by Ed Britton and Saurav Mohanty We have just enjoyed one of the most fun and satisfying projects that either of us has been involved in with the International Association of Coaching: the development and piloting of the Path to Mastery program in the Asia Crescent region of IAC. This international effort – spanning India, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong – has built a learning and practice community focused on developing masterful coaching based on the IAC Coaching Masteries (R). Over a year ago, Ed asked then IAC President, Dr. Susan Meyer, (MMC and IAC Certifier) how coaching mastery is achieved. Her answer was unambiguous: “Practice, practice, practice.” He then asked Natalie Tucker Miller (Lead Certifier), about the best way to practice. She replied, “Coaching triads.” That lead to discussions with now-IAC Vice President, Krishna Kumar about how a program of coaching triads might be developed, and he enlisted his associate and fellow IAC member, Saurav Mohanty, to design a program. A coaching triad is a group of three coaches who practice coaching together. On a rotating basis, one participates as the coach, another as the coachee and the third as observer. Somewhat different kinds of learning take place while working in these different roles because of the change in perspective. Triads are indeed a profound way to develop coaching mastery. Once Saurav applied his substantial creative talents, we had a model ready to be tested. Since he lived in India, part of a very active and progressive region of the IAC, it was decided to launch the first pilot in the Asia Crescent region (Korea to the Middle East). After less than six months, this very successful pilot has concluded, adding substantially to our expertise in conducting mastery-building triads. It has been thrilling to associate with the leading coaches who have blazed the Path to Mastery trail for the IAC. Their diligence, constructive suggestions and personal commitment to professionalism is inspiration in action. Our Path to Mastery pioneers are Grace Moorthi, Shanmugam D Moorthi, Putri Juliani Johari and Adibah Saleh from Malaysia; Ritu Mathur, Saurav Mohanty, Rajiv Misra and Anjali Nair from India; Teo Jin Lee and Denise Pang from Singapore; and Leanne Chan and Charles Chau from Hong Kong. As you read, planning for a second Path to Mastery pilot program, this time in the Americas, is underway. Significant undertakings include participation in both English and Spanish languages, and the opportunity to add study groups to our experience with coaching triads. We look forward to developing expertise among Spanish speaking members to extend the capabilities of coaching among our Latin community. If you would like to follow the development of Path to Mastery, please watch the IAC VOICE for regular updates, and participate through comments. There will also be dialogue in the IAC Family Room (www.IACFamilyRoom.groupsite.com). If you would like to be a participant in the West Pilot of the Path to Mastery, please email ed.britton@certifiedcoach.org. We look forward to joining you in your pursuit of coaching mastery. |
