The first Chinese book composed with the spirit of IAC Coaching Masteries® was born last month!
Led by Coach Bonnie Chan (IAC- CC), the IAC Hong Kong Chapter meets monthly to share and exchange ideas about the applications of coaching in life and work. With fresh fruit juice or coffee and pieces of sweet cakes, everyone feels thrilled and energised upon leaving. In our gathering in October 2009, the idea of writing a coaching book was initiated in this atmosphere.
The book was a co-creation by seven coaches in Hong Kong who have different specialties. Each of the nine chapters in the book is a personal story of one coach, showing his or her path of learning and experiencing coaching, as it manifests the spirit of one particular IAC Coaching Mastery. The authentic sharing is a lively demonstration of how the Masteries are applied in our lives, with the hope that the reader will resonate with the reading.. Each chapter also includes some suggested questions about that Mastery and somes examples of real life learning to support the reader's digestion and application.
Through the process of writing this book together, we experienced a strong trust, openness, respect, acceptance, appreciation and support within our team, which in itself demonstrates the strong power of coaching. During one stimulating process of brainstorming, we created this poem:
Life is like an onion,
As we peel we weep
The more we peel the more our true beauty reveals,
Like flowers in full blossom celebrating each and every word of good news.
We found that the process of peeling an onion resembles that of coaching, as the coachee discovers and reveals more and more about his or her life, and by the end experiences healthy benefits for their development.
The book launch party was held in May with great success. Guests had a very special time sharing the joy of the birth of the book, as well as learning more about the Masteries through funny interactive games. What was most inspiring was that the participants sensed the positive energy and creative spirit of the coaches, which prompted them to want to understand more about coaching. It is so exciting to hear that our readers feel motivated and energised after reading a few chapters, as they shared in the forum: www.facebook.com/OnionCoach.
According to Bob Tschannen-Moran, the President of IAC, "The book is a treasure both for professional coaches seeking to improve our practice and for anyone who is seeking to unleash and actualize their own potential in life and work."
We had a common goal in writing this book: the hope that our authentic stories would call for more people to join our journey and actualize our dreams of "one person, one coach." We do hope that the book will be translated into many languages and widely read.
We would also like to take this chance to express our gratitude to IAC President Bob Tschannen-Moran and Past-President Angela Spaxman, who supported us by writing the preface of the book.
Karen Au is a Consultant in Corporate Training and a Personal Development Coach, dedicated to supporting people to excel and thrive in their personal and professional lives. One of her lifelong missions is to build the culture of collaboration and appreciation in every organization. You may contact her at karen@apexinstitute.com.
