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Dear ICF Members and Friends

As 2010 continues to roll out, I want to take a moment and spotlight the people who help make our chapter run.  All but one of our 2009 board members is returning for another year of service.  I want to thank Don Blohowiak who served as Secretary last year.  Although deeply committed to our organization, Don’s travel commitments just did not allow him to participate much in the latter half of the year.  Many thanks to Don for his insights, creative suggestions and his willingness to share his models and tools with others.

ICFGR 2010 Board of Directors

Members of the 2010 Board of Directors include:

• Treasurer  - John D. Watt, ACC
• Secretary - Dr. Jean Gasen, ACC
• Membership - Melissa Lubin
• Programs  - Plum Cluverius, PCC
• Communications - Gay-Lynn Carpenter, ACC
• Past President- Bob Scudder, PCC

These coaches contribute countless volunteer hours behind the scenes to help make our chapter run smoothly.  I thank them for sharing both their time and talents.

Nancy Kindervater serves as our Administrative Assistant.  Nancy is your first point of contact if you have a question about the logistics of our monthly membership lunches or your membership status.

New Chapter Activities

ICF Greater Richmond is kicking off three new activities in 2010 to benefit our members.

• Teleconferences - In addition to our monthly programs, we will hold quarterly tele-conferences on a relevant topic to our profession. Our assistant program chair, Dr. Susan Johnson O’Neil, has agreed to coordinate the first two sessions.  We will assess interest after these two discussions and determine if this is a benefit from which our members gain value. Look for the first one to be scheduled in March.  Only current members will be able to participate in the call.
• Networking Happy Hours - we are also initiating a quarterly networking happy hour.  The first one will be held in February at a location in Short Pump. Stay tuned for the date and directions.  This event will be open to all interested coaches.  It will be another opportunity for members to meet members as well as draw in more members from the coaching community in Richmond.
• Monthly Meeting Networking - our monthly meeting programs are top notch! Our members continually tell us that the learnings from these presentations are by far the greatest member benefit they receive. But, we’ve also heard that you want more time to interact with fellow coaches. We have extended our monthly meeting with an optional networking hour from 1pm to 2pm.  This will be an opportunity to just mingle with other meeting attendees, perhaps have a deeper conversation about the program topic, or ask others their views on a challenge you may have with a client. As members know, the community of coaches is invaluable to your growth.

If you haven’t joined yet, here are three new reasons to reconsider! Please let us hear from you about how we can structure our activities to best meet the coaching needs of the Richmond community.  You can reach me at denise.kasper@capitalone.com

I look forward to seeing you all at our next program.

Denise G. Kasper

President

ICFGR

President's Message, Uncategorized »

October 2009

 Dear ICF Greater Richmond Members and Friends

 I believe feedback is crucial in helping adults to learn.  And, I am now more thoughtful about how I use feedback in my coaching. More on this in a minute.

 I spent a weekend in Raleigh, NC watching my daughter compete in a three-day horse show.  For hours I observed hundreds of riders participate in jumping events.  (Think Olympics, but lower.)

 My daughter’s total competition time for three days: 4 minutes, 28 seconds.  Many parents know this routine from other sports!

 At the exit gate, I heard numerous trainers give feedback to the riders as they left the arena.  Some praised and then offered corrective observations, ending with words of encouragement and confidence. Some started with the negative and never said what went well. Some yelled. Some asked the riders what they thought of the performance.   Some patted the horse and said good try, offering no specifics.

 What will happen to the riders whose feedback was neither useful nor productive? What opportunity was lost to learn, adjust, and improve?  And what could I learn from the hours invested in listening to the trainers’ assessments?

 Now I turned to our riders, our coaching clients. When and how often should we offer feedback? What is the best way for them to have more self-awareness about their behaviors and make changes?  What approach to feedback can best help clients make changes to reach their goals? What is keeping the blind spot out of sight for them? 

 I actually enjoy giving feedback to clients. It is an important component of my coaching.  As an internal coach, I get to observe many of my clients in their everyday business settings: meetings, hallway conversations, grabbing a coffee.   I am making assessments of them and sometimes offer feedback. I began to wonder if I’m too quick to offer those assessment and losing opportunities to inspire self-discovery. 

 I collect feedback from a wide range of client constituents. I just interviewed 17 colleagues for one of my clients.  The feedback has helped my client see several blind spots that were so apparent to others.   Or, so I think.  Again, I am wondering now if I could have coached her in ways that enabled her to discover these blind spots for herself.  Did I take the easy way out and meet more of my own needs rather than determining the best approach for the client to learn? Perhaps I have.

 As hundreds of young horseback riders keep jumping in my head, I will take a renewed approach to my own model of sharing feedback.  I offer feedback by focusing on behaviors without being judgmental, by being positive, timely and specific, and by helping the client make choices about what actions to take, and that’s all good. I also know that I will no longer jump to feedback as quickly. Instead, I’ll take more time to coach the client through those blind spots with challenges and questions that get them to self-discovery.

 I guess one great outcome of those hours on the bleachers at the horse show was this feedback to myself.   What feedback can you give yourself about your own coaching approach? What’s your blind spot? 

 Denise G. Kasper