| From the Editor
As always, summer is flying by here! In New England the warm and sunshine-y months are treasured, as they are only a small fraction of the year in this part of the world. Despite our limited time to indulge in the summer, I still find myself occasionally complaining about the heat and humidity. Recently, I caught myself in this mindset and decided to pause and re-appreciate the season around me. As I stood outside under the shade of pine trees, I looked up and saw a hawk watching me from the power lines above. It was a humbling and beautiful moment as we looked at each other — he even stayed long enough for me to take a picture! I often find that reading articles for the VOICE give me an opportunity to stop and check myself, similar to my hawk-moment. This month, they remind me that all mantras and lessons (and Masteries) can be powerful in different contexts; that mind, body, and spirit are all of equal importance; that we can overcome the blocks in our professional and personal lives if we take the time to acknowledge them. I hope they are able to shed insight that is just a valuable for you this month! Thank you for reading! Be sure to post your thoughts and responses and don’t feel shy about getting involved in a conversation! Is there something you’d like to see in the VOICE? A particular subject you’d like us to address? Please don’t hesitate to contact us at voice@certifiedcoach.org with comments, questions, event notices, or article contributions. We are always looking for new perspectives and look forward to hearing from you. Best,
Beth Ann Miller is an MFA candidate in Writing and is a native New Englander. She has a professional background in editing and higher education, and enjoys working with youths in the arts. Her stories have appeared in online and print journals and she is perpetually at work on new creative projects.
Contents From the President – Vicki Zanini Open to Spirit – Martha Pasternack Ask the Certifiers – Natalie Tucker Miller Building Blocks – Cinnie Nobel Licensing Committee Column – Charlie Boyer IAC Coaches Reading Club IAC LinkedIn Saturday Join us for a webinar: Presentation on FULL SPECTRUM GROWTH From the President Greetings! In looking for a quote to share with you this month, I came across these words written by our very own Angela Spaxman in her president’s report in 2009: “Thomas (Leonard) led us in conversations about the potential, the future and the secrets of coaching, and so many of us were drawn in and inspired to make coaching a key part of our lives. What do coaches do that creates that kind of energy? How do we elicit our sense of urgency for coaching to make its mark in the world? What becomes free in us when we play together like children, while inventing our futures like the brilliant people that we are?” – Angela Spaxman, past IAC President. This year the IAC team has been immersed in several projects, including the Path to Mastery Program and the expansion of our coach certification and Mastery Practitioners designation into other languages. We’ve added a marketing strategist to our team and are super excited about the progress on the website upgrades. In addition, our member benefits continue to grow with innovative tools and resources to support coaches in a variety of niches. At the top of that list is the beloved IAC certification process, which continues to be a gold standard in the industry and is so much more than a goal to work towards or a piece of paper to frame. It represents an ongoing journey of growth for the coach and those he or she works and lives with. It’s a path that truly offers the opportunity for mastery and the chance to make a difference. And I believe it’s a journey that inspires the kind of energy that draws us in and inspires us to make coaching not just our career but a key part of our lives. I was on many calls with Thomas Leonard and I remember the energy that Angela speaks of. For me it’s still alive in the IAC community after all these years. Our industry is forever expanding and so are the possibilities. We’re all on a Path to Mastery, inventing our future together, and I am so happy to be sharing this journey with you. With gratitude,
Open to Spirit In a recent IAC group licensee call (which was great, by the way), we focused on IAC Mastery #4: Processing in the Present. One of our members asked about how other people teach their coaches about IAC Mastery #4, measure number five:
On this particular call we focused on Spirit, which tends to be more challenging than speaking about body and mind. I have been thinking about that ever since. I speak for myself now. To me, Spirit cannot be separated from body, mind, or anything else when we think in a holistic way. Spirit infuses the body, mind, and emotions with vitality. In fact, Spirit infuses all of life. Spirit enlivens the natural world as well as the people we serve as coaches, the ones we love and the ones care about. Spirit also is present in the things we may label as less than desirable. I live a spiritual life, which is demonstrated not by what I say, but by how I live. When I allow my life to reflect what I have learned about the world, I give voice to Spirit. Spirt is expressed through body, mind, and emotions by allowing your life to speak for how you live. It is in how you reflect love and kindness and how you clarify value.As international coaches, we know that our clients represent all the world’s great religions. I am not talking about religion and religious teachings here. I am talking about how to connect with the goodness of life with perspective. When we open to our soul’s renewal, when we relax into loving ourselves and others, when we share our love with others, we open to Spirit. When we receive our blessings with generosity, when we open to forgiveness, when we surrender to the mystery of life, we open to Spirit. When we coach our clients to get clear so they can move forward on the pathway of life and the present moment, we empower them to open to Spirit. Our world is becoming increasingly mechanized and technical and it changes at a dizzying pace at times. Spirit is not mechanical or technical: Spirit is Spirit. And Spirit never changes. It is how love expresses itself through each of us and all of creation. Spirit has no beginning. It has no end. Like the Circle of Life. It cannot be separated from body, mind, or anything else. Anyway, that’s how I see it. How do you see it?
