As I moved into coaching, she became my colleague, trusted mentor and dear friend.  So when Vikki told me about The Coaching Commons, the concept and people involved, I was full on enthusiastic. And I could barely contain my excitement when she and the founding team invited me to join them, to do what I love – collaborate, engage in deliciously meaningful conversations, support and build community.

I found my niche with ease at the Commons through individual and group interactions, some short and some long – these chats were inspiring, always thoughtful and interactive, often provocative, sometimes crucial and definitely unique!  This became the design and platform for the  Coaching Commons Uncommon Conversations.

I had the distinct privilege of hosting these telecalls with passionate coaches that work from the creative and eclectic to the practical and pragmatic paths. At the Commons, we hosted artists, poets, authors, researchers, journalists, philanthropists, inventors, community activists, philosophers – all magnificent human beings, big thinkers and coaching advocates.

Each moment of planning and preparation, every question and conversation, reminded me that we are better together … talking about coaching (and life), listening and hearing our individual and collective voices as we grow and develop coaching is really important.

I’m humbled by the goodness of this work and grateful that I had the opportunity to contribute in this way. And I will be forever grateful to Ruth Ann, David, Andrea, Linda and Vikki for their trust and including me in the grand adventure we know as the Coaching Commons.

To echo and add to Vikki’s earlier comments: “…the fact is that The Coaching Commons, with all its articles, comments, podcasts, videos and yes, Uncommon Conversations, will become a permanent part of history when it ceases to exist In January 2011.

But that won’t stop the music, the movement or the voices …uncommon conversations are keen, crucial, even critical to building relationships, growing deep friendships, building community locally and globally.

So continue to talk with each other – be brave, be bold, be engaged, be you! 

We know you are brilliant, we heard you! Trust your gut, find your voice, speak up. Never miss the opportunity to ask the simple, gracious, elegant question … the answer may do more than surprise you. 

Elizabeth Crouch

NOTE: Most Coaching Commons Uncommon Conversations were recorded and may be accessed under the Podcasts section.

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Time: 12:00 Noon to 1:00pm Eastern

Guest: Nancy Gerber, PCC and Nancy Spivey
Host: The Coaching Commons
Topic: What is a Mastermind Group?

“The Nancys” — Nancy Gerber and Nancy Spivey, long time business coaches and founders of www.TheMagicofMastermind.com — were with us in March for an Uncommon Conversation about “The Magic of Mastermind.”  They return to talk about how starting and leading Mastermind groups is a natural fit — and perhaps an additional revenue stream — for coaches.

With the changes in the economy and the continuing evolution of the coaching profession, coaches are looking for new ways to serve greater numbers of people at a more modest price point, while also generating more consistent revenue for their businesses.

Mastermind groups, when well organized and facilitated, are a powerful tool for growth and transformation that can be simply and easily delivered, creating “magic” for both coaches and clients.

In leading Mastermind groups for coaches every month, the Nancys have experienced a tremendous surge of excitement and interest in the process and how it can enhance the business of coaching.

Topics to be covered in this one-hour program will include:

*Principles of Masterminding
*Distinctions between Coaching & Masterminding
*How coaches use their coaching skills to be great Mastermind facilitators
*A live 30-Minute Mastermind Session facilitated by “The Nancys”

For more information, visit http://themagicofmastermind.com

Thursday, October 8th, 2009
Time: 12:00 Noon to 1:00pm Eastern

Guest: David Rock
Host: The Coaching Commons
Topic: Does Understanding the Brain Make Coaches More Effective?

David Rock joins us for an enriching and provocative conversation about coaching and the brain. He will bring his brilliance, enthusiasm and genuine love of the brain and neuroscience to coaching perspective as we explore the current research, concepts, conundrums and the brain at work in various settings and cultures.

David’s new book, Your Brain at Work, launches this week after four years in the works. He will tell us a bit about this lengthy journey, some new discoveries and the impact of all this on him while coaching and writing.

What might be the impact of knowing even a little about the brain – for your own coaching, for your clients? Come with your questions and be prepared for a lively conversation!

