Need a good reason to renew? Here are five:

1) Save some money. If this is the year you plan to apply for a credential, attend an ICF International Conference, purchase ICF-branded coaching research or do business with one of these companies, you should first renew your membership.ICF members receive substantial discounts—to the point where membership practically pays for itself.

2) Free networking and educational offerings. Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings and Virtual Education (VE) sessions are offered on a monthly basis, free of charge. SIGs bring coaches together with similar interests and VE sessions offer presentations by such speaking greats as Peter Block, Christine Gallagher, etc.


We are ICF.

3) Member-only tools and resources. Through the member-only section at Coachfederation.org, members can access various tools and resources they can use to grow their businesses. For instance, you can download a sample coaching agreement, the ICF logo, sample press releases and more. Items are added to the section regularly.

4) Leadership development opportunities. Through the chapter level, on global committees or task forces or even on the global Board of Directors, there are numerous opportunities for members to develop their leadership style—and give back to the coaching profession.

5) Professional recognition. Being a member of the ICF (and thus upholding the ICF Code of Ethics and Core Competencies) demonstrates to peers and clients alike your commitment to the coaching profession.

Current ICF memberships will not expire until the end of March, but you can renew your membership online today if you want.

The King's Speech: A Coaching Story Worthy of An Oscar

Many of you, I'm sure, have already seen the great movie, The King's Speech. It's a terrific story, and should be required viewing for any coach.

Geoffrey Rush (as Lionel Logue, a speech therapist) coaches Colin Firth (as King George VI) through a severe speech impediment. In dark days, as the world slides toward war, the country needs a king who can inspire confidence. The stakes are high.

As King George's voice therapist, Lionel addresses the whole person in working with a deeply rooted pattern that traditional approaches had not been able to touch. Lionel is wholly unorthodox, in a very orthodox culture. As coach, he:

• Insists on an authentic relationship, not taking the role (even of the King!) seriously, and constantly speaking to the authentic person within. Lionel speaks to the human, even calling His Royal Highness "Bertie." Our roles in life provide a sense of identity that keep us safe and our world predictable, and that reinforce habits. Increased identification with a role often makes it harder to change; a coach challenges limiting assumptions associated with role in order to liberate a greater range of actions and behaviors.

• Recognizes, and lets go of, his own ego's attachment to working with such a famous client. When he first heard who the prospective client was, we see him briefly respond to this pull. And, momentarily, he regroups and returns to his conditions for success, insisting that even the Duke of York must come to his studio for help.

• Takes a stand for possibility, consistently believing and showing confidence that the king can learn to speak clearly and smoothly. A coach holds the belief in the client's potential, even when the client doesn't yet see the possibility.

• Makes strong requests to establish conditions for success. For example, the work will only be successful if it's in Lionel's workspace, and on a daily basis. The coach must insist that coaching be done in a way that can be successful. If the process is watered down in order to accommodate clients' short term needs, they may not end up with the clients' desired results. Everyone loses.

• Engages George's body, working somatically by asking him to roll around on the floor, shake himself loose, and break his patterns of embodiment. Our habits are wired in our bodies: playing, singing, dancing, and changing rigidly held body shapes will nearly always reveal new possibilities.

• Impels him into self-observation. Lionel confronts George with evidence that his stammering isn't as unconquerable as he always thought. The recording of himself eloquently reading Shakespeare astonishes him, as do moments of articulateness when Lionel goads him to anger. Moments of realization open the possibility of more substantive and permanent change, and build his trust and commitment to the process. When we find cracks in the monoliths of our stories, we are able to see, and expand, the exceptions to build something new.

• Insists that George practice new habits and new ways of doing things. The eccentric Lionel simply knows from experience what works, and insists that the King do his homework.

Practice is the essence of creating sustainable change and growth. Neuroplasticity, though Lionel had never heard the term, allows the changing of even deeply rooted behaviors and patterns of thought; practice is the key.

Ultimately, with any new behavior, we must put it in action. Quoting Yoda, "there is only do or not do. There is no try." It is in the present moment that intentions and aspirations meet the world: the ideal meets the actual.

The terrific final scene, in which King George speaks to the entire British Empire (at that time, close to 1/3 of the planet's population) is taut with tension, as the King's capacity to go beyond his time-worn habit is tested in a grave moment. (By the way, I intend to use the sublime third movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony as a backdrop to all my dramatic coaching moments from here on out!)


There's much to be seen here. If you saw the movie already, see it again with these distinctions in mind. If not, make it a priority. This is somatic, whole person coaching, done before the term was invented.

Doug Silsbee

• What experiments could you try in your coaching, using distinctions from this film?

• How might you be a bolder stand for your clients?

• Where are you reluctant to make strong requests of your clients around conditions important for the success of coaching?

What other coaching elements or principles did you see Lionel doing that we can learn from?

Posted by Doug Silsbee; see other posts, or add comments, at http://dougsilsbee.com/blog.

A most fitting close to International Coaching Week

Some of the ICF Staff

In honor of International Coaching Week, staff members from ICF Headquarters spent this morning volunteering at the locally based International Book Project (IBP).

