IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 17, August 2007, Circulation: 11,632


Angela

From the Editor

In
honour of summer, our August issue is especially warm and heartfelt with nothing
too heavy! And there's plenty to enjoy: including important new benefits and
inspiring reading.

If you
missed the teleconferences with our certifiers last month,
you've now got a chance to hear them. Click on the link in
the sidebar to hear President Natalie Tucker Miller with
Certifiers Nina East and Karen Van Cleve as they explain
the IAC Masteries project and answer questions about what
to expect from the shift to the Masteries from the 15
Proficiencies. You'll enjoy their clear voices and
informative words.


Our President Natalie has uplifting words regarding news about Barbra
Sundquist
.


For anyone interested in learning masterful coaching and getting IAC Certified,
we have some great new member benefits to support you.

First
of all, six IAC Certified Coaches have teamed up to compile an e-book of their
experiences in getting certified. I interviewed their editor, Janice Hunter,
to find out what's inside the e-book "Sharing the Certification Journey". They
are providing a very generous offer for IAC members.

Secondly, Julia Stewart, IAC-CC,
has launched a new coach training school which focuses specifically on the high
standards of the IAC Masteries. She is offering to pay the IAC Certification
fees for anyone who joins the Full Coach Training Program or Certified Coach
Program at her newly launched School of Coaching Mastery. We are thrilled to
offer another valuable member benefit for all our members who
are on the path to certification
.

Reading
on, a couple of well-known masterful coaches are sharing their insights into
coaching: Donna Karlin shares her thoughts about coaching mastery; and David
Blanchard describes beautifully some of the challenges of masterful coaching.

And
finally as a treat, we have a coaching poem.

I
hope you'll find some peaceful moments to enjoy this whole issue.  

Cheers,

Angela Spaxman
Editor, IAC VOICE
Email:
voice@certifiedcoach.org

Web: www.spaxman.com.hk 






Natalie

Answers
from the President


by Natalie
Tucker Miller


president@certifiedcoach.org

Today
we send our gratitude and love to Barbra Sundquist as she transitions from her
role as IAC certifier and coach to pursue other ventures which thrill her. We
celebrate all she has done for the IAC and the coaching profession, and we celebrate
all she will contribute to the world with her future pursuits.   Thank you,
Barbra, for your unwavering support for our profession, our organization and
coaches.

Remembering
to see the ways life serves us, even in times like this when it is tempting
to focus on how someone's influence will be missed, as coaches we look for the
perfection, the opportunity that presents itself.  This week, while staying
bedside with my mom in the hospital, I was reminded how we can do that when we
are present to what's around us.  Her elderly roommate, whose cognitive ability
has diminished, taught me a wonderful lesson in being present when she was asked
by a health care provider, "Do you know why you're in the hospital?"  She responded,
most seriously and reflective of how we'd been spending the past few days visiting
and joking and laughing, "I'm not here for the hospital. I'm here for the party."

Party
on, Barbra.

Note: The woman mentioned in the
above paragraph passed away just days after the "party" comment. Her brief
presence in my life will leave a lasting imprint. Thank you, Coretha, I shall
continue to spread your light.




'Sharing the Certification Journey' E-Book Review


Angela
Spaxman interviews editor and contributing writer Janice
Hunter

Six IAC Certified Coaches
have launched a revealing and informative e-book about their experiences in
getting certified.

You already know Janice
Hunter who writes the much-loved Coaching Moments column in the IAC VOICE.
I had the chance to interview her to find out more about the making of the book
and what's inside.

Janice, first of all, can
you tell us a bit about why you wanted to compile this book?

I've actually been sharing
my own certification journey all year in my Coaching Moments pieces and the
responses I've got have inspired me and let me know that other people have appreciated
the deeply personal moments I've shared as well as the overlaps with their own
journeys.

It was born out of gratitude
to everyone who'd enabled me to pass, especially Barbra Sundquist, whose
faith in me enabled me to write for the VOICE, discover a gift for critiquing
and improve my coaching.

I was lucky; being able
to be an active member of a coaching community raised my game. When I phoned
the co-authors asking them if they'd be interested in contributing to the
book, it became clear from the outset that we all shared a desire to give something
authentic back, to enable others to learn from our challenges, successes and
experiences.

