Communities of Practice

In ICA, there’s a new class called “Communities of Practice.” These are tag-team coaching opportunities whereby participants will take turns “laser-coaching” a single coachee. It’s a great opportunity to put what you’ve learned into practice in a safe environment, with a lot of support from other students and the instructor, and plenty of excellent feedback. Last week I finally took the plunge and jumped in. I had to bite my tongue when the instructor, Lou D’Alo, said my name and told me which student I’d be following in the queue. My initial feeling was to say, “Hey, I just want to observe!” But I let that feeling pass.

With some trepidation at first, I listened closely. Often on class calls my mind wanders, my attention drifts, and I have to refocus myself. In this call, however, I found myself more in the type of zone I’m in when I’m coaching a client. I was fully engaged with the “client” throughout the coaching by all the excellent student/coaches, so that when it was my turn, I was able to leap right into the coaching fray.

The experience was very liberating. Much to my surprise and pleasure, I didn’t die! Worlds did not collide, nobody stuck a tongue out at me, and I learned it’s actually pretty fun to coach this way. Hoo-ah!