Facilitator : Coach Katherine Lo
Date and Time : 13th Jul, 2010 (Tue) 7:00-8:30pm 
Place : Queens Cafe (Cake Shop), LG2 - shop 27, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong. (one level above TASTE supermarket and walk to the end of LG2, next to Dan Ryan)

Fee : Free
Language : Cantonese

RSVP :  email to gm@coachlite.com  

IAC HK Chapter is an IAC members self-initiated group for learning the IAC Coaching Masteries together and purposely to advance coaching to the highest standards of universal excellence through an environmental support from each others.  The Chapter meeting is run in a casual cafe gathering.  Each time we have a theme led by one of the members.  We take turn to contribute by leading different theme in each meeting.  In long term, we would like to develope the meeting in to a more formal setting if we can get sponsorship on the venue.

Thanks to the diligent efforts of Kerul Kassel, IAC Member Benefits Coordinator, three new benefits have recently been added. Please visit for more details about the offers from Bulls Eye Coaching, OnCoach and the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations.

During the past month, the BOG regretfully accepted the resignation of Yoram Gordon and Bonnie Chan. Yoram was an active member of the Strategy Committee, and Bonnie had graciously continued on the BOG past the end of her term in order to support the translation of the Masteries as well as many other projects. Past President, Angela Spaxman, said this about Bonnie:

I've known Bonnie since the early 2000s when she first got interested in coaching and very quickly began to make her leadership felt in Hong Kong. Bonnie has a big vision of coaching, especially in terms of the positive difference it can make in her home country, China. Since joining the IAC Board of Governors in 2007, Bonnie has made a huge contribution through her energy, initiative, creativity and focus. She has been instrumental in many projects, although she is always very modest about her contributions. She created systems and teams to deliver quality translations of the Masteries and the online exam into key languages. She formed leadership teams for several IAC Chapters in Asia and built supportive connections between them. She was the vision and driving force behind the IAC's first conference held in Shanghai earlier this year. She continues to contribute to the IAC Certification Board, especially in their efforts to bring the benefits of certification to different language groups.

I'm sure that we'll continue to see Bonnie's influence, not only through the legacy she has created already, but perhaps in even bigger ways! I'm very grateful to know that she is always working her magic towards our common goals.

We expect to roll out many aspects of the Strategic Plan by September; Bob, Joan, Angela, Susan and volunteer Aileen Gibb continue to work on the implementation process. There are great volunteer opportunities to be had as the IAC grows, such as the Membership Committee, Licensing Committee, Communications Committee or Volunteer Committee. Or you can contact Kristie Arndt at kristiarndt@yahoo.com to suggest your own special area of interest.

 
Susan R. Meyer, IAC-CC is President of Susan R. Meyer, Coaching and Consulting and of Life-Work Coach. She provides personal and executive coaching and facilitates seminars on topics including life planning, emotional intelligence, leadership development, communication, and coaching skills for managers. www.susanrmeyer.com.

Title: Intuition and Curiosity

Date: Wednesday, 26th May, 2010

Time: 6:45-8:30pm

Place: The Executive Center, 3/F Pacific Place III, 1 Queen's Road East

Language: Cantonese

Fee: FREE for HKICC members and HK$100 for non-HKICC members.

http://www.coachinghk.com/announcements/20100526.htm

The 2010 Shanghai Coaching Conference, "The Centre of Coaching in China: Advancing to International Excellence," was a great success. Hosted by the IAC Shanghai Chapter, the event took place on Friday, 19 March 2010 at the Grand Mercure Hotel.

The 101 participants included coaches, executives, educators, trainers and human resource professionals. Most were from Shanghai, in addition to attendees from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia and Japan. Our Keynote Speaker Natalie Tucker Miller flew in from the US especially for this event.

The conference began with a panel discussion, "The Role and Impact of Coaching for Individuals and Corporations in China," facilitated by Angela Spaxman, Past President of IAC (pictured above). Out of the discussion, some insights emerged regarding coaching Chinese people in China. Culturally, coaching is from the US. When putting coaching into the context of Chinese society, it is worthwhile to note a couple of things. First of all, building rapport and trust may take a few sessions before a Chinese client opens up. Further, Chinese people are non-confrontational; they do not open up when challenged.

The group discussed desirable applications for coaching Chinese people in China, including parent coaching to support parents and parents-to be, in addition to coaching for young children to support their development as they grow. With regard to corporate clients in China, they would evaluate a coach in terms of their qualification, their integrity and their passion as a coach.

After the panel discussion, a choice of concurrent sessions was offered, including "The Essentials of a Masterful Coach," "A New Map for a New Age--Corporate Coaching Culture," "Roadmap to Becoming a Professional Coach" and "Successful Executive Coaching Model in Japan."

As an introductory exploration of professional coaching and coaching in China, the 2010 Shanghai Coaching Conference was very well-received. Many participants enjoyed the conference tremendously, finding it a wonderful opportunity for sharing and exchanging. Many were inspired by it, as seen by the birth of various initiatives:

* Experienced coaches from Hong Kong and Taiwan are committed to go for their IAC and ICF certifications.

