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Board Member Message

Natalie Mendez, ACC

ICF North Texas Secretary

September 2021

Hello everyone,

I’m honored to be serving the chapter as Secretary of our North Texas ICF board. This role is perfect for someone like me, who enjoys both getting into the details and having a big picture view of the chapter’s operation. This is my first year on the board and my fourth year as a member of the North Texas ICF chapter, and I am grateful for the opportunity, support, development received through the years.

As secretary, I serve as the primary record keeper for the board, which includes responsibilities like recording minutes for our monthly board meetings, maintaining the board calendar, and ensuring our Standard Operating Procedures are updated. It’s been a great experience, and I’m getting to learn and participate in decisions and activities that make North Texas an award-winning chapter year after year.

Another responsibility held by the secretary is to tell the story of our chapter’s accomplishments through the annual Chapter Activity Report for ICF Global. This report highlights activities from September of the prior year to August of the current year and is our chance to reflect on our chapter’s successes and challenges. In the report, we get to talk about development offerings for our membership like our incredible monthly program offerings, LINC groups, and events like Celebrate Coaching. We highlight our partnerships with groups like the North Texas Food Bank and Texas Conference for Women, which provide opportunities to give back to the community through coaching. We share the work of our committees and volunteers who keep us running smoothly each month and brag about our awesome members. The report also allows us to reflect on the challenges faced during the year and how we are working to overcome them. The Chapter Activity Report is an excellent reminder of all we’ve done and an inspiration for all that’s to come.

Thank you for the role you play in keeping our chapter strong and successful. If you have questions or ideas to share, I’d love to hear them. You can reach me at secretary@icf-nt.com.

Sandi Knight, ACC

ICF North Texas Director of Special Events

specialevents@icf-nt.com

August 2021

Hello fellow ICF-NT Members!

This year, our chapter has a newly created position, Director of Special Events, and I am excited to be the first to serve in this role. This position was born out of the recognition that having someone focused on events all year will allow us to better connect our remarkable coaching organization to the broader business community across North Texas.

What events do we feature? In addition to the Annual Chapter Meeting that provides highlights toward the end of the year, we host our largest event each Fall, Celebrate Coaching. This is a very special gathering meant to help more organizations learn and understand what a difference a coaching culture can make for them. Thanks to our ability to host Celebrate Coaching virtually again this year, we have been able to feature two highly recognized coaches, speakers and authors—Marcia Reynolds and Richard Boyatzis. Be sure to see the information in our emails, social platforms and newsletters and you will understand what a tremendous opportunity it is for you to attend and to bring several clients and prospects! And if you are part of a business that supports coaching, we hope you’ll consider sponsoring the event and letting us help you connect to our professional coaching network of more than 1,500 people.

I believe 2021 is our time to shine and bring a spotlight to coaching and what it can do for all organizations—no matter how small, no matter how large. Particularly in a time when COVID completely changed the expectations of how we connect and engage employees, leaders will need to incorporate coaching to help their teams and organizations to keep learning and growing while they meet goals.

All of us look forward to enhancing your experience as a professional coach and all the individuals you support through excellent events and experiences with ICF North Texas. Please know that I welcome any input about our events, so reach out to specialevents@icf-nt.com if you have ideas to share.

Teresa Dabney, ACC

ICF North Texas Director of Online Platforms

onlineplatforms@icf-nt.com

July 2021

Hi Fellow ICF North Texas Coaches!

I am serving in my first year as Director of Online Platforms, supporting you behind the scenes as the technical administrator and point of contact for our chapter's online presence. Our presence includes the chapter website, Google Workspace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Zoom.

My role is to manage the nuts and bolts of our digital framework and work with the rest of the Board, third-party partners, and virtual assistants. Together we ensure that the ICF North Texas digital platforms represent a polished, finished presentation.

Another aspect of the role, and the one that excites me the most, is leading the strategic decision-making process for the chapter’s online platforms (website, social media, email, tools, etc.)

In the near-term, this aspect of the role includes offering ideas/solutions that improve or simplify a process and can be easily implemented.

As our chapter grows, we are strategically looking at what’s next for how we can better support your membership and coaching journey. It is my honor to lend my head, hands, and heart to advance ICFNT’s vision & mission!

PS: If you have feedback or questions related to online platforms reach out to me at onlineplatforms@icf-nt.com

Kathleen Klaviter, PCC

ICF North Texas President

president@icf-nt.com

June 2021

Hello Everyone,

Here we are, halfway through 2021. The pandemic continues but we see light on the horizon and a sense of renewal. We look forward to offering chapter meetings that can included in-person gathering again soon.

