Economía, management y coaching

COACHING NEWS

ISSN 1708-9026
May 13, 2009

This newsletter is a publication of Peer Resources (http://www.peer.ca), and is distributed at no cost to subscribers every 45-60 days. Back issues of The Coaching News are available at (http://www.peer.ca/thecoachingnews.html). All articles are written by Rey Carr unless otherwise indicated. Anyone who would like to contribute an article or information for an upcoming issue of the newsletter can contact Rey Carr at rcarr@peer.ca

Peer Resources is a non-profit, member-supported organization dedicated to identifying coaching information from around the world and turning it into knowledge, support, resources of value to coaches, the coaching industry, and the general public.

TOPICS:

• Mentoring and Coaching Lessons from a High School Reunion
• Attend a Top Level Coaching Event
• Champions for Coaching
• Five Studies and Resources to Guide Coaching Practice
• What’s New in the Coach Training World
• Join the Peer Resources Network
• Details About The Coaching News

MENTORING & COACHING LESSONS FROM A HIGH SCHOOL REUNION
A new year is a transition marked by engaging in reflection, making resolutions and setting goals. With 2008 characterized by considerable turmoil, turbulence and conflict around the world, a review and possible realignment of personal and professional priorities is inevitable.

However, the advent of a new calendar year is only one of many life transitions. Transitions happen throughout the year, and can often be identified by the degree to which they act as a catalyst for self examination. Transitions typically prompt a review of our capabilities, talents and strengths, a consideration of our weaknesses, an acknowledgement of our mistakes or regrets, or a rekindling of our fears.

One of the most popular and least examined transitions in North America is the high school reunion. It qualifies as a transition because it typically prompts self-examination and brings us to view our current self in contrast to who we were in the past. Sociologist Vered Vinitzky-Seroussi (1998) described the high school reunion as an “autobiographical occasion which prompts us to examine our own life narratives, the stories we tell ourselves about who we are and how we have come to be that person.”

The high school reunion is probably the most common post-high school activity that binds together virtually all high school graduates in North America. Ralph Keyes (1976), in his book, Is There Life After High School? noted that the high school reunion may be “the most tribal experience (a North American) will ever have.”

Meeting years later with those who knew us in high school can be experienced as scary, nerve-racking, and challenging. The reunion has the potential to rekindle all the anxieties, fears, worries and struggles that characterized that period in our lives. It can also be experienced as an opportunity to reconnect with a community of people we loved, cherished, and valued. Even those who choose not to attend the reunion may be forced into what Vinitzky-Seroussi called a “biographical confrontation, the unavoidable and often pivotal engagement between a carefully constructed personal identity and the socially prevalent standards of success and accomplishment.”

The reunion is a unique opportunity to engage in an autobiographical journey. Unlike a job interview or social occasion where a person might be asked to “tell something about yourself,” the reunion propels us to engage in a more complicated life review. It is an opportunity to make sense out of or examine the relationship between our social and personal past and our social and personal present. The reunion drives us to construct a coherent biography of self and engage in narrative story telling. To prepare for a reunion requires, perhaps subconsciously, attention to questions such as ‘What have I done with my life? Who have I become? Have I fulfilled my life role? How have I reconciled my inner feelings and outer appearance?’

I had an opportunity to experience this transition close-up: In November of 2008 I attended the 50th reunion of my high school class.

While I was curious about what had become of my classmates over that 50 year span, I was also prompted to think about how I had changed. How had my identity evolved over the years? And what role did my experience of high school play in my subsequent development? Answers to these questions were not readily forthcoming. My memories of high school were a distant blur with only vague recollections. My strongest sense memories were of friends, not the sports we played, not the dances we went to, not the classes we attended, and not the trouble we caused, but what we were to each other. Could this be what my identity was about 50 years ago?

Many of the observations and experiences I had at the reunion had implications for peer assistance, mentoring and coaching. Interactions I had with my classmates both before and after the reunion event helped to validate some of these findings. I want to share them with Coaching News subscribers in the hope that they may have value both personally and professionally.

The Power of Reflection People attended the reunion for a variety of reasons. Many classmates who had regularly attended previous reunions did so because they enjoyed connecting again with others, and learning about the life progress of their chums. They liked the idea of being accountable to their classmates and being supportive of the progress of their friends. Other classmates appeared eager to share their life stories and gain recognition and affirmation from their peers.

