Responding to the Climate Crises

In October 2020, AOCS signed the Joint Global Statement in response to the Climate Crises, alongside 10 other global professional bodies.  Here’s an update for you.

What is the role of professional bodies?
In relation to the Climate Crises, we see our role as growing awareness of members’ current thinking and finding ways to engage with them.  As coaching supervisors, climate change is one of the big issues of the era we are operating in; we need to know our own personal views, and our take on it in our professional practice.  We believe having a collective voice on key issues is important: since silence can speak volumes.

Our Discovery Team engaged with members to determine their range of big issues for us to put some emphasis on for the next 10-30 years.  We see our role as shining a light on the Climate Crises, facilitating discussions, and enabling members to take their own personal, professional and practice stance. 

How will we shine the light?
We have started by setting up Thought Provocation Forums, although a new name may emerge as discussions take place.  What would you call it?

The first one in January named and clustered into themes the issues, trends, and long-range thinking.  We would like these dialogues to inform our prioritisation of effort in AOCS, so that we focus on what matters most to our members.

The next will be on Tuesday 18^th May 2021 from 10:00 – 11:30am BST. Please do join us, we need all views, as with the ‘Word on the Street’ forums in May 2020!  We will soon have a dedicated area on our website Events page too, in service of promoting emerging coaching supervision themes and engaging in these global conversations with other professional bodies.  We will keep you abreast of what emerges.

We had a different role in the November 2020 webinars - Climate Crises: How might coaching help?  Six different professional bodies hosted in collaboration with the other signatories.  These gave people an opportunity to get to know, and start to operationalise, the Joint Global Statement in conversations with other coaches.  We captured comments with permission, in a transformative action research piece and  are now discussing a collaborative sharing space for the Joint Statement Group of Signatories as a searchable knowledge base, linking further research and blogs as they become available in this new area. Thanks to Professor Stephen Palmer of the International Society for Coaching Psychology for making a state-of-the-art capability available to us to enable access from anywhere, and without cost, to the individual.

What questions are we getting and responding to from members?
As a Discovery Team, we hold a question about inclusivity; some members may not have started their thinking about Climate Change yet.  We hope what we are doing to promote, engage and develop will help coaching supervisors to increase their awareness and make informed decisions about:

We have had requests for more spaces to talk and think about climate change coaching and coaching around sustainable future, rather than about the coaching supervision space per se.

We have no questions from a climate change denial perspective, but we do have questions from members whose response we paraphrase as: I can see how this is relevant to me in my private life, but what does it have to do with my profession and my practice?

How do we move forward?
Using the clusters of themes from the November 2020 webinars, we are preparing to share these in a free series of ‘Brief Encounters’ starting on global Climate Coaching Action Day on 4^th March 2020 at 7am GMT.

We have timed these so that people can take part from around the globe, and so that even if you are only free at the weekends, you can still take part.  We will share one frame of clustered ‘voices’ or themes in each ‘Brief Encounter’ with an opportunity to engage in a short conversation with what you are drawn to and reflect and share ‘what is mine to do’.

If you are curious about any part of this update, then please engage with us:

New Discovery Member, Jan Brause, shares some of her thinking on topics of the moment for her and hopes it provokes reflection in you.
 

I have been pondering these topics as they have presented themselves to me at different times over recent weeks and all are topics worth much more time and attention individually.  However, what I am pondering is the interconnectedness of these topics.
 
Each time I talk about or explore one of these topics it inevitably brings up the others.  As a Coach and Coaching Supervisor, I hold a responsibility within my profession, towards my clients and the bigger systems in which they operate.  I recognise too, my own position as one of privilege.
 
2020 presented an opportunity for all of us to pause and take stock, to consider how we show up in the world and how we create environments where life (all life) can flourish, where there is kindness, hope and optimism. I am humbly considering my place in all of that. 
 
My musings are taking me to new materials, inspirational advocates for creating a better world, those who challenge conventional wisdom, a desire to delve deeply into my own being and to find an inner knowing that will allow me to give an authentic voice to what is emerging in the field.

I don’t have the answers and there is much greater wisdom out there.  I do have some questions that feed into my work and offer these up for your own reflection if some of my musings resonate:

If you would like to explore topics like this further, please consider joining our Thought Provocation Forum.  The next meeting is Tuesday 18^th May 2021 from 10:00 – 11:30am BST. For more information or if you would like to share what’s on your mind in a future News Update, please contact Yvette Elcock.

Hitting the Headlines
 

Congratulations to AOCS Members
Leen Lambrechts, MCC and Kathryn M. Downing, PCC 
who as part of the ICF Educational Team of Global ICF will co-lead a "community of practise" about supervision.
 

                                                     

     Leen Lambrechts-Noël. Brussel                               Kathryn M. Downing, USA             

Their collective mission is to awaken coaches to the use of reflective practice.  We hope to connect and collaborate further and share some of our experiences and resources to better Promote, Engage and Develop coaches.
 