What do you hope will be
the benefits for the readers?

The e-book contains excerpts
from our passing calls so coaching colleagues can hear how the IAC embraces
different styles of coaching; we really hope this feature will be beneficial
to many coaches.

It highlights how different
we are as people which we hope will help other coaches celebrate their own uniqueness.
It also includes sections on how a couple of us failed first time round which
we hope will inspire others who may be in that position.

The cohesion of the book
comes from a long list of 'interview' questions I sent to each of my
coaching colleagues as a starting point. The questions are based on what I learned
or wish I'd discovered sooner on my own coaching journey. Although there's
diversity in the way each coach responded, it's this rich variety of expression
that underlines the basic premise that it takes all kinds of coaches to build
a coaching community. Readers will hear different (or similar?!) responses to
questions like:

  • Did you choose 'recordees'
    who were a fit for you? Please share your awareness of how some clients brought
    out the best in you – or didn't.
  • Would you say your coaching
    improved/got worse/changed as a result of your certification journey?
  • How did you know you
    were ready to start making tapes?
  • Do you have a coaching
    structure for 30 minute calls which you could briefly summarise?

What is your favourite part
of the book?

Its integrity, and the diversity,
freshness and authenticity of the writing! I felt exhilarated as I saw patterns
emerging and realised the book was turning out to be even more 'useful'
than I'd hoped it would be.

Can you share with us
one or two of the most useful tips for getting certified by the IAC?

This is actually a tricky
question because what may seem trivial or obvious to one coach might turn out
to be a huge AHA for someone else. Everyone's unique and at a unique place
on their own coaching journey and the book underlines this.

  • Never lose sight of the
    'big picture'; this includes an awareness of who you are, your presence,
    your reasons for getting certified and your attitude towards your life as
    well as the certification process. Only when you're happy to be yourself
    can you get out of your own way and be curious about the client's big
    picture. Clean up your own stuff so you can be open to everything, comfortable
    with silence and able to match a client's tone and energy while you're
    bringing out and building on their greatness.
     
  • Learn how to critique
    your own calls and build a network of fellow coaches who can support you in
    this.

For more info and to buy
the e-book: www.sharingthecertificationjourney.com

IAC Members:
to receive
your 30% discount on the book, click here
.
This is a special membership
benefit provided by the e-book's authors: Maura Da Cruz, Catherine Miller,
Connie Frey, Kerri Laryea, Jean Gran and Janice Hunter.  




Announcing a New IAC Member Benefit


Learn
what it takes to become an IAC Certified Coach
 -
Julia Stewart, IAC-CC, has launched the School of Coaching Mastery (SCM), providing
a wide variety of different coach training programs, all focused on the high
standards set by the IAC
Masteries
. The school features small classes, in-depth instruction and
a tremendous amount of coaching practice and feedback for each coach.

IAC
members who join the SCM Full Coach Training Program or the Certified Coach
Training Program will have their IAC Certification Fees (Steps 1 & 2) paid
by SCM (US$360 value).

Learn
more about SCM by clicking on the logo or on your IAC membership
page
.




Thoughts About Coaching Mastery


by Donna Karlin

Coaching is more than proficiency;
it's talent, ebb and flow of idea, thoughts and insights, discerning what the
client isn't telling us. For those coaches who feel they have to be in control
of the process, well then it's about the coach, not the client and in that case,
are we giving the clients what they truly need or are we giving them what they
think they can get from us? There's nothing masterful about that.

One of the things I love
about the IAC is that they look at the level of mastery for credentialing, not
just proficiency.

To use a music analogy,
one can learn to play the piano, be very proficient at learning a piece of music,
and very capable of performing it, but those who become masterful and engage
the audience are those who listen to what the music speaks to and in turn shares
it. The notes seem to flow from a place beyond rigid proficiency of execution;
the music is an extension of the performer.

A masterful coach lives
in the world of nuance and subtlety, hears the unspoken word and goes there
with no fear of what will be uncovered, thereby making it safe for the client
to explore that pushed aside place as well. The results are discovery, for some
breakthrough, but for all in one way or another, evolution.

