Back in 2003, I walked into a course at the Coaches Training Institute in Alexandria, VA that changed the course of my professional journey. Within just a few hours, I realized that coaching combined my various interests and passions in applied psychology, education, creativity and personal, professional growth. Coaching started to evolve my communication style and my mindset about whats possible; it challenged me to become more open, curious, and empowered to take action around the things that matter most to me.
When I first experienced coaching firsthand, it was love at first insight.
Those first moments of coaching in Alexandria VA inspired me at my core; I knew that wanted to be coaching in some capacity going forward – without yet knowing the how. Being the nerd that I am, I also wanted to understand why coaching works from a scientific perspective while growing my own skills as a practitioner. So I embarked on a lifelong process to both understand the science of coaching and grow my practice of it.
Being a coaching researcher + practitioner is not for the faint of heart.
How does coaching work? What approaches yield better results for clients? What is the true impact of coaching on clients in the short- and long-term?
Questions like this fascinate me and compel me to both educate myself about current research and participate in it. So, I stay connected to scientifically-minded communities through the Harvard McLean Institute of Coaching (Margaret Moore, MBA; Susan David, Ph.D.; Carol Kauffman, Ph.D.). I engage in action research with my colleague and mentor, Janet Patti, Ed.D. The questions we ask center around understanding what works best for clients in their growth, so we can hone our skills as coaches. Its a reflective and iterative process.
On the practitioner side, I commit to learning and practicing new coaching skills through professional development and receiving mentoring/coaching. At the same time, I believe in asking myself coaching questions like: What’s possible? What do you really want? What’s holding you back? What’s next?
Being a coach is a commitment to living a coaching mindset.
To me, living a coaching mindset means being in the practice of coaching in my life. What does that mean more specifically?
Living a coaching mindset means regularly stretching outside my comfort zone of current preferences and strengths, because that’s where learning, growth and transformation happens. Living a coaching mindset means being open and curious to learning, embracing a growth mindset. Over the last 18 months, I’ve been stretched outside of my comfort zone by amazing mentors and Master Coaches (Molly Gordon, Fran Fisher) to level up my coaching skills and presence. When I heard the news that I received the distinction of Master Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation (which requires over 2500 hours of coaching experience in addition to rigorous ethical, content and oral exams), I was thrilled.
I’m truly honored to be a member of the MCC community and I don’t take this certification lightly. It’s a call to continue my lifelong professional dedication to both the research and practice of coaching.
For me, the “master” in MCC is about mastering lifelong learning and dedication to transformation through discomfort. As I wrote about years ago, coaching is not just a process or a business service, it’s a mindset and approach to work and life.
Reflection: What does living a coaching mindset mean to you, and look like in your work? Id love to hear examples of how a coaching mindset has shifted whats possible for you.
