IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 24, March 2008, Circulation: 12,238
March 17, 2008
Angela
From the Editor
It feels like spring! That’s because of all the new seeds sprouting at the IAC.
One new growth that many of you have been waiting for is the new online Part One IAC Coaching Masteries™ test which you can now access through your member page for $35.
Our President Natalie also reveals the IAC leadership changes that we are very excited about.
There’s a blast from the past, a transcription of last year’s teleconference with Lead Certifier Nina East. As a transcription, this piece is a quick read and a good reminder of some keys to getting certified by the IAC.
As you read further, you’ll discover that I’ll be writing to you from one column down next month. So now my sights are set on the future and there is much to be done! My thanks to all of you who have supported me in the role of Editor.
This month we welcome the completion of the online Part One IAC Coaching Masteries™ test. The Masteries test officially replaces the Proficiencies-based exam. The success of this project can be summed up by Board Member and test development team leader, Lucia Murphy:
“The remarkable success of this project can be, in great part, attributed to the collaborative partnership of the entire team. Once the group was selected, we were all charged with achieving the immediately desired outcomes, at the same time giving a compelling vision of how this project fits into the organization's ongoing strategy. We were given the freedom to accomplish these in any way we believed best, both for the long- and short-term. We were made responsible for the immediate outcomes, but were not necessarily limited to one person's idea of the "best" way to go about it.
“More importantly, the over-delivery against the initial objective on this project is a testament to the power of forward-thinking and inspired leadership. The individuals on the team were motivated to rise above minimum expectations and reach for something greater, something sustainable.”
Last month we mentioned the transition of the leadership team and I’m honored to announce those changes have indeed taken place. Our elections this past month brought these changes:
Angela Spaxman, President Parker Anderson, Vice-President Tara Robinson, new board member and Secretary
Jean Gran will remain as Treasurer. She has done an outstanding job and we are so pleased that she will remain on the executive team. (As Immediate Past President, my term on the executive team continues through December, 2008, as well.)
There are no words to describe how exciting it is to welcome this team of accomplished leaders as they help shape the next phase of the IAC. Thank, you, team, you have my full support!
With the change of leadership comes the change of the editorial team. Kerch McConlogue joins us as editor of the IAC Voice. She comes highly recommended with a plethora of editorial experience. We look forward to the energy and insights she will bring to the position. Welcome, Kerch!
On another note, this month we also accepted the resignation of Heidi Maye Holihan, who has been a board member for three years. Heidi devoted much of her time to the strategic vision of the organization. Her ability to see alternate sides of an issue helped the IAC to consider the underlying possibilities. Our heartfelt appreciation goes to a loyal and devoted member for the service she provided. Best to you, Heidi.
And best to you, dear readers. As I pass the proverbial torch, I will indeed miss these monthly chats! Look for Angela’s new column as president next month! And please, stay in touch. I cherish the interactions I’ve had with members and hope you continue to share your thoughts with me.
IAC Certified Coaches
Congratulations to Sharron Phillips from Chester, NY, USA who recently passed her Part 2 Exam and became an IAC Certified Coach!
Special Announcement on Certification Changes
Calling all coaches who have one more recording to submit for Certification:
If you passed one record coaching session using the Proficiencies in Part 2 of IAC Certification, you may still submit a third recording for review to complete Part 2 and become an IAC Certified Coach!
If you wish to have the additional recording scored using the Proficiencies, please submit your recording by April 30, 2008. If you would prefer your third recording be reviewed using the Masteries, regardless of when you submit the recording, you may request this. Please note that if the Masteries are used for this additional recording, you will need to receive an overall score of 80% or higher, and a score of 4 or higher on each of the Masteries.
Any recordings received after that April 30, 2008 will automatically be scored using the IAC Coaching Masteries (TM).
Natalie’s Swan Song
As I contemplate being past president, several reflective thoughts occur to me. The situations that arise on a daily basis in this position provided me the opportunity to examine what is most important to members, what seemed important but wasn’t in the long run and what reactions I had and why. This was a wonderful lesson in self-understanding, and I go forward stronger, kinder and certainly wiser. I humbly thank the Board of Governors, the certifiers, the volunteers, the staff and the IAC members for helping me to grow, stretch and become more intimately acquainted with my inner being.
It’s been an amazing 2 ½ years and if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to share a few of the things I’ve learned, relearned or reframed:
There is no urgency, ever.
Great things happen when you feel safe and are in an environment rich with possibility.
More than ever I understand that you can learn a lot about how someone feels about themselves by listening to what they are saying about others.
If you spend too much time concerned about a back up plan, the chance is great that you will end up doing the back up plan.
Life will deliver to you what you expect.