Our coaching spirit is alive in how our chapter has continued to provide professional updates, training, and workshops with CCEUs—and to leverage our virtual existence by offering speakers from far and wide. In the first five months of the year, we have:

Welcomed 23 new members join our chapter
Awarded 12 credentials
Made it easy to pick up 28 CCEUs (16 CCEUs through chapter meetings and workshops and 12 CCEUs through SE Region Webinars)

We have embraced all the new changes brought to us by our global organization in 2021:

New core competencies are now being taught and tested for certification
New Team competencies have been introduced and training and certification has begun
New code of ethics introduced.
Business Building series for coaches across the Southeast Region

What’s next for you this year? There is still plenty of time left to get your business on track, catch up on the core competencies, and earn CCEUs to keep up your credential or attain one. We are a young profession yet a vibrant one, continually evolving and raising the bar, and the credential is becoming more important. As a chapter we are a local resource and able to support you.

Make sure the second Friday of the month from 11:15 AM – 1:15 PM is blocked on your calendar for our monthly meeting. It is your time to connect with other coaches and continue your professional development.

And it’s the perfect time to personally join with other chapter members to contribute to taking us out of the pandemic and determining what we look like on the other side. As a member of a professional organization, consider what you could be doing annually for maximum benefits. Vibrancy looks like:

Recommending a program speaker or topic for meetings and workshops
Attending at least one monthly meeting or workshop per quarter
Volunteering with the chapter on one of its many project teams
Joining a LINC group for your targeted personal development
Participating in our annual community service project—nonprofit, pro bono coaching
Connecting with another local coach to network
Share on our Facebook Page

Be empowered by being a member of the North Texas chapter. We have the most highly credentialed coaches of any chapter in Texas (MCC). We just completed our third year of pro bono coaching with the staff of the North Texas Food Bank for maximum community impact. We are providing monthly programs that not only improve your coaching skill but help you build your business.

Your ICF North Texas chapter is here to energize and motivate you, and your fellow members are here to pull you along on the coaching train! Save the date for our monthly meetings and for an extra special Celebrate Coaching event on Friday, September 10—a day to share the value of coaching with our clients and prospects. Please let us know how we can help you on your coaching journey.

With warmest regards and hopes for an inspired year of coaching

Susan Daniel, ACC

ICF North Texas Director of Alliances

alliances@icf-nt.com

May 2021

Hello, ICFNT Coaching community!

Now in my third year as director of alliances, I’m delighted to share how we establish and maintain strategic relationships with key entities. The types of organizations that we partner with include non-profits, professional associations, business organizations and other ICF chapters. At a high level, we seek to create synergistic partnerships. To accomplish this, we reach out to and stay connected with organizations and people who share an affinity with our coaching community.

When developing alliances and strategic partnerships ICF North Texas focuses on these key objectives. We look at how the relationship will…

Benefit both chapter members and our partners
Brand coaching in the community and marketplace
Provide development opportunities for coaches

The nature of this role is to successfully foster partnerships that create connection and cohesion with the greater community and stakeholders. This is accomplished through the collaboration and commitment of our entire ICF North Texas board of directors.

A highlight of this role for me personally has been nurturing our partnership with the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) team in recent years. As part of International Coaching Week, members of ICF North Texas have provided pro bono coaching to the NTFB leaders and staff members. Our gift of coaching to this community organization has helped them to deepen their commitment to establishing a coaching culture. Given the extreme increase in the need for their services due to the pandemic this has been a meaningful time for our chapter to help NTFB employees experience the value and impact of coaching.

By the way, I want to give a ‘shout out’ to all the internal coaches out there. Along with my involvement with ICF, I enjoy an internal coach role with Exeter Finance. There are a growing number of organizations that recognize the power of a coaching culture and I know you join me in being part of an important movement to help leaders grow.

Thank you for your involvement and support for helping us to be recognized as a vibrant ICF chapter known for our community service and outreach through the alliances we create.

Jane Koenecke, ACC

ICF North Texas Director of communications

Communications@icf-nt.com

April 2021

Hello, Coaching community!

This month, as director of communications, I’m pleased to give you a glimpse of how we keep you informed, inspired and connected to our vibrant ICF North Texas chapter. Communication is an important part of our community. As you look for opportunities to continue learning and growing throughout your coaching journey, we work to support you with this at our meetings, on our website, in our newsletters, and in our monthly email messages. We keep you connected to each other, to our local community, and to our global coaching community. In addition, we keep you connected on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram) by sharing chapter news, industry updates, trending topics and success stories—and by creating meaningful and interactive conversation.

Linked In
ICF North Texas Website
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram

We’ve also made it easy to keep up with LINC meetings and other gatherings with our website calendar (now with categories by color to help you watch for your interests).

With communications support, ICF North Texas:

Was among the first chapters worldwide in 2021 to introduce our new brand on our website and social platforms.
Provides thought leadership with industry updates and trending topics.
Gathers input from members and associates and we use your input to influence decisions.
Upholds professional look and feel of all content, from fliers to slides for meetings or events.
Shares success stories so more people understand the power of coaching and coaching cultures.