About David Rock

David is the founder and CEO of Results Coaching Systems (RCS), which has operations in 15 countries across the globe. In his capacity as CEO, David works with Fortune 500 clients specializing in embedding internal coaching capacity within organizations to develop leaders, retain talent, improve performance, and change culture.

David Rock is one of the thought leaders in the global coaching profession. The integrated coaching system he developed in the mid-90′s has been taught to over 10,000 professionals in more than fifteen countries.

He is the author of ‘Personal Best’, (Simon & Schuster, 2001), ‘Quiet Leadership’ (Harper Collins, 2006) and ‘Coaching with the Brain in Mind’ (Wiley & Sons, 2009), and ‘Your Brain at Work’ (Harper Collins), which is due for release in October 2009.

In 2004, David founded the brain-based approach to coaching, which has gathered momentum as a theory base for coaching ever since. In collaboration with several leading neuroscientists, David is working to explain the neural basis of issues like self-awareness, reflection, insight and accountability.

In 2006 he co-authored a feature article in strategy business magazine with neuroscientist Dr Jeffrey Schwartz, called ‘The Neuroscience of Leadership’, the most downloaded article of the year at the magazine. In September 2006 CIO magazine ran a cover story featuring David and Jeff’s work called ‘The new science of change’.

In late 2006, David founded the NeuroLeadership Institute and Summit, a global initiative bringing neuroscientists and leadership experts together to build a new science of leadership development.

David also co-created a complete coaching curriculum at New York University (SCPS) and is a guest lecturer at universities in 5 countries.

Read David’s blog, download audio, find out about upcoming talks and events at http://www.DavidRock.net

http://www.Your-Brain-At-Work.com
http://www.ResultsCoaches.com
http://www.NeuroLeadership.org

Time: 2:00–3:00pm Eastern / 11:00-12 noon Pacific
Central Europe: +6 from Eastern, UK: BST +5 from Eastern
Australia: +14 from Eastern

Guest: Julio Olalla, MCC
Host: Vikki Brock, Ph.D., MCC
Topic: A Live Interview and Conversation with Coaching Masters

Please join us at the Coaching Commons for an unprecedented interview and conversation with masterful coach Julio Olalla and guest host, Vikki Brock.

Vikki is the Coaching Commons team lead for the Hall of Fame and Julio is the most recent inductee into the Coaching Hall of Fame. You will be treated to Vikki’s elegant facilitation and insightful questions for Julio as they explore origins, influencers, current and future coaching issues.

About Julio:

Julio Olalla, founder and president of The Newfield Network, is a master at generating learning environments that establish the trust, safety, respect, and well-being that accelerate the potential for new thinking and action. For more than 30 years, he has trained over 50,000 individuals and worked with more than 300 organizations and government leaders to challenge traditional thinking and create better teams and stronger leaders that can responsibly navigate uncertainty and turbulence.

Originally a lawyer in the Chilean government, Julio and his family made their way to the United States after the September 1973 Chilean coup d’état. By drawing upon his own dramatic life story and experiences, Julio is able to work in a deep and meaningful way with people from very diverse backgrounds and fields of study.

Julio is the author of From Knowledge to Wisdom: Essays on the Crisis in Contemporary Learning. He currently lives in Boulder, Colorado, with his family.

Read more about Julio here:
http://www.newfieldnetwork.com/New/AboutNewfield/FounderJulioOlalla/index.cfm

Tuesday, July 28th
Time: 2:00 – 3:00pm Eastern Time

Guest: C.J. Hayden, MCC, CPCC
Host: The Coaching Commons
Topic: Finding the Goodness in Business

Imagine a world where business is a force for good. Perhaps more than you think, this is the world we live in right now. All around you, visionary entrepreneurs are launching enterprises that serve a triple bottom line — contributing to people and to the planet, not just to profit. The era of the conscious business has arrived. Are you a part of it?

