The International Consortium For Coaching in Organizations

Dear ICCO Community of Members,

I'm diving into my last quarter in my role as President and wanted to share with you what I'm up to…

We at ICCO do have the conversations that don't happen anywhere else. As one of our Advisory Board members Lloyd Raines shared, "Through carefully convened conversations utilizing symposia and/or colloquia designs in tandem with coaching’s methodology and spirit, we engage with more complex social arenas on issues that reflect ownership and stewardship of our world.” I don't know about you, but in my mind that says it all. I know of no other organization that can make this claim. The conversations we have are edgy, real and generative, enabling us to move forward from all stakeholder perspectives.

So what is the critical thinking, choices and areas of focus that can move us forward? 

Some of the things we're tackling are: 

From a membership and marketing perspective:

§  We are looking at how we can engage organizational members to be a part of the ongoing conversations and growth of ICCO and the field of coaching. Who do you know in organizations that is dying to be a part of a generative community of high level professionals so their organizations evolve into their levels of excellence? Let us know. We want to hear.

§  If we are a think tank-like organization that is working towards strengthening our presence in the world so we are the go-to organization when it comes to coaching in organizations, how do we create that strong, professional presence more than we're doing right now?

Other questions that are on the table include:

§  Our presence in Latin America is continually growing and strengthening. How can we do the same in other parts of the world and do it well? Thoughts on the subject? We'd love to hear.

§  Our symposia and teleforums are our signature events that attract great minds from around the world to create and generate actions that move us all forward. We have two symposia and two teleforums coming up this summer in the US and one happening in the fall in Bogota, Colombia.  What topics are you dying to discuss? What are the critical issues that you feel we could design a symposium around? Let us know. We want to hear.

§  What topics would make for a rich discussion in our Teleforum? Or worthy of continuing the discussion after a symposium? Let us know. We want to hear.

§  As an apolitical organization, we don't align with one way of doing things, whether they be methodologies, credentialing, etc. We look at the best way of doing things. In many of our conversations, we look at the implications of credentialing or not, certifying or not, hiring, research, education, a 360° view of what coaching means in organizations. What do we need more of and what might that look like?  What do we have to stop doing to make room for what we need to be doing? How do you want to participate?

From an infrastructure perspective:

We are now updating our technology. We will be moving our shopping cart to a better system so it supports a better registration and membership application and renewal process. We will be putting in place a back-end, members only area for resources, materials, and ongoing conversations (among other things).

Our Lab, which will take place the end of September, will be the container for the critical dialogues we have to have to move us all forward, i.e., each member, the ICCO, our fields of practice, and the coaching profession. What do the practitioners, clients, program managers, OD Specialists, researchers, educators and everyone in between need? How do we raise the bar for coaching worldwide?

It's not by having the conversations that are happening everywhere else. We are looking from the future back to see what we have to do in order to strengthen our global presence and define what “cutting-edge” means for coaching in organizations. A lofty goal? Perhaps, but one I firmly believe is within our reach, especially as our members have the best minds in the business.