We work closely with Teresa Dabney, Director of Online Platforms, and her team who manage the technology and applications where we share communication. We are grateful for the support from two assistants, Peggy and Patty, who help us keep up with all the communications. We are looking for one or two volunteers who could manage a limited amount of the information, maybe an hour or two each month. Please let me know if you’d like to learn more at communications@icf-nt.com.

We encourage you to sign up to view ICF North Texas updates wherever you are (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram) and to respond to what we post. This will help more people know about our chapter and all we have to offer.

Thank you for helping us be an award-winning chapter and for spreading the word about our premiere coaching organization.

Laurie Goetz, ACC

ICF North Texas Director of Membership

membership@icf-nt.com

March 2021

It is almost springtime in North Texas—a time for renewal and reinvigoration. And the month of March is also the beginning of ICF Global membership renewal season. It’s a time for us to reinvigorate ICF with our shared passion for coaching. My name is Laurie Goetz and having served as the ICF North Texas membership director for almost three years, I truly believe that it’s the members who make our chapter so special. Personally, the talented professionals I’ve met through our chapter have become my colleagues, mentors, advisors, and friends and they have contributed immensely to my professional success.

Many members ask, “What is the difference between ICF Global and ICF North Texas?” Here are just a few of the distinctions between these professional associations.

ICF North Texas membership offers you:

a local network of peers
LINC groups for you to laugh, interact, nurture and connect with like-minded colleagues
Access to the Southeast Region webinars
Fabulous monthly programs and workshops, with plenty of opportunities to earn continuing education credits (CCEs)

ICF Global membership provides:

A parent organization for all local chapters worldwide that is dedicated to advancing the coaching profession and providing credential certification
Access to numerous free thought-leadership and discounted business development resources
Research such as the Global Coaching Study with valuable survey data on the coaching industry
The ICF Foundation for social progress through coaching

Membership in either organization provides you with credibility, community and incredible opportunities for continuous development. Membership in ICF North Texas also provides a community of peers who understand the joys and challenges you face as a professional coach practitioner. I encourage you to renew both your Global and local memberships today so that you can continue to enjoy the benefits that come with identifying yourself as a member of the world’s largest community of professionally trained coaches.

Thank you for your membership in both ICF Global and ICF North Texas!

Steve Hendon, PCC

ICF North Texas Director of Programs

programs@icf-nt.com

February 2021

Hello 2021!

I’m sure most of you are glad to welcome 2021 as an opportunity to move forward with hope and optimism. 2020 was a challenging year and many of those challenges remain, at least for a while longer. Despite those challenges, we coached ourselves through it and provided a very positive year for ICF North Texas.

We moved to virtual production of our monthly meetings, programs, webinars, and workshops, starting in March. Rather than scale back our programming, we moved forward with the expectation that we, as a recognized Chapter of Excellence, could continue to help our members and our chapter grow.

While we hope to get back to in-person events later this year, we have learned from the experience:

Many of you found virtual meetings much easier to attend.
We were able to go outside of our geographic area to find more of the quality speakers we are accustomed to.
With some creativity and persistence, we were able to stay connected.
We discovered and identified new strengths within our board and membership that made our success possible.
ICF Global was right there with us, providing support and assistance.

As we move forward, 2021 is a year of opportunity. Our partnerships with ICF Global, the Southeast Region of ICF, strategic alliances with ATD and the North Texas Food Bank, and our fabulous Board of Directors and volunteers, position us for another exceptional year.

In 2021, you can expect 11 monthly programs, 12 webinars, and 5 workshops, including CEUs to meet your credentialing requirements.

Programming doesn’t just happen, so I want to thank our board for the expertise and support that makes programming much easier. Our talented virtual assistants always seem to have the answers and make things work. Thanks also to our past-president Kristin Robertson and our current president Kathleen Klaviter for their leadership, wisdom, and encouragement. And special thanks to you, the members of ICF North Texas. Your feedback and support are vital to our success.

As Programs Director, I also want to thank the programs team. Tyra Bremer, Ken Jenkins, Lisa Ong, Cherie Silas, and Diane Whiting work hard to bring you the best programming possible. We are all committed to listening to your feedback and searching out the best speakers possible. Truly, 2021 is a year of hope and optimism.

Here we come 2021!

Kathleen Klaviter, PCC

ICF North Texas President

January 2021

Welcome to the New Year!

As your chapter president for 2021, I look forward to the opportunities this year will bring our chapter.

There are a lot of questions and challenges ahead of us with the pandemic, but with the committed and motivated Board of Directors we have, we will continue to address these challenges positively and creatively.

I am proud to say that you are part of a globally recognized, award-winning chapter that will continue to offer programs and support to develop our members to their highest level of professional skill. We produce something for every member’s needs, including training (CCEs), business development, networking and credentialling support.