Did you know…

* Estimates suggest the social entrepreneurship sector employs around 40 million people globally, with 200 million more as volunteers

* 72% of U.S. consumers consider the social responsibility of a business when deciding whether to buy its products and services

* Companies with the best social responsibility ratings consistently out perform others in their class by a ratio of 9 to 1

* Small businesses like yours give more to charity and donate more volunteer hours than their corporate counterparts

In this conversation, we’ll be discussing questions like these:

• Is conscious business just a tiny corner of the liberal, progressive world, or is it a growing, worldwide movement?
• Can a coach be socially responsible, give back to his/her community, protect the environment, and still earn a good living?
• Do your clients care whether you’re socially responsible?
• What about the social responsibility of your business clients?
• Can they – small businesses and corporations alike – afford to be socially responsible?
• Why should they bother? And why should you care if they are?

About C.J.:

You may know C.J. Hayden best from her book and coaching program Get Clients Now!, but C.J.’s private coaching clients are social entrepreneurs, activists, and community leaders. Since 1992, she’s been helping conscious citizens build business ventures to effect social change.

C.J. is the author of three books and over 300 articles on marketing, entrepreneurship, and social action. She has published and taught in more places than she can keep track of, including Choice, Principled Profit, John F. Kennedy University, Mills College, and The Coaches Training Institute. C.J. was a founding director of the first international nonprofit association for coaches, which later merged with the ICF. She currently serves on the leadership teams of the Send Girls to School Project, Social Enterprise Alliance San Francisco chapter, and Global Initiative to Advance Entrepreneurship.

Find out more about C.J. at www.cjhayden.com

Thursday, July 23rd
Time: 12:00 – 1:00pm Eastern Time

Guest: Marina Spence, author of Make Every Day a Friday!
Host: The Coaching Commons

Topic: 3 Simple Yet Profound Meditation Techniques to Use in Your Coaching Sessions

Dr. Oz of Oprah fame says meditation is the #1 stress-buster. Along with relieving stress, it increases clarity, focus, and the ability to tap into one’s intuition. Who doesn’t want more of that?!

• So why don’t more people meditate?

Meditation has a bad rap. It’s seen as hard, boring, and time consuming. It’s one more thing to do that’s good for us, like taking vitamins or exercising. Meditation is something that many people would, theoretically, like to do. But actually starting and sustaining a meditation practice is another thing.

• What if you are already meditating and you don’t know it?
• What if it’s easier than you could imagine?

The conversation, 3 Simple Yet Profound Meditation Techniques, will give you easy, practical ways to introduce meditation into the lives of your clients through your coaching sessions. Through stories, exercises, and techniques, you can widen the entry point to meditation in ways that are comfortable, practical, and non-intimidating.

The results? Clarity, focus, and the ability to tap into your intuition, inside and outside of a coaching session.

About Marina Spence:

Marina Spence founded The Pink Edge in 2007 to help women discover the joys and rewards of finding the right career. Her book, Make Every Day a Friday!, was released in 2009.

Road tested during Marina’s own years in the aggressive, fast-paced atmosphere of Wall Street, Make Every Day a Friday! has helped women navigate the intimidating and unsettling process of connecting who they are with what they do.

Marina grew up in the Central Valley of California, where she plunged into her first job—babysitting, followed by work in the fields. Since then, she has been a social worker, computer programmer, software project manager, and consultant for corporations like Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Chase. She won professional accolades for her work with the New York City chapter of the Project Management Institute.

Marina’s unique, holistic approach can help you discover the power of your inner self. She has over 25 years experience with the #1 stress-buster, meditation, a foundation for discovering the deepest potentials of who we are and where we fit into the world.

Marina recently returned to technology project management, after re-applying the techniques from her book to herself. She now lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Find more here:

www.makeeverydayafriday.com
www.pinkedge.com

Tuesday, June 16th
Time: 2:00 – 3:00pm Eastern Time

Guest: Vikki Brock, Ph.D., MCC
Host: The Coaching Commons

Topic: Coaching Your Clients to Live Their Active Legacy NOW!

• What is Active Legacy anyway?
• What if my clients are too young for Legacy talk?
• What difference does it make if we have a Legacy?
• What’s relevant about Active Legacy?

Join us @ the Commons to explore coaching our clients around these and many other questions related to life, living and legacy.

