compass4executives

The sections below the Home Page section,detail the various steps that I have taken to sharpen my skills through association with the International Coach Academy in Australia.

My name is Dr.S.Chandrasekhar and I have been coaching and counseling for the past 4 years.Most of my coaching till date has been face to face and I discovered, for the first time, thanks to the exposure at the International Coach Academy,that a telephonic coaching session could also be equally, if not more, effective!!

Interestingly, there are some clients who prefer face to face counseling or coaching and are not willing to make the effort to even try out the tepehonic option!! I respect their feelings on this, and devote a considerable portion of my time to face to face counseling.These are mainly clients who come for treatment for various mental illnesses like clinical depression, schizophrenia,drug(alcohol,smoking and drugs)de addiction,and various stress related ailments.After their treatment,and sometimes during the treatment, the Psychiatrist with whom I am associated, refers the clients to me.In a sense, I have not had the need to make the effort to search for clients during the past 4 years thanks to the clinical set up in which I currently operate!

The coaching model and Power Tool that I use in my coaching process has been spelt out in detail in this blog and the various steps that I have taken to upgrade my skills, have also been outined below in the various sections.The biggest asset that I have in the present clinical set up is the number of clients who come on a regular basis to the Psychiatrist, who then get referred to me for counseling or caoching.There are days in which I coach as much as 8 clients, some of them new and most of them on a repeat. basis for as much as 25 or 30 sessions. One may ask whether this amount of coaching gets tiring.Interestingly, I find that it does not!!

My niche coaching areas are

Relationship coaching including Marital and Pre Marital issues

Geriatric coaching

Coaching on stress related issues

Executive Coaching for small and medium enterprises

I participated in this session on 23 August, 2007, as a listener.There were 3 coaching sessions and the coaches had their clients selected from the class!! There was a lot of learning from each of the coaching sessions.

One of the things that was particularly useful was the observation made by our supervisor in the session, Karen Cappello.She mentioned that if any of the laser sessions came to a successful completion before the allotted 15 minutes, we could wrap up the session at an appropriate time, and do not have to wait till the 15 minutes are over!!

My next supervised coaching session is on August 30 and this would be followed by an oral exam.I am looking forward to that session with the same client I had in my second supervised coaching session.

The seventh and last of the Train the Trainer sessions was convened on August 14 at 9.00PM,EST, which corresponded to 6.30AM, August 15, Chennai (India)time. It was great to get connected to the group after a lapse of 2 weeks and we got an opportunity to share the classes by Marco, Dana and Risah. Jane could not do her class because she fell ill and was in the process of rescheduling her class!!

There was a lot of sharing during the class. We ended the session by thanking the mentors, Bron(who could not make it to the class that day)and Karen, and each of the students who gave the required support throughout the sessions.We hope that the group continues to stay connected at regular intervals ,to keep the network active and vibrant.

As I get ready to move forward in my journey on the supervised coaching sessions, I would like to reflect on the various steps through which I broadened my horizon in the exciting world of coaching !!I have just completed the first supervised coaching session and have identified a client for the next 5 sessions.I am hoping to complete  my relections on the various classes that I attended and particpated in, by the time I get to the sixth and final supervised coaching session!!I have also shared some of my thoughts and observations in the Discussion Board of the ICA and found that to be a very effective communication media for reaching the ICA community.

The initial phase of the foundation classes at the ICA,posed some challenges for me in Chennai,India, as I started getting the hang of operating the VIOP systems like skype and yahoo, on my lap top computer!!The bridgelines at the ICA were also being stream lined to ensure smooth connections ,through our experiences and constant feedback during our interaction in the classes and display of comments and observtions on the Discussion Board.The gradual creation(for me) of an active network of ICA students and teleclass leaders was n exciting process and I enjoyed every bit of it!!

After completing the Foundation classes on Ideal Coach, Twenty Perspectives, Client Scenarios,Design your Life Program and development Plan, we were mentally prepared to take on peer coaching sessions!!The thing that left an impression for me,at the completion of the Foundation classes, was the warmth of student and class leaders’ participation in each of the classes and the differnce in approach to learning through such interactions!! A totally new and exciting experience for me!!I would never have imagined 6 months back that I would be comfortable coaching clients on the telephone(or by emails or IM for that matter!!)and be just as effective!!

The wheel of life tool served as an effective tool for design of your life program –to create a balanced lifestyle over a period of 2 to 3 years!!The balance between self care, home environment, relationships, friends and family, career, creative pursuits and enjoyments and a meaning/purpose for every aspect that  we target to achieve!!

The time frame in the drawing up of the Development Plan is typically as follows:

Immediate action plan    —     to work on during the next 6 months

Short term action plan —     to work on within next 2 years.

Mid term  —–                                            within 5 years.

Big picture(Future Goals)–                    beyond 10 years.

I completed my first supervised coaching session a few minutes back and was it exciting!!Karen Cappello was our coordinator and she is always a delighful and insightful  leader and mentor.I always feel energized in her classes!!

The class went on for more than 90 minutes and time always flies when you are excited and having fun!!One of the registered students dropped off and so we were 5 of us!! So there will be only 10 weeks of supervised coaching sessions for each one of us to have 6 coaching sessions.I volunteered today and completed the first of the six!! One down and 5 to go!! We will get the schedules for the remaining supervised coaching classes and laser sessions and I will continue to share my experiences as we move forward in this journey!!