Q. I’ve seen the infographics about how the Masteries support each, but I admit I’m confused by that. Aren’t some Masteries more important than others? A. The certifiers are often asked “what is the most important Mastery?” What we’ve noticed is that there are favorites that coaches tend claim, but as far as THE most important? Is there something about coaching that you value so much that you see it as the essence of coaching? Maybe that’s something to consider as you peruse the elements of the Masteries. Think about the following questions, and contemplate your natural inclinations. Do you demonstrate a Mastery right off the bat, or do you rely on the other Masteries to support key components of a Mastery?
These, of course, just touch on a few scenarios in the vastness of different combinations of a coaching approach, as well as considering the unique needs of each client, in each session. It can be helpful to recognize which Masteries you most identify with, and use that recognition as a way to weave in the support of the other Masteries. Continue to immerse yourself in the broad scope of possibilities that each — and all — of the Masteries embody and you may even find that every Mastery is the most important, depending on the circumstances. Do you have a question that you’d like to ask the certifiers? Submit your questions here: http://certifiedcoachblog.typepad.com/blog/ask-the-certifiers.html. Natalie Tucker Miller, MMC, is the Lead Certifier and a certifying examiner at the IAC, as well as Past-President. Natalie is founder of Ageless-Sages.com Publishing (www.ageless-sages.com), and creator of the literary genre, Picture Books for Elders™. Please send your questions on the IAC Coaching Masteries® and the certification process to certification@certifiedcoach.org. Building Blocks The other day I was watching a friend’s granddaughter laboriously pile square blocks on top of one another. She gleefully stood up as the edifice she was building became taller than her. Proudly, the toddler made sure we saw and praised her masterpiece. In one fell swoop she knocked over the blocks – giggling and clapping her hands. It was adorable. This charming scenario has become somewhat of an analogy, in my mind, about blocks that coaching clients build and break down, as well as a number of similar sentiments that arise in this regard. As coaches it is common to witness our clients encounter blocks during the course of our engagement. Like the child in the above scenario, they build them — though not necessarily at such a conscious level. That is, though our clients (and us, too) may not appear to build blocks with the same sort of pride and glee, there is usually some purpose. And that purpose likely reflects the tendency to rely on well-honed and predictable patterns of acting and interacting that have kept them within their comfort zone. Fears of all sorts, unmet needs, lack of confidence, unresolved matters, vulnerability and insecurity, pessimism, despair, and various other emotions all contribute and pile on top of one another until the tower of blocks feels daunting and impenetrable and bigger than we are. One of the things about blocks is that we do not necessarily recognize how and when we build them. We might not process that our blocks may be devices that protect us from things that need our attention before we feel safe to move on. Or, we may not see them as justification or defensive symbols that keep us from taking risks and advancing to places where accountability increases. Or, we may admit that we intentionally form barriers – afraid of failure, or even success. As coaches we know that, counterintuitive as it may seem to our clients, celebrating the blocks – even the act of building them – also presents opportunities for reflection and learning. Building and Breaking Down Blocks Identifying blocks is, of course, not as easy as with the toddler’s game. However, coaches use various techniques to help clients gain clarity on what drives and constitutes their impasses – to be able to ultimately break them down. We may, for instance, use questioning skills and metaphors. Examples include: How do you describe the blocks? What’s inside them that is standing in your way? On what foundation do they stand? What is the mortar binding the blocks? How are the blocks helping you? What don’t you know about them? If the blocks could talk, what would each tell you? Where the analogy with the child’s building blocks and clients’ impasses gains even more strength is when the blocks are knocked down and there comes the empowering acknowledgement: “I can do this!” To facilitate this evolution, coaches use visualization and forward-thinking questions. For example: What do you expect to feel like when you knock over the blocks? How might the blocks be helping you? What power and other strengths do you have to break down the blocks that you aren’t using yet? Who will you be when you overcome the blocks? What else will be different for you? Other Coaching Techniques Other techniques that work well for clients who are visual, may be to ask them to draw what the impasses look like, or what the blocks will look like when they overcome them. Some may find it helpful to compare an impasse to one they observed or read about in a movie, television show, book, etc. in which a character encounters a dilemma. Asking the client to describe what it was like for that