About Dr. Brock:

Master Certified Coach (MCC), Dr. Vikki Brock is a skilled coach, consultant, and mentor. She brings the wisdom, experience, and proven processes to move leaders and individuals to higher stages of personal awareness and effectiveness. Employing a multifaceted approach to leadership and individual development, she partners with and respectfully provokes her clients to create authentic strengths-based success from the inside and by their own definition. Vikki’s philosophy: Success Your Way.

Additionally, Vikki is Team Lead of the one-of-a-kind Virtual Museum of Coaching here at The Coaching Commons. Based on interviews about the evolution of coaching with over 175 coaching influencers’ she also contributes mightily to our Coaching Hall of Fame. Though some may consider ‘The History of Coaching’ a dry topic, Vikki believes ‘the roots determine the fruits’ and promises the museum won’t be a stuffy place.

Vikki is also the only executive and leadership coach we know who supports clients from a 50 foot sailboat named Cuidado, moored in Ventura, California.

Thursday, April 30th, 2009
Time: 12:00 noon- 1:00pm Eastern Time

Guest: Deborah Brown-Volkman, PCC

Host: The Coaching Commons

Topic: Helping Your Clients Find Their Transferable Skills

The concept of transferable skills is important for job seekers in today’s economy. In your resume, cover letter, and during the interview process, you need to prove that you have the experience, knowledge, passion, and drive to get the job done.

How you explain to potential employers what you’ve done up to this point, depends on what you want to do next.

If you have been doing the same job for years, and plan to stay in a similar position, or identical industry, your present skills are what you showcase to employers. If you are looking to switch industries or take a different position than the one you have now, you will have to show potential employers why you are the best candidate and the best match for the position.

Transferable skills are the skills you have acquired up to this point in your life that can help you do something else in your career. This means your entire life, not just what you have been paid to do.

Join Deborah Brown-Volkman, PCC, veteran career coach and author of 6 best-selling career and business books as she shares her secrets on how she helps her clients find and showcase their transferrable skills so they can find a job in today’s tough economy and job market.

Note: this is a Q&A call. Deborah prefers to find out what’s on your mind and directs the call based on what’s important to you. So, brings lots of questions!

More about Deborah…..

Deborah is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and the President of Surpass Your Dreams, a successful career, life, and mentor coaching company that has been delivering a message of motivation, success, and personal fulfillment since 1998.

She specializes in four areas with emphasis on Career Change, Career Development, Career Effectiveness, Wellness, and Mentor Coaching:

1) Career coaching for Senior Executives, Vice Presidents, and Managers who are looking for new career opportunities or seek to become more productive in their current role.

2) Life coaching and Wellness coaching for those who want to improve other areas of their lives in addition to their career.

3) Start-up and practice building for those who want to make coaching their next career.

4) Writing services for those who want to stand out in their career.

Before becoming a coach, Deborah spent twelve years running sales & marketing programs for Fortune 500 companies and dot.coms. She currently works with a variety of clients including Coaches, CEO’s, Entrepreneurs, Financial Service Executives, Internet Executives, Lawyers, Marketing Executives, MD’s, Partners, Professionals, Senior Executives, Sole Proprietors, Students, Small Business Owners, and Vice Presidents.

Deborah’s extensive education and background:

Graduate of Coach University’s Accredited Coaches Training Program in Business and Personal Coaching

Advanced Training in CoachVille’s Graduate School of Coaching

Founding member of Coachville.com

Member of the International Coach Federation

Member of the East Moriches (NY) Chamber of Commerce

BA in Marketing from Hofstra University

AAS degree in Data Processing from Queensborough Community College

Certificate in Financial Planning from New York University

Professional Background: Financial Services, The Internet, Marketing, Sales Management and Web Technology

Learn even more about Deborah here: http://www.surpassyourdreams.com

As always, please post your thoughts/questions below.

Tuesday, April 21
Time: 7:00 – 8:00pm Eastern

Guest: Lable Braun
Host: The Coaching Commons

Topic: What is the Perfect Question?