Less frequent reunion attenders were mostly curious about what had happened to others and whether Karma or justice had finally come to roost on a classmate who treated them badly. One classmate, for example, seemed pleased to know that a another classmate that gave her grief in high school was now shorter and more pear-shaped or had a life of underachievement.

For some, attendance at the reunion was more about transcendence. Finding closure or soliciting an apology for long-ago wounds was not uncommon. A few classmates used the reunion to share a hidden hurt or harm or even a joy and thrill from a long ago interaction with the classmate who was perceived as the source. The reaction of the source classmate seemed less important than being able to finally and directly express some long-held feeling. Forgiveness in some cases was also shared.
Several people who attended said that during the reunion they reverted to behaviour that they thought had ended with high school. This was a disturbing revelation for those who experienced this insight. They had hoped that their life progress had helped them overcome a rerun of behaviour they had outgrown.

Reunion attendance brought to the surface issues that had not been adequately resolved. One person, for example, who had gained considerable recognition and achievement in his professional life found himself reserved and almost uncommunicative when interacting with a girl he had dated in high school; a way of interacting, he said, that was completely uncharacteristic of his current relationships.

One of the surprises for me came from seeing who had attended the current reunion or reunions of the past and comparing that to a printed list of those classmates no one could locate or who had never attended a reunion. Until this fiftieth reunion, the first I had attended, I had been on that list. And all of my closest high school friends were still on that list.

This comparison led me to think about what we had in common. The characteristic that stood out the most was our social orientation and our ability to relate successfully with the ethnic and racial groups in our school. But wouldn’t that mean we’d be more likely, not less likely, to attend a reunion?
When I returned home after the reunion I sent an email to one of my friends (JL – not his actual initials) from high school who was not lost to me but was on the reunion “lost classmates” list, and shared my puzzlement about the discrepancy. After he laughed at my question and extracted from me a pledge that I would not provide his contact details to the reunion committee, JL shared his reflection on this situation.

Living in the Present JL had considered attending the reunion in the past, but decided against it because being in, thinking about, or reflecting on high school was not part of what gives his life meaning today. JL recalled high school, as I did, with a sense of vague happiness. But the point that he made that struck a chord with me was when he said that he recalled high school as a time when he had a fluid identity. JL saw himself as a chameleon; a person with an ability to almost immediately take on the salient characteristics of the people around him. He was just as at ease in a discussion with the school principal as he was in talking to his peers. In addition, during high school he had no deep interest in his future and only selected study areas or activities based on the expectations of others or a sense of daring or experimentation. He felt as we both did then that he lived in the here and now; cared little about what had gone before, and what was going to come.

I asked JL to what degree that perspective had been carried over into his adult life and work. He said that living in the moment is his primary way of being in the world and that his identity has formed around what provides meaning for him today. He was grateful for the opportunity to have had time for a fluid identity and not being compelled to be a particular person. He also said that his personal, family, and professional life today are filled with people from various cultures, and that he was convinced that “hanging out” in high school with other “chameleons” like himself (and me) helped him to gain his own voice and purposeful direction later in life.

My friend’s comments reinforced what concerned me most about attending the reunion. I wasn’t interested in spending time talking about my past accomplishments and personal history. I dreaded hearing questions about what I’ve been doing since high school. And I really didn’t want to learn about what my classmates had done with their lives. I cared about them and wanted to be respectful, but I was more interested in who they were now, what they currently yearn for, what keeps them awake at night, what propels them to get out of bed in the morning, and what keeps the light burning inside them. What I wanted to know was more like what Canadian poet and writer Oriah Mountain Dreamer said in the beginning of her poem “The Invitation:”
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing…
The Power of Mentors Not surprisingly my former high school classmate, JL, had no interest in contacting any of our friends who were on the lost list to find out if they shared a similar perspective. However, he did let me know that he had only one regret. Much to my astonishment what he mentioned was identical to the single regret I had about my time in high school and one that some other classmates indicated that they shared.

