is full.

We all stand in line and slowly crawl forward to our assigned seats.

There's always someone who takes forever to stow away their bag.  Just when they are all set, they remember that they need to take their book out….and have to start all over.

The flight attendants stand with that very special smile and say good morning a thousand times.

When you finally get to your seat, you glance quickly at the people with whom you will share the next few uncomfortable hours and wonder, which type will they be?

Will they talk your ear off?

Or will they pretend you don't even exist?

And you wonder, which one are you?

Do you give in to the craving for human connection, at the price of being bored to tears for hour after hour?

Or do you just dive in and you navigate the way of friendly banter alongside the distance that will allow you take a nap and not engage in conversation.

Inevitably, what compels us, what calls for our attention, what we crave for, is the story. 

We are always drawn into interaction with others because we long for a great story.

It is a basic human need; to hear stories and to have our stories heard.

As coaches, we have the great honor of being witness to others' stories.  We are blessed by the skills to provide a safe space for the telling of stories. 

It is not only a great ability, it is also a great responsibility.

To provide people the opportunity to tell their stories and be truly heard, is one of the greatest gifts that coaching can give.  When we can do this, we are offering the very best support.

Lisa Bloom, PCC

So next time you are travelling, tune in to the story, it will be worth your while!

Lisa Bloom, PCC is founder of Story Coach Inc. and the Certified Story Coach Program.  Download her ebook ‘Using Stories to Get Great Clients’ at http://www.story-coach.com.

Ongoing ICF Webinar series back this month: Choosing a Mentor Coach

If applying for an ICF Credential is in your future, you will not want to miss this! 

ICF Global started a quarterly webinar series earlier this year targeted toward those individuals who are interested in applying for an ICF Credential. The series focuses on 1) the process of applying for an ICF Credential; and 2) a review of skills expectations.

The series continues this month with the topic “Choosing a Mentor Coach” on Friday, June 15 at 12:00 p.m. (New York). This presentation is the second in the series.

Space is limited—register now to reserve your spot!

More about the June 15 session: Mentoring is broadly recognized as an important part of the development of a professional Coach.  One of the requirements for those that are seeking an ICF Credential is to work with a qualified Mentor Coach.  In this presentation, Tracy Stevens, MCC will provide information about mentoring requirements, what to expect in the mentoring process, and how to select a quality Mentor Coach.

For those unable to attend, the presentation will be recorded and post to Coachfederation.org and ICF social media channels after the live presentation is complete. In addition to the June 15 call, the remaining webinar dates for 2012 are Friday, September 14 and Friday, December 14.

A look at the creation of the ICF Core Competencies

When the ICF was formed, a large part of the desired vision for the organization was to create and solidify coaching as a viable profession. In order to do this, it was determined that there was a need to look ahead and consider what would have to be in place to support this initiative, as well as successfully push back against any form of external regulation around this emerging profession.

To that end, in 1998/1999, related committees were formed to determine:

• A common definition of coaching;
• Competencies that define the expression of coaching;
• A system of assessment and examination of coaching skills;
• Levels of credentials and required training and practice hours; and
• Ethics & Standards.

The committee, that was formed to determine the examination process, was called the Portfolio Exam Committee, and was co-chaired by Pamela Richarde (Coach U) and Laura Whitworth (CTI). At the time, coaching was still very young, with no universally excepted standards,  thus the various coaching education organizations were still not well connected. 

It was the job of this committee not only to do the work that was assigned, but to bring together a disparate group of organizations that were training and educating coaches at the time.

When given the job of heading this committee, Pamela and Laura reached out to all of the 'known' (visible) coaching programs that they had access to at the time, and invited them to be working members of this committee. There were eight organizations that agreed to embark on this ground breaking work: 

• Coaches Training Institute (CTI), Laura Whitworth;
• Coach U, Inc, Pamela Richarde;
• Hudson Institute, Frederic M. Hudson;
• Newfield, Terrie Lupberger;
• Coach for Life, Peter Reding;
• Academy for Coach Training (ACT), Fran Fisher;
• Success Unlimited Network (SUN) Teri-E Belf; and
• New Ventures West, Pam Weiss.

When they gathered as a group, with the above individuals and various volunteers from each organization, they realized that there was a need to first agree upon a common definition of coaching. After completing that initial step (a major one!), they needed then to determine the competencies that were present in the art and science of coaching ("being a coach" and the "process of coaching"). As most all of the programs were from different philosophical approaches and contexts, it took the group some time to filter out the context and come up with the core elements that were present in all of the approaches. They worked diligently via weekly telebridge meetings for over a year. They then, after many delightfully challenging and creative meetings, ultimately achieved consensus on the foundational elements of what are now known as the Eleven ICF Core Coaching Competencies.