As we plan this year, our first thoughts are that we are a volunteer organization. We need coach volunteers to make us the diverse and thriving organization we strive to be. We need you to bring your gifts and talents to strengthen our chapter. Consider volunteering this year. What’s in it for you? Well first, it makes you feel good. An added benefit of volunteering is all the new connections you will make within the chapter, which increases your professional network. We constantly learn from each other.

I also want to mention a unique aspect that this chapter offers is a commitment to community service. One of our largest volunteer responses is to the pro-bono coaching opportunity for the staff of the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB).

Our members continually lead with big hearts and it contributes to the fabric of this chapter and makes us meaningful and influential in the community.

So, as I close this first message for 2021, here are three take-aways for you that are key to our shared success.

Keep up your Professional Development. Learn the new competencies, effective January 2021.
Volunteer with this chapter. There is a role for you—even in a virtual world—and every Board member will attest it is worth it.
Community Service is a way to give back professionally. Look for ways to contribute to the larger community. Look for our chapter’s NTFB collaboration coming in the second quarter.

I hope to see you at a chapter meeting soon. And you are always welcome to contact me or any Board member with questions and ideas. We appreciate you!

Thank you and we’ll see you soon.

Kristin Robertson, PCC

ICF North Texas President

December 2020

2020 is almost over! It is a year that will mark our lives, as we will date events as “pre-pandemic” or “post-pandemic.” This past year also marked a milestone in our chapter’s history—our 25th anniversary. As I look back on the year, I’m proud that the pandemic didn’t slow down the important work of ICF North Texas. Despite the added complications we were all facing, our coaching community jumped right into it with our first online meeting in March. We have not skipped a beat. We hope you have experienced how we have worked hard to provide:

High Quality – You rate programs extremely high and, for the second year in a row, we were recognized as an outstanding chapter by ICF Global
Consistency – You can count on educational webinars and chapter meetings every month
Variety – You find our topics to be timely and relevant, offering a well-rounded training experience
Engagement – You can interact in many ways—collaborating with colleagues at ATD, volunteering to coach at non-profit agencies, joining a LINC Special Interest Group, or sharing your expertise
A welcoming home base – Networking at each chapter meeting, opportunities to rub elbows with many highly qualified and tenured coaches, and fun happy hours plus a virtual holiday party

And here’s some breaking news: North Texas is now more than 200 members strong!

We crossed over 200 and currently have 203 active members (173 full members and 30 associates) as of this month.
We gained 57 new members in 2020, which significantly exceeds our historical increase trend of about 45 new members/year

If you did not have a chance to see it at our Annual Meeting/25th Anniversary Event in November, please view our 2020 Year in Review.

Thank you to the 2020 board and all the volunteers who made this year so strong!

Kristin Robertson, PCC

ICF North Texas President

November 2020

Congratulations ICF North Texas, for being an honoree (a “winner”) in the Chapter Recognition program for 2019—for the second year in a row. I hope you received the email invitations from both our chapter and ICF Global to the awards ceremony during the last week of October 2020.

Special thanks to 2019 ICF North Texas President, Mike Caracalas, who led the chapter in all the outstanding programs that stood out to the judges. Those programs included:

Pro Bono coaching program for North Texas Food Bank: In 2019, we started our partnership with NTFB and provided both a leadership development workshop and one-on-one coaching for the organization. Over 40 North Texas coaches each volunteered three hours of coaching expertise to leaders at NTFB. Thanks to Alliances Director Susan Daniel for this achievement.
Celebrate Coaching 2018: Explore the Magic of Coaching: Over 130 registrants filled Hackberry Creek Country Club to participate in an appreciative inquiry exploration of the benefits of coaching lead by guest speaker, Dr. Terry Hildebrandt. Thank you, Lisa Seay, 2019 Communications Director, for planning and implementing this successful event.
Association for Talent Development and ICF-North Texas partnership: In August 2019, ICF North Texas was an exhibitor at ATD-Dallas Southwest Learning Summit, jumpstarting a partnership that continues to this day. Again, gratitude goes to Susan Daniel, Alliances Director, for leading this initiative.

At this time, we are finalizing the slate of candidates for the 2021 Board of Directors. Our goal is to nominate only those people who have volunteered in the past year for committee work. If you are called to leadership in our chapter, please reach out to me or any other Board member to discuss volunteer opportunities both now and in 2021. It is only with a large group of non-board volunteers that we can continually improve our chapter and win awards.

In this month of thanksgiving, I personally thank, first, the 2020 Board of Directors for their outstanding contributions: Kathleen Klaviter, Tim Kincaid, Jane Koenecke, Staci Witten, Susan Daniel, Jay Harris, Mike Caracalas, Steve Hendon and Laurie Goetz. As president, I have been blessed with a dream team of talented coaches who give their time, labor and love to this chapter.

