A penny for your thoughts

Last month, we asked our Facebook fans for the best piece of advice they have ever been given. Take a look below to see how our Facebook fans responded:

“You have choices…many of them, so feel free to make another one.” (Sinead Moffatt)

“All my advice comes from my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!” (Ricardo Em)

“John 3:16.’” (Ricardo Em)

“Know thyself – do thyself.” (Paul Coughlin)

“Learn first from the client.” (Anne Drake)

“Charge more than you think you are worth.” (Dean Miles)

“You don’t have to have everything perfect to start your business…just start!” (Dawn Osborn Langerock)

“Have faith in God.” (Patti DuBose)

“Listening is not the same as waiting to talk.” (Eric Laramée)

“The more time you let pass to fight for your dreams, the farther they will be.” (Adolfo SG)

“ONLY make decisions that move you toward your goals…if the decision is taking you away from your goal, you are making the wrong decision.” (Debbie Ruston)

“Breathe!” (Laura McCafferty)

“Be yourself, be there and resist the pressure to give advice!” (Mandu Lilian)

“Be present!” (Magdalenda Giec)

“From my father: there isn’t a problem without a solution, there is always a way to make things happen. Just pause, think, search and you (we) will find it.” (Katerina Kanelidou)

“If you love that you do, there is no way you cannot succeed.” (Don Young)

“Just do it! ~Nike” (Veronique Pigeon)

“We do not give any advice to our coaches but we ask with distinctions. My coaches give me great open questions to explore.” (Carmen Lloveras)

“Trust yourself.” (AuthentiCity Coach Laura)

“There’s never a wrong time to do a good thing.” (Ajith Kumar Chelote)

“Life is not about ‘finding’ yourself—create yourself!” (Sherry Prindle)

“Fly like a butterfly, girl! You can do amazing things! Just go with your gut and fly!” (Debbie Brown Kemp)

What about you? What is the greatest piece of advice you have ever been given? We’d love to know—leave a response below or join the conversation at Facebook.com/ICFHQ.

Vitality, positivity and grace are now available in pill form...

Wouldn’t that be great?  No, it wouldn’t!  But I bet it would sell!

I think that is what many of us are striving for... vitality, positivity and grace. Sounds good.  And it feels good when we can land there. Unfortunately, we often seem to be looking in all the wrong places. We Americans have never been more medicated, in debt, overweight or addicted. Yikes! Sorry to remind you of that reality.

These times are full of uncertainty and turmoil, and they are full of potential for positive change. Chaos often precedes change. This can be a time for transformation for us. I know at times, I feel very vulnerable as many of my friends, family and colleagues do. We can’t stop what’s going on in the world but we can learn to do things differently if we choose. We can learn to be more resilient. Resiliency leads to resourcefulness. That is a skill set we really need today.

"Vulnerable?  Not in This Dog's Dictionary!"

And it has to start right here inside each of us... It all depends on us making different choices.  The big challenge is,

“How do we access our best during these challenging times?” 

Though the circumstances are certainly different, the question is the same one that each of my parents were faced with in their lives.  They faced even tougher times.

Top Two Strategies
There are two strategies that most resilient people in the world use. 

1. The first is to remain calm during adversity. If unable to do that, then they are able to return to calm quickly following and recenter themselves in order to re-focus. This can be learned. 
2. The second step is to engage in the practice of positive inquiry. Just asking questions and being curious is an admission that you don’t have all the answers. Whew! What a relief that is! Direct your energies by asking questions that point to the positives or strengths in a situation, like:

• What is going right?
• What is in my control?
• What is the lesson here?
• What do I desire?

When I am able to do that, I land in a place closer to vitality, positivity and grace. 

Questions bring us beyond what we already know...beyond what we currently feeling. They help us to find the answers so we can start living them.

Feeling vulnerable feels like the new normal.

That’s not so bad as long as we don’t assume we know what the future holds.  Getting comfortable with this discomfort can help us to stay right there instead of searching for the many ways we do to alleviate the feeling.

Finding new ways of coping and moving in the direction of resourcefulness, are not just important but I will go as far as to say your life depends on it!

So, let’s gather all our strategies and tools for bringing our best to just this moment... Because that is all we really have.  And let’s gather our resolve to make the most of our precious time on earth.

Anne Jolles is offering a 5 week webinar, “Rise and Shine Anytime” 5 Steps for Bringing Your Best To The Next Moment.  You will learn strategies and tools to increase positivity, resilience and grace while earning 5 CCEU’s from ICF. Watch this video: Rise and Shine Anytime 2012.  Learn more at www.riseandshineanytime.com

The best award: Learning, serving and recognition.

“The south also exists”

Receiving the Chapter Award in Las Vegas was a great honor and recognition. Though the best part of it is the support of the Uruguay Chapter members, who believe that a promise of professional coaching and ethics support by a global organization could be the future for a better living.

This is a story of vision, persistence and a great deal of time devoted to members, actually 80, may be one the secrets to create something bigger. You also need an organization offering leadership opportunities and ICF was that chance.

During the 2nd Congress of Coaching in Argentina, August 2007, I made a public statement: Uruguay will have a formal Coaching organization that will begin joining the few professionals in the market and develop a community of Coaching working towards a change. The vision of creating the ICF Uruguay Chapter is the blog of the Coaching Community of Uruguay where all this started: www.coachinguruguay.com.

"América invertida" ("Inverted America"), by the Uruguayan painter Joaquín Torres García

Uruguay is a country with 3,5 millions of inhabitants. Coaching appears about 7 years ago with very few coaches who have almost no relation between each other.  Within South America, Uruguay is one of the latest countries where the Coaching practice has been developed.  Despite being considered a traditional country due to its conservative beliefs, it has a great potential. We face the challenge of creating something new, going through local resistance to this kind of disciplines. 