Once the competencies were created and agreed upon, they next outlined a virtual examination process to assess these competencies. A solid year after they began this process, the coaching community had final agreement on: The definition of coaching, the core competencies of coaching and the beginnings of a way to assess this competency effectively! This was amazing and a tipping point for coaching as a profession. This work has laid a solid framework for how coaching and the profession of coaching continues to evolve today.

Over the years, the ground breaking work created by these coaching educators, has been the foundation for the creation of other competencies by emerging coaching associations and organizations. Some have added to these core competencies. Others have developed focus market specific competencies to bring clarity for coaching in the various contexts (i.e. business, management, executive coaching). And yet others are growing educational programs in universities around the world. With the competencies in mind, many of these communities are now gathering a solid body of knowledge to support the competencies and various philosophical approaches to coaching. All of this has emerged from the fertile ground of work that was done by these eight coaching education providers and volunteers that supported the success of these projects.

As a note, parallel to this process there was a committee working on ethics. They too were successful in creating a foundation for determining coaching ethics and standards for professional coaching. Indeed, this has continued to evolve with the creation of an Ethical Conduct Review board and ICF member support with mediation services available.

In what might be characterized as one of the most rapidly growing "professions" on the planet, coaching continues to evolve and make it's way into over 117 countries! With a solid set of ethics, standards, code of conduct and competencies, coaching as a profession is well on it's way.

Tidbits of ICF history, shared by Pamela Richarde, MA, MCC.

Pamela Richarde, MA, MCC

Pamela Richarde is a pioneer in the field of professional coaching, and has assisted in shaping what we know coaching to be today. A Master Certified Coach (MCC), as well as a mentor coach and coaching supervisor, Pamela is also a founding member of the Association of Coach Training Organizations (ACTO) and a past President of the ICF. In addition to her competency as a coach, she is a seasoned facilitator, speaker and trainer, having led hundreds of courses in both virtual and live settings in a variety of cultures, regions and business contexts.

Pamela holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, a Masters Degree in Performance/Directing, with some further doctoral course work hours in human and organizational development. She was born in Berkeley, California and has additionally resided in the UK, the Middle East and the Caribbean, presently making her home in Portland, Oregon. A dedicated explorer, she is also a licensed hypnotist, a union actress, a Tai Chi Chuan practitioner and holds a 2nd degree black belt in Northern Style Shao Lin Kung Fu.

Excellence is Action

Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. John W. Gardner

The speed with which we make a decision in an organization is vital. But, if a manager tries to excel in his business, he won’t forget about the importance of planning, building strategies or the analysis of an idea before it’s applied. However, for a successful person, every minute counts and an additional day of planning mean a delay in the action itself. Therefore, it is essential to decide how much time we spend giving feedback, how much we spend for planning and how much we spend doing something right now. Lately, I had the opportunity of closely observing this fact with the help of Adina.

She works in a company that sells software products and for a while now, the business has been running slow. Adina thought that the reason would be the mistakes she did in the past and so, she decided to hold meetings with her employees and discuss these mistakes. In four weeks, Adina made sure that every key employee is aware of what went wrong, by giving them constructive feedback on their work. For the next month, Adina tried to figure out an action plan that would work. Now that they were aware of the mistakes, they needed a new direction. But nobody could agree upon a certain plan, as everyone had a good idea and it was difficult to decide which was better. It was only after a few weeks that an actual plan was created. But it was too late… Adina noticed that the business situation had gotten worse, which meant that her previous plan could not be applied.

In the end, she realized that the only thing missing wasn’t another plan, but action itself.

One of the main reasons that make excellence hard to achieve is that we tend to focus on the mistakes we made in the past, then concentrate too much on the future, which leaves no time to do anything in the present. This way, we lose valuable time giving feedback on the things that can be changed and planning excessively, and forget that the most important moment is actually the present.

Just like Irving Fischer said in his Fischer effect theory that revolutionized the economy: the present monetary value is higher than the past monetary value, or the future one; the money you have now are more valuable than the money you had yesterday, or the money you can have tomorrow. We can apply this concept to our business excellence: what you can do now is more important than what you did before or what you can do in the future.

Rodica Obancea, ACC

In other words, excellence relies on our ability to weigh how much time we spend on planning so that we can act now, in the present. The challenge is to have equal time for planning, action and evaluation. In fact, all excessive plans and delays are another way of saying that you don’t trust your actions and you are afraid of failure. But excellence does not necessarily rely on outstanding ideas or amazing strategies or plans, it depends on simple things, upon which you know when and how to act.

- How can you act NOW to make a difference in your organization?

Rodica Obancea, ACC, is passionate about change, emergence, living systems. She works within business environment, with managers, teams for achieving ambitious results. For more information, visit www.successcoaching.ro.