The regret that we had in common was that we wished we had been better friends to each other during our high school days. Being a “better friend” for the most part meant being more understanding, compassionate and accepting, as well as supporting friends to deal with their own life issues. Classmates remarked that conversations with peers in earlier reunions often resulted in revelations about a variety of hidden problems or secret traumas during high school. Classmates revealed that such difficulties often persisted or worsened through adulthood.

Some reunion participants could recall such trauma in their high school life yet seemed to be less agitated by the memory. For the most part they attributed their ability to manage their difficulty by connecting with a peer or adult that cared enough about them at the time to listen closely and help them find a better resolution than they could find on their own.

Several classmates named teachers or peers who took a special interest in them, provided extra time for conversation, acted as an advocate, or led a small extra-curricular group of some kind. Some teachers and peers were named as key figures in helping them transcend life issues. Help was often indirect – - specific discussion of a troubling area may have never occurred – - but the positive attention, as Scales and Leffert (2004) have also noted, helped classmates feel a sense of worthiness, encouragement and support, all of which contributed to their resilience in dealing with their life issues.

The Myth of Life Planning I was grateful for these comments from classmates about the power of mentors and their desire to have been a better friend. A major part of my professional work has been dedicated to making this become a reality for youth through peer assistance and mentoring. Yet up until this 50th reunion I was not really aware that the origin of my pursuit had a foundation in my experience in high school.
-The vague connection between high school and later life was echoed by many of my classmates. One of the surprising outcomes from conversations with classmates were their answers to the question: How would you describe the connection between your high school plans for work or future career and what you then spent most of your life doing? With few exceptions almost all the classmates at the reunion indicated that they never could have predicted or expected that they would have engaged in what turned out to be their life career. While almost all classmates had by now reached the retirement phase from their active work life, it was stunning to learn how few had planned to do what they spent most of their lives doing.

Many classmates talked about their career journey as one of transcending the expectations of others and finding the path that gave them their own voice, resulted in a sense of fulfillment, or gave their life meaning. While they didn’t necessarily wish that such transcendence had taken place during high school, they decried the lack of opportunity for such exploration at an earlier age. But they were just as adamant about the value of the journey and what they gained from not following the straight line emphasized in high school.

Their comments reinforced my own experience. During high school I came into contact with a kernel of something, a wisp of a dream that would become a life theme for my work. My future, though, wasn’t particularly predicted by the tradition of quality courses and capable teachers; it was foretold in the social relationships and life interactions. Rather than helping me to fully explore my life experience and dreams, the high school curriculum channeled me into a path that matched my test scores, academic achievement, and surface understanding of what I wanted to be in later life.
Too many of us have submerged our dreams for ourselves or had them squashed or minimized. The need to provide opportunities for dream exploration is a theme in my latest book (Carr, 2009). My discussions with classmates at the reunion reinforces the contradictions in traditional approaches to life planning and career coaching. Even the career advice of “find something you’re good at” is often inadequate as a way to identify a life direction.

Using the Reunion Metaphor in Coaching and Mentoring In our mentorship and coaching relationships it might be valuable to use preparing for a “high school reunion” as a prompt to assist those we are working with to conduct a life review. Asking a client or partner questions such as “If you were preparing to attend your high school reunion, what would you want your classmates to notice most about you?” “What might be the most important aspects of your life you’d want to communicate to your former classmates?” “What would you consider to be the greatest changes you’ve made in yourself since high school?”

Coaching, peer assistance, and mentoring are all ways to more fully explore the sparks inside us that are responsible for lighting the fire. The journey may be filled with twisting and unstable pathways. Troubling or difficult encounters along the way may all be necessary to prevent the sparks from going out. By truly listening to the stories of others, and sharing how we experience life and what we are gaining from the journey, will help us to ignite the flame within ourselves and within our classmates.

References

Carr, R. (2009). Peer career coaching: Engaging young people to find their assets and live their dreams. Victoria, BC: Peer Systems Consulting Group, Inc.

Keyes, R. (1976). Is there life after high school? London: Little, Brown.
Mountain Dreamer, O. (1999). The invitation. San Francisco: Harper. (A copy of this poem is available at www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/)

Scales, P.C. and Leffert, N. (2004). Developmental assets: A synthesis of the scientific research on adolescent development (Second Ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.

