Competency No. 5
Around 4% of the 55,000 + coaches certified with the International Coaching Federation hold the revered status of Master Certified Coach. Why so few? I'm about to find out. Competency No. 5, the podcast, explores how we maintain presence when we coach, lead, and live our lives. We interview coaches and others whose very livelihood depends upon staying calm and present with those they serve. We also chronicle my attempts (as a self-retired professor and global business reporter from New Zealand) to become an MCC coach. This effort requires beaucoup coaching hours, mentoring, and adhering strictly to the ICF's seven core competencies, especially the deceptively tricky Competency No. 5, maintaining presence.
Episodes
42 episodes
“I need space for my boldest creativity” Entrepreneur Marie-Louise on staying calm while growing our business
We’ve a rare treat this week in sharing a coaching call in its entirety, with my client’s blessing and encouragement. The topic? Staying calm and grounded as we grow our business and dreams—a timely topic for entrepreneurs and anyone wanting to...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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42:03
Victorious Victoria: “I meet with my anxiety daily to hear what she has to say”
Experts at the World Health Organization estimate around 4% of the global population experience an anxiety disorder. The National Alliance on Mental Illness finds anxiety the most common mental health concern in the U.S. with 19.1% with anxiety...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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18:53
The Peace and Calm from Lunar New Years from our Past
San Diego based technology project leader Limei Wang loved the Lunar New Years from her past. Growing up in a small rural village in Northern China, the incoming lunar year brought the best food, clothing, and gatherings for the year. ...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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23:50
The Final Cut. Where, Why, and How I Still Fall Out of Masterful Coaching
Over the last year, I’ve listened to 35 different coaching calls I’ve conducted and recorded with a quest to submit one recording (a beautiful recording) to the International Coaching Federation (ICF). I’ve created a self-imposed deadline of
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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17:22
Content for Coaches. Creating thoughtful content can bring prosperity, clarity, and joy
Our Competency No 5 podcast has focused much on how to stay calm and present when we coach, lead, and live our lives. For coaches, part of that calm ties to making a living from our coaching, which requires marketing ourselves to our prospectiv...
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Season 2
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Episode 25
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16:45
How do we interrupt our coachees less? And if an ICF evaluator hears, are we failed?
I muse and mentor some more with MCC Coach Ben Dooley this week, getting deeper into the nitty-gritty on how to lock in, stay fully present with our coachee. We address the inevitable blunder of speaking over—so hard not to in a 45-minute sessi...
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Season 2
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Episode 24
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16:48
Does any ‘perfect’ coaching session exist? How much error do ICF evaluators allow?
How to choose which recorded coaching call to submit to the International Coaching Federation to certify at the Master Certified level still perplexes me. And after all this excellent mentoring, I’m feeling more conscious of where I’m falling o...
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Season 2
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Episode 23
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31:18
The pharmaceutical exec who finds (and brings) calm through natural medicine: Jill Staudacher
Pharma sales executive, Jill Staudacher, appreciates the value of pharmaceutical medicines. She also finds value in natural medicine, especially now as we approach cold and flu season here in North America. (Echinacea, honey, vitamin d and vita...
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Season 2
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Episode 22
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28:39
Why the International Coaching Federation is right to ask coaches to clarify the topic (and how to do it)
I’ve often bristled with the International Coaching Federation’s rule to establish (clearly—and in multiple ways) the topic and hopes for the coachee (our client) in every coaching call. Why? Because when you’re locked in and connected, the coa...
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Season 2
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Episode 21
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29:37
One day at a time. Nick McCullough on retirement, Mississippi, and his land
About 900,000 Americans retired in the first five months of 2024, part of a “silver tsunami” of those reaching retirement age. My father-in-law Nick McCullough is one who retired a few years back, and in beautiful ways returning to the land jus...
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Season 2
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Episode 20
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16:39
Can I cry with my coachee & still evoke awareness? MCC Coach Ben Dooley says: “Yes!”
Part two in a two-part series on maintaining presence when certifying as a Master Certified Coach, especially whilst the International Coaching Federation evaluates us. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, ...
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Season 2
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Episode 19
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31:35
How do we coach, not “perform”? MCC Coach Ben Dooley on managing our evaluators’ judgement
To certify with the International Coaching Federation, the world’s largest nonprofit organization, coaches must submit a recording of a coaching call they deem…well, worthy of certification. The stakes and expense (and the agonizing decision on...
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Season 2
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Episode 18
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22:51
Clocking off. Kyana Gayden on balancing work, rest, and play
Air Force contract specialist Kyana Gayden finds that it’s the small tweaks in how we spend our time that yields the biggest results when it comes to work-life balance. She also marvels in that fabulous invention: Paid Time Off, which she never...
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Season 2
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Episode 17
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19:30
Meet Ben Dooley, my new MCC Mentor Coach. Joy (and struggles) with certifying as an ICF master certified coach
Warning: This episode's super ad hoc. This week, I met my new mentor coach, Ben Dooley. He's a former actor (among other things) and now runs his own coaching training academy and helps coaches certify in empowering ways. (I felt so inspired co...
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Season 2
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Episode 16
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27:54
“I have the best job in the world!” Oliver Singh on hotel ownership and the calm that comes from vacation
Four in ten Americans don’t take their full paid time off (around 46%) of full-time workers according to the Pew Resea...
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Season 2
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Episode 15
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19:42
"I'm Puerto Rican. I celebrate everything." Anita Rodriguez Cordero on celebrating as we coach
With so much mayhem, worry, and turmoil, more clients struggle to find much to celebrate or to declare a true win. But coaches like my show guest this week, Coach Anita Rodriguez Cordero, set that intention each session to ask her coachees what...
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Season 2
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Episode 14
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28:58
Why I’ve returned to journaling (and hope to never let it go again)
I’m recently back to journaling most days after a good nine-month hiatus. I’ve missed it so much. For me, journaling feels like emptying my bucket of all that’s within. As I get older, I’ve noticed its importance for my mental and physical heal...
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Season 2
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Episode 13
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12:45
“Maintaining presence starts with checking in on myself” Live Coaching & Musings with Coach Sophia Casey
My guest this week is my friend and MCC mentor coach Sophia Casey who trains coaches like me to strive to become our very best version of ourselves and with that, our most present. We chat about all the barriers getting in our way, including wa...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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45:10
What high school freshmen can teach us about not stressing out
Guess who my podcast guest is this week? It's Jackson James McCullough, my 14-year-old son who I consider a hugely calming influence on me and my life. (I've long wanted to interview this wise young man and he finally said 'yes.' )Join ...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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14:54
“Nature’s the one thing that brings us together” Jacqueline Crivello on birding, nature, and truth
I’m one of millions of people globally who not only love bird watching, I love to do so from my garden. What a treat to interview Jacqueline Crivello, an award winning photographer, author, bird feeding store owner, a birder, entrepreneur and e...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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21:26
How do I train to become a coach? One coach’s journey
More coachees are asking me each week how to become an International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified coach and how I became a coach, specifically the decisions before me and the training itself. (I’m delighted they ask, because coaching’s a...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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16:19
The challenges and joy of certifying as an ICF coach. Two coaches’ musings
Certifying with the International Coaching Federation, the world’s largest nonprofit for professional coaches, challenges many coaches because it’s no easy feat. We must speak only 10% of the time, ...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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30:25
How do we stay calm amidst heated emotions? Musings from Coach Karen du Four des Champs
Solar eclipse. Mercury retrograde. New moon. Job layoffs. Overwork. No surprise many of us are losing it at home and at work. But if you’re a mental fitness practitioner with a goal to stay calm and peaceful no matter what, some wa...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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39:19
“Kindness is my legacy from adversity” Magdalena Kranz on luxury fashion and feeling happier with less
My interview with Chicago-based fashion consultant and stylist, Magdalena Kranz, kicks off a series of ad hoc interviews across my two podcasts. (I also host the Sage Sayers on Apple podcasts). I love that dear Magdalena takes us from h...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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14:20
“I’m loving this new creative space.” Coach Malvika Joshi on the joy of entrepreneurship.
Building your own venture can bring a whirlwind of creativity, problem solving, and joy from building something you love. Partner it with coaching and certifying as a coach and you’ve endless surges of energy and happiness. This becomes the lif...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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33:03