I often wonder if coaches
remember to ask themselves the question "Why did this person hire me to coach
him/her in the first place? Is that reason the truth of the situation or a screen
for something deeper? Have I paid attention enough to find out?"

 
 

Donna Karlin CEC, founder
of A Better Perspective™ (www.abetterperspective.com)
has pioneered the specialized practice of Shadow
Coaching
™ with over 130 senior organizational leaders in the public and
private sectors, and national and global political realms. Donna is an author,
lectures internationally and in response to widely expressed interest to her
highly successful and innovative approach to coaching, she established the School of Shadow
Coaching
™ to enable others to learn the practice.
 
 




The Four Tethers


by David
Blanchard, President, 6 Advisors Inc.

The
challenge is to simply BE – real and genuine without the need to impress, the
need to feel ashamed, the need to pretend, or the need to fear. It is to be
transparent to these needs so that we can bring who we "really are" to any given
coaching situation. Why is this so important?

Imagine
a hot air balloon tethered to the ground by four large ropes each tied off to
a large wooden stake. Can you feel the balloon struggling to lift off, wanting
to soar, but unable to do so because the tethers are holding it down? Feel the
tension between the potential in the balloon and the restraint of the tethers.
Finally the ropes are cut and the balloon lifts with ease higher and higher
until its occupants can view what appears to be the entire earth. So it is with
our coaching practices. The need to impress, feel ashamed, pretend, and fear
can keep us tethered, unable to succeed. These tethers rob us and our potential
coaching clients of our greatest gifts. Our true potential lies dormant, untapped
and unused.

Dr.
Robert S. Hartman said, "to simply BE is the hardest and most important task
in our mortal existence." He went on to say that this is the "highest level
of maturity." Until we as coaches master this art we are, as Og Mandino says,
"no more than a peddler in the market place."  Until now, you may have believed
that success is contingent on your ability to tenaciously cling to these tethers.
You may fear that nothing would be left should you surrender. Some may have
even built the very foundation of their existence, their image, roles, and status
using these restrictive thought processes. But real power is in being real and
genuine.  In doing so our intrinsic power is released. Real power cannot be
faked or manipulated.  The surrender is real and the benefits beyond price.

It
is our goal to introduce you to the unknown for when you become aware of the
possibilities, the gains made while being tethered will seem puny and insignificant
regardless of how others may have perceived their value. You will more clearly
recognize why there has been a flame burning inside you, as discussed by Og
Mandino, "which has been passed from generations uncounted." A flame that has
been "a constant irritation to your spirit to be better than you are and you
will be" and in so doing find the intrinsic motivation to shed your tethers
and soar.  

Coaching
is not about becoming a monk or a self-denying ascetic. However, it is about
being real, genuine and authentic and unleashing your infinite intrinsic power
in the service of other human beings – and being compensated for this valuable
service. It is about coming to a task as a clean vessel free of judgment and
prejudice. It is about bringing all of your potential, all of your genius, all
of your genuineness, all of your creativity, free from the need to impress,
feel ashamed, pretend and fear. It is about experiencing the profound joy that
can come only through maximizing your true potential in the service of others.

What
tethers are holding you back?  We can now measure them. Make the discovery and
then learn how to cut the tethers so you can soar.  "Up there" is
where your clients want to be and they need someone who has cut their tethers
and breathed "that air."


 

Dave
Blanchard is the Chairman and CEO of The Og Group, Inc. and family of companies,
The Greatest Salesman, Inc. and 6 Advisors, Inc. He is the co-developer of the
6 Advisors Assessment Report™ and coaching curriculum. http://www.6Advisors.com.

 
 



Celebration of Our
Coaching

by Jane Lewis

dropping
the story here and there to catch glimpses and episodes of
perfection
tell me your truth, as it is yours, and, like angels we huddle in awe
to witness the bittersweet human journey
seeing its perfection,
approving of all that has happened,
re-image-ing meanings and next steps
dressing the actor in fresh possibilities, always plentiful
and sending her out for more,
energized and rich in
grace and
spirit.

Jane Lewis (aka LIU Zhi-Lian 柳芝蓮), a facilitator, coach and
craniosacral bodyworker in Taiwan. http://hawaiibreeze.wordpress.com


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