Next, I thank all the non-Board volunteers, including the 40-plus members who volunteered this year for pro bono coaching at North Texas Food Bank, and the dozen who volunteered to coach at the Texas Women’s Conference in October 2020. It is only with your volunteerism, that we continue to stand strong.

Kristin Robertson, PCC

ICF North Texas President

October 2020

Our ICF North Texas Chapter is here to support you, not only with excellent educational offerings, but with opportunities to make deep connections among members. Especially during a pandemic, we must maintain and deepen our connections with coach colleagues during this extraordinarily difficult time. One of our newly revitalized programs offers you a way to connect in small, special-interest groups with other coaches. This program is called LINC Special Interest Groups.

I am so proud of the work that our Membership Director, Laurie Goetz, and the volunteers she has attracted, have done in August to revitalize the LINC Special Interest Groups. Started several years ago by Cheryl Close and Jim Cooper, LINC (Learn, Interact, Network, and Contribute) is a descriptive acronym for the benefits you receive for participating. LINC special interest groups are a free benefit for all ICF North Texas members. We now have more than 55 members participating and 11 volunteer leaders engaging in LINC groups. Outstanding!

Here is a list of the LINC groups—and their leaders—that are currently available to join:

NEW! Internal Coaches Best Practices group, led by Sharon Coleman and Connie Armbrust
NEW! Virtual Book Club group, led by Dari Rossi
NEW! PCC Credential Support group, led by Mina Brown, MCC and Beth Cory
NEW! ACC Prep and Coaching Business Start-Up, led by Michele Galen and Kathrine Glass
MCC Credentialing Prep, led by Susan Shapiro and Jim Cooper
Digital Marketing, led by Staci Witten and Dara Rossi

Any ICF North Texas member can volunteer to start a LINC group to bring together people with a common interest, build connections, and create a sense of community. Future topics for LINC groups could include Diversity and Inclusion, Faith-Based Coaching Community, Higher Education Coaching Community, or other areas of interest. Go to our LINC page or contact Laurie Goetz for more information.

I strongly encourage you to connect with your tribe by starting or joining a LINC Special Interest Group.

Kristin Robertson, PCC
ICF North Texas President

September 2020

Earlier this year, when the pandemic was new, I came across this quote from Abigail Adams (1780):

“These are times in which a genius would wish to live…Great necessities call out great virtues.”

I have used this quote as my email signature until I replaced it with a plug for Celebrate Coaching, our signature event in September.

Great necessities have called out great virtues in the ICF-North Texas community. I have seen virtues such as flexibility, optimism, stepping up to help, and taking responsibility in our community this year. We shifted to virtual monthly chapter meetings on March 13, 2020, several days before the COVID-19 quarantine was announced, and have conducted every meeting since via Zoom. We are staging two signature events this fall—Celebrate Coaching in September and our 25th Anniversary party in November—online.

And, it’s not just board members who have shown their virtues this year. Please check elsewhere in this newsletter for the extensive list of volunteers who have engaged in ICF North Texas programs in 2020. The vitality of our volunteers directly correlates to the vitality of our chapter. Thank you, all, for stepping up to serve both our coaching community (through chapter work) and the larger community (through pro bono coaching for North Texas Food Bank, Texas Women’s Conference, and others). We are blessed with high caliber leaders in North Texas.

You won’t want to miss our incredible speakers lined up for Celebrate Coaching on September 11. Renée Robertson is the President of the ICF’s Coaching in Organizations family and has led two large companies to win the ICF Global Prism award for excellence in coaching programs. And Sandy Mitsch, Brené Brown’s top presenter, is introducing us to Brown’s Dare to Lead curriculum.

There is still time to register until September 10, so please spread the word and I’ll see you there!

To show how excited I am about the event, I invited twenty-six current and prospective clients to join me at my virtual table for the event. Of course, not all of them can make it, but it was fantastic to reconnect with prospects who haven’t been in touch during the pandemic. This is a great way to market your business, and at $200 for a table of eight, it is a true bargain.

It is not too late to register your table or half-table—the deadline to sponsor a table is Friday, September 4, so don’t wait!

Kristin Robertson, PCC
ICF North Texas President

August 2020

We are more than halfway through a tumultuous year that has delivered sudden and massive changes to our lives. In such times, it is helpful to remember what we stand for, both collectively and individually. ICF North Texas values provide a clear direction for the board and our members as we steer our organization into a far different future than we could have imagined at the beginning of the year. It is a good time to revisit our core values.

ICF-North Texas has five core values that the board identified in January, 2017. We introduced the values to our community over the next program year, to positive acclaim. They continue to provide direction for our future plans, and a test for the decisions that we make. Here are the five core values and what they mean to us, and some examples of how your board and our members have been living these guiding values in 2020.