person and what was done to overcome their blocks often engenders hopefulness and provides ways to identify possible action steps. Asking how the impasse tastes, feels, sounds, etc. can also be powerful for some people. These methods and others are useful for tuning in to how clients process their worlds and their efforts to overcome challenges to success. Summary In whatever ways we help coaching clients to discover their blocks and how to overcome them, using creative methods to shift their mindset often results in positive energy that opens up different ways of understanding them. By inviting our clients to tap into their strengths and inner resources to break down their blocks also results in the huge release that comes with relying on themselves to conquer them. And that is as much fun for them to experience as it is for a child building a tower of blocks. Cinnie Noble is a lawyer, mediator and certified coach (PCC) specializing in conflict management coaching. She is the author of two coaching books: Conflict Management Coaching: The CINERGY™ Model and Conflict Mastery: Questions to Guide You. www.cinergycoaching.com Licensing Committee Column The Licensing Committee met via Skype on July 20th for a lively one-hour discussion. We pack a lot of business into each monthly meeting, as the four of us are located in four different time zones. We reviewed one application for licensing. Although it was a very strong application, the Committee deferred action at this time, as the applicant had not yet completed the Masteries Practitioner requirements. We look forward to approving this application as soon as that requirement has been met. The license application process was outlined by Pepe Del Rio, who has managed this process very well for the past several years. Thank you, Pepe! A number of good suggestions for improvement were noted. The Committee will continue to work on improving and clarifying the process and the requirements for new and renewal licensing applicants. It was especially good to note that presently, the Masteries Practitioner written exam and Professional Development Plan are available in four languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, and French. This will be a great help to our licensee applicants, and is a big step forward for the IAC! Translators, we may need your help with future applications. Committee members Deb Chisholm, Pepe Del Rio, Eduardo Vier, and Charlie Boyer welcome your suggestions and comments. Contact the Licensing Committee at licensing@certifiedcoach.org.
Charles Boyer, Ed.D., (Charlie), BCC, Certified Masteries Coach, is the founder of C-Star Coaching, a values-oriented practice for newer leaders, and creator of the Team 412 Project, a web-based leadership development program.
IAC Coaches Reading Club Date: Thursday August 20th, 2015 It’s THE reading and book club for coaches, and it’s all about coaching and personal development books! The book for August is Tapping into Ultimate Success by Jack Canfield and Pamela Brumer. Interested in becoming a bigger part of the Reading Club? Our Reading Club facilitator, Terri Hase, is also looking for a co-facilitator to join the fun, help with book selection, and author outreach. Are you the bibliophile, and fun loving volunteer, that is perfect for the job? Contact Terri now: Treasurer@certifiedcoach.org. IAC LinkedIn Saturday is scheduled for August 15th, wherever you are in the world. This is the opportunity for all of us to concentrate on our professional community building at the same time and in the same place. Join discussions, start your own, or like, follow, be followed, and increase your professional joins. Here’s how:
See you there! Presentation on FULL SPECTRUM GROWTH for the IAC Asia Crescent Join us for a webinar on Aug 13, 2015 at 5:30 PM IST. Register now!
What does masterful coaching sound like? This session provides live examples of coaching that will serve as a backdrop for an interactive discussion of how The IAC Coaching Masteries® work together so coaches can promote growth and deepen understanding in their clients and just as importantly, with themselves. Presented by Krishna Kumar, President Elect IAC and Aileen Gibb, IAC -MMC this Webinar will help Coaches understand how they can ensure their growth is as exponential as their clients’. The Webinar, planned for a duration of 75 minutes, is scheduled for August 13th, 2015 starting at 4.00 PM (Dubai), 5.30 PM (India) and 8.00 PM (rest of Asia Chapters). Congratulations to Sarah Brazelton from Charlottesville, VA, United States who recently earned the Masteries Practitioner Designation! Your Feedback We’d love to get your feedback on any issue related to the IAC. Do you have any questions, concerns, encouragement or ideas for improvement regarding membership benefits, certification, the VOICE, the direction of the organization or anything else at all? Please send an email to voice@certifiedcoach.org. Please help us improve. |
Vicki Zanini is founder of Vicki Zanini Coaching & Training. As a certified holistic life coach, she works with individuals and groups who are ready to create new possibilities, boost personal effectiveness, and experience a deeper sense of meaning and inner peace. She has been leading coaching groups and workshops for over 15 years in personal development, self-care, creativity, and intuition. Visit her website at 
Martha Pasternack, MMC 