People were invited to join the idea of leadership, coaching and thinking different with the view of developing a profession that was pretty unknown. More than 250 people join this community, but not more than 10 professional coaches could be identified at that moment.

In 2010 Coaching bloomed as the bamboo analogy. We carried out the 1st International Coaching Workshop with about 120 participants, created the first local Association (AUCOP), and launched the idea of the ICF Uruguay Chapter. Only four ICF Members where identified.

Being invited to the ICF Leaders’ meeting in Peru at the 1st LATAM Conference in July 2010 was the first step to see a wonderful work of existing chapters.

Founders of ICF Uruguay, Dec 2010

Then attending the Dallas Conference was the opportunity to see a global view and reinforce the challenge to go for it.

We founded the Chapter with almost 30 ICF members December 9th, 2010.  Since then, we have been growing not only as a Chapter but also as coaches.

In 2011 Coaching has been developed faster than ever.

• More than 7 different learning offers of coaching are offered in the Uruguayan market.  Most of them opened this year.
• Local business associations and government are being visited establishing cooperative work.
• Initial contacts have been established in order that ICF LATAM Chapters may work together with the LATAM Network of Human Resources Associations.
• Three Mentor Coaching Groups were held to align 30 local coaches into the credential process.
• We have met with local Coaching institutes and are working with them in order to help them to accredit their programs.
• Media interviews were carried out announcing ICF Uruguay Chapter.
• On March we launched our website http://www.icfuruguay.org with a look-and-feel as the new ICF Global Website.  It was offered as a model to other chapters in the search of creating a regional voice and image for ICF. 
• We also launched our Newsletter Coaching Uy in March.  At the present moment we are in the process of preparing the next issue.
• An initial blog was added to the web.
• Our ICF Uruguay Facebook Page with almost weekly news and pictures is on almost 100 members.
• Near 20 meetings with an average of 28-32 members and invited coaches were held by the Chapter during this year.  President of ICF Colombia; Vice President of ICF Argentina; Director on Ethics of Argentina; former liaison with LATAM from ICF Spain (via video-conference call); and VP Damian Goldvarg MCC were some of our invited speakers for our meetings. 
• During August we sponsored an International Human Resources Congress (300 participants) bringing Ivonne Hidalgo as speaker expert and president of ICF Venezuela.
• We also sponsored the visit of Tim Gallwey, with near 300 participants, as a way to locally position ICF.
       o We had a private breakfast conversation between Tim and our members, the next day of Tim’s Conference.
• During May, 100% of our members renew their membership.
• A radio program about Change and Possibility was co conducted during the last three months of the year.  Coaching and ICF were the main messages to creating awareness within the community.
• Creative ideas are in process for the growth and renewal of memberships as of 2012. 
• Our goal for 2011 was100 members before the end of the year, we reach almost 80.
• Uruguay was the first LATAM Chapter launching the “I Care For…” campaign in Spanish.
• ICF Uruguay Chapter has the biggest percentage of penetration per capita by far (members / coaches / future coaches).
• Uruguay is now in the Coaching world and we will deliver global coaches to serve worldwide.

During this year we learned a great deal of experience about ICF not only in its committed global view from Ed´s initiative but also as being part of the Marketing Global Committee helping in the development of the new Coaching World and the Brand Plan which I think is a great step that goes much further than the use of a logo.  Leadership means Coaching… not to be listened but listening and giving time one person at a time.

Closing 2011 I would say it was one of the best years of my coaching career.  Not from a business point of view, but the experience itself of coaching and developing a Coaching community was remarkable rewarding.

It was unthinkable to live this experience more than a year ago. I strongly motivate all ICF Members to get committed to their chapters and develop themselves as leaders. There is no limit to reach whatever you want.

Thanks to all the new ICF friends, Global Committee, ICF staff and colleagues and Damian’s coaching, who helped to go through!

2012 will be a great year for Coaching discipline and for LATAM development.  That is the next Challenge.

http://www.silbert.com.uy

Gerardo Silbert is coach trainer, founder of Silbert Coaching /Comunicación. With focus con Life Coaching, he is applying for his PCC. With 30 years of experience in advertising and marketing in Argentina, due to coaching he choose to change his live into service and help and he moved to Uruguay and began his Coaching carrier 8 years ago. Actually he is president of ICF Uruguay and part of the Coordination development Team for Latam.

ICF request for proposals

If you are interested in serving as a catalyst (a breakout leader), you are invited to submit your request for proposal by March 21, 2012.

Click here for submission details. Hear more about the submission process.

The ICF is going to take London by storm in October! Coaching professionals from across the globe are anticipated to make their way to London, UK, October 3-6, 2012 for ICF Global 2012 – Connect. Learn. Inspire.

Learn more at Coachfederation.org/London2012.

ICF staff makes ripples

For the second year in a row, International Coach Federation staff members commemorated International Coaching Week by volunteering at locally-based International Book Project (IBP). 

IBP is a Lexington, Kentucky based nonprofit whose mission is to promote education and literacy while broadening Americans’ understanding of their neighbors by sending quality used books overseas. IBP sends more than 150,000 books to schools, libraries, churches, nonprofits, and Peace Corps volunteers in over 40 developing countries. Learn more about IBP.

ICF staffers at International Book Project

People from across the city, state, and nation donate books to IBP for their cause. Those books that are not able to be used overseas are stocked in the IBP bookstore that is open to the public. All proceeds from these books are put toward shipping costs of those books that do go overseas. ICF staffers sorted through boxes of books and worked to stock the shelves of the bookstore.

This was a most fitting end to International Coaching Week—and so fulfilling for staff members to get out of the office to help the community, and the world. Check out the IBP blog to see the kind of impact their organization has on the world.