Update on the first supervised coaching session!

We have got the assessment and feedback on the first supervised coaching and I have satisfactorily completed it!!We have also got the time slots for the oral exam and the remaining 15 minute laser sessions for each of us.My sixth session should be completed by October 4!!

We were informed that we could identify any client for our supervised coaching sessions–within or outside ICA.The main criteria in selection should be that we make sure that there is learning for us through the coaching process and we benefit through such an interaction!!The classes are conducted in such a relaxed and calm atmosphere that the whole process flows so beautifully and before we know it, it is time to bring the sessions to a close!!

Second supervised coaching session.

My second supervised coaching session was completed on August 16. An ICA student and my peer client volunteered to be my client and promptly showed up at the designated moment!! She posed her issue and we had our 15 minute laser session. It went off well and I got a good acknowledgement and feedback both from the client and Karen.

The VOIP Skype connection was not very good and so I decided to use my landline telephone for the laser session.It worked out well and since it was quite expensive, I had to switch back to the VOIP connection after that session!!

I got a mail from Karen the next morning that I had satisfactorily completed that session. The feedback indicated that I had used most of the ICF core competencies. As Karen had mentioned in the very first supervised coaching session on August 9, it is good to keep the core competencies in the back of our minds but be ourselves and give our best to the client when he os she shows up for the session with their issues.That is what I did, and the past experience with hundreds of clients made the task so simple and free flowing!!I actually hd a lot of fun, satisfaction  and excitement in the process!!

2 down and 4 to go!!

I am getting ready to return to Chennai,India,after more than 2 months in the US.This has been one of the most satisfying and productive periods in my various visits to this country.There has been plenty of learning through participation and corresponding with the ICA community.The 6 week course on Train the Trainer which I particpated in was an icing in the cake to the experience in the ICA commuity so far!! All of this has opened up a lot of opportunities for me in my future career planning, as I get ready to do a rethink on where I want to be, a better assessment of the kind of person I am, and a better appreciation of the kind of profession for which I have a passion and keen to work in!!

The other enriching experience has been the one with my children and grandchildren.This adds another dimension to my learning and feeling experiences!!I thought I had a lot of patience and resilience but as I interacted with my 4 year old grand son and 1 year old grand daughter, my level of awareness and resilience were riased to much higher levels for which I will ever be grateful to them and also my daughter who made this possible!!

As soon as I return to Chennai, my highest priority is to establish contact with my 83 year old mother and also reorient myself to taking the supervised coaching sessions, as a step towards graduation this December. The other requirements for the graduation will also be focused on as I move along in the journey towards graduation. It has been an exciting journey so far!!

Returned to Chennai

I am gradually settling down to a routine and have just participated in the first of my Supervised Coaching sessions!!More on that separately!!

Delighted to get reconnected with my mother.The unconditional love that gets showered on me when i pay her visits every day energizes and enthuses me to keep moving forward towards my goals!! She says she feels more secure and energetic too!! Is there a violation here of the Laws of Thermodynamics which says that energy is constant and cannot be created!!

The support systems here in Chennai are different than the ones I have in the US!!All my siblings, consisting of three sisters and two brothers, born to the same parents(!!)are here and though we do not get to meet often we manage to stay in touch thanks to the advent of emails and telephone connections that work!!

We have come a long way from the early 1960’s when I left the Indian soil for the first time as a graduate student, after getting admission from the Johns Hopkins University!!The only way I could afford to communicate in those days was through the US postal service using what wass once called the “aerogram”!!My mail used to take 10 days to reach my family in India and their response took another 10 days!!

As I recall those days, I remember my father whose 93 rd birthday we celebrate today!!He was very prompt in his communication and was one of the few who stayed in touch with me, making me feel connected to all “at home”!!I have come a long way since those days, since I now feel “at home”both in the US and in India these dyas.Both my children are happily settled down there with American partners!!

The class turned out to be to be the “last -but- one”, and this gives us an to connect again in 2 weeks!!That class woul give me an opportunity to get the feedback from those students who have not been in a position to lead a Teleclass so far!!I know they will do extremly well since all of them has whatever it takes to instill confidence and a sense of interaction and participation in all they address!!

The warm up of the class, initiated by Karen, was energizing and brought a greater sense of integration and connectivity to the group!!My most favorite animal,my favorite color and the meanings of the 3 adjectives in relation to who I am and what others think of me, was a good learning experience.The addition of Dana to this learning experience added another dimension to my learning!!Not only that, it was also even more energizing.

Laseanda,Prabha and I shared our eperiences in leading the Teleclass!!As usual there was a lot of learning through that sharing in addition to receiving a lot of positive strokes and energy!!

Jane,Marco,Dana and Risah shared the dates and content of their Teleclass sessions and a date would be fixed after 2 weeks when we would get the opportunity to get their feedback and the reflect on our thoughts for the future!!Prabha and I will definitely be priveleged to join them in the classes and give them support in any possible way!!

All of us acknowledged the great inputs provided by our mentors–Bron,Karen and Sally–and the safe and secure environment that they created for us in forming this group.As shared in my blog, I would like to see this network grow through interaction and participation of similar minded persons and establishing a synergisitic relationship, that allows the generated positive energy to flow to all around us!!