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May 9th, 2013
 We’re happy to have Paul Garro, Executive Director of City Year San Antonio, as our guest blogger. A featured speaker for iPEC’s “Dialogue Among Thought Leaders” series, Paul has been successfully serving the educational community for 20+ years. In addition, he’s been a national consultant for “Teaching the Hard to Reach,” and has authored the first of a series of books entitled, “Classrooms of Inspiration.”
So, what builds trust?
For starters, a strong foundation for trust develops when you expose your limitations, own your actions, and admit that you can’t get everything done all by yourself. In fact, vulnerability and humility have the effect of gathering people together to shape meaning and motivate change.
Trust is also built by a demonstration of our values. When leaders stay true to their values, and their actions are aligned with what they say, confidence begins to build in the people they lead. In essence, these leaders develop powerful vulnerability, which translates into demonstrated integrity — one of the very cornerstones for building trust.
In the Corporation for National & Community Service’s study, “Volunteering and Civic Life in America,” participants from various cities across the country were asked to rate their level of trust in their neighborhoods, public schools, corporations, and the media. While neighborhoods and public schools had the highest levels of trust, corporations and the media were shown to have much lower levels, revealing the tremendous opportunity that exists to connect with our communities and become trusted partners.
How do we break down barriers and build bridges in order to capitalize on this opportunity and formulate trust? In other words, how do we creatively form relationships on our way to successfully building trusted community networks?
Being well-versed in your beliefs, and in your craft, allows you to embody your values and develop strategic relationships with the people and organizations within your communities. From these relationships, your academic organization can build a trusted portfolio of business and community network partners.
So, spend some time with a bit of self-reflection on these seemingly simple, yet powerful, questions:
- How well versed am I in who I am?
- How well versed am I in my craft?
To be sure, listening is also key, as is finding the commonality that exists between your organization and those within your community. Be bold and persistent in finding that commonality; it’s the fuel that will spark your ability to build networks of trust.
When you combine these elements together, you’ll also portray a sense of confidence – confidence in your yourself and in your mission. With trust and confidence, and community alignment, you’ll be amazed by what you’ll be able to accomplish together.
Again, powerful vulnerability, that sense that you don’t have all the answers, that you can’t go it alone, is what paves the way for building, and sustaining, these all-important networks of trust. While they help to provide us with the strategic levers necessary to catapult the trajectory of our organization to an entirely new level (e.g., increasing its capacity for change, propelling its growth), perhaps most important of all is our shared ability to deliver a positive social return to our communities.
What do you see as possible within your organization, and across your community, by tapping into your own powerful vulnerability? And, how can you be a disciple in building communities of trust?
Paul Garro
Executive Director
City Year San Antonio
*The image above is an actual painting by Paul Garro, which not only reflects his artistic talents and immense creativity; it’s also a very personal reflection of his heart-centered approach as a servant leader.
Tags: education, iPEC, networks, opportunity, possibilities, trust, vulnerability
Posted in Educational Markets Division, Guest Bloggers, leadership
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June 23rd, 2011
We’re excited to have Erika Wendy Schneider as our guest blogger today. At the ripe, young age of 15, Erika wrote this thoughtful paper on Coaching for one of her classes. Her perspective has no doubt been shaped and influenced by her dad, iPEC’s Founder & Chairman, Bruce D Schneider.
Life Coaching
“Going from functional to optimal [is what it’s about],” declares Deborah Van de Grift, V.P. of iPEC Coaching.
All forms of coaching—personal, business, and life—have been proven to work exceptionally well in the lives of individuals yearning for a chance, a change, and opportunities of various sorts. Coaching has evolved considerably over the years and never fails to impact one’s lifestyle when the client has an open mind and plenty of commitment. The right coach will help the client to a flourishing path using essential keys and building blocks to success.
Life coaching, using infiltrating techniques, indisputable focus, and accountability, is the prime method of moving on from the past, creating and indulging in long term goals, finding one’s purpose, and creating a desirable future.
“[Coaching is] an extraordinary and unique relationship designed to create a significant impact and sustainable results in all areas of a person’s life” (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching).
While therapy and counseling concentrate on the past and how to cope, coaching is designed to assist the client in moving on from the past and looking to the future. Though coaching does recognize the past, as it’s what makes a person who they are in present day, coaching’s aim is for the client to learn from the past and transition from “why did this happen?” to “how can I learn and grow from what happened?”
Therapy aims to heal issues and create a healthy lifestyle and coaching’s focus is to take this concept to the next level, developing a remarkable lifestyle for an already healthy person.The objective is for the client to distinguish the essentiality of having goals and how they could be effectively put to use with the right attitude.
“While consulting is about the consultant delivering the right answers, coaching is about asking the right questions” (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching).
The most important aspect of coaching is the accountability of the client. Depending on the willingness of the client, coaching will prove successful in expanding the capacity in which the client creates solutions for him or herself. The right coach—deciphered by the compatibility of each specific forte the client has—will help the client achieve enhancement of awareness and emotional intelligence while challenging his or her fundamental interpretations, conflicts within their comfort zone, and a perspective that is lacking in some significant way.
The client chooses their own goals, aided and guided by the coach, who, trained professionally into precision, will know just the right moment at the exact time to trigger an epiphany within the client and open up doors that have never been touched upon beforehand. With this, not only will the client find an abundant transition in the way s/he interacts with everyone around him/her, but how he/she sees and defines him or herself.
“My coach awakened me to discover the practical and realistic steps to actually turn my dream into reality,” says Gena Lindquist of Portsmouth, Virginia.
Finding an ideal career and taking full advantage is only one of the many accomplishments one could obtain after the process of working with a coach. In popular cases, clients will initially be reluctant to trust and listen to themselves, and will eventually feel refreshed and self-confident, knowing more about themselves than ever imagined.
Some who question their purpose of existence have found a satisfaction to their itch to discover why, realizing their focus is to live life to the fullest and do anything probable to make themselves known to not only the individuals around them, but themselves as well. They will learn to enjoy, rather than react to life. Clients will learn to acquire a voice, a mind, and a drive to be who they are: outstanding, excellent people ready to begin a brand new and brilliant lifestyle.
“Life coaches assist you to become the World’s Leading Expert on you!” (The Coach Connection).
Finding oneself is arguably the greatest challenge one could face over the course of life. To find themselves, people usually search outside, hoping someone or something will magically give them some answers. Of the many things coaching can do, one of the most powerful is to remind people that they already have the answers within themselves. Coaches empower people to remember those answers and not only find themselves, but see their place, and find their peace, in the world. With empowerment comes confidence, a perceptibly valuable shift within oneself and the ability to define and create an extraordinary life — precisely and appreciably from the core.
Tags: coaching, coaching skills, expectations, life coaching, new perspective, values
Posted in Coaching and Coach Training, Guest Bloggers, leadership
4 Comments »
April 15th, 2011
I’m excited to introduce an important member of the iPEC team, Zackarie (Zack) Lemelle. Zack is the Managing Partner of Corporate Engagement Services here at iPEC.
Zack has more than 35 years of experience working in firms, from start-ups to Fortune 500s. Most recently, he spent 18 years with a major healthcare company, where he served as Global Vice President and Chief Information Officer. He also spent 5 years in Human Resources as the Director of Business Re-engineering.
Additionally, Zack is a Certified Professional Coach, specializing in leadership and business re-engineering. He has spent years working with senior executives and management boards, developing leaders to forge new strategies and relevant operating models in sales, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, information management, human resources, finance, and research and development.
His formidable background and experience enable him to provide the unique expertise of combining coaching with process re-engineering in order to drive transformational change.
As our newest blog contributor, look for Zack to share his vast knowledge, keen insights, and illuminating perspective on employee engagement and its profound impact on job performance, productivity, and the bottom line.
Until then, Live on Fire!
D. Luke Iorio, CPC, PCC, ELI-MP
President & CEO
Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)
Tags: business coach, coach training, opportunity, success
Posted in Business Development, D. Luke Iorio - iPEC CEO, Guest Bloggers, leadership, Zack Lemelle - Corporate Engagement Services
1 Comment »
November 3rd, 2010
By Guest Blogger and iPEC Graduate René Johnson
Lately, I have noticed a trend in speaking with my clients. I’ve been having many conversations around reminding them of the importance of experiencing more joy in the pursuit of their business goals. It may seem obvious that one should experience joy in the pursuit of success. Yet, I often find that entrepreneurs, and yes, even coaches, lose sight of this in the day to day busy-ness of juggling all the many hats they wear. So much so, that it is taken for granted or even seen as a luxury.
Being a passionate, purposeful, and service driven entrepreneur myself, I understand what it is like to have many ideas and plans and to work on many projects and goals at one time, all the while seeing many more things I would like to accomplish. Now some would say being an entrepreneur is hard work and you just need to accept it doesn’t come with a lot of joy, just a lot of sacrifice and work. Honestly, I once fell into this limiting thinking trap too. I started noticing, even though I was working really hard, I wasn’t enjoying what all this hard work was supposed to give me. And I’ll let you in on a secret, it even made me question, am I really suppose to serve, do I really have a gift to give? I knew I have gifts to give and people have benefited. But my emotionally depleted side was full of self-doubt. Crazy, right? Not really.
Without joy, you’ll end up feeling tired, unmotivated, stalled, even resentful and confused of why you are doing all this anyway. The danger here is you could give up on a perfectly good idea and someone who needs your gifts won’t get to benefit from them. You will also be sacrificing in your personal life and lacking self-care and balance, further diminishing the joy necessary to fuel your passions and see them through. This can create a vicious cycle and leave many casualties (the “wish I would have/could have done” kind) in its path.
So how important is joy in your life and work? Very! Besides the emotional benefits, feeling joy affects your productivity level. And being productive is a necessary skill to keep your passions and business alive. Productivity is the ability to produce great results per investment of your energy/time/money. And if productivity is not JOYFUL- it’s not sustainable! So my advice to you is make sure in your daily pursuit of your passions and goals, you make time to stop and experience the joy.
About René Johnson
René Johnson (formally Rioux) is a iPEC graduate. As the owner of Power Zone Coaching, and the author of “Leaving Your Comfort Zone,” René is passionate about helping others take control and achieve their bold goals while experiencing more peace and joy in the process. Her website is www.powerzonecoach.com.
Tags: accomplishment, achievement, business goals, iPEC Coaching, motivation, productivity, success, workforce engagement
Posted in Guest Bloggers
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September 15th, 2010
By Guest Blogger CJ Scarlet
Within two weeks after the idea for my new coaching venture tumbled out of my mouth, I read Bruce Schneider’s Energy Leadership and I shifted. This book immediately changed my thinking about what coaching could accomplish when done from the right energy levels and for the right reasons.
A few months later I attended Module IV, Energy Leadership and I was transformed. Everything I knew as a coach and a human being was challenged and a totally new perspective of the world emerged. I have been an Energy Leadership evangelist ever since.
I would like to share with you five simple yet profound ways Energy Leadership and iPEC’s Breakthrough Laser Coaching have changed the way I do business—both as a coach and as an entrepreneur:
1. Garbage in, garbage out. If I am not in a healthy state of mind, especially when coaching, I will not achieve the results I seek. Without exception, I am most effective in my personal and professional interactions when I am in anabolic energy. My partners and I created a short centering exercise that we and our coaches use before entering a session, based on the acronym You COACH. It goes like this:
Center. Physically and emotionally release old energy. Enter the Now. Call on your Higher Coach.
Offer gratitude for the opportunity to serve. Open a safe space for wisdom, understanding and learning.
Allow. Release responsibility for the outcome. Trust yourself. Trust the process. Trust your client.
Create the environment for possibilities and choices to emerge.
Honor the innate wisdom and potential of your client and yourself.
YOU COACH.
2. Look to the thought. To get to the right action, first get the right thought behind it. This makes sense, as you cannot achieve the right action if your thinking is off-base. Our coaches explain to each client that “Thoughts lead to feelings, which lead to actions” in order to help them appreciate that a new thought is required if change is going to occur. We then help the client explore new ways of thinking that enlarge their perspective, help them recognize that they alone possess the power to change their situation, and take action. Works every time!
3. Validation is extremely important. People long to feel validated and heard—in fact, I believe it is one of our most important needs, second only to being loved. As coaches, if all we do is listen and validate, we will have met the most basic needs of our clients. I love the look of relief and appreciation on my clients’ faces when they get validated. It validates me and helps me know I’m making a difference in their lives.
4. You’re only human. As a leader, I have been confronted and my leadership skills tested on a few occasions, and it’s not always easy to maintain my composure. Sometimes I rise to the occasion and sometimes I respond from a place of defensiveness or fear. Just recently I made an error in judgment that frustrated one of my partners. I felt absolutely sick about it, and it was only through the long discussion that followed that I was able to realize that I am terrified of making mistakes. I have this unrealistic expectation that I will do it perfectly every time, all the time. My wise partners advised me to offer myself permission to not be perfect, and a weight dropped from my shoulders. Give yourself permission to make the occasional mistake; we’re only human, after all.
5. BLC works…for everyone. I have yet to apply BLC in a personal or professional setting when it didn’t work. Each of us has at least one friend or relative who lives in Level 1 energy, constantly complaining and seeing everything in a negative light. A close relative of mine is like this, and for decades I tried to motivate her to think and act more positively, to no avail. But when I applied the BLC method to her situation, it worked beautifully! First and foremost, I validated her, which I don’t think I’ve ever done before because I was afraid it would send the message that I agreed with her negativity. When I used validating language, her tone shifted and she began to talk more positively. Because she felt heard, she didn’t feel like she had to complain louder to get my attention. As a result, she was open to being coached to achieve a shift in her perspective. She hasn’t called me to complain since! The premise of Breakthrough Laser Coaching is so simple, yet so profound, and people find themselves sharing so deeply that I am humbled over and over again.
I urge everyone to use the principles they learned in their training to not only better meet the needs of your clients, friends and loved ones, but for yourself as well. Breakthrough Laser Coaching and Energy Leadership change lives. Let it change yours.
About CJ Scarlet:
CJ Scarlet is Chief Rover of Roving Coach International, an official partner of iPEC that is working to create World Peace in the Workplace. Roving Coach offers Breakthrough Laser Coaching to middle manager and other employees who don’t typically get access to coaching like the “big dogs” do. For more information, please visit www.rovingcoach.com.
Tags: become a coach, coaching skills, iPEC, iPEC Coaching
Posted in Coaching and Coach Training, Guest Bloggers
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