Graduate Feedback
CDI Advanced Skills Foundation Program
Program Graduates, July 22 - 25, 2010
Standing L to R: Nicole Herod, Co-Facilitator Michèle Roy, Laurie Hillis (partially obscured by) Co-Facilitator Diane Bonneau, Lois MacNaughton, Martine Labrèche, Jamie Anderson, Kara Exner, Sherry Matheson. Kneeling L to R: Laura Watson, Marilyn Moore.
Graduate feedback about the Program...
1. What was it about the Program that made you want to attend?
2. What one thing did you learn from the Program that impacted you the most?
3. If another coach were to consider taking this training, what would you tell them about it?
What value or benefit does the Program offer?
4. What impact will the Program have on your coaching business?
5. Is there anything you think prospective participants should know about this Program?
6. Any final thoughts to share?
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1. What was it about the Program that made you want to attend?
"I read about the focus of the Program on the ICF Core Competencies. I'm a big believer in credentialing, high standards and raising the bar for the profession. This appealed to me because I really wanted to get grounded in the Core Competencies."
- Kara Exner
"As a facilitator and coach I did want to deepen my own body of knowledge, confidence and comfort around how the Competencies can enable a person to become an amazing coach."
- Laurie Hillis
"It was really about deepening a fuller understanding of the Competencies. Since I teach coaches, I really wanted to understand the depth of what I was teaching them. I realized that in this program I could gain that depth."
- Lois MacNaughton
“There were three things: I knew that Diane and Michelle are excellent coaches themselves; I spoke to Diane about how the course is designed to help coaches become more confident with the Core Competencies and how that can help you build your business; and the fact that I really wanted to take this out to organizations and teach this to managers.”
- Sherry Matheson
"I was hoping to deepen my own coaching skills. Every time you revisit these Core Competencies it takes you to a new level of depth, you get to know yourself more as a coach. You then can then take that learning back to your client and be that much more effective as a coach."
- Marilyn Moore
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2. What one thing did you learn from the Program that impacted you the most?
"The biggest impact came from the revelation that I could trust my own instincts as a coach, dance in the moment - be with whatever comes up for the client and know that my intuition, my instinct, my coaching ability would know what to do with it. The learning came from the way in which Diane and Michèle modeled that as they facilitated the program and coached the facilitators. The learning also came from the way the other people relaxed and grew into themselves. The learning was multi-layered."
- Kara Exner
"If I look at the skills and the competencies of Diane and Michèle in holding the space, in pulling everything together, in breathing life into the theory, and in modeling, through various ways, their own level of competence, it was just extraordinary. I have a high need of seeing competence in action and I think they did that masterfully. That was one of the highlights for me. I would not have got as much out of the course if I were just watching other people teach."
- Laurie Hillis
"That in accepting being vulnerable I can be on the edge and be just fine."
- Lois MacNaughton
“Though my coach training was really good and I went and got my ACC, I was not as comfortable demonstrating the Core Competencies. I learned a lot by facilitating parts of the program and by spending three days with Diane, Michele and all of the other great coaches in the room. I discovered that I already had all of the skills; I just needed to build confidence in myself as a coach.”
- Sherry Matheson
"Several things: the strength of vulnerability; the value of being true to oneself; and the value that brings to the client."
- Marilyn Moore
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3. If another coach were to consider taking this training, what would you tell them about it?
What value or benefit does the Program offer?
"Some people out there may not be willing to go to a deeper level; they may be happy to stay where they are. This course is not for them. This course is for someone who has a commitment to their practice and to being a great coach. They will benefit by gaining a new level of awareness of where they are, what they need, and what they already have within themselves."
- Kara Exner
"If you are a coach but you don't know how to get out of yourself and into the bigger world as a coach this program can help you to become more comfortable. Aside from my own deepened learning, I observed that when the coaches first came into to the Program they were new at facilitation. By the second time they facilitated, even within the same day, I witnessed an amazing turnaround through the process of feedback from the group."
- Laurie Hillis
"Participants will develop their skills as a coach and will be able to see how they are as a coach - what they're doing well, where they can improve. In doing the exercises they will be able to really experience the difference that the client would feel. This is huge."
- Lois MacNaughton
“From my perspective, the program gave me more confidence in my coaching abilities. It also clarified for me that I was doing the right things. Overall, the program helps you to clarify where you are as a coach in the use of the Core Competencies. It helps you to identify whether there’s anything you need to improve upon.”
- Sherry Matheson
"I would say: Do you want to be a good coach? Do you want to have a full practice? Do you want to grow your practice? Do you want to be successful? This is what you need. Everyone who is a coach is always doing personal work. It doesn't matter how long you have been coaching, this is a way for you to benefit and grow, and therefore grow your practice."
- Marilyn Moore
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4. What impact will the Program have on your coaching business?
"I train managers to help them become more "coach-like" with their employees. This has really been beneficial for me to see another way of teaching coaching skills. I also think that additional grounding in the coaching skills themselves (i.e. the Core Competencies) will increase my effectiveness as a coach, which is also better for my business."
- Kara Exner
- Sherry Matheson
Coaching comes from the inside out. To be a good coach you need to be confident. That confidence does not come from "out there"; it comes from inside. I knew that this training would be inward focused and that there would be a confidence coming from inside that is really unshakable. That's something no one can take from you. That's what I expected, and I received much more than that."
- Marilyn Moore
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5. Is there anything you think prospective participants should know about this Program?
"My coach tells me that: 'Coaching is not for the faint of heart'. I would say that this program is the same way. It can be hard, messy, challenging and the benefits are multiplied because of all of that. It takes you to a deeper level."
- Kara Exner
"Prospective participants need to be ready to come and fully participate. That is how they will get the value out of the learning."
- Lois MacNaughton
“When you are facilitating you don’t need to deliver the module in exactly the same way as it is presented in the manual. Be creative, think outside of the box. What surprised me was my own creativity: I didn’t expect to come up with a unique activity that would work out so well. In working with other coaches I learned that you can tweak this and that, and it can still work out just fine.”
- Sherry Matheson
"They should clean out their schedule so they have time to really process and be with what is gained and learned each day. You need to take care of yourself. Be prepared to be with this for the three days, and maybe a little bit after that too."
- Marilyn Moore
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6. Any final thoughts to share?
"The biggest value in this relates to the people who created it: Diane and all the wisdom she brings with being a Master Certified Coach; plus Michèle and her experience as a mentor coach and what she brings in her complete presence - body, soul, mind, and spirit. That's where the value is."
- Kara Exner
"This Program is well well worth the investment of time and money, and very much exceeded my expectations - which were already high at the outset."
- Laurie Hillis
"Working with Diane and Michèle brings tremendous value. They bring so much understanding and other qualities into the room. They are so supportive in helping people learn that there's a depth of experience I haven't received in most of the training that I've taken."
- Lois MacNaughton
“No matter how you approach facilitating the program modules, even if it doesn’t go so well you’ll learn from that. You’ll learn from everything that happens.”
- Sherry Matheson
"There's nothing like this out there. Coach training and conferences are offered. However, there's nothing that is focused on these skills; nothing that relates the Competencies to behaviours. There's a gap between the academic idea of the Competencies and what that looks like in my behaviour as a coach. This Program bridges that gap and so it is unique in that respect."
- Marilyn Moore
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