* Ms. Bonnie Chan, an IAC-Certified Coach, will be going to Shanghai regularly to give small group talks, and to participate in exchanges about coaching and IAC masteries.

* Highly experienced coaches started a dialogue towards organizing a coaching reflection retreat in a nature-connected venue.

* A trainer will explore a practical coaching approach for his clients' companies.

* A participant has committed to become a parenting coach.

* On April 12, 2010, Mr. Jiang Yu succeeded Bonnie Chan as the new President of the IAC Shanghai Chapter (http://www.certifiedcoach.org/chapters/chapters.html#China) . He invites conference participants to contact him for further conversation about the topics discussed.

* Participants have formed their own interest groups from the conference.

* Ms. Natalie Tucker, IAC Certified Coach and Lead Certifier from the US, expressed that there are more similarities than differences between coaching in the US and Asia. There were also discussions as to how the IAC can support the development of coaching in Asia.

Thanks to the precious time and efforts of many volunteers, in particular from the IAC Shanghai Chapter, for making the Shanghai Coaching Conference a successful event, from which many initiatives begin.

Susie Li, Career Coach, supports her clients to identify their unique personal qualities and leverage them in a suitable career and organization, so that they thrive in a career they love.

Comment Now

IAC has completed her study on and formulation for her new strategy after a more than 10-month period of time.  It is a strategy plan prepared by listening to IAC members, certified coaches, chapter presidents, Masteries Licensees and the Board of Governor members.  There are thrilled and insightful value added to IAC's  existing direction.  Coach Bonnie likes to use the chapter meeting to share this document with IAC members. 

Facilitator : Coach Bonnie, IAC-CC
Date and Time : 11th May, 2010 (Tue) 7:00-8:30pm 
Place : Queens Cafe (Cake Shop), LG2 - shop 27, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong. (one level above TASTE supermarket and walk to the end of LG2, next to Dan Ryan)

Fee : Free
Language : Cantonese

RSVP :  email to gm@coachlite.com  

IAC HK Chapter is an IAC members self-initiated group for learning the IAC Coaching Masteries together and purposely to advance coaching to the highest standards of universal excellence through an environmental support from each others.  The Chapter meeting is run in a casual cafe gathering.  Each time we have a theme led by one of the members.  We take turn to contribute by leading different theme in each meeting.  In long term, we would like to develope the meeting in to a more formal setting if we can get sponsorship on the venue.

Certify? Depends On Who You Ask

By Adam Piore

How important is it to get a professional coaching certification? The answer depends on who you speak with.

A 2009 Harvard Business Review survey of 140 leading coaches found opinion evenly split on the importance of getting certified, with 29.2 percent finding it "very necessary," while 28.5 percent found it "not necessary at all."

But there's a growing consensus among coaches that training and accreditation will only increase in importance as the field matures--especially in the field of executive coaching. 

About 76 percent of corporate human resources professionals and coaching clients said that formal training and certification is either "very important" or "absolutely essential," up from 62 percent three years ago, according to the Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey, now in its fifth year. Only about 10 percent of clients said certification is "not necessary."

Natalie Tucker Miller, lead certifier for the International Association of Coaching, and Dean of Students at the School of Coaching Mastery, acknowledged that some veteran coaches have been able to flourish without certification. But for new entrants to the field, certification is becoming essential. The real benefit, she argues, is that certification "encourages coaching mastery."

 "It's about high standards," Miller says. "Anyone can call themselves a coach right now. There are many people out there that are not coaching-they are just giving people advice. You can go to your grandmother for that. People don't want advice. If coaching is really going to be the catalyst for personal transformation - which is what coaching is really about - then standards need to be high regardless of certification."
 
So where to look for the certification and coaching mastery?

The options can seem overwhelming: there are literally hundreds of coaching schools and scores of different certifications.  Requirements and tuitions differ widely.

The International Coach Federation (ICF), is one place to start. About 20 percent of HR professionals in the Sherpa Executive Coaching Survey who had a preference on coaching certifications put ICF certification at the top of their list (about equal with university-based training). And ICF-certified programs are by far the most favored certification route for life coaches themselves, according to the Sherpa study. About 44 percent of executive coaches prefer it to all other programs.

With 16,600 members, the ICF offers a web portal to schools it has accredited to teach core areas of coaching mastery, which coaches are also required to learn before obtaining an ICF credential.

Among the areas those accredited schools must cover:
• ethics and professional standards
• establishing trust and intimacy with a client
• active listening
• powerful questioning
• creating awareness
• planning and goal setting
• managing progress
• accountability

Ann Jarvis, ICF's marketing manager, estimates that the tuition of ICF-certified schools range from $4,000 to $11,000 (depending on whether the programs are remote or face to face) and on their length. Some programs run up to two years, while others are condensed.

Once a student completes a course, they can apply for one of the three different types of ICF credentials to signify various levels of coaching mastery, ranging from 100 coaching hours and eight clients for the Associate Certified Coach, to 2500 hours and 35 clients for a Masters Certified Coach.