Be willing to stand by your ideas while allowing others to do the same, no matter how opposing they may seem.
If you want quality, abandon deadlines. Instead, target dates will keep you on track with the built in flexibility that will net more satisfying results.
Everything works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out, it’s not the end.
The notion that nothing is personal has more power than anything else I’ve learned. However anyone feels about you or what you are doing is from their unique frame of reference. That’s all any of us have until we decide to remove the frame and allow an unlimited view. This is when relationships can grow and strengthen even under the most adverse of conditions.
There is always a choice.
Everybody is right.
Replacing self-criticism with self-reflection has magic powers.
Inspire others by being inspired by them.
As we celebrate the IAC’s 5th anniversary this month, we also celebrate and anticipate the vision Angela Spaxman, our new President, will bring to the position. She is truly a remarkable being and I am personally thrilled that she offers her leadership gifts to the IAC. We are going to see some IAC dreams come true!
Appreciatively, Natalie
MEET: Kim Nishida Newest Member of the IAC Board of Governors
by Susan Korb
What steps did you take to enter coaching and become connected with the IAC?
With a background in fitness, I attended a 2002 WellCoaches conference for personal trainers and aerobics instructors where the concept of coaching was introduced. I left with my confidence fully loaded and the intention that my next career would include coaching.
Voraciously reading books while joining the Schools of Coachville, I connected with Julia Stewart in a study group designed to pass the IAC exams. The study group, which included such notable coaches as Natalie Tucker Miller, Lucia “Dr. Murph” Murphy and Sali Taylor, was instrumental in my passing the Part 1 exam. I became a founding member of the IAC.
How did you move into your own practice and what would you suggest for other coaches?
Then my life shifted into a bit of complication. A company approached me with promises and a dreamy coaching job description. I left the comfort of a job at UC Berkeley to pursue my coaching career intention; however it did not develop. With the disappointment and stress that year I consulted with a doctor who recommended removing the stress or to continue living with a real health risk.
I took that information reconnecting with my past confidence, and opened my own coaching practice without regret. Taking the “dream job” position provided a stepping stone and the courage to move into my intended coaching career.
In one sense, I had the very costly stress of living out of alignment with my values by working in a job that compromised my integrity. Although the prospect of setting up my own shop was scary, thrilling and yes, stressful at the same time, intuitively knowing that I was now creating the life I was meant to lead gave me courage and almost boundless energy to see it through
Did I have fears and doubts about whether or not I would succeed? Yes, daily. If I had to do it over again, I would seek out help sooner in the form of technical support, targeted networking groups, and joint venture partners.
How did you become a member of the IAC Board of Governors?
While creating my own practice, I began to monitor the careers of my former study group buddies and continued to be a loyal subscriber to the VOICE newsletter. Recently while conducting a teleseminar entitled “How a Membership Site Can Save Your Coaching Business,” Jean Gran, a member of the IAC Board of Governors attended. We communicated, and I offered to help with the IAC membership website. Reconnecting through the offer to volunteer, reconnected me to my study group buddies, and fortuitously to all IAC members as a member of the Board of Governors.
How do you see your role on the Board of Governors?
Since I recently joined the Board in January, 2008, my focus has been on learning and listening with a sense of discovery. The IAC is member oriented and focused, and as the IAC community grows, offering members greater value, benefits and updating the website are the areas where my focus is moving, and where my experience will be currently of most benefit. I look forward to having a role in website updates to helps members and continue to provide more benefits while reaching out to a greater audience.
How would you describe your practice?
Kim’s practice consists of two main aspects: one is helping coaches grow their business. She currently is preparing a March 2008 launch of “Membership Site Support Club,” a membership site for coaches who want to build and maintain profitable sites of their own. Anyone interested can get free resources at http://www.membershipsitesupport.com/. The second includes working with entrepreneurs, individually and in groups, who want to transition into being their own boss. The group format is called “The Results Mastery Club.”
Kim’s writing includes an e-book, entitled “Conception to Completion: The FIT Mind Method to Getting It Done,” and she is a published writer of short fiction. She is also raising two dogs, and is engaged to be married to Mark this year. You can contact Kim at http://www.readytoevolve.com.
Susan Korb is a Life Coach, living in upstate New York. Her most recent clients say – “I’ve done it, what’s next?” She writes and blogs at http://atidbit.blogspot.com.
From Proficiencies to IAC Coaching Masteries™
An Interview with IAC Lead Certifier Nina East
Last summer as we were starting our transition from using the Proficiencies for our standards for certification, to the Masteries, we held a couple of tele-conference calls to help explain the changes. For convenience, we now have a transcription of the second call (for members only). Here are some excerpts of President Natalie Tucker Miller interviewing Lead Certifying Examiner Nina East.
