A Coaching Anniversary

Exactly one year ago I took the first class in my coach training program. I completed the program four weeks ago, after 11 months of both class time and actually doing the job of a coach (I logged 130 hours of one-on-one coaching in 2022).

I’d been doing some form of informal coaching off and on throughout my 25-year career, which has been spent working with or for nonprofit organizations and their funders, and often in progressive multi-issue think tanks and LGBTQ advocacy organizations. But in 2020 I started thinking about coaching more seriously, and began 12 months of research on different coaching programs, including talking to friends, former colleagues, and outright strangers (LinkedIn was a great resource here) about their own coach training and actual experience as coaches.

Before I applied to a training program in late 2021, I left my full-time job as the chief operating officer of the Roosevelt Institute and started my own consulting practice, with a focus on strategy and organizational development. While wearing a consulting hat, I often found myself in situations where I had to show up as a coach, even if it wasn’t an official coaching engagement. I knew I had innate talent for and strong interest in playing such a role, but my experience as a coach-consultant cemented my decision to enroll in a training program.

The program, from day one, made me think of myself differently as I did the job of consulting, because I soon found myself often showing up with a coach mindset with some of my clients. This mostly meant that I went from a directing role to one that focused more on partnering with people to solve problems and answer big questions. Plus my coach training instructors–and the International Coaching Federation–pushed us to begin coaching other people as soon as possible, because one of the best ways to learn and grow as a coach is to do the actual work.

So before I knew it, I was coaching. And loving it.

My consulting work allowed me to quickly build a coaching relationship with the executive director of a $10 million policy organization, as well as several leaders of another similarly sized research and advocacy group and the development lead of a smaller nonprofit. I also soon had six individual coaching clients who were independent of my organizational consulting work.

Taken together, I was working with 11 people who were diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and age. They also worked not only in nonprofit organizations but also in the government and the for-profit sector. And although a diverse group, they were all wrestling with some form of change. A few people wanted to change jobs or sectors, while others wanted to change the way they led or managed–or even the way they were perceived by their colleagues. Most of those who were interested in making a change–big or small–were struggling to take the first step.

As I reflect on this cohort over the past year, the common thread or theme is change: either changes people needed or wanted to make, or change that was being forced upon them by forces outside their control.

Due to this almost universal phenomenon, the first place I start with most of my clients is with an acknowledgement of how present and rapid change has been over the past decade, and especially the past three years. For my clients who are working in progressive policy, political, and advocacy spaces, this acknowledgement is especially important, because when you’re so close to so much upheaval it’s hard to remember that first, you’re not alone and second, that no one can lead or manage through this time without some support (whether that’s through coaching, therapy, or lots of chocolate–I admit to relying on all three since 2016).

As I look back on the 365 days since my first coaching class, I want to give thanks to the people who helped me make the decision to enroll in a program and my clients who have trusted me to do this work with them. It’s been incredibly rewarding, and I am excited for what’s to come.

If you’d like to learn more about my consulting work, my training, or what it’s like to be or have a coach, please get in touch. I'm always happy to schedule some time to speak.

Be well!