The International Association of Coaching (IAC) , offers an alternative credential with more flexibility. It uses two measures to assess whether or not coaches meet their standards, an online exam and two 30-minute recordings of the applicant coaching two different clients that clearly demonstrate their skills.

"Since coaching itself celebrates innovation and change," Angela Spaxman, IAC's immediate past president, explains, "it is very appropriate for coaching associations to use progressive certifications that take a fresh look at the purpose of certification."

Though IAC's standards mirror ICF's MCC level, the certification can be obtained quicker, since there is no requirement for coaching hours, Spaxman says.

IAC may have another advantage: price.

The certification fees are $35 for Part 1 and $350 for Part 2, plus annual membership fees of $129. Spaxman says it's "possible for an experienced person with a clear idea of what coaching is and with very strong coaching communication skills, to pass the certification with a few months of part-time effort."

"However, most people take many years to learn to perform coaching to the required standard," she adds.

For those who choose to forgo or supplement ICF or IAC certifications with educational credentials, there are plenty of coaching schools available.

About the Author

Adam Piore is a former editor and writer at Newsweek Magazine and Readers Digest. Over the course of his career, he's covered Congress, the 9-11 attacks, travelled to Iraq, and worked with students as an adjunct instructor at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and Manhattanville College. While reporting this story, one of the coaches Adam interviewed convinced him to take another look at his adolescent dreams of guitar glory, and integrate music back into his lifestyle. He lives in Nyack with his wife and son.

Source: Coaching Common http://coachingcommons.org/featured/certify-depends-on-who-you-ask/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WelcomeToTheCoachingCommons+%28The+Coaching+Commons%29 

a group of new coaches who has learnt coaching in the HKU Space have interest to join the IAC HK Chapter meeting for networking with coaches and get to know more about the IAC Masteries.  Thanks Fanny Zhang for making this gathering happens.

Facilitator : IAC Member Coaches
Date and Time : 13th Apr, 2010 (Tue) 7:00-8:30pm 
Place : Queens Cafe (Cake Shop), LG2 - shop 27, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong. (one level above TASTE supermarket and walk to the end of LG2, next to Dan Ryan)

Fee : Free
Language : Cantonese

RSVP :  email to gm@coachlite.com  

IAC HK Chapter is an IAC members self-initiated group for learning the IAC Coaching Masteries together and purposely to advance coaching to the highest standards of universal excellence through an environmental support from each others.  The Chapter meeting is run in a casual cafe gathering.  Each time we have a theme led by one of the members.  We take turn to contribute by leading different theme in each meeting.  In long term, we would like to develope the meeting in to a more formal setting if we can get sponsorship on the venue.

Facilitator : Coaches
Date and Time : 10th Feb, 2010 (Wed) 7:00-8:30pm 
Place : Queens Cafe (Cake Shop), LG2 - shop 27, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong. (one level above TASTE supermarket and walk to the end of LG2, next to Dan Ryan)

Fee : Free
Language : Cantonese

RSVP :  email to gm@coachlite.com  

(please note that only for this month we changed the meeting date to Wed.)

IAC HK Chapter is an IAC members self-initiated group for learning the IAC Coaching Masteries together and purposely to advance coaching to the highest standards of universal excellence through an environmental support from each others.  The Chapter meeting is run in a casual cafe gathering.  Each time we have a theme led by one of the members.  We take turn to contribute by leading different theme in each meeting.  In long term, we would like to develope the meeting in to a more formal setting if we can get sponsorship on the venue.

Theme : Publishing a Coaching Book

Facilitator : Coach Bonnie, IAC-CC
Date and Time : 8th Dec 2009 (Tue) 7:00-8:30pm 
Place : Queens Cafe (Cake Shop), LG2 - shop 27, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong. (one level above TASTE supermarket and walk to the end of LG2, next to Dan Ryan)

Fee : Free
Language : Cantonese

RSVP :  email to gm@coachlite.com  

IAC HK Chapter is an IAC members self-initiated group for learning the IAC Coaching Masteries together and purposely to advance coaching to the highest standards of universal excellence through an environmental support from each others.  The Chapter meeting is run in a casual cafe gathering.  Each time we have a theme led by one of the members.  We take turn to contribute by leading different theme in each meeting.  In long term, we would like to develope the meeting in to a more formal setting if we can get sponsorship on the venue.

Please note that only for the Nov meeting, we have moved earlier to Monday.

Theme : Our book is in shape......

Facilitator : Coach Bonnie, IAC-CC
Date and Time : 9th Nov 2009 (Mon) 7:00-8:30pm 
Place : Queens Cafe (Cake Shop), LG2 - shop 27, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong. (one level above TASTE supermarket and walk to the end of LG2, next to Dan Ryan)

Fee : Free
Language : Cantonese

RSVP :  email to gm@coachlite.com  

IAC HK Chapter is an IAC members self-initiated group for learning the IAC Coaching Masteries together and purposely to advance coaching to the highest standards of universal excellence through an environmental support from each others.  The Chapter meeting is run in a casual cafe gathering.  Each time we have a theme led by one of the members.  We take turn to contribute by leading different theme in each meeting.  In long term, we would like to develope the meeting in to a more formal setting if we can get sponsorship on the venue.