Nina: “My personal bias also is that when you learn coaching with the Masteries, with something this simple, straightforward, and easy to understand, you will have a stronger chance to become a masterful coach. Because it’s so clearly laid out what masterful coaching is when you use the Masteries.”
Nina: “Whereas in the previous scoring system Navigating Via Curiosity carried the same weight that let’s say “Honing In” might have carried, identifying what the real issue is. In the Masteries the use of curiosity is actually less powerful as a scoring item, which is as it should be.”
Nina: “I suppose if I were to make some recommendations to coaches who are considering certification or are in the process of recording some sessions, or trying to overcome their fear about asking clients if they can record their sessions, I would say consider recording coaching sessions as a part of what you offer to your clients.”
Please click here to read the whole interview (for members only).
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Are you good at spotting tpyos? Do you enjoy examining writing in detail and correcting errors? Would you like to have a sneak preview of the Voice every month while interacting with the Editorial Team?
If so, we want YOU to be our proof-reader. This is a volunteer position that requires approximately one-hour per month.
If you’re interested, please email the Editor a short description of why you should be our next proof-reader.
How does Part 2 of certification work?
We occasionally receive this question from coaches who are considering certification, but would like to understand the process more fully before proceeding. In an effort to take the mystery out of the professional certification process, and hopefully put your minds at ease, here is the general sequence of events and how they work.
As you already know, Part 2 is a demonstration of the IAC Coaching Masteries™ via live coaching. For detailed instructions for Part 2, as well as support in how to know if the recordings are strong enough, please visit http://www.certifiedcoach.org/certify/certification.html.
Once you submit your recorded coaching sessions, two certifiers are assigned to review both recordings. In the evaluation process, the certifiers listen to each coaching session at least twice, completing their initial notes and scoring using the Note Sheet. Please note that the sessions are limited to 30 minutes. If the recording extends beyond that time, only the first 30 minutes are considered in the review.
The Note Sheet is nothing dramatic or secret. It is simply the details and criteria for each Mastery, condensed on one page per Mastery. This makes it easier to include all aspects of each Mastery in the evaluation, plus helps the environment by saving paper. You can find the Note Sheet here on the IAC website. We encourage you to use it as you self-score your own recordings, or with buddy coaching groups.
The two co-certifiers then meet to review the sessions, reaching consensus on the numerical scores for each Mastery. These review sessions can be lengthy – the goal of the certifiers is not to finish quickly, but to accurately assess the demonstration of the Masteries, giving the coach every chance of passing Part 2.
Following the review, the coach is sent a scorecard/summary indicating their scores for each session and each Mastery, as well as some specific information regarding how the coach did or did not demonstrate some of the Masteries. By legal definition, the IAC is not a training organization, and as such is not permitted to give the same level of detailed feedback you might expect from a training or supervision program.
As you can see, Part 2 of the certification process is quite involved, taking two certifiers several hours to score each recording. The process is not simple, quick, or cavalier, but rather it is a rigorous review of professional standards.
Lest that make you nervous, let me tell you a couple of things about the approach, or “come from”, the certifiers use.
First, IAC Certification is conducted with an appreciative approach. In many cultures, people are taught or socialized to notice what is wrong, missing, or not working – even coaches. This is, of course, to help you identify what changes need to be made. The intentions were good. The unfortunate side effect is that much of what is working or going well goes unnoticed.
In IAC Certification, the appreciative approach means the certifiers first look for what is working, what the coach is doing well. The certifiers deliberately seek to identify specific situations in which the coach demonstrates the Masteries. You can think of the certifiers as detectives, looking for indications of the coach using effective behaviors, accomplishing the measures, understanding distinctions, demonstrating the key elements, and achieving the overall effect for that Mastery. We want coaches to do well!
Second, the certifiers look for different ways the coach may demonstrate an effective behavior. Your personal style of coaching is not what is up for review.
For example, in Mastery #2 (Perceiving, affirming and expanding the client’s potential), one of the effective behaviors is “The coach offers sincere encouragement.” At first read, this might sound like the coach has to say something specific about encouragement.
Not necessarily. This effective behavior does not mean the coach has to use the words “sincere” or “encouragement”, or be overt about their encouragement, or attempt to pump the client up with compliments or lots of “Wow” comments. It also does not mean that the coach cannot do any of this.
A coach might also demonstrate sincere encouragement by the questions asked, or the tone used in asking. Another example might be via a challenging conversation in which the client is invited to see themselves succeeding, achieving a goal, or acknowledging past successes and using them as a springboard for expanded potential.
