Mentoring
Supervision
360° feedback
Reflective Practice
Building Coaching Skills
Psychometric instruments

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Coaching Mastery

The best way to do is to be. Lao Tseu

Presence

What is Coaching Mastery about?

  • Developing awareness
  • Mastering Presence
  • Disciplined listening
  • Understanding emotional intelligence
  • Relating to the big picture
  • The art of asking questions
  • Creating safety and confidence
  • The power of silence
  • Enforcing accountability
  • Striving for the greater good
  • Developing awareness
  • Mastering Presence
  • Disciplined listening
  • Understanding emotional intelligence
  • The art of asking questions
  • The power of silence
  • Enforcing accountability

“Professional coaching is a powerful experience that shifts corporate culture from command and control to collaboration and creativity. In my experience Coaching develops stronger leaders, better communicators, more productive employees and increasingly positive people. How would it be like for you to contribute to a better world, one person at a time starting with yourself?”

Nathalie Ducrot

Executive and Team Coaching

Are great leaders born or can they be developed? What distinguishes them from the rest? At ProOptim, we believe that with intention and attention, Leadership Impact and Effective Communication as well as Essential Motivation can be developed by anyone who desires it.

The ability to inspire others, to unlock potential and to encourage innovation is central to being an effective leader, as well as for all of us who interact with others on a regular basis. Learning the basic skills of how to coach others is a powerful addition to any leader’s skill-set and team players.

Culture

Organisational Culture Change

Like the water fish swim in, organizational culture can seem invisible but it shapes or limits all that is possible. A key role for a leader is understanding the culture and her or his role in shaping it.

“It takes time, dedication and innovation to spread coaching throughout an organization. Creating a coaching culture in an organization is an ongoing process. It depends on measured structure from the top and grass root initiatives. It requires everybody’s involvement at all levels. A culture that provides employees with the coaching that will enhance their skills and professional development is correlated with higher employee satisfaction level, engagement and stronger financial performance.”

Nathalie Ducrot

Mentoring

Mentoring for ACC, PCC and MCC

Mentor Coaching is an important requirement of the ICF (International Coach Federation) Credentialing process and is vital to your professional development and growth. Mentor Coaching provides professional assistance in achieving and demonstrating the levels of coaching competency demanded by the credential level sought by a coach‐applicant (mentee) whether it be:

  • your first ICF credential: Associate Certified Coach (ACC), or ACC renewal
  • or achieving the next levels of credential, Professional Certified Coach Credential (PCC)
  • or Master Certified Coach (MCC)

One to One Mentor Coaching and/or Coaching Supervision
We can work one-on-one over a series of sessions at a time and place that fits your needs and activities. The one-on-one sessions can be done in person, by phone or Skype. It’s flexible and very personalized.

Mentor Coaching Group and/or Coaching Supervision

The Mentor Coaching Group offers 7 hours of group work and 3 hours of one-on-one coaching. The format is adapted to the credential level sought.
Working in groups and as individuals allows you to learn alongside your peers and individually. You may less hours, if you don’t require the full 10 hours. The group sessions can also be done in person or Skype. I run groups and webinars upon request, with a tailored program, and find a time and place that works for the majority of the group.

The practice of Coaching Supervision focuses solely on the Coachee and provides them with many benefits, including but not limited to, the expansion of their coaching competencies, ethics and standards, identification of personal development edges, presence, confidence and an increase in their overall effectiveness as Coach.

  • Coaching Supervision qualifies for Core CCEUs.
  • 1 hour of coaching supervision = 1 hour of core CCEUs.

In many parts of the world where coaching is well established, coaching supervision is considered not only necessary for the coach and the client, but also necessary for maintaining the integrity of the profession. There are even countries where regular engagement in coaching supervision is part of the hiring criteria for an external coach being considered by organizations (e.g., Are you under supervision and may we check with your supervisor to verify that?).

Discover ICF position, recommendations and frame regarding Coaching Supervision

“The combination of Mentor Coaching and Coaching Supervision is a potent catalyst for personal and professional growth as a coach. I’m regularly supervised in my practice and it’s so resourceful that I felt the call to propose Supervision and Mentoring for Professional Coaches. I am an Accredited Coaching Supervisor by CSA (Coaching Supervision Academy), and I am also an Accredited ICF Mentor and Assessor.”

Nathalie Ducrot

Reflexive Practice for Coaches, HR professionals and Leaders

Coaching Supervision is more accurately described as engaging in reflexive practice in order to develop personal and professional efficacy. It is a unique opportunity to deeply reflect, increase awareness of what your patterns are, clarify and explore your approach, process, energy, beliefs and in turn, consider their impact on your coaching and leading style.

A Learning Partnership and relational approach

I have a relational approach in all of my work as coach, learning facilitator, mentor and supervisor. I believe that the quality of the relationship we co-create will determine the quality of the work we do together.

My approach is based on years of experience in adult learning and professional development, and integrates the most recent and relevant findings in neuro-science and positive psychology. Current research is applied to real life with culturally sensitive scenarios. My brain-friendly approach gives each participant a dynamic collaborative experience. Workshops are designed to enable thinking and creation to happen easily and enjoyably through a variety of interactive activities that allow each of my clients as individuals, team or organization to use their most effective, thinking, learning and creativity styles.

Creating the Container for Good Work – Step by step

“Preliminary Conversation”

If you are interested in exploring the possibility of working with me, the first step is to e-mail or phone me. I will then invite you to engage in a “preliminary conversation” – an exploratory conversation of 45 minutes-1 hour duration, which is free of charge. This is an opportunity for you to experience how I work, and for me to really understand what you want to achieve. This conversation is designed to invite you to become clear about how you want to work with me and how you want it to feel. This conversation is free of charge because it allows us to stand on clean and neutral ground where we can both explore and say a real wholehearted “yes” or a clean “no”, while being enriched and energised by the conversation.

Contracting Conversation

If you decide that you do want to work with me, then together we agree to have a “Contracting Conversation” which becomes the start of our collaboration. During this conversation we begin our “contracting process” which, I believe continues throughout the span of our work together. We take the time to design our partnership, refining the details of how we will work together on:

the relational aspects: who you are, how you want to develop and grow as an individual, a team or an organization, how you like to work, what supports you to be courageous and authentic. My commitment is always to stay in the conversation until we find a way through.

the professional aspects: discussion of our actual work together, ways of working, confidentiality, expectations/requirements of your professional body, accreditation, and anything else that is relevant.

the logistical aspects: duration of the contract, frequency, agreements about payment, contact/support, cancellation, agreement about endings/reviews/recontracting etc.

Creating a shared language/currency: Drawing on your experience and knowledge, we will discover which models and ways of working can become the currency or shared language of how we work together. This will be unique to you and with your agreement may include some of the following:

Presence – Awareness of the Body, Energy, Feelings, Mindfulness: This is fundamental to how I work. The invitation in every session is to come into presence with each other and with the clients who will figure in the exploration of your work. Using breath, posture and an agreement to share our insights, somatic cues and emotions, allows us to build a powerful container to do good work together.

Energy Management : From the perspective of Quantum Field Theory, we explore the value of preparing energetically for sessions, and clearing the energy field once the work is completed. Using exercises from Leadership Embodiment, we can look at how to manage your own energy and to recognize the impact of the energy of the coach/client and organization on you. You will also discover how to remain aligned and centered in order to be more resourceful in your work, particularly when you need to challenge a client or provide potentially difficult feedback.

Unconscious Dynamics: Our relationship can provide a valuable learning laboratory – using our in the moment experiences to notice any unconscious dynamics that arise between us or in while discussing your case. This builds a healthy curiosity and skillful handling of phenomena such as Projection, Parallel process, Transference, Counter-Transference and resistance to change that may arise in client work.

Dialogue Practice: key concepts from the field of Dialogue Practice create rich resources for the Coach, Supervisor, Learning Facilitator – by attending to how we enter the collaborative space and how we create the container for the work we can bring a level of spaciousness, respect and courage to the relationship. The ability to enquire in the moment, to suspend judgment, to advocate and at times having the capacity to stand by our own reactions or the reactions of clients in service of deeper learning.

We have had success in numerous contexts with the following processes and tools

Emotional and relational intelligence – based on Richard Boyatzis ’s approach “from best self to real self”: In order to permanently change behavior in ways that stand up under pressure, you need to learn how to take advantage of the powerful emotional parts of the brain that remain active and accessible even in times of stress. Emotional and relational Intelligence consist of four attributes:

  • Self-awareness – You recognize your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and behavior, know your strengths and weaknesses, and have self-confidence.
  • Self-management – You are able to control impulsive feelings and behaviors, manage your emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to changing circumstances.
  • Social awareness – You can understand the emotions, needs, and concerns of other people, pick up on emotional cues, feel comfortable socially, and recognize the power dynamics in a group or organization.
  • Relationship management – You know how to develop and maintain good relationships, communicate clearly, inspire and influence others, work well in a team, and manage conflict.

Building facilitation skills for managers – based on our own experience as facilitators and coaches, we have had the privilege of helping hundreds of clients become more effective leaders, many of them successfully incorporating facilitation and coaching skills into their daily work, thereby unleashing employee performance. The «coach-like attitude» Model is designed to equip executives with practical facilitation tools such as active listening, powerful questioning, genuine practice of giving and receiving feedback, mindfulness, leadership embodiment, and so on, appropriately to each individual or team.

The World Café: Is a process to create a living network of collaborative dialogue around questions that matter. World Café conversations offer a practical yet creative way to grow our capacity for thinking together.

Creative Thinking: Six Thinking Hats of Edward De Bono: “thinking is the ultimate human resource” using the Six Thinking Hats encourages a ‘map-making’ approach to thinking, vs. an argumentative approach which may otherwise ensue.

Appreciative Enquiry (AI): A strengths-based approach to organizational development and change through applying innovative thinking to implement ideas and actions for new directions.

Psychometric instruments, 360° feedback

Assessment tools are a valid and trustworthy source of feedback for clients regarding their communication style, behaviors, preferences, skills, etc. They are invaluable in helping clients with their personal and professional growth and development.

In several individual or team coaching approaches, one or more of the following tools may be recommended.

  • Workplace BigFive
  • INsights
  • Myers-Brigg Type Indicator® (MBTI®)
  • As well as those currently used by our clients

360° feedback tools – live interviews or on-line questionnaire
This type of instrument is used for collecting feedback on an individual’s management and leadership skills and behaviors from multiple sources: from peers, direct reports, clients, the immediate supervisor, and themselves. The goal of the process is to help managers obtain a realistic picture of their strengths and development opportunities, to identify what she or he wants to improve upon or develop in order to advance his or her career, and to create a development plan to achieve these objectives. We sometimes use an interview process in which we can target a few skills or take a global look at the leadership skills in order to establish a complete picture.

Our Services

PROFESSIONAL COACHING

FACILITATION & TRAINING

CULTURE CHANGE

KEYNOTE SPEAKING

PROFESSIONAL COACHING

  • Executive Coaching
  • Assessment – 360
  • Group Coaching
  • Team Building
  • What is Coaching

FACILITATION & TRAINING

  • Building coaching skills for managers and leaders
  • Conflict resolutions
  • Communication skills
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Public Speaking

CULTURE CHANGE

  • Strategic Thinking
  • Implementing Coaching Culture
  • What is coaching?
  • Assessments

REFLEXIVE PRACTICE

  • Mentoring for ICF Credentialing
  • Coaching Supervision for coaches
  • Group coaching for Internal coaches
  • What is mentoring?
  • What is coaching supervision?
  • Reflexive Practice for HR professionals and leaders

When are you ready to invest in yourself?