Matthew’s Blog

August Letter From the MCA President
Daymakers ~ Remembering the forgotten ~ Abundance

August is proving to be a full month: full of promise, opportunities, activities, and full of Friends & Ideas.

I’ve been moving and zig zagging the past two weeks while I return to my grounding in the interconnections between spirituality and sustainable business.   As many of you know, I came to professional coaching out of a decision not to go into seminary and not to go after an MBA which had both been charted for some time.   My role, it seems, is to integrate the two – spirituality and business. 

I spent last weekend at Clare’s Well, a spiritual farm retreat in Annondale MN run by three Sisters of St. Francis.   Lovely place and people.  While there I made ample use of the two labyrinths they have cut into the prairie overlooking the pond.  With a labyrinth it is often powerful if you ask yourself a question on your journey. For me it was “What have I forgotten?”  It all started to weave back in, the interconnectedness, the spiritual, the sustainability.  I felt refreshed and clean. 

I feel very blessed to have friends and colleagues who inspire me and reach out for me when they sense I need it.  Four did so last week as I re-awoke from my cleanse.  Now was time for people.  Now was time to remember.   Thursday evening brought that home to me.  I had the fortune of spending quality time with the leaders of the Thought Leader Gathering at George Johnson’s house on Lake Elmo.  

This month’s Thought Leader Gathering conversation starter was David Wagner, founder of Juut Salon and author of Life as a Daymaker: How to change the world by making someone’s day.  David invited and challenged us all to consistently live each moment as a great opportunity to open up to life and love.  He speaks from the heart and lives and breathes the role of Daymaker in the world.  He said, “You may be the only angel someone meets today.” 

Wow – what a powerful thought.   It make me reflect on when I first started networking as a coach and I shocked people and entranced them when I said, “Hi, my name is Matthew Rochte and I am in the business of freeing people’s lives.”   I am inspired by that notion again and realize that I still do that, AND I have evolved it to being about freeing companies to live with soul.  I am a lifemaker, a daymaker, a momentmaker and spiritmaker?

George summed it all up when he quoted a book he has been reading by Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind when he talks about the questions we need to be asking our selves in the new frontiers of business.  I think it applies to my work, your work, and our work as a community of change agents and catalysts:

“What am I doing to satisfy the non-materialistic, transcendent desires of an abundant age?”

That is what I am up to – answering that question, living that question, bringing forth this idea in companies, being a moment maker, being a daymaker, being a life-maker – What about you?

Matthew Egan Rochte ~ MCA President 2005

At the last few Minnesota Coaches Association meetings I have been sharing with people the new definition of coaching that I am using.  Almost everyone has wanted a copy of what I said so I am including it here with a little background.   I did not invent this definition.  Dave Buck of Coachville did last Fall.  Most of the definitions that I have seen, including Coachville’s are several sentences if not paragraphs long.   Dave Buck set out to create a new, clear, concise, and provocative definition for coaching that reinvents our understanding of what a coach is. 

Coaching is inspiring an individual or a team to produce a desired result;
through personalized teaching, expanding awareness, and designing environments.

Myth number One of Dave Buck’s “10 Myths About Coaching” series is that Coaches don’t know how to market themselves.   Dave remarks that at the core of the issue is not that that they don’t know how to market, which may also be true, but rather it is the fact that the industry and therefore coaches do not truly know what coaching is.   As an industry, we don’t have a clear and concise definition of what coaching is. 

I really like this definition.  I think it truly speaks to what masterful coaching is about.  I feel where this definition really excels is in the trilogy of method.  1)Personalized Teaching 2)Expanding Awareness, and 3)Designing Environments.   It is these three elements together that distinguish us from every other “similar” profession who use one or two of these elements but not all three simultaneous and great coaches do.

I have had several people comment and express curiosity about different aspects of the definition that challenged them. 

#1 was with the word “inspire” –I want you to think about your favorite coach, what makes you want to work with them.  Do they inspire you?  This definition sets the bar higher for everyone.  What if we as coaches really do inspire our clients – what then is possible?

#2 was with the concept of “personalized teaching” – This is at the core what I personally think coaching is about.  Julio Olalla speaks of coaching as being in the domain of learning.

#3 “designing environments”  - If you really want to make changes last and have the desired results we need to look at, enhance, refine, and design the environments in which the change is occurring everything from the physical dimension to the emotional environments.  If you don’t effect a change in the environment the likelihood of regression is great.

To read more and to see Dave’s comments about the elements go to

http://www.cvcommunity.com/utility/showArticle/?ObjectID=1807

Try applying this definition to your coaching today.  What would change if you started coaching from this definition?