Vinitzky-Seroussi, V. (1998). After pomp and circumstance: High school reunion as an autobiographical occasion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own.”
~ Who Said This? ~
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ATTEND A TOP LEVEL COACHING EVENT

Eighty coaching conferences and training events are scheduled over the next few months. Here are a some of the 95 in-person events listed on the Peer Resources website (http://www.peer.ca/coaching.html)

2009 CEO Challenge, Change and Leadership with Coaching
May 21, 2009
JW Marriott, Bucharest, Romania
coaching.business-edu.ro/
++40 21 4610981
catalin.anghelache@business-edu.ro

Coaching for Managers
May 27-28, 2009
Toronto, Ontario
www.growingcoaches.com
(416) 481-4802 ext 21
admin@growingcoaches.com

Coach and Horses: Developing a Coaching Presence
May 28, 2008
Checkendon Equestrain Centre, Lovegrove’s Lane, Checkendon, Reading, U.K.
www.associationforcoaching.com/event/workshops.htm#1_3
01304 221300
kerry@associationforcoaching.com

Advanced Coaching Certificate
May 28-29, 2009
Boston, Massachusetts
www.linkageinc.com
(781) 402-5555
info@linkageinc.com

Coaching in the Workplace
May 29, 2009
Camosun College Interurban Campus, Victoria, British Columbia
www.camosun.ca
(250) 370-3550 or (877) 554-7555

Executive Coaching: Skill Building in the Four Phase Method
June 1-3, 2009
Harbor Club Seattle, 801 Second Avenue, Seattle, Washington
www.mboexecutivecoaching.com/seminars.htm
(206) 529-1517
mbo@seanet.com

Power Coach Training Certification
June 1-5, 2009
Victoria, British Columbia
www.coachingandleadership.com
(866) 254-4357 or (250) 652-5390
Email

Introductory Conflict Coaching Workshop
June 8-11, 2009
Toronto, Ontario
www.cinergycoaching.com
Tel: (416) 686-4247 or (866) 335-6466
cinnie@cinergycoaching.com

Advanced Power Coach Training Certification
June 8-12, 2009
Victoria, British Columbia
www.coachingandleadership.com
(866) 254-4357 or (250) 652-5390
Email

First World Congress of Positive Psychology
June 18-21, 2009
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
www.ippanetwork.org/index.htm
info@ippanetwork.org

Heart of Coaching Results-Driven Workshop with Sophie Mathewson
June 22-23, 2009
Simcoe, Ontario
http://www.prismgroup.ca
(866) 554-5547
info@prismgroup.ca

Heart of Coaching Train-the-Facilitator Certification Workshop with Tom Crane and Sophie Mathewson
June 24-25, 2009
Simcoe, Ontario
http://www.prismgroup.ca
(866) 554-5547
info@prismgroup.ca

For additional coaching events, go to http://www.peer.ca/coaching.html. We only list in-person events that are a minimum of a full-day in length. (Peer Resources Network members can have their in-person events added at no cost. To add an event, contact Rey Carr at rcarr@peer.ca) <http://www.peer.ca/coaching.html>

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“It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.”
~ Who Said This? ~
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CHAMPIONS FOR COACHING

Doug Silsbee, a Peer Resources Network member and author of a new book called Presence-Based Coaching: Cultivating Self-Generating Leaders Through Mind, Body, and Heart, (http://www.dougsilsbee.com/books) notes that “We live in extraordinary times. Our individual and collective abilities to adapt and respond creatively to shifting circumstances is critical to meeting the challenges we face. This requires doing the inner work of becoming resilient.” Doug provides “The Crash Course on Resilience” series to support this work. He has placed three, free videos online that show how this is accomplished. His next Presence-Based Coaching training course begins August 31, 2009.

David Giwerc, Master Certified Coach and the Founder of The ADD Coach Academy, which has been providing training for ADHD coaching for 11 years, informed Peer Resources that they have launched a subscription-based and free newsletter. The first issue contained news about the newly-formed ADHD coach credentialing organization to be known as the Professional Association of ADHD Coaches (PAAC). The organization has enlisted a group of ADHD coaches all of whom are certified by the International Coach Federation to develop competencies and a certification process. To sign up for the ADD Coach Academy newsletter go to http://www.addca.com

Karl Corbett, Managing Partner of Sherpa Coaching in Cincinnati, Ohio and member of the Peer Resources Network, has announced that the results of the 2009 Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey are now available. Some of the findings in this fourth annual study generated surprising findings and trends including:

• Executive coaching is an equal opportunity profession. Men and women work in equal numbers, with roughly the same earning power.
• More coaching is taking place in person. Ninety-five percent of those who hire coaches now favor in-person meetings versus over the telephone.
• University executive education programs are now seen as ‘most qualified to certify a training program’ by HR professionals and business people in general.
• Coaches with classroom training and certification win employer-paid engagements more often than other coaches, and they make more money.