I’d love to hear stories from you about how you’ve seen ICF-NT members live these values. Please send them to me at president@icf-nt.com

Kristin Robertson, PCC
ICF North Texas President

July 2020

Hello, precious coaching community,

A pandemic. Racial inequality. A battered economy. We are dealing with a trifecta that is shaking our world. While the current situation is grim, I truly believe that much good will come out of this crisis. I can’t tell you exactly what good things will look like, but shame on us if we don’t work together to make the new normal a better normal.

ICF North Texas is here to provide you with a supportive community during this time. I encourage you to get involved by attending chapter meetings and webinars, join a LINC Special Interest Group, or volunteer to help the chapter by emailing me at president@icf-nt.com.

And, I want you to know that your ICF North Texas board wholeheartedly supports the International Coach Federation’s recent statement condemning racism and systemic inequality. Please consider attending the ICF Southeast Region Town Hall meeting on July 15 at 11:00 AM CT called UNITED: Breaking Down Barriers of Race and Systemic Inequality to learn what we can do as coaches. Look for more information in this newsletter.

Last, I’d like to share the closing words from Magda Mook, the CEO of ICF, in her statement against racism. I invite you to join in the sentiment:

“As One ICF, we stand together.
We stand for greater diversity and inclusion.
We stand against racism.
We stand against violence.
We stand for respect, dignity and integrity.”

So be it.

Kristin Robertson, PCC
ICF North Texas President

June 2020

ICF: What’s in it for me?

I often ask my coaching clients to tune into radio station WII-FM (What’s In It For Me?) when we discuss new behaviors to try. I might say, “What’s in it for you to interact more positively with your boss or co-worker?” Or “What’s in it for you to pause a moment to breathe before you react to an emotional trigger?” I then ask them to turn WII-FM around and pose the question from the other person’s point of view, as in “What’s in it for the other?” I’ve been pondering the turned-around question regarding ICF North Texas and its members. I’ve been asking myself, “What’s in it for our members to be involved in the International Coach Federation (ICF) and our local chapter? How can ICF North Texas help our members survive and thrive during this weird COVID-19 pandemic?”
As a board, we have created a standard list of benefits for joining ICF-NT, which are:

Access to locally produced and low-cost continuing education units, which are necessary to maintain your ICF coaching credential
Creating a community of local coaches who help, nurture and support each other
Advancing the coaching profession

As for membership in the global ICF, an additional benefit is the prestige of attaining an ICF coaching credential, such as Associate Certified Coach (ACC), Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and Master Certified Coach (MCC).

And there are more benefits that you may not be aware of! I’d like to share some specific services that I’ve taken advantage of recently and hope that you’ll be inspired by some of them. Here’s my curated list of What’s In It For You to be a member of ICF and ICF North Texas.

Reciprocal Coaching, administered by ICF, is a service that matches you with both a coach and a client for a six-session engagement (six sessions as a coach and six sessions as a client). The cost is $55, which is an administrative fee for the matching. The concept is that you are willing to barter being a client to a coach in exchange for getting the experience of coaching another coach. Your client is not the same person as your coach, ensuring confidentiality and compliance with the ICF Code of Ethics.

Sara Smith, a member of our chapter and 2020 President of the ICF Professional Coaching Board, mentioned this service in her presentation at the May ICF North Texas chapter meeting. In a subsequent conversation, she recommended it to me as a good and inexpensive way to take my coaching to the next level. Neil Phillips, a Past President of our chapter, has had experience with Reciprocal Coaching and explained the service to me:

“There are really two programs, Peer coaching and MCC Preparation coaching. The “Peer coaching” is just that. They are opportunities to hone your coaching. They are generally not recorded and you generally don’t ask for feedback about your coaching.

The other type of coaching is “MCC Preparation” coaching. These are done with 30 minutes of coaching and about 15 minutes of feedback. With one exception, prep coaching has been great.”

With both Sara and Neil’s recommendation, I signed up for the next Peer Coaching round that starts in mid-June. For $55, it’s a great deal!
COVID-19 resources, especially the video recording of “Staying the Course: What Coaches Can Do in the Time of COVID-19” with Ann Betz, a neuroscience in coaching expert, and William Arruda, host of the ICF Business Development Series. Included in this great presentation is a handout that lists the Top Ten Reasons You (and Your Organization) Need Coaching More Than Ever Right Now. This is a fun presentation. I highly recommend it to you.
ICF Business Development Course 2020, hosted by marketing guru William Arruda, is still available in an on-demand format. This course helps you create and implement marketing plans for your coaching business.
ICF-NT’s June 16 programs are ones you can’t miss, with speakers from the Gallup organization.
ICF-NT’s LINC Special Interest Groups are being revitalized by our 2020 Membership Director, Laurie Goetz. Look out for more information about how you can get involved in chapter SIGs formed around topics such as MCC preparation, online marketing, mastering the PCC markers. More to come!

I hope my personal list of services and benefits is helpful to you. See you at our next chapter meeting and workshop on June 16.

