IAC VOICE, Volume 4, Issue 89, November 2013, Circulation 4,517

From the
Editor

picture of riverMy
transition back into college life as a graduate student has been an
equally fun, rewarding, and challenging experience. To switch back
into a world of homework and constant assignments was something I
looked forward to for several years – but, of course, now that
I’m here I think I must’ve been crazy to take this plunge!
Lucky for me, I live in an area that provides many beautiful places
for relaxation and reflection, like the river pictured above. And,
despite the fact that my life has become a whirlwind, it is a whirlwind
of things I love.

I find this sentiment echoing in our articles this month: Our contributors
discuss the theme of resilience and overcoming the challenges of pursuing a
career that you are passionate about. They also consider the certification process,
facing new life changes, and finding footing in leadership positions. Hopefully
you can relate to these thoughts and these words resonate with you!

How have you enjoyed the VOICE these past few months? Is there something you’d
like to see more or less of? Please feel free to contact us at voice@certifiedcoach.org
with comments, questions, event notices, or article contributions. We love hearing
from you.

I hope you are all finding the joy in the chaos of your day-to-day lives!

Best,
Beth Ann

Beth Ann Miller

 
Beth
Ann Miller is currently pursuing an MFA 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.


 

 

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Contents

From
the President
– Susan Meyer

Join Susan in contemplating resilience in coaching and why coaches
do what they do.


6 Essentials – Leanne Chan
Learn about Leanne’s journey into leadership and how she finds
the Masteries in every facet of her process.

Ask
the Certifiers: Trusting the Masteries
– Natalie Tucker
Miller

Natalie answers two questions about the challenges of the certification
process and how to best utilize the Masteries.

IAC
Mastery #4 Processing in the Present
– Martha Pasternack

As Martha visited a beautiful family property, she found ways to embrace
impending life changes with the help of the Masteries.

Coaching:
Another Way?
– Nicola Bird

The life of a coach can be a busy one! Nicola suggests alternate avenues
to pursing your coaching passion.

Open
Chat Calls

Dates and links to the November Open Chat, hosted by Pepe del Rio
– a special edition for our Spanish-speaking friends!

New
Masteries Practitioners

New
Licensed Schools


From
the President

by Susan R. Meyer,
MMC

president@certifiedcoach.org

Coaching
– Why Do We Do What We Do?

Even though Thanksgiving here in the US is almost a month away, I’ve
been thinking about the things I’m grateful for. I’m grateful that
the IAC has celebrated its tenth anniversary. I’m grateful for everything
we’ve contributed to this marvelous profession. I’m grateful for
the persistence and resilience that keeps the IAC strong. And I’m grateful
to be a coach.

I
recently had a wonderful interview with Shirley Anderson and heard great stories
about her earliest connection to Thomas Leonard – pre-Coach U, the creation
of the ICF, CoachVille and the IAC. I hope that you’ll have as much fun
listening to it here
as I had speaking with Shirley. It was clear why she became a coach. Ask a coach
why they coach and you’re likely to get an answer along the lines
of, “It’s what I was meant to do” or “I felt like I’d
come home.” It feels as much a calling as it does a profession. Yes, it
requires a skill set. Of course, for me that would be the Masteries™.
It requires more, though. It requires drive and a particular mindset.

Resilience is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. It was
clear in her comments that Shirley is a resilient woman. It’s one of the
seven factors that I’ve found supports the creation of healthy and successful
lives in the fifty women over fifty that I’ve interviewed. It’s
something, I think, that we help our clients achieve. It’s also a quality
that is present in every successful coach I’ve met along the way.

Think about your own coaching. There are times I come away from a call practically
dancing. And there are times I’m so drained that I can barely move. Still,
I answer the phone when the next call comes in. And I know that you do, too.
Why?

Mark McGuinness writes about this in Resilience: Facing Down Rejection and
Criticism on the Road to Success. He talks about wanting something badly enough
to endure whatever hardships come with your choice. He’s talking about
pushing for success. I see this more as having passion for your profession.
Here’s a partial list of factors he sees as driving passion:

  • Generosity – helping others survive, thrive, and achieve all they
    can be
  • Achievement – extending the limits of what’s humanly possible
  • Knowledge – adding to the store of human knowledge about ourselves
    and the universe
  • Joy – enjoying life and giving pleasure to others
  • Wisdom – understanding what’s truly important: how to live a
    good life.

All of these speak to me, and I see them reflected in the work of the coaches
I meet. As you read the list, how many resonate with you?

This
is a short message. Next month, I’ll be wrapping up the year – and
my presidency – with a look back and a look forward to the team that will
carry the IAC forward. I’ll leave you with one more link. For those of
you who want more of Shirley, she hosts a call three Mondays a month. Here’s
how to find out more: Coaching Salon free call 1st 3 Mondays each month 610-214-0000,
code 1050958#, 2 pm Eastern time. Subscribe to Salon emails here.