IBP is an “international nonprofit whose mission is to promote education and literacy while broadening Americans’ understanding of their neighbors by sending quality used books overseas. Each year, IBP sends more than 150,000 books to schools, libraries, churches, nonprofits and Peace Corps volunteers in over 40 developing countries.” (Read more about their work here: http://www.intlbookproject.org).



Packing boxes!



After a brief orientation, we spent the morning locating and boxing books that will be sent to the Philippines. These books, primarily being sent to students in grades 8-12, ranged in topic from algebra to biology and literature to health. Once we finished this, we went on to sorting books that had recently come into the warehouse.

It was a great opportunity for our staff—and so fulfilling to know that these books will benefit children around the world. Check out the IBP blog to see firsthand the kind of impact IBP has in the world: http://intlbookproject.wordpress.com/.

From our office to yours, Happy International Coaching Week!

Energy Work & Coaching: The Next Wave

“Matter can neither be created nor destroyed; it just keeps changing form.” Albert Einstein

Rhona Post, MCC

As a child I always thought this statement pithy in some unfathomable way, yet felt its veracity important to maintain. Throughout my life I have circled around this concept and have finally been successful including Einstein’s thinking in my coaching practice.

I started first with Ontological coaching (the meaning of being a human being), progressed to Somatic coaching (the integration of mind, body and spirit) and finally rested with Core Individuation, an energy healing discourse that has helped me integrate all four aspects of the self (mind, body, intellect and spirit). I can look at my thirty years of study and report that it is the energy work that truly informs my coaching.

I think we mirror for our clients what we want most for ourselves, whether that is the freedom to express our best self, the yearning to feel whole, even the renewed confidence to keep grappling with life issues.

The inclusion of energy work in a coaching practice deepens our skill to establish trust and intimacy with clients, and most important, an energy healing practice, alongside a spiritual practice helps us access our own intuition so that we can move effortlessly between head and heart. When we listen to the wisdom of all our parts, mind, body, spirit and emotions, we move with greater ease towards what truly matters.

My orientation as a coach has shifted to include a much stronger commitment to nurturing what is best in a person, even as they fight for their limitations.

With support from ICF and in particular, Don Whittle, Membership Director, I am starting a new telephone SIG, Monday, February 21, from 11:00 to 12 noon, and meeting every third Monday of the month, to explore the value and benefits of adding an energy healing practice to our coaching. I do hope you join me and our colleagues in what promises to be the next wave of coaching.

For more information on Energy Work & Coaching, please contact Rhona Post, MCC, via e-mail at rpost@thehealercoach.com. Learn more at http://www.thehealercoach.com/.

Coaching research for coaching week

You might be hosting an event this week where having recent coaching research will prove beneficial. Or maybe you aren’t. Either way, we have compiled some of the top findings from the Global Consumer Awareness Study* into a single listing. Read over it. Print it out. Use it. Share it.

How aware are people of professional coaching?

• More than half of all respondents (51 percent) were generally aware of coaching. This includes those who indicated they were either “very aware” (12 percent) or “somewhat aware” (39 percent). General awareness varied by country from a high of 92 percent in South Africa to a low of 20 percent in Germany.

• When probed, nearly half (49 percent) of all respondents who indicated they were unaware of coaching, did in fact have an understanding of professional coaching.

Why are people involved in a coaching relationship?
• More than two-fifths (42.6 percent) of respondents who had experienced coaching chose “optimize individual and/or team performance” as their motivation for being coached. This reason ranked highest followed by “expand professional career opportunities” (38.8 percent) and “improve business management strategies” (36.1 percent). “Increase self-esteem/self-confidence” and “manage work/life balance” rated fourth and fifth to round out the top five motivation areas.

How satisfied are those who have been coached?
• Satisfaction levels are very high (83 percent) among those who have been involved in a coaching relationship, 36 percent of which were “very satisfied.” The level of satisfaction rises even higher to 92 percent among those with an ICF Credentialed coach, 55 percent of which were “very satisfied.”

How likely are people to recommend coaching to others?
• As a whole, those who have been coached gave a mean advocacy score of 7.5 (out of 10) in terms of their likeliness to recommend coaching. Overall, 31 percent of those who had been coached indicated that they were “extremely likely” to recommend. Advocacy was even higher for those who had an ICF Credentialed coach—45 percent were “extremely likely to advocate coaching to others.

How important are certifications/credentials for coaches?
• 84 percent of respondents who had been in a coaching relationship considered certification/credentials important. Even among those who indicated they were not aware of the coaching profession or the ICF, 83 percent considered credentials or certifications important for professional coaches to have.

• More than two in five respondents (44 percent) knew if their coach had a certification/credential.

What demographic is most attuned to coaching?
• Of the four age groups analyzed in this study, the youngest segment (ages 25–34) had the highest rate of awareness of coaching (57 percent), highest awareness of the ICF (26 percent) and highest levels of satisfaction with their coaching experience (85 percent). The level of satisfaction of this age group with an ICF Credentialed coach was higher again with 92 percent satisfied; more than half (55 percent) stating they were “very satisfied.”

*The Global Consumer Awareness Study surveyed 15,000 individuals (aged 25 and older) from 20 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America.