Kristin Robertson, PCC
ICF North Texas President

May 2020

As 2020 continues to unfold in very surprising ways, I marvel at how I am seeing many of you leverage your coaching training and expertise to launch yourselves forward. In spite of whatever challenges have emerged during this pandemic, our coaches are creating a whole new level of digital connections and are supporting organizations of every size and scope through a cyclone of change.

As people of our community continue to endure many disappointments and cancellations, we are uniquely equipped to help them deal with any negative emotions in a healthy way. We can help our clients to understand that if not dealt with, ignored emotions pop back up like a beach ball that you try to keep submerged. By supporting our clients through naming, acknowledging and understanding their emotions, we can help them step through it all toward a positive future. For example, you might say to a client, “I sense that you are feeling a bit anxious about your job. Given the circumstances, I would feel the same. After we’ve discussed your feelings a bit more, could we make a plan for how you are going to come out of this even stronger?” We can make such an important difference for our community members right now, and I hope you are feeling fulfilled in this gift you can give.

Just as you may be providing more for your clients or dealing with a loss of business, ICF North Texas is here to help you weather the COVID-19 storm. Our programs, including chapter meetings, webinars and happy hours, have moved online, and we are here supporting and educating you to be the best coach possible. As our chapter has shifted to completely virtual gatherings, we remain determined to deliver a great deal of value to coaches across North Texas. And ICF Global continues to add more and more resources on the Covid-19 Resources for Coaches page.

Please take a look at some of the upcoming offerings and, I’ll see you on Zoom soon.

Kristin Robertson, PCC
ICF North Texas President

April 2020

The old Chinese adage says, “May you live in interesting times,” and we are doing just that. The COVID19 virus has sent us all back to our homes, where many of us, especially the extroverts, are going crazy. It seems like the business community is either super busy and stressed, or twiddling their thumbs and I imagine it’s the same for our ICF North Texas coaches. Whether you are busy or idle, this is a time to re-assess and re-charge. I’ve added a quote from Abigail Adams to my email signature because I was so touched by its relevance to this time of crisis:

These are times in which a genius would wish to live…Great necessities call out great virtues.
— Abigail Adams, 1780

How can you be a genius in this uncertain time? One resource for drawing out your inner genius is a great article from International Coaching Federation called Coaching in Times of Crisis, which contains many helpful resources. Because we all have a bit more time during the shelter-in-place mandate, we can do more of the things that can sustain us. I’ll add some suggestions of my own:

Get outside once a day to exercise or just enjoy the beautiful spring weather
Practice gratitude for every small blessing that comes your way. For example, on my morning walk with my dog, I notice each tree that has new buds on it and give thanks.
Set aside a daily time to amp up your inner life through meditation, prayer, inspirational reading or mindfulness
Improve your mind! Read some of the coaching books you’ve been meaning to but haven’t had the time for. Some of the ones on my list are:
The Hedgehog Effect by Manfred Kets de Vries
Your Brain at Work by David Rock
No Ego by Cy Wakeman
Humble Inquiry by Edgar Schein
Good Leaders Ask Good Questions by John Maxwell
Look into the government’s recently passed bill to help small business. You can start here with this article on Where Small Businesses can go for Help.

If you are financially secure, consider giving to the North Texas Food Bank, the non-profit that ICF North Texas has partnered with to provide pro bono coaching in both 2019 and 2020. Because of the enormous amount of economic suffering caused by COVID-19, they are in need of both gifts-in-kind and financial donations. Please visit here to donate money. I just did.

And, do take advantage of our online events this month—a webinar, a virtual chapter meeting and a virtual happy hour.

Kristin Robertson, PCC
ICF North Texas President

March 2020

March 2020 is an exciting month for the North Texas chapter. We are hosting a special, once-in-a-lifetime event on March 25 at 6:00 PM—the evening before the Global Leadership Forum (GLF). GLF is a yearly conference of ICF chapter leaders worldwide, when we come together to learn best practices about chapter leadership and governance, learn about ICF Global’s strategic plans, and network with other chapters. GLF is in a different city each year (last year’s conference was held in Dublin, Ireland) and Fort Worth was chosen for 2020. You can see now why this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

If you are an ICF North Texas Chapter member, or an ICF Global member, please check your invitation (emailed on February 20) for information on how to register for this very special event. You will meet ICF staff and board members from across the globe, hear about the exciting plans ICF Global has to make our profession even stronger, and network with your fellow North Texas coaches.

And, making things even more exciting, we are holding our first ever monthly chapter meeting via webinar. We hope to include people who are not able to attend our Friday luncheons in person. Judy Feld, one of the founders of our chapter and the first director of the coaching program at UT Dallas, will be sharing practical advice from her 25 years of coaching. This is sure to be an instructive and fun webinar, so be sure to register and attend on March 13 at 11:30. Bring your own lunch to eat at your computer.

It’s a pleasure to serve you with the 2020 Board of Directors, who are an amazing team.