There are plans to host 4 webinars a year as well as other initiatives to promote coaching supervision starting in May 2021.  Watch this space for further information nearer to the time.
 
For more information: ICF Global Coaching Supervision CoP

 

We are delighted to continue our partnership with AOCS – the Association of Coaching Supervisors – and their international membership base.  We highly value our collaboration because AOCS gives new opportunities to our national Coaching Supervisors. 
LVSC has 2148 members and is one of the largest associations for professional coaching and supervision in the Netherlands.  Since last year organisational coaches can join us along with professional coaches and supervisors.
Within our association our supervisors and coaches tell us they value:

We think it is VALUABLE to look across borders to develop and enrich ourselves.  LVSC is also a member of ANSE, the Association of National Organisations for Supervision in Europe.  Our members can participate in international intervision groups to look and learn across the border.
Visit ANSE for more information.  Via the ANSE network, our committee of international contacts interviewed 23 supervisors throughout Europe.  You can read the interviews and perspectives on supervision and coaching in Europe on our website: Coaching and Supervision in Europe … State of the art.
Conference Skills & Scenery – Professional Guidance in the 21^st century 
The world is changing even faster than we could imagine.  We are experiencing this from 2020 during the Coronavirus crisis. We are facing major challenges in work and our private lives.  The crisis offers us new chances and a new landscape for professional coaches and supervisors. On 23rd September 2021 we have organised a special day in honour of our 40^th anniversary (one year late because of the COVID-19 impact). We want to inspire supervisors and coaches and connect with them about the necessary skills for coaching and supervision in the 21^st century.

We have two different workshops in English. Sveindís Anna Jóhannsdóttir from Iceland will give the workshop Occupational safety and welfare services: Are professionals left behind? More information. 
Joep Pennartz & Kevin Schuurmans (from the Netherlands) will give the workshop Start your own start-up - serious game Lemonade. More information.
Members of AOCS are very welcome to visit our conference in September. More information about our conference you find at www.lvsccongres.nl. 
We look forward to continuing our relationship with AOCS and we are always appreciative of contributions for consideration in our Newsletter.

An International Perspective – Baltic States, Russia, and Sweden

Our member Irina Judge, based in Stockholm, shares her perspective with us: 


 

"Who you are is how you coach" says Edna Murdoch, CSA.
This is a little about who I am.
 

Living in 4 countries during the last 7 years: Russia, Switzerland, UK, and Sweden (where I live now) influences my way of formation and development as a coach. When we are discussing the specialisation in coaching, we are often talking about the professional techniques and skills that we acquire through training courses and practical sessions with our clients.  
 
However, the specialisation of the coach begins when they realise who they are, what is their strength, what is their personal uniqueness, and which challenges they face. These points become the basis on which competencies and skills a coach demonstrates in their practice.  
 

When I realised that I’m a human being who changes beliefs, behaviour patterns, and habits while moving from one culture to another, I understood that these are exactly my strengths and unique features - development in a changing environment and in unfamiliar conditions. Cultural differences helped me to move from "it differs from what I am familiar with" to "how is it here?" and later to "what can I learn from these differences?" 

 

Understanding my nature led me to awareness that the strongest conversations are always happening in the middle, where there is space for new realisations, new strategies, and new actions. There is no black or white or good or bad, there are different colours and there is everything.  

 

There are no similar people or similar coaches.  We are strong in our uniqueness.  When we realise our strengths as coaches, we are helping our clients to realise their strengths too.

We thank Irina for her good work and if this region’s time zone works for you and you would like to reach out directly to her then please go to her profile page. 
 

If you would like to share your perspective on coaching supervision in your non-UK region then please do contact Yvette Elcock

International Coaching Supervision Conference 

English, French, Russian and Chinese!
 

The first conference of its kind! Bringing together a global community in a shared learning space, focussing on the growth of ourselves as coaching supervisors, and as coaches. Inclusive, accessible. Tickets by donation. Priced for everyone.
Do join us! 
World class contributors in all languages. Full Programme soon to be announced including David Clutterbuck (English - 7 conversations of supervision), Olga Rybina (Russian - Mirror Model of supervision) and Felicia Lauw and Kelly Ke in Chinese! All presenters will also be running Coaching Supervision Groups – an amazing opportunity for some small group time.   
Workshops, Short Presentations with Q&A, Coaching Supervision Group, creative and reflective practice sessions!
Something for everyone. Please click through and book your ticket.
Contact Jo Birch for more information.

Don't forget to look out for out for your invitation to 'Convert to Stripe' our new membership payment platform, designed to make your annual payment a smoother and quicker process.  Follow the instructions on the invitation which will be sent to you at the beginning of your renewal month, activated by your Membership Secretary Sam Fremantle.