In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ICF Converge is a fully online event this time. I must admit I had mixed emotions about it. On the one hand, given that I work online most of the time, I am fully aware of how good it can be. The online format ensures us that we gather coaches from all over the world even though the pandemic still haunts us. On the other hand, an online conference makes it more difficult to spontaneously mingle while walking between sessions, lining up for a cup of tea or going for a walk in the surroundings.
But as it turns out I, ended up truly happy that it is online. Caught by a persistent autumn flu, the online format is the only way that allows me to be here. Phu! Don’t even want to think that I could have missed it due to sneezing, fever, and a sore throat. Nonetheless, here I am now, spiking from my cup of tea with honey and ginger, happily taking in new thoughts and meeting old and new friends.
To boost my own learning I summarize my reflections at the end of the day and for those of you who did not have the opportunity to attend or are simply curious about what coaches talk about when we dive into our development sphere, I’ll share it in my blog.
Feel free to follow here or on social media during the week and do remember – this is my choice of presentations from a parallel section of four themes, and my short take-aways as of today. I am afraid I will neither do the full event, nor the full presentations justice. Please consider this as simply a taste of a vibrant event.
Coaching & Change Management – Why we shouldn’t try to wear both hats at the same time
I kicked off Converge with a presentation on how coaches and change managers complement each other in supporting organisations through implementing a major change. ICF Global and The Association of Change Management Professionals discussed a shared study that they conducted.
It was inspiring to see how two organisations gather dedicated professionals through cross research to enhance our understanding of these two competencies.
To simplify their findings, one could say that the change managers work with the what and the how of change, while the coach works with the who, of the change (the people involved). Combine these two perspectives and you get a strong team for the times when you aspire to create organisational changes.
Often we see that coaches are called in during the final stages, when the change is formed, implemented, and not taking off. What the shared study shows is that adding coaching in the early to support in defining the changed wanted, identifying the goals and success criteria, assess the impact of the potential change, assess culture readiness, and formulate strategies is way more powerful.
Actually, coaches and change managers working together on a change process in an organisation increases the success rate with 78 %. That is an impressive rate of investment and a number that makes me think I should be looking up the change managers around me to see how we can offer our services as a team. *smiling*
Graphic by Lauren Green at Dancing with Markers
Trust – Why we give it and how we earn it
As we all came together for our opening keynote, Rachel Botsman challenged us to rethink trust in through clear language, models, and stories. Most of us base our trust on a gut feeling. But guided by Rachel’s models we can get a grip on how to combine gut wisdom with intellectual wisdom. Failing to do so can often get us mislead by the symbols we have learned to associate with trust and may miss the signals that otherwise would have raised questions.
What are the real trust issues? The core that decides whether we give our trust or earn it from others? Rachel defines it as two categories with two components each:
To earn trust, adopting one trait in particular can be helpful: confident humility. That is the ability to own up to what we know and also to what we don’t know, with confidence. Being able to say “I don’t know,” without the need to cover up or feeling like we are losing ground will open us up to more honest relationships.
It is ok to not know. The question is what do you choose to do with it? Your choices are to hide this truth or face it. And this choice will be seen and have an impact on the trust you gain. As Rachel was speaking of this, an interesting discussion emerged in the live chat. Is this true in all cultures or is it culture specific? Some pointed out that there are cultures which are not as accepting of being wrong as others. In this case would it still earn a leader trust as they say “I don’t know, let me explore it,” or would it cost them trust?
Oh my!, how I missed the chatting in the hallway after that session. I would have loved to hear the thoughts of coaches from different cultures on that since it connects so closely to one of the components of leadership for innovation we are finding at Centre for Leadership in Småland; we call it celebrating failure. Basically introducing and withholding a culture of failure as a welcomed part of the journey, proof that we are moving outside the already known territory and experimenting with what we are still learning.
Wrap-up
Day 1 was then rounded off by an award ceremony recognizing organisations and coaches who have had a powerful impact on the development of coaching in their context. This year, The Prism Awards for both 2020 and 2021 were announced since last year it was withheld due to the pandemic:
Prism award winner of 2020, International Trade Administration
Prism award winner of 2022, TD bank group North America Contact Center
By implementing coaching programs these two organisations have noticeably increased not only their employees’ satisfaction, but also their results. In fact the 2020’s winner has counted in 225% return on investment on their coaching program. A pretty good payoff, I would say.
The honourable Circle of Distinctions collects coaches who have set a mark in the coaching community through years of dedicated work. This yea, the Circle was expanded by two dedicated coaches: Svetlana Chumakova MCC, who brought coaching to Russia and Marilyn O’Hearne MCC, from USA, who has contributed to the development of our industry in several capacities.
The 2021 ICF Young Leader Awards went to:
Joanna Alvarado, PCC from Costa Rica
Ester Landa, MCC from Russia (now living in USA)
Tomas Pesek, ACC from Slovakia
Lenka Zelingrova, PCC from Czech Republic
Congratulations to these inspiring role models!
Now it is time for me to finish my cup of tea and go to bed. I am fine with shifting to US time for a couple of days, but I am not able to convince my animals to do the same and so tomorrow is an early Swedish time rise as usual. I guess this week is a good week for taking daytime naps to stay energized for the next chunk of Converge learning and inspiration.
See you tomorrow!
- Lena