Warmly,
Susan


Dr. Susan R. Meyer

 

Dr.
Susan R. Meyer, MMC is President of Susan R. Meyer, Coaching and Consulting.
As a Life Architect, she helps wise and wild women construct a joyful
life, provides executive coaching and instills a coaching approach
to leadership for organizational success. www.susanrmeyer.com.

 
 

 


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Hong Kong Chapter activities


6 Essentials
by
Leanne Chan

When the IAC Hong Kong Chapter President, Bonnie Chan invited me to be her
successor, I highly appreciated that she embraced me as part of the team. I
hoped that would I perform well and exceed expectations.

I took quite some time to consider, take it or not? I thought: if I take it,
I must contribute more and bring more recognition to the IAC in Hong Kong. What
objectives should I set, what values should I bring to the members to maintain
the great foundation that had been established?

After thinking it over, I acknowledged that I am passionate about the IAC culture
and the 9 Masteries: how could I miss this chance to share the IAC’s mission
on a global scale? What a vital cause for transforming work into something meaningful.
Finally, I took up the role.

First, I needed to define IAC Hong Kong Chapters to support and nurture the
Hong Kong members on expanding the path to coaching mastery. We arranged bi-monthly
meetings to include members, coaching alumni, interested groups, and guests.
In these meetings, we explored coaching and practice coaching skills. Most importantly,
we supported members to grow together.

Experienced and student coaches joined our meetings to discuss various topics.
The student coaches shared their outreach experience, amazed at how they shared
(with success!) the key masteries (focusing on listening and clarifying concepts)
to high school students.

We also shared Sir John Whitmore’s Transpersonal Leadership and The
2 Dimensions of Growth overview that I got during the leadership conference
in India. The members acknowledged how powerful the exercise was and how they
considered coaching in deeper ways after this practice.

My exposure and experience the first year as president drives me to think about
the six essentials of being in this leadership position, which coincidentally
link with the 9 Masteries.

  1. Love to learn and love to excel: just like Mastery 2, we have potential
    to grow while we explore, grasp and surpass our expectations.
  2. Make deeper conversation to demonstrate connections with others and listen
    to what their true needs are. Linked with Masteries 1 and 3 to build trust
    and listen to others’ wants and needs.
  3. Understand our intent to nurture our members, to encourage them to grow
    and succeed. Especially when going through the path to Mastery certification.
    Link with our Mastery 7, Intention.
  4. Be present and attentive in every meeting we host. Link with our Mastery
    4: treasure every moment to be with IAC members and utilize co-coaching practice
    to build upon our coaching skills.
  5. Embrace a service mindset by joining voluntary projects like campus coaching
    events, student coaching clubs and coaching cafés in our community.
    Link with our Mastery 8: Identify different possibilities to boost IAC brand
    in local communities.
  6. Most importantly, we have a strong support system. Both our experienced
    and new members interact together to sponsor and support the meetings. Our
    vice-president, Alic Koon connects with the first IAC Preparatory Certification
    participants to talk about their experience on new coaching sessions. Linked
    with Mastery 9.

Since I have taken up the role as president, six new members have joined the
IAC in Hong Kong, and that is really encouraging. Some of them had joined our
meetings and are key coordinators in an upcoming event. The key objective of
the event is to promote coaching to a group of university students and young
adult professionals age 18-30, to share the values of the IAC, while also rising
up the brand name.

What a wonderful and fruitful journey it has been so far! I foresee more and
more HK members joining the IAC and expanding the path to coaching mastery together.

Leanne Chan

 

Leanne
Chan, ACC (ICF) is President of IAC HK Chapter, career & campus
coach serving both on campus and in corporations leveraging her years’
of corporate HR and talent management experience plus strong desire
to help young people become who they’re, not being under others
life. www.coachlechange.com
~ Listen with CARE, Talent Communication ~

 
 


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Inside Scoop
 

Ask the Certifiers: Trusting the Masteries
by
Natalie Tucker Miller, MMC

This month’s question is a two-parter, though the answers will overlap
somewhat. I find that the answers to all questions about masterful coaching
have one thing in common: The client is the most important aspect of the conversation.
Let’s see where the answers to the following questions lead us!

Q1: Nine masteries each deeply expressed in one 30 minute
session (plus effective use of silence!) seem like a whole lot to 'cram in.'
How is that accomplished?

I remember thinking this when I was first introduced to Thomas Leonard’s
15 Coaching Proficiencies. Before the IAC was even a twinkle in Thomas’
eye, 30 minute coaching sessions were considered the norm. Then Thomas began
demonstrating his 15-20 minute laser sessions, where evidence of all 15 proficiencies
were present! But how?

