October 2006

Professional development

by Judith Cohen

Dear Judith, 
This is not a specific question about my coaching practice but one of a more general nature. What do you recommend in terms of professional development?
D.P.

Dear D.P.:
This is an excellent question and one that all coaches who consider themselves part of the profession should ponder seriously. I don’t know where you are in your coaching training. Are you just beginning or are you currently certified? Regardless of whether you are a novice coach or a certified coach, professional and personal development will serve you.

It is my personal and professional bias that the most powerful form of professional development is personal development. As coaching has grown and attracted more people to the profession, a wider array of people interested in coaching have come to be trained. Some people have rigorously worked on their own personal growth, while others have yet to begin.

To be masterful, it is important to know yourself. This knowledge will help you succeed in your own life, and it will help you more deeply understand your clients’ experiences. Not only should you know what your strong points are but also the obstacles that stop you from moving forward. What does it take for you to be with an obstacle and ultimately pass through it? What is your growing edge? How often do you live there?

I have noticed that coaches who have serious spiritual practices or have engaged in ongoing periods of personal growth and exploration often have deeper access to the naturally creative, resourceful and whole parts of themselves than those coaches who have not availed themselves of these opportunities. It is helpful to either have a teacher, mentor, therapist or coach who will hold you accountable for your inner work. Other people use learning groups or their spiritual community to support this growth. For a year-long immersion into group learning, CTI’s Leadership Program offers one such avenue.

If you are just at the beginning of your training, doing the five courses in the  
Co-Active Coaching Program and the Co-Active Coach Certification Program will serve you well. Even if you have had comparable training in other areas, you will gain much from both the curriculum and the Co-Active community. The Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching courses are also excellent and can provide a significant deepening of your learning. If you have taken all the courses that CTI has to offer, continue to look for courses that train you to perform competently in your particular niche. If you are coaching lawyers, for example, it can be helpful to keep abreast of the current trends and issues in the legal profession. Another area of professional growth is business training. Marketing oneself requires a different skill set than coaching. To be a successful external coach, it is important to know how to appropriately market yourself. Coaches who work internally can grow professionally by studying the field of expertise in which their corporation specializes.

The ICF offers various coaching programs via teleconference, in person during chapter meetings and at the annual conventions. The value of taking an ICF course is that you will be exposed to other schools of thought and practice. As you become more proficient in your practice of Co-Active coaching, it can be helpful to mix and match tools from different schools, depending upon the needs of your client.

Finally, there is no substitute for ongoing supervision. Whether you choose to hire a supervisor for individual work or to join a supervision group, your learning and your practice will continue to grow. While getting your CPCC represents a commitment to your growth and learning, it should not be seen as a termination to your coaching education. True mastery lives in ongoing growth and practice. While you can often learn on your own, you can learn more from having an outside source of information and feedback whose job it is to guide you toward increasing your competence and deepening your coaching impact.

Discussing politics with a client

by Judith Cohen

Dear Judith,
I had a conversation with one of my clients last week and it left me with a question of boundaries. Although we don’t generally talk politics, he casually mentioned that he was not going to vote in the upcoming 2006 American elections in November. He is so disenchanted with the government that he wants nothing to do with either party. My immediate response was to encourage him to vote. He argued with me and I backed off. However, I am left wondering how to handle political discussions with a client.
E.R.H.

Dear E.R.H.: 
Assuming that you are holding your client’s agenda and not promoting your own political agenda, discussing politics can provide a very fruitful coaching discussion. The most important aspect of this coaching is to remain curious and unattached to any particular political outcome. My personal opinion is that people in the United States have become so charged around political discussions that it is hard to deeply listen to the other person’s point of view without inserting our own opinions. Self-management will also be a key component of a successful coaching interaction.

What I hear your client expressing in his decision not to vote is his obvious disappointment with his government. I am curious to know how he has dealt with disappointment in other situations in his life. What has he learned about disappointment and his response to it? Is disengagement the only response that he has? What would other responses look like? If he has tried other responses, what were his experiences? It’s important to ask these questions from a truly curious space and not from hoping to subtly manipulate him into voting.

Disappointment might be one feeling that he has. He might also be feeling hopeless and that is why he wants to opt out. Again, let him speak his deep experience and connect with him on that level. Once he fully owns the depth of his own feelings, he might still decide not to vote or he might decide to act in ways that can rebuild his hope.

I see opportunities for you to discuss this issue using all three of the Co-Active principles. If you do Fulfillment coaching with him, you can look at his values. What values is he honoring or not honoring by voting or not voting? What does his Saboteur have to say about this issue? You can also look for input from his Future Self, as well as that of the United States. In terms of Balance coaching, what is his current perspective and what are other possible perspectives that he can stand in regarding his relationship with his government? What is he saying yes to and what is he saying no to? What is he committed to? And finally, Process coaching can allow him to go deeply into both his positive and negative feelings. It sounds like there will be lots to discuss and discover in mining his disenchantment and his original hopes and desires.

Rather than suggesting that he vote in November, you can offer him a chance to express his political voice and feelings right now. Don’t stop until you get all of it. Let him hear and feel the power of his emotion and let him feel your engagement. After all, isn’t that what democracy and politics are truly about?