Kristin Robertson, PCC
ICF North Texas President

February 2020

At a recent ICF North Texas Past Presidents gathering, Sara Smith, the Chair of the 2020 ICF Global Board for Coach Practitioners Chair, told me that the North Texas chapter is a role model for others. I immediately responded that her shoulders, and the shoulders of all who have served this chapter, must be very dirty because we stand on them. Here is a photo of several of the shoulders that have offered us remarkable support over the years. Thank you to all members who have lead or volunteered in some way to make this chapter great.

Chapter President Kristin Robertson stays connected with and learns from our past presidents.
Here are a few, shown with Kristin: Neil Phillips, Jude Olson, Jim Cooper, and Mike Caracalas.

We are ready to announce our theme or Rallying Cry for 2020. Although this is meant to focus the efforts of the board, it is you, our chapter members, who will make this a reality. Our 2020 theme statement is: Expand the influence of coaching and strengthen coaching cultures!

With this approach, we’re telling members and the broader community that ICF North Texas:

Prepares coaches the for growing demand for a higher standard of coaching
Is the place to find industry information plus expertise and development
Is THE professional organization for all types of professionals: coaches in organizations, external or independent leadership coaches, health and wellness coaches, life coaches, and more

Please check out the February Newsletter for more on our plans for our 25th anniversary year!

Kristin Robertson, PCC
ICF North Texas President

January 2020

Welcome to the new year, 2020! As I step into my role as President of ICF-NT, I first have to bow in homage to the great leaders that have preceded me: Mike Caracalas, Catherine Oleksiw, Jude Olson and so many more. Our chapter holds the prestigious title of “Charter” chapter because we started in 1995, the same year that ICF was born. Happy 25th birthday to both the North Texas chapter and to ICF Global! Look for a chapter birthday party next fall to celebrate all we have accomplished.

We have an exciting year shaping up for you. The board’s theme for 2020 is yet to be formally determined, but it will have to do with broadening our impact on the North Texas coaching community. Stay tuned for more information

The ICF Global Leadership Forum, at which leaders from all the chapters worldwide convene, will be held in Fort Worth this March. We are planning a special event for the chapter during that time. Watch for announcements about that event.

I am proud to be your ICF North Texas president and look forward to working with you to advance the coaching profession in North Texas.

All the best,
Kristin Robertson
ICF-NT President, 2020

Mike Caracalas, PCC
ICF North Texas President

December 2019

Seasons of Change

It feels like a cliché to write about the changing seasons, but it’s genuinely what’s going on for me right now. I spent yesterday raking the fallen leaves in my backyard, and I spent the past week working with the board on transition issues. Every season has its time and my time as your chapter president is coming to an end.

Everyone wants to ask me, “Are you glad your term is almost over?” I will admit to feeling some relief at getting back some of my time, which over the past year I’ve given to the success of our chapter, but I am not “glad that it’s over.” The North Texas chapter is a wonderful organization and I am immensely honored to have led it for the past year. You as a chapter have accomplished so much. From our support of the North Texas Food Bank during International Coach Week to the prestigious Celebrate Coaching 2019, we are making an impact in our community.

All living systems go through transition and our chapter is no exception. Some of our board will be moving on at the end of this year. I want to thank Lisa Seay and Catherine Oleksiw for their tireless support of ICF North Texas. Best wishes to you, and we still look forward to seeing you at the next meeting. We also have two new members joining our board in 2020 and here’s my hearty welcome to Steve Hendon and Jane Koenecke. I look forward to your fresh perspectives.

As I take a step back, I want to be among the first to welcome Kristin Robertson into the role of President for 2020. Go get ’em Kristin! I’m here for you every step of the way.

With gratitude,

Mike Caracalas, PCC
ICF North Texas President

November 2019

Giving Thanks for the ICF

Halloween is a big holiday in my household and every year when it passes, I feel the downward momentum picking up speed toward the end of the year. I’m trying not to let that happen this year. I’ve had such a rewarding time serving as your President for 2019, and we still have a bit of time left together.

Last month, we held our 2nd Annual Celebrate Coaching event and it was a huge success. The chapter was well represented and, equally important, we had an amazing room full of guests and talent developers from organizations around the DFW Metroplex. I couldn’t have been more proud to be a part of it.

This month, we’ll hold our Annual Chapter Meeting on November 8, where we’ll take a look back on all that we’ve accomplished in 2019 and begin looking forward to 2020. And soon after that (December 5) we’ll have our Holiday Party, before we slip into 2020.

You’ll read one more President’s message from me in December, but I’m already beginning to feel the transition coming. The past four and a half years on the board have transformed my view of the International Coach Federation. I always knew it was a great organization, whose mission I align with. But I have a deeper appreciation now for all the volunteer individuals who make it what it is. I’m speaking not just about our chapter here in North Texas, but the other chapters in our “Southeast Forