Including Leads to Partnering

Question: How does one acquire the mindset of 'inclusion?' Why ask it, why answer it?

Well, this was asked by a coach today during a teleseminar on a leadership development 360. For me this was a great question. My immediate response was to recall all that I had been hearing today about Senator Ted Kennedy. People talked about his capacity to include everyone, to work for everyone, to bring people together, to get difficult legislative work done when it seemed impossible or unlikely. How do I react to that? I felt included in Kennedy's Lifetime Commitment to quality healthcare for everyone. While I would do my part, I knew he was fighting for fairness for all. That's what I mean by inclusion.

Have you ever felt or been excluded? Sure, we all have. And who would say it was okay? Not anyone I know. You and I in our human way must simply find a place to belong.

How does this impact coaching? First, it impacts coaching in the way we interact with our clients. Coaching is about forming partnerships with our clients ... and for me this is the most inclusive relationship there is. When I try to stay 'more than' or 'more expert than' or 'I know best'... I am excluding my client from my world and diminishing his/her world.

What do you think about this?

Why Do I Do What I Do?

For quite some time now I've been concerned about the future of the ICF credentialing processs. It's no secret it's far from perfect and quite frankly will never be given the inherently subjective nature of the process. For about 3 years I was at the center of the process, even chaired it as a volunteer (2005-06). Since 2003 I've participated in over 200 assessment exams and reviewed about 100 for technical compliance. Okay, so what?

You might want to ask why did I do that? Power? Influence? Ego?

None of the above. I gave my time and still do just for one reason: to support the credibility of a credential I earned, cherish and respect. I want the profession to become much more than "just another good idea."

Along the way I discovered that coaches who know how to coach as partner with the client are able to smoothly coach client after client, to effectively self-manage themselves, to be free from having to know what they have no need to know, and to be able to enjoy coaching for the long term. Burnout is far less likely to occur.

Lessons along the way are always valuable.

The Start of a New BlogTalk Day!

Wecome! This is what's going on ...

In order to stay unconfused about where my former blog resides I decided to create an entirely new spot (pardon the pun). My "talking" will be about coaching because it's what I do to make a very nice living and I love it absolutely. I have a reputation for being outspoken ... thus a blog is a satisfying outlet so I can continue to be.

Yet, my balancing role is to not be outspoken but to encourage feedback and a dialogue whether or not we agree. Therefore I can be assured that "outspoken" is just a story about me and not the real deal.

I've been Tweeting for some time now (over 750 Tweets on my list as of 8/24/09). CoachCMartin@Twitter.com. Lots of it is political stuff, a passion of mine. This blog is not for that purpose. This is time for coaches! Fearless coaches! So (a favorite coaching word), any politics in this blog are coaching organization politics (oh joy!). What do you mean? you say. Politics in coaching? Despite what we think of ourselves, we are just as human as everyone else. We have opinions, we differ, we search for answers and often just the questions.

That's what I'm about and look forward to posting my thoughts and ideas.