These are only a couple of examples of how a coach might “offer sincere encouragement”. There are many other ways and many other styles, but hopefully you get the point. The wording of the listed behaviors should not be construed as limiting, nor should it be considered part of the language or wording to use during your coaching session. Your style of coaching is not what is up for review, but rather, was the effective behavior evident within the coach’s style.
As with everything in the IAC, the certification process will continue to be evaluated on an ongoing basis. We will also continue to seek additional tools which will help coaches understand and utilize the Masteries™.
Nina East is the IAC’s Lead Certifier and the author of PersonalGrowthEnthusiasts.com. As a coach she works with personal growth professionals, helps coaches master the art of coaching, and coaches students and their families through the complex and emotional transition into college. www.NinaEast.com
"Coaching Moments" takes a thoughtful look at how coaching can be interwoven into our daily lives.
ebb and flow by Janice Hunter
We must be open to all points of the compass; husband, children, friends, home, community; stretched out, exposed, sensitive like a spider's web to each breeze that blows, to each call that comes. How difficult for us, then, to achieve a balance in the midst of these contradictory tensions, and yet how necessary for the proper functioning of our lives. ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh, (A Gift from the Sea – 1955)
It’s well past midnight. I've just looked at my watch and realised I've been working at my laptop – harvesting inspiration, quotes and ideas – for hours. Deep in the flow, I haven't moved, spoken or eaten.
My first thought? I’m lucky that I love what I do when my kids are asleep or at school – my writing and my homelife coaching. I love the thought of a life spent helping people create that ‘holiday house’ simplicity and clarity in their lives and their homes, ridding their rooms, their bodies and their relationships of clutter. I love co-creating design solutions for folk who feel they’re suffocating under piles of stuff and paper that leave no room for a breath of fresh air or spirit.
Ah, but then, with the almost audible thud of an email landing in the inbox, my heart sinks. I feel my gut clenching and my spirit shrivelling. I think how much easier it would be to have the funds to pay a professional website designer to sit by me, instantly transforming my ideas into a site that’s a joy to navigate and an inspiring haven for weary surfers.
Then I think of the affiliate links I’ve still to negotiate, the materials and new client contract forms I haven't created yet, the files of resources to be sorted or written and the website video technology I feel I ought to be mastering. The flow dries to a trickle. A sigh followed by the sound of a laptop lid clicking shut.
One of my favourite questions is 'Does it expand you or contract you?' Deceptively simple, but hugely powerful. It works with everything from diet decisions to decluttering, from discovering passions to deciphering feelings. It reminds me of a bush that used to grow in the dusty soil at the foot of a tree in the pavement outside my first apartment block in Greece. It had deep pink and yellow trumpet-like flowers that opened and closed depending on how much light and heat it felt.
I'm back where I was a year ago; writing expands me but feeling I ought to be doing more to make money contracts me.
Loving my husband and children expands me; the tiredness that often comes with consistent, conscious parenting contracts me.
Creating an authentic, spirit-filled homelife expands me; trying to explain that 'stay-at home-mum' doesn't mean I'm a constantly available stand-in for every 'working' mum when the school needs volunteers doesn’t just contract me, it often twists me up into a squirming, screwed up ball of resentment. And so it goes until I feel like I'm cancelling myself out.
In our society, craving ‘less’, writing to touch people's hearts, staying at home to nurture kids and coaching people for free or for bartered services or affordable fees all have fluctuating value, depending on the financial circumstances and paradigms of the observer.
On the one hand, many people say they wish they could be doing what I’m doing – nurturing my family and others in a small but deeply authentic and satisfying way, yet, when they’re tired after working long hours outside the home, 'working' mums often ask me how my husband feels about 'funding my hobbies' and ‘paying for me to stay at home all day’.
Many supportive coaches write and tell me they value my Coaching Moments pieces; others write articles about how it's damaging for coaches to undervalue themselves and their products and to give too much away for free.
I suspect a bit of balance and some shadow work would expand me right now. So would a week alone in a small house by the sea, writing at a rickety wooden table overlooking a brooding ocean, listening at night to the sound of the waves, the ocean’s sleep breathing.
So, no touching moments of heart captured awareness this month. Just questions, wave upon wave of questions pounding a restless shore.
Janice Hunter is a writer and IAC certified coach who lives in Scotland with her husband and two children. She specialises in homelife coaching (helping people create authentic, spirit-filled homes and lives) and also enjoys supporting other coaches through her writing and collaboration. www.sharingthecertificationjourney.com
Janice has compiled all of her Coaching Moments pieces from the last two years into a free 46 page ebook, 'Coaching Moments: a Collection of Articles about Coaching in Everyday Life' which can be downloaded here or from her site.
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As I contemplate being past president,
As a special benefit to IAC members, you
You can find the Note Sheet 
