Lessons from the Certifiers

 

Learning Agreements—An Original IAC Vision Finally Comes to
Light
by
Natalie Tucker Miller, MMC

In the IAC's 10th anniversary year, I thought it would be useful to revisit
a question and answer from the early days of the IAC Learning Agreements implementation.
Here we explore the original vision of the IAC regarding continued professional
development. – Natalie

Question: Are these new Learning Agreements aligned with the early vision of
the IAC?

The buzz and the questions regarding the newly instituted Learning Agreements
for Certified Coaches and IAC Practitioners continue! We’ve covered much
of the “how” and some of the “why” from the standpoint
of the recent member-driven strategic planning project.

Today we'll look back to the early years of the IAC to understand how this
process (of creating the learning agreements?) is part of the picture that began
with the earliest visionaries of the (then named) "IACC."

The IAC officially launched on March 11th, 2003, one month after the death
of its founder, Thomas J. Leonard. On June 5th of the same year, Step One (the
online exam) of the certification process became available! Since then, slowly
but surely, the remainder of the initial intentions have come to fruition, culminating
with the recent launch of the IAC Learning Agreements.

When the IAC launched in 2003, the following was included in the requirements
for maintaining IAC certification:

Continuing Education Accreditation
Certified Coach Professionals must renew their certification by satisfactorily
completing continuing education courses every year. We will begin reviewing
Continuing Education programs for IAC accreditation in May 2003. Please check
back for more information.

Alas, as with many a start-up organization, some initiatives took priority
over others; unforeseen opportunities appeared that required the organization
to refocus resources instead of putting that review process in place.

Speaking as a past president, I can tell you that this didn’t mean the
vision had disappeared, rather some of the steps needed to get there had. And
speaking as a coach who recognizes perfection, what has emerged in the time
and space between idea and implementation has served IAC coaches in a much more
personal and individualized manner!

What do you remember about the early days of the IAC? Or if your membership
does not date quite that far back, what are some of the things that have impressed
you about the organization? Please add your comments below or email me. I’d
love to be able to share more of these thoughts in the future – and maybe
even hear from some long-lost friends!

I
was fortunate to catch up with Michael “Coop” Cooper,
the IAC’s founding president, and members
can click through to read what he had to say about the launch
of the Learning Agreements:

To
join the IAC, click
here.

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.