Category: Resources
Choosing a Coach Training Program
My path into a coach training program Eight years ago I found myself entering a life transition. Up to this point I was making a living as a technical consultant, working just enough to stay financially stable, while I devoted the majority of my time to nonprofit work. Specifically, I was part of organizations that worked…
Responding to Our Times, Part 1
Become a Life Coach and an Integral Coach
As Director of Enrollment at New Ventures West, a question I am often asked is, “Is this a training to become a life coach or is it a training to become an executive coach?” My answer is “yes … and no.” Many people approach our training with the intention to become a life coach or…
Work-Life Balance: Setting Boundaries from Within
Work-life balance and boundaries In a world that’s becoming faster paced by the minute, work-life balance is a hot topic. In particular, we talk a lot about boundaries: recognizing we need them, developing the competency to assert them (usually by saying “no”), and vigilantly maintaining them so that we’re not overextending and neglecting what is…
Death and Spirituality
Death is not something we like to think about, talk about or face up to. And yet the truth of our mortal condition is always lurking just outside of our thoughts, conversations and awareness. As human beings, we know that we will die and that we have no control over when or how. When I…
How We Make Humans Into Monsters
As our culture becomes more polarized, it becomes more tempting to label those who disagree with us as “monsters.” But what do we really mean when we say someone is being monstrous? And how willing are we to see our own monstrous tendencies? To explore this, I’m going to go where monsters originally came from:…
We Have to Find a Way to Love Our Brokenness
We have to find a way to love our brokenness No, not loving ourselves in spite of our failings But loving the brokenness itself We have to love all the ways we’re late And all the ways we missed the point We have to love that we were scared And that we were ashamed to say it We have to love that…
Navigating Complex Systems
Do One Thing
In the days since the US presidential election, I’ve been overwhelmed by emotions and information. My social media feeds are filled with calls to action—invitations to meet, make phone calls, donate money, write postcards, march in the streets. Others’ words have comforted and challenged and saddened and filled me, yet I have had difficulty finding…
Waking from Busyness
Bringing Emotional Intelligence into Balance
There is no denying that the world could use a booster shot of Emotional Intelligence (EQ): greater ability to read the emotional states of others, more awareness of our own inner states and how our behavior is viewed by and affects others, more emotional fluidity… Please, bring it on! Of course, the way things seem…
Intersection of Family and Philosophy
Bringing the Wisdom of the Heart into Coaching
James was interviewed recently by Joel Monk, co-founder of Coaches Rising. This interview one of a series leading up to the Coaches Rising Summit, a month-long online seminar featuring many lumiaries in the coaching field including Otto Scharmer, Jennifer Garvey Berger, Richard Strozzi-Heckler, James, and others. This half-hour interview covers: Why relating to our clients as…
The Joy of Direct Experience
I was taking advantage of the long summer days to catch up on some much-needed gardening when I found the book. The Cichlid Aquarium had been in our garage since my husband and I had moved in 13 years ago, weathering all the extremes Michigan could conjure, including two of the worst Midwestern winters on record. Yet,…
No One Is An Island
How Yoga Aids Coaching, Healing, and Growth
Yoga is my lifeline. It serves my body through asana, keeps me mentally sane and quiets my heart. If I want to hold others as a coach, supervisor and mentor—which is what I love doing—I must know how to hold myself, staying safe, centered and grounded, so I can be completely available to the one…
7 “Easy” Steps
There are so many books and programs out there that are based on “steps to success” for whatever you want to achieve: being a good parent, being happy, having a great relationship, being loved and admired. Just give me the steps to follow so that I can [fill in the blank]. What is it in…
Coaching and Social Justice
The Light of Something Not Fully Born
Recently I have been noticing my hesitation towards joy. We all have this to some degree. It’s the belief that joy is something to be defended against because it can so easily be taken away. I often feel a false sense of power in assuming the worst or lowering my expectations until my hope is…
Touching worlds
I am most delighted, Your gracious presence In my garden just now, Filling this space with me, Drawing my beating heart to yours, Connecting our often fragile worlds, In this hallowed moment. As you touch my world, Effervescent with bird-song And bird-flutter, The world of connection, Between you and me, The world as it should…