Matthew Egan Rochte ~ MCA President 2005

May MCA President’s Letter
Credibility gap – Coaches Without Their Own Coaches.

To continue the discussion about credibility in coaching provoked by Richard Leider’s comments (see April Catalyst) I want to discuss something I am passionate about.   I strongly believe that coaches should have their own fully paid coaches.  

Last year I shocked the Fast Company Coaching SIG that I was hosting by publicly rejecting an offer to do buddy coaching with a coach who didn’t have a coach nor want to pay for one.

What does this say about you?  What are we saying about our profession when we are not willing to pay for coaching ourselves. 

You only evolve to the level of the community you associate with.

Do you want to evolve as a coach?  Do you want to get better, sharper, cleaner, more masterful, have a sustainable practice?  

I have moved away from buddy coaching and moved into hiring coaches outright if I value their work and vice versa. It is an issue of industry and personal integrity. Do I value the profession enough to pay for it myself? Last year I worked with and paid for four coaches concurrently (yes you read that correctly) in addition to working with peer coaches in the Arbinger Network.        

I am not saying peer coaching is a bad thing, I actually have two peer networks from whom I get coaching regularly (Arbinger & Corvus Enterprises).   I would actually encourage you to have peer coaches to help you get better.  Though peer coaching alone is not sufficient if this is your profession.

Don’t you want to become the best coach you can be? 

Go hire a coach or three to help you be just that.  Hire a coach that will get you there, that will stretch you, that will take you into a new level of thought, that will elevate the community you associate with. 

If you wish to discuss a coaching or mentor coaching relationship with me, I am open to that just don’t ask to be my buddy coach.   My favorite clients are business owners creating sustainable businesses and second seasoned coaches who want to get at the soul and art of what coaching is. In the case of the coaches, I get both my favorites in one..

I let people know who my coaches are on my website.  How about you?

http://www.workingintentionally.com/matthewcoaches.htm

Matthew Rochte

MCA President

Dick Leider during the question and answer period of the program was asked about how he would select someone to recommend as a coach. What credentials would he look for? After very deliberate reflection he responded with two key components and several other adjunct criterion. I loved his response.

1. Show me you statement of ethics
2. What is your anthropology of coaching?
3. Organizational Grounding (to work in businesses, corporations or with executives)
4. Belong to a coaching organization
5. Credentialling & Specialties (Niches) & credentialing in those niches
6. You must have a coach yourself

It is on the first two and the last that hold the most juice for me and as such have been the topic of many conversations in the past three weeks.

What is your personal code of ethics? What about your professional Code of Ethics? Is it stated in every introductory packet and in your literature? Having served on the ICF Ethics and Standards Committee for over two years I can tell you how important it is to not only have a code of ethics but to know them and follow them. A code of ethics makes questionable actions really clear and provides a clear choice for decision making outside the heat of the issue. Both the ICF and the IAC have strong Ethical Code for its members. The ICF code is annually revisited and honed to be a stronger tool and educational instrument. If you are a member of either organization you are required by the membership and certification agreements to abide by those codes and keep abreast of their updates. For example the ICF Board just approved a new code on 1/22/2005. As an ICF or IAC member you will be held accountable to that code of ethical conduct.

http://www.coachfederation.org/ethics
http://www.certifiedcoach.org/ethics.html

Second comment was the idea of having a personal anthropology of coaching. What is your view of the nature of human beings? What is your view of the nature of coaching? Where has it come from and where is it going? Have you asked yourself the big questions?

So ask yourself what are the 7 or 10 statements that reflect my anthropology of coaching? What do I believe about coaching? It is important to not to just repeat what your coaching school taught you, but rather truly understand and investigate the nature of what you are saying. What is your point of view? Dick Leider (and Dave Buck & Thomas Leonard) would argue that great minds and leaders have a point of view. As coaches we are leaders - We inspire people. What is your point of view?

Third - You must have a coach yourself. This will be my topic in the May Catalyst.

What powerful programs we bring to the Minnesota Coaches Association. I am so proud and delighted by the strength of this community, its leadership and its members. Together we are learning and by a direct result of our learning, changing the world.

What an amazing community we are.  Two years ago George Johnson set forth a vision where Minnesota Coaches are living and working their passion.  It is a vision where everyone in Minnesota knows what a coach is and knows that the Minnesota Coaches Association is the place to go to find a coach, be with coaches, learn about coaching, and expand what it means to be a coach.   We are well on the way, just take a look at George’s 2004 summary.   We have a lot to be proud of and excited about.

The MCA is now one of the largest regional coach associations in the world.  We have a powerful energy here.  We have all been drawn to this place.  Minnesota is a nexus, a convergence, of ideas, people, and energy.  Born of the frontier, survived by community and grown by ingenuity and passion for what is possible. This is our legacy and our future.   What shall we make of it?

Here’s what I see and what I want for the coaches in the MCA.  I want every coach in Minnesota to become engaged and involved with the Minnesota Coaches Association.  I want to tap into the power and wisdom of all those coaches who have yet to see and experience the awesome work that we are all doing together.  I want to hear your voice.  I want to revel in your experience.  I want to help you share your gifts in exile with the world.  Together we can become an even stronger and progressive community for coaching and the world.

What is your dream this year for the MCA?  What is possible?  What do we want to create?

Let’s go beyond wanting - Let’s create it together!
We create our reality. 
Set the intention.
Tap into the ultimate source and make it intimate.

To that end, I want to make myself and the board as accessible as reasonably possible.  Talk to us.  Use us.  Connect with us and we will do the same with you.  All of our names are listed in every Catalyst and our photos accompany our names on the website so that you can easily identify and talk with us.  Share with us. Let us know you ideas, dreams, concerns, desires.  We will be conducting surveys this Winter/Spring, however surveys only tell us so much.  

What would you love to see come to play?
What gift will you share with me, with us, with the world?
Where can we step forward?
How can you become the best in your own life?
How can you become the kindest person that you know?

Along with the questions above, I enter the new year with more questions as well.  What is possible?  In service of what? Will the MCA choose to become an ICF chartered chapter?  Do we see coaching as bigger than how the ICF defines is? What role do we want to play in the shaping of the coaching industry? What would a business coaching program look like for the MCA?  What needs are similar/different than mixed personal/business coaching meetings? What do we want our legacy to be?

President Elect’s Message:

Let’s Change Our Language to "People who hold a different worldview than my own"

I have been having several conversations lately with coaches, friends, colleagues, and others who angry, confused, frustrated, lost with respect to the results of the November Election.

The Spiral Dynamics program at ICF sparked something in me with respect to how to deal with the election fallout. Basically it said that if we keep approaching the issue the same way that we have been we are not going to get anywhere. What is the definition of crazy? - doing the same thing over and over again expecting it to be different.

So what new paradigm do we need to adopt in order for us to stop, re-engage, learn, and move forward?

Upon my return to the U.S. I realized that the discussion was framed in mono-syllabic labels - RED vs. BLUE. I actually had people coming up to me and asking if I knew any RED people. This same discussion was going on in reverse by the way since I seem to float between both camps in my life.

Wait a minute~ You do not even see them as people. They are objects in your life that you need to convert to YOUR WAY OF THINKING. You do not see them as human beings with needs, wants, and desires in life just like yourself. Only as the enemy, the other, the democrats, the republicans, the reds or the blues. You prefer to dehumanize them in order for you not have to confront your own potential errors in thinking, because only people (people like us that is) have the right to do that. YIKES!!!!

What if we change our language!? What if we address the humanity of the situation? These people who we want to understand, we have to first acknowledge and see as people before we get anywhere.

Instead of saying RED or BLUE. What comes up for you when you say "People who hold a different worldview than my own?" YES, I know, 13 syllables, it is a mouthful, AND it is respectful of the person and acknowledges their right to hold and have a view different than my own. This does not say that one is better than the other. This does address that their can be another way of seeing things. This does acknowledge the gap and what the gap is between these two cultures. When you can identify the gap, you can start addressing what is going on - really!

What is the conversation you really want to have?

Overwhelmingly I hear people are confused and they want to understand. What about you?

~Matthew Rochte, President Elect 2004

Thank you or your incredible support for the Global Seasoned Coaches Cafe that I did with Karen Kimsey-House and Shirzad Chamine. It was a pleasure to convene, a great turnout, and a bold step for the ICF to take. Shirzad, Karen & I were quite pleased with the level of conversation and the provocative directions that people want to take themselves, the community and the ICF.

So many people asked for more information about the findings. I have summarized the findings from the cafe and made them available on the SeasonedCoachesCircles.com website. I hope that the community, the individual coaches, and the ICF leadership will heed the findings and incorporate them into their thinking and understanding of our community. We closed the program - Take this conversation to the streets.

I look forward to MCA’s Seasoned Coaches Circle first meeting on Nov 30th.

The SeasonedCoachesCircles.com website is to inform and be a resource for using the conversation circle to engage the seasoned coaches in our communities. If you have any comments or suggestions about the site or the findings, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Matthew Rochte