How did you get involved with the IAC Board?
I
was introduced to the IAC by our President, Natalie. Her enthusiasm
about coaching and certifying coaches really peaked my interest.
What's involved in your position as Secretary?
As
Secretary I am responsible for taking notes on all of our board
meetings, recording the notes and posting them for other board members.
As Secretary I am also a member of the Executive Committee. The
Executive Committee is responsible for supporting our President,
helping to resolve issues, finance oversight and filling in the gaps.
As a committee we meet at least once a month prior to the board meeting
and as needed based upon the needs of the IAC.
What is important to you about the development of the IAC?
For
the immediate future I want to see the organization become financially
stable. What I mean is that as an organization we can only continue to
achieve our goals if we have a stream of income to support the
development of the organization. Secondly I want to see the IAC
certification become the certification that tells people you are the
expert. You, as a coach, have gone above and beyond the standard. The
IAC is the ultimate standard, if you will. Thirdly I want to see us
develop continuing education for our members that helps them to stay on
top of their industry, to bring new skills to organizations where
coaching is not necessarily the primary responsibility of a person.
What have you done to develop yourself as a coach?
I
am the one member of the board who is not a coach by profession. I am a
financial advisor who uses coaching in my profession. As a financial
advisor I use coaching as a method to help my clients reach their
financial goals -personally, professionally and in business. To develop
my skills in this area I am a consummate reader, I develop my skills
through courses and I have a number of coaches who coach me.
Hey,
that's really interesting, I didn't realize that you're not a coach. So
you're a good example of why we changed the last word of our name to
'Coaching'! Are you certified or do you plan to get certified by IAC?
I am currently not certified, though I have this as one of my personal goals to become certified.
Could you tell us a bit more about why you want to get certified, even though you're not a professional coach?
As
a financial advisor I use the same set of skills that a good coach will
to help my clients reach their financial goals. The area of financial
advising that I specialize in is wealth management. To create a plan
that is truly customized to my clients I need to really drill down to
their true desires – not to except the easy answer. In understanding
what drives my client, what their true financial goals are and helping
them to stay the course during financial swings I need to be coaching
my clients.
In
developing and refining my skills it is just a natural conclusion that
one should just take the next step and get certification. It's more
personal satisfaction for me then anything else. I have always believed
that I can learn more about how to help my clients if I am open to
learning what other, related professions do and translate that to my
practice.
Who has coached you?
Throughout
my professional career I have had coaches of one type or another. In my
early years it was mentors within the organization who coached me. As I
developed my business I have used professional coaches, colleagues and
others. Two of my coaches today sit on the board of the IAC.
What else would you like to say to our members?
This
is an exciting time for the IAC. In 2007 the IAC certification process
will be based upon the IAC Masteries. As we move forward this year I
challenge each of our members to get certified if they have not already
done so. As an organization we want to be known as the epitome of
coaching excellence. To do this we need our members to get certified,
to spread the word about the organization and certification, and to get
involved in the organization.
You can read more about Bernie at www.ubs.com/fa/bernadettestrout