For a moment, let’s look at another skill set that is accomplished as
a whole. As a violinist, I recall wondering, would I remember how to place the
chinrest, hold my wrist in position, be conscious of the placement of my fingers
on the bow, control many strings to engage in a bow stroke, create all the right
notes on the fretless neck, keep my back straight, control my breathing while
reading music? How in the world is that possible, all at the same time?
Surely only one or two people in the entire world could fulfill such requirements!

For the first couple of years of practice, I was convinced that I’d just
have to settle with “good enough,” since I could not imagine accomplishing
all that without looking awkward and ridiculous. However, after a few years,
I was invited to state competitions and performed solo compositions at concerts.
And by the then, the least of my concerns were the techniques of actual playing
the instrument. Now, I had bigger fish to fry: Stage fright!

Practicing to become masterful at coaching can be seen similarly. It typically
begins with the coach being concerned about coaching “right,” fitting
all elements of mastery without it feeling crammed or artificial.

And just as the bow, strings, posture, and piece of music all come together
to create a pleasing concerto, so it is with the coaching skill sets. One skill
without the rest will not produce the full result. For a better understanding
of how the Mastery measures this as a whole, please refer to these
previous articles
about the interconnectedness of the Masteries.

Why is this interconnectedness important? Just as an audience might not recognize
that all elements of style were present in a concert, they surely would be aware
if those elements were absent! This is how coaching is also nuanced. Using the
Masteries E-Book as a guide, pay particular attention to “Indicators the
Coach Understands the Mastery”; this section will help you to understand
how the elements are synthesized to create a masterful session.

Q2: When considering sessions for certification, how do
you decide what to leave out? Often a client's response will suggest several
different ways to probe – so how is a decision made without a certifier saying,
"You missed that"?

In addition to “see above”, there is a simple answer to this specific
situation.

Perhaps there are certain words that are recurring, or something that was said
creates a noticeable shift in the client’s tone, or the client is highly
creative and interested in a variety of pursuits. Maybe you find something pops
up unexpectedly in the session, so you’ll need to determine if this is
the “elephant in the room,” or an additional tangent that could
be useful to explore at another time.

Don’t be afraid to bring any of this to the client’s attention.
Acknowledge its existence, test it for its significance in the session, and
make a collaborative determination as to how best to approach it. You may find
that the session takes a new, unexpected turn, or you may find it isn’t
relevant to what is most important in the moment and table it for another time.

The point is, don't avoid something if you're concerned about where it may
take you, any more than worrying that you are missing something. With practice
and experience, you’ll know just the right direction to take without even
thinking about it.

And P.S. No, I don’t still play the violin for audiences. 😉



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

 

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.


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IAC Mastery #4 Processing in the Present
by
Martha Pasternack

land

At the end of this September my husband and I were blessed with the opportunity
to visit my childhood home-away-from-home. In the mid-1800s my great grandparents
emigrated from the west coast of Ireland and worked the land (see the picture
above) as tenant farmers growing hops.

The “Farm” left our family once, but was bought back years later
by two of the more than 10 children who were born and raised there; my great
aunts. My grandmother lived there too and we would go to the farm to see her
every summer. My six siblings and I inherited the farm from my mother when she
passed away.

My two brothers still live there in separate homes. Seventy acres still belong
to my four sisters and me. There is a lot of family history here and much to
figure out now, big decisions to make about the future of this land.

During the time of our recent visit the daytime temperatures were still warm
enough for morning fog to form after a clear cool starlit night. The fog obscured
the view and often enveloped the entire house until the sun started to rise
over the hills to the east.

I would go outside each morning and pray. As I sat on the cold, damp ground
I did not wish the fog to go away. I was present with it. I was part of it.
Coming to visit from the Southwest, I actually delighted in its velvety soft
moisture. I simply watched for signs of the sun. With patience and trust, the
fog “lifted” with the heat and light of the morning sun. In time
the view reappeared in its entire autumnal splendor.

When mingled with childhood memories, spectacular fall colors, and thoughts
of future visits, it is challenging to describe how beautiful this experience
was for me.

Later, as I sat down to write this month’s article for the VOICE, it
occurred to me that skillful use of Mastery # 4, Processing in the present,
was on display as well as the view of the farm.

Processing in the present helps people center themselves in the dynamics
of the present moment and patiently await the fog of confusion and uncertainty
to be illuminated and warmed by the energy inherent in self-love and personal
growth. This is likely to reveal the splendor of purpose, passion, dreams, goals,
and desires. BAM! The clarity of a next step ensues! Even a baby step is a step.

As coaches practicing IAC Mastery #4, we support our clients by helping them
stay focused on:

The here and now vs. the past or future
Responding from awareness vs. from a conditioned response
Attunement to the present moment rather than merely being alert

I am not a child anymore. I now live in Colorado. I will not live at the farm
again. So I treasure my visits to the farm with pure delight in the present
moment.

Circle back around to IAC Mastery #4 and become acquainted with its genius
from where you are, in this present moment, in your life and in your coaching
practice.

Martha Pasternack

 

Martha Pasternack, MMC www.CircleofLifeCoach.com

My passion for witnessing the beauty and mystery of life, healthy
healing and the promotion of Peace on Earth are integral to my daily
life. I have been life coaching since 2004 as a Fearless Living Coach
after working 30 years as a health care professional.



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Coaching: Another Way?
by
Nicola Bird

Have you ever heard the phrase the ‘busy fool’? For many coaches,
this is their reality. They work all hours of the day servicing their 1:1 coaching
clients, often into the evenings. Time for personal and family activities becomes
few and far between, but they think ‘I’m busy, I’ve got paying
clients, it’s just the nature of coaching…right?’

That mindset is a mistake made by many coaches and is something I hope to challenge
today. The reality is that if your only revenue comes from selling your 1:1,
you will always be limited by how much you can physically deliver. Unfortunately,
it will be very difficult to break through that ceiling, unless you can charge
significantly more for your 1:1 time.

For me, coaching was the perfect choice of career. It meant I could work around
my children and create my own schedule, while doing something I loved. This
is the motivation for many mums I know who are professional coaches. The danger
is that most of us fall into the trap of working too much and suddenly, many
of the reasons we started coaching in the first place seem to be the very things
we now miss out on.

I spent a huge amount of my time delivering 1:1 coaching and it left me exhausted.
It was at that point that I realised there must be a way to offer more of my
coaching expertise without it eating up all of my time. If I could package up
my coaching into a format that people could work through in their own time,
I wouldn’t need to be there at all! I could spend time with my children
and do the things we really wanted to, without jeopardising our finances.

I went on to develop an online coaching programme which included webinars and
online questions, split up into modules and packaged into specific programmes
that I would typically deliver to my clients. It literally transformed my business
overnight as one of my first product promotions resulted in $24,000 of sales,
the majority of which were a passive revenue stream for me.

I am not alone in my experiences. There are hundreds of coaches out there making
impressive revenues by selling their services online. The great thing about
it is that it applies to any type of coaching, not just the traditional personal
or professional development coaching. I know one personal fitness instructor
who made thousands from selling an online fitness boot camp, made up of content
she created years before, but never found a way to utilise properly. What I
love about that particular story is that it wasn’t simply creating additional
revenue from what she already did. It was a totally new market which opened
up for her, one she’d never thought about before.

If you are a coach already, I would encourage you to ask yourself one simple
question. Are you limiting yourself by not thinking outside of the box and exploring
new routes to market and new customer bases? Are there ways of attracting new
business that you haven’t thought of yet and if you did, what impact could
they make to you, your family and your lifestyle?

Whether you are an existing coach or are thinking about becoming a coach, my
advice is to truly think about how you can productise your expertise into products
that people will buy. Whether that’s ‘How to stop smoking’
or ‘How to become a great business leader’, the secret is to focus
on topics that you are passionate about, as the material will be stronger and
will help you stand out and sell more.

There are many different online tools out there to help you get started with
developing online coaching content and many offer free trials, so you can have
a look around and see what works for you.

It will take some initial planning and time to work out how to package what
you do into products your clients actually want to buy, but once you’ve
made that first online sale, you can do it over and over again. Any money generated
after the first sale will come with very little additional time or effort from
you. It will even come whilst you sleep or are out with friends and family.
What better business model is there than that? Worth considering, isn’t
it?

Nicola Bird

 

With
an MSc in Occupational Psychology and a diverse range of business
experience, mother of three Nicola Bird created JigsawBox as a way
for her clients to access her expertise online in a flexible and affordable
way, whilst leaving her free to concentrate on growing her business
and spending time with her young children. For more information visit
www.jigsawbox.com

 
 


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Open Chat Calls

Special edition Open Chat Calls for our Spanish speaking friends!


Date: November 29th, 2013
Time: 1:00 pm Eastern Time
Hosted by: Pepe del Rio
Register: here


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New
Masteries Practitioner

Congratulations
to Kate Anthony from Lynlithgow, United Kingdom and
DeeAnna Nagel from Highlands, NJ, USA who recently
earned the Masteries Practitioner Designation!

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New
IAC Coaching Masteries® licensed schools and mentors

Name

City

State

Country

IAC-CC

 

It’s
Understood Coach Program

Waterloo

ON

Canada

Yes

View
Details

Grupo Consultor
EFE™

Tijuana

BC

Mexico

No

View
Details

Licelotte Baiges Coaching Center

Santo Domingo

 

Dominican Republic

No

View
Details

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Now


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.


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