In his recent Coaching Commons article, Les Question Dangereux (Dangerous Questions): “Do I Want What I Want?” Lable refers to the brilliant musical “Camelot,” where the three main characters, King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot suffer the tragic consequences of desperately wanting what they do not really want.

Wanting what they did not really want was the root of these characters’ tragedy. Wanting what we do not really want is the root of all tragedy.

The wish that is granted with disastrous results is a common motif in the traditional stories of humankind. (For a whimsical take on this motif, you might enjoy my story “The Post-Modern Genie.” The Universe is an immense, benevolent Genie. When we ask for something with all our mind, all our heart, all our focus, the Universe will see to it that we get what we wish for. That is why it is crucial that we wish for only what we truly want.

Coaching is the most powerful instrument available today for creating wishes, intention, and focus. The Coach guides the Client in formulating the Quest-ions that will form the template for the Universe’s response to the Client’s wishes. That is an immense, and dangerous, responsibility. Wrong questions will result in the client wanting what they do not really want. Wrong questions can result in tragedy.

In my book, “In Case of Emergency, Ask Questions,” I go back two millennia to find the sources of “The Perfect Question,” the one question that must form the root for any question tree that will result in wanting what we really want. This Perfect Question is an indispensable tool for Coaches as we help our Clients navigate the dangerous terrain of their lives.

Please join Lable for a rich Uncommon Conversation on “The Perfect Question.”

About Lable:

Lable Braun currently pretends to be the Director of Organizational Development for Dialogic. In the past he has also pretended to be a business executive supporting large consulting services organizations. In the more distant past, he has pretended to be a certified Project Management Professional.

Lable is a story-teller, philosophical-mystic, and tarot-reader with a strong pragmatic streak that he has been unsuccessfully trying to deal with for five-and-a-half decades. He just cannot seem to rid himself of the delusion that the Universe ought to make sense.

Lable studied Psychology and Classical Literature at Brooklyn College and has prized his front-row seat to the Human Comedy ever since. He resides in New Jersey with his wonderful wife Virginia and is very proud of the human-beings that his grown daughters Pesi and Leyot have become.

As always, if you can’t attend live, post your thoughts/questions below.

Wednesday April 8th

Time: 12 noon – 1pm Eastern Time

Guest: Michael Bungay Stanier
Host: The Coaching Commons

Topic: Three Ways to Help You & Your Clients Find Their Great Work!

Coaching has many definitions. One might be: Helping people do more Great Work and less Good Work.

In this practical, interactive and fun teleclass, we’ll cover three exercises you can use immediately with your clients (and on yourself) to help you do more Great Work.

This teleclass is based on Michael Bungay Stanier’s latest book, “Find Your Great Work.” FYGW has been endorsed by such coaching heavy-weights as Marshall Goldsmith, Andrea Lee, Marcia Wieder and seven Past Presidents of the ICF.

David Allen, author of Getting Things Done says: “If I had to pick a person to have dinner with, when I need to be prodded and challenged and inspired to think about the things I really am committed to think about for myself and what I’m doing, I’d pick Michael Bungay Stanier. He has an ability to shake our tree and make us more conscious and responsible about what we know but aren’t willing to admit we know yet. And the best part – he makes it easy and fun.”

More about our Guest:

Michael Bungay Stanier is the founder and Senior Partner of Box of Crayons, a company that helps organizations do less Good Work and more Great Work. He is Australian. And Canadian. And British. And has lived and worked in all of these countries, as well as in the United States.

He has spoken at numerous coach conferences, including three ICF Conferences. He has created three viral movies, including The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun, which have been seen by millions of people around the world. He was a Rhodes Scholar and the 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year.

Michael can be found here:

=> *Find Your Great Work* – his latest book – available in January.
http://www.FindYourGreatWork.com

=> For organizations wanting more Great Work and less Good Work:
http://www.BoxOfCrayons.biz

=> For inspiring and powerful keynotes and workshops:
http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/professional-keynote-speaker.php

=> For The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun:
http://www.PossibilityVirus.com

As always, please post your thoughts/questions below.