The report is available as a free download at www.sherpacoaching.com/survey.html. Sherpa Coaching is a leading educator of executive coaches, with certification programs at Texas Christian University, Penn State and the University of Georgia. Course information, including video, is also available on their website. <http://www.sherpacoaching.com/survey.html>

Steve Mitten, a Vancouver-based Master Certified Coach, former president of the International Coach Federation, and the 2007 Canadian Coach of the Year, recently led a tele-course on Marketing & Coaching in Turbulent Times. The seminar was attended by over 1200 listeners, and clearly struck a chord with coaches who were wondering about what the future holds. Steve doesn’t use a crystal ball, but instead uses his 12 years of experience in the coaching industry to help course participants learn about marketing dilemmas and tips for difficult times, how to identify new opportunities, and what actions to take during the current scary economy. Fortunately for those who were unable to attend, Steve’s talk has been recorded and is available at http://www.audioacrobat.com/playv/WT3t58gZ

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“Champions know that success is inevitable; that there is no such thing as failure, only feedback. They know that the best way to forecast the future is to create it.”
~ Who said this? ~
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FIVE STUDIES & RESOURCES TO GUIDE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Peer Resources continually scans the professional and popular literature for articles, books, videos and other useful reference materials. They provide a brief synopsis of the latest work as well as citation details and summaries on their website at http://www.peer.ca/coaching.html. They also provide a searchable format on their site at <http://www.peer.ca/coaching.html>  www.peer.ca/SearchB.html. Here are some recent additions that you won’t learn about from other larger coaching federations: <www.peer.ca/SearchB.html>

Carr, R.A. (April, 2009). The two key factors for effective online surveys. Peer Bulletin 175. (Retrieved May 10, 2009 from http://www.peer.ca/Projects/Peer_Resources_Network.html). An explanation of how a lack of attention to two key factors of many online-based surveys waste the money of the funding source and the time of those completing the survey. A case study of the International Coach Federation-funded survey, the 2008 Global Coaching Client Study, is used to illustrate the importance of these factors. The article identifies the significant flaws and sampling errors in this survey that make the resulting data (and other ICF-funded surveys) virtually worthless. Solutions to the problems are presented, including modifying the press releases, newsletter items, and website announcements to include caution and limitation statements regarding generalizing from the data as well as details about the statistical reliability of the data. This article is especially valuable for coaches who intend to conduct online surveys to collect data that will have value and for coaches who may base their practices on data collected from online surveys.

Coutu, D. and Kauffman, C. (January, 2009). What can coaches do for you? Harvard Business Review. (Retrieved January 20, 2009 from hbr.harvardbusiness.org). A study of 140 coaches, primarily from the USA and the UK revealed that the coaching field is filled with contradictions over why they are hired, what they do, and how success is measured. The participants did appear to agree that while 10 years ago coaches were hired to fix toxic behaviour, today they are hired to maximize capabilities of high potential performers. Some of the “executive coaches” included in this study claimed that they earn up to $3,500 an hour, while the median fee appeared to be $500 an hour. The authors of the study also note that the coaching industry is fraught with conflicts of interest, blurry lines about mental health issues, and weak mechanisms for assessing effectiveness. (Editor’s Note: this study makes no distinctions regarding whether the practitioners involved received any coach specific training or were really psychologists and management consultants who now call themselves “executive coaches.” This has been a problem with previous articles on coaching appearing in this publication.)

Finkelstein, L. (December 1, 2008). Coaching SaskEnergy to higher performance. Canadian HR Reporter. A long-term coaching program was recommended to develop successful leadership behaviours and provide skills that managers could use with their teams. The coaching initiative included assessments, peer-to-peer coaching triangles, and follow-up evaluations. Two-hundred managers at every level participated. The initiative was rated as highly successful because of a number of factors including: coaching goals were tied to organizational strategy and succession planning; extensive participation of managers; coaching triangles were organized into teams and provided support and trusted relationships; workshops focused on follow-up evaluations. As a result of the coaching approach, the company experienced its highest rating as a good place to work by employees. For a list of other corporations that use coaching extensively, go to http://www.peer.ca/Projects/coachcorps.html (Peer Resources Network member userid and password required).

Nicholas, J. and Twaddell, K. (2009). Group executive coaching: 2008 global survey. Singapore: Air Institute. A 2008 survey completed by 171 respondents online (63 percent female) primarily from North America, Asia and the UK revealed the following about group executive coaching (1) a growing global interest with Europe outpacing the USA almost 3 to 1; (2) typically conducted by more experienced coaches; (3) mostly undertaken on a regular basis as part of leadership development initiatives; (4) typically occurs with intact teams; (5) size matters with most groups in the range of two to six and 7-12 participants; (6) usually takes place over three to six months with only seven percent over one year; (7) building trust and rapport was the top unsolicited critical success factor; and (8) other success factors were related to the coach, the coachees and the coaching process itself. (This study is available to Peer Resources Network members at www.theairinstitute.com)

Underhill, B., McAnally, K., and Koriath, J. (2007) Executive coaching for results, The definitive guide to developing organizational leaders. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler. A comprehensive guide on how to strategically use coaching to maximize development of talent and link the impact of coaching to bottom-line results. The authors draw upon their original research, through Executive Development Associates, with Fortune 1000 and Global 500 companies and combine that with their years of industry experience to advance the state of the art. The authors provide numerous examples from major organizations such as Dell, Johnson and Johnson, Intel, and Wal-Mart. The book offers practical learning, best practices, and illuminating case studies.

(Editor’s Note: For a limited time, it is possible to order four copies and receive one free. Each copy is autographed by all three authors, and worldwide shipping is free if all five books are shipped to the same address. To take advantage of this offer, the books must be ordered from the author’s website: www.executivecoaching4results.com. In addition, members of the Peer Resources Network can download the last chapter, “The Executive Coaching Design Checklist,” at no cost. The Checklist is a compilation of all the material in the book organized to assist the practitioner ensure their new or existing coaching program is fully state-of-the-art.)

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“When you take stuff from one writer it’s plagiarism; but when you take it from many writers, it’s research.”
~ Who said this? ~
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WHAT’S NEW IN THE COACHING WORLD

With close to 425 coach training organizations to choose from and more than 65 varieties of certification available in the coaching field, what was once a relatively easy decision has become infinitely more complicated.

Here are a few of the latest coach training schools, coaching associations, cautions, warnings, and details added to the listings in the Peer Resources’ Coaching Directory. For more contact details visit the Directory at (http://www.peer.ca/coaching.html).

(Note: In North America, the term “accreditation” or “accredited” is generally associated with an organization; whereas in Europe the term is often used to describe an individual’s certification. Coaches in Europe will often use the term “accredited” to mean what coaches in North America would call “certified” or “credentialed.” To add to the confusion, while the International Coach Federation reviews coach training organizations and has created a system to “accredit” such training, their accreditation has no standing for US or Canadian post-secondary institutions, and they are not recognized in the US or Canada as an authorized accrediting agency.)

Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology offers a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching (within their Organizational Psychology program). This is a two-year, part-time program that includes 200 hours of classroom study and supervision (four 30-hour courses, a 45-hour coaching skills and techniques course, and a 45-hour supervised practicum). Courses are typically held on Monday evenings and on five day-long Saturday workshops. The next entering class will begin in January, 2009, and all courses are held on the MSPP campus, approximately 20 minutes from downtown Boston, Massachusetts. A bachelor’s degree or equivalent is required for admission. The MSPP program is accredited by the American Psychological Association. Tuition for the total program is $13,542 plus a $75.00 non-refundable application fee.

The Graduate School Alliance for Executive Coaching is an association to promote dialogue amongst schools and develop standards for coach education and training in the U.S. They provide guidelines for academic programs in executive coaching. Membership guidelines are listed on their website, and the fee for membership is $1500.00 per year.

Progressive Mental Alignment (PMA) Coach Education focuses on subconscious processes. It deals with a new phenomenon called Bad Clusters, inhibiting factors in the subconscious that prevent goal-attainment, and creates sabotaging behavior pattern. PMA sees Bad Clusters as the root cause for all psychosomatic disease. PMA offers several programs for the corporate world as well as for personal coaching. It offers Skype-based visual/audio coaching, a webinar, and a newsletter, books, CD and DVD. The foundation for the training is based on the work of Jacob Korthuis. Training to become a certified PMA Coach is delivered in two modules of each four days. Tuition is $2500 per module and depending on the payment schedule a portion (up to $750.00) is non-refundable.

Performance Coach Training specializes in consultation on creating a coaching culture, training to equip managers with coaching skills, and establishing a business as a performance coach or becoming an internal coach for an organization. Courses are accredited by the Association for Coaching and can also be used to obtain credit towards Portsmouth University’s MSc in Coaching. All course work is delivered by telephone conference calls. Courses focus on leadership skills (EQ, team development) coaching skills (listening, questioning, and clarifying), structural skills (goal setting, strategic action planning); business planning; establishing a client base; and best practices in coaching in the workplace. Mentoring support from experienced coaches is provided as part of the course along with membership in a peer group e-mail forum. For starting dates and tuition from various countries, visit their website.

The Gestalt Institute of Cleveland offers a coach certification in-person curriculum that requires a total of eight courses: two required foundation courses: Gestalt Coaching (seven days); and Coaching Ethics (two-days), and six modular courses such as: life coaching (three days), executive coaching (three days), developmental coaching, performance coaching, coaching across differences (three days), coaching for emotional intelligence, coaching and resistance (3-5 days), and coaching polarities (3-5 days). In addition, they provide a five-day practicum, and a comprehensive exam. Two elective courses, Setting Up Your Coaching Practice, and Marketing Your Coaching Practice are also offered. GIC will provide certification initially along with graduate credit from Cleveland State University where applicable. International Coach Federation certification will be provided within six months. Course tuition appears to be approximately $575.00/course. Check the website for the latest tuition costs and schedule of courses.

Integral Coaching Canada, Inc. offers three levels of in-person training: a foundation and apprenticeship module (five months, tuition: $4935.00); a certification module (nine-months, tuition: $8925.00); short courses (three days, tuition: $1,100.00); and courses designed for graduates who hold Integral Coaching certification. Course leaders are ICF certified coaches, and courses can be used for ICF certification. Single day programs are offered at no cost once each year. All courses have a strong emphasis on the work of Ken Wilbur.

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“Teaching is more than imparting knowledge, it is inspiring change. Learning is more than absorbing facts, it is acquiring understanding.”
~Who said this? ~
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JOIN THE PEER RESOURCES NETWORK

The rapid development of coaching as a practice has generated many associations and organizations competing for participants or members. The Peer Resources Network is the only one that provides accurate, objective, comprehensive, and up-to-date information about coaching, mentoring and peer assistance resources. And the staff is not only easy to contact via toll-free telephone, email or Internet telephone, but they also respond to enquiries typically within one-day.

In addition, members of the Peer Resources Network receive a monthly newsletter, the Peer Bulletin, loaded with information, practical tips, announcements, peer program descriptions, funding opportunities, job openings, and research summaries every month. The Peer Bulletin contains features not available in The Coaching News, including graphics, links, discounts, relevant articles, free research papers, and contact details. A sample of the Peer Bulletin is available at http://www.peer.ca/Bulletin161.html

Members can also receive at no cost some of the latest books or videos on about coaching in exchange for writing a review of that resource. In many cases the retail price of the book alone is equivalent to the one-year membership fee. Some of the current books available to members include:

• Coaching Plain & Simple: Solution-focused Brief Coaching Essentials by Peter Szabó and Daniel Meier (109 pages, softcover)
• Coaching Skills: A Handbook (Second Edition) by Jenny Rogers (291 pages, softcover)
• Executive Coaching: Building and Managing Your Professional Practice by Lewis R. Stern
• Presence-Based Coaching: Cultivating Self-Generative Leaders through Mind, Body, and Heart by Peer Resources Network member Doug Silsbee
• A Manager’s Guide to Coaching: Simple and Effective Ways to Get the Best Out of Your Employees by Brian Emerson and Anne Loehr
• The Philosophy and Practice of Coaching: Insights and Issues for a New Era edited by David B. Drake, Diane Brennan and Kim Gortz
• Coaching in Organizations: Best Coaching Practices from The Ken Blanchard Companies by Madeleine Homan and Linda J. Miller
• How to Become a Coach: What You’ll Want to Know about Training Programs, Certification and the Business of Coaching by Sue Bond
• The Complete Guide to Coaching at Work by Perry Zeus and Suzanne Skiffington
• Mind You Own Biz: Discover the Secrets to Creating a Successful Coaching Business by Janet Slack
• Executive Coaching for Results: The Definitive Guide to Developing Organizational Leaders by Brian Underhill, Kimcee McAnaly, and John Koriath
• Leadership Coaching for Educators: Bringing Out the Best in School Administrators by Karla Reiss
• Therapist as Life Coach: An Introduction for Counselors and Other Helping Professionals (Revised and Expanded) by Patrick Williams and Deborah C. Davis
• Positive Psychology Coaching: Putting the Science of Happiness to Work for Your Clients by Robert Biswas-Diener and Ben Dean
• The Truth About the Business of Coaching by Lawrence Mortenson
• Co-Active Coaching: New Skills for Coaching People Toward Success in Work and Life (Second Edition) by Laura Whitworth, Karen Kimsey-House, Henry Kimsey-House, and Phillip Sandahl

Do the quotes placed in this newsletter intrigue you? Would you like to know more about the people quoted or read more of what they have to say? Members of the Peer Resources Network receive links and more details regarding each quote when they receive the monthly Peer Bulletin. (Anyone who can identify the source of any of the quotes in this issue of the Coaching News will have their name placed in a draw for a complimentary, one-year membership in the Peer Resources Network. Send an email to rcarr@islandnet.com with your answer to any of the “Who said this?” quotes.)

Peer Resources Network members have access to a variety of resources in the password protected area of www.peer.ca, and many of these documents are without cost or arrangements have been made with authors and publishers to provide them to members at reduced costs or deep discounts. Papers about certification, fees, and other issues associated with coaching are free to members. In addition, Peer Resources Network members have access to toll-free telephone support for technical and professional questions. Members can talk directly with experts at no extra fee on trends, issues, and other concerns.

The Peer Resources Network is a non-profit organization and is sustained through memberships. The low fee for a one-year individual membership is $99.00 and the fee for an institutional membership, which allows up to five people to share a full membership, is $185.00 for a year. We even have a student rate of $50.00/year. For more details on the benefits as well as a secure online form to sign-up, go to <http://www.peer.ca/PRN.html>.

As a bonus for readers of the Coaching News who become members of the Peer Resources Network in May 2009, we will send you at no additional cost a CD that contains the three past issues of Compass: A Magazine for Peer Assistance, Mentorship and Coaching as well as the past 24 months of the Peer Bulletin. In addition we will include the Who Mentored Who Quiz slide-show, which features dozens of famous mentoring connections. The slide show is in a quiz format, showing the photo of a famous mentor, his or her equally famous partner (mentee) and then reveals the name and the relationship. This CD is free to PRN members and will be sent by postal mail at no cost to any individual category member or the group leader of any institutional membership.

To become a member and review the additional benefits and services, go to http://www.peer.ca/PRN.html

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“The secret to a good newsletter is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.”
~ Who said this? ~
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The Coaching News is a copyrighted publication of Peer Resources, a non-profit corporation, located at 1052 Davie Street, Victoria, British Columbia V8S 4E3 Canada. All articles are written by Rey Carr unless otherwise indicated. Back issues of The Coaching News are available online at http://www.peer.ca/thecoachingnews.html. To subscribe or unsubscribe send an email to info@peer.ca.

To learn more about the people quoted in this issue or to access more of what they have to say, consider becoming a member of the Peer Resources Network (PRN). Members receive a monthly newsletter 60-90 days earlier than The Coaching News that contains the same text plus additional articles not available in The Coaching News plus links to all quoted sources. Membership is fee-based and the benefits and features are listed at http://www.peer.ca/PRN.html.