The ICF Coaching Circle Southampton met for the first time on 15/5/17 to mark International Coaching Week, and we developed the terms of reference below. If this sounds like the kind of learning and networking opportunity that you are looking for, please join the group: on Monday 26th June at 6pm-7.30pm at the Sir John Barleycorn
For coaches
Supervision: Seeing Beyond the Blindspots
In this International Coaching Week, Michelle Lucas, Danielle Brooks and I would like to provoke a discussion about coaching supervision; in particular why some coaches don’t feel the need for it. We’ve written a 3 minute storybook about Helen. Helen is a good coach. Read her story (simply click on the picture below) to find out what
Coaching: Return on Humanity part 2
A few weeks ago, I argued that coaching needs to be measured by its Return on Humanity, not just its Return on Investment. I’ve taken a look at the research that proves that coaching really does have a return on humanity. Return on Humanity: Goal-striving, Wellbeing and Hope By that I mean that it makes
Join The Southampton International Coach Federation Circle And Celebrate International Coaching Week
If you live or work in or near Southampton and are a coach, this message is for you: You are invited to the first meeting of the Southampton International Coach Federation Circle, to be held during International Coaching Week, on 15th May from 6-7.30pm at The Sir John Barleycorn on Southampton Road, Cadnam, SO40 2NP. At this
New Date: Lock-in for International Coach Federation Accreditation
Find the “loving kick” to accrue your Mentor Coaching hours and complete your paperwork You’ve decided to externally validate your coaching with the International Coach Federation (ICF), but finding the time – and the motivation – has been tough, given your workload. You are ready to spend some good quality time on it, and you
Supervision for internal coaches
It’s vital that coaches stay sharp and stay safe through supervision, for their own and their clients’ wellbeing. When I reflect on my time as an internal coach, and the kinds of things I took to supervision, they focused mostly on boundary management. Supervision questions For example, how did I start and maintain an adult to adult relationship with
Coaching – Return on Humanity?
I’m pondering the Return on Humanity that coaching has. When I left Accenture, one of my colleagues described me as the voice of humanity. I think that was because I banged on about people creating profits, so if an organisation starts by creating a great employee experience for those people, then the profits will fall into
Making blind spots visible through mentor coaching
During an action learning facilitator training day that I ran recently, one of the participants said that she learned about blind spots she had – by practicing in front of others and getting feedback – that had never come out during her supervision of her action learning facilitation. She was an experienced facilitator, and she
Why coaching supervision? Use your full palette of colours
Why coaching supervision? I recently recorded a 5 minute video for coaches who are not yet convinced that supervision will bring them value. If this is you, take a look. I’d welcome your thoughts. You can also read more in this article for Coaching at Work: Stay Sharp, Stay Safe Get in touch if this
Evaluation of Coaching
Refreshing evaluation of coaching Organisations want to know that their investment in coaching has paid off. It was very refreshing, then, when I asked the sponsor of a recent coaching programme what he thought the return on investment was to the business. His reply…she (the coachee) had invested in her future at the company, allowing
The importance of place
Today’s post is by my very perceptive colleague William Buist. Our conversations occur in many interesting place, that enable us to do our best thinking together. William writes: I’ve run Mastermind groups for many years and they are enormously powerful gatherings that lead people to both expose elements of their business, and themselves, to scrutiny in ways that
The magic in the middle of coaching
I’m being facetious of course, talking about magic in the middle of coaching. But if you can create a shift in the room, that does feels pretty special. To create that shift, we don’t tell people what to do. That’s more likely to create push-back, even if it’s not immediate. People tend to do things
When coaching, endings are critical
Most of the value in a coaching conversation comes from what happens after we have left it. So great endings are critical to make sure that value actually materialises. In my work, I use CLOSE to remind managers as coaches how to wrap up well. It’s great for team meetings too – no need to
When coaching, start with the end in mind
Stephen Covey reminds us to start with the end in mind. Any great coaching session will do just that, starting with the end in mind. In my work, I use a model to contract well, called CONTRACT. Whether you are a professional coach or a manager as coach, it works to provide a container within which new
Creating a coaching culture using Social Movement Theory
Can you create a coaching culture from the middle of an organisation? That was the question posed to me a few weeks ago by a Senior Manager in a University, who didn’t have the authority to do so, according to her role description, but absolutely had the passion. I suspect this happens more often than
Assessments change the power dynamic in coaching
I’m sometimes asked what assessments I am qualified to use as a coach. My answer is that I rarely use assessments in a coaching relationship. Not that I don’t think they are useful. They can be a great window into self-awareness, when debriefed well. But if I were to start a coaching assignment by debriefing
