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.
Competency No. 5
Jeanette Bernard: “Talk with Your Loved Ones Who’ve Passed. Ask and Look for Their Signs to Comfort You and Them. They Will Surprise You.”
When customer operations manager Jeanette Bernard lost her husband Matt four years ago, the flippant comments from others on her need to rebound fast upset her as much as the grief.
“People would say: You’ll be back out there in a couple of months. You’ll be fine,” she recalls of awful comments at her husband’s funeral. “I was so mad. I will never forget Matt. Nor does he want me to.”
Now four years later, and the anniversary of Matt’s death on Thanksgiving week, Jeanette still communicates with her childhood sweetheart in her own special way. She finds talking with him, asking for signs of his presence, and remembering him coming to her in her dreams (and one very powerful time when awake) helps her feel comforted. She still feels his presence and his love. And keeping connected with him also helps her function at work and in life.
In a touching episode, we hear Jeanette’s encounters with seeing her husband, how she asks for signs, and how those signs appear, often within 1-2 days. We hear on this upcoming Thanksgiving week her appeal to us all to continue communicating with those we love who have passed away. “They want to hear from us. They want us to remember them,” she says. “So talk to them.”
Your show host, D G McCullough, is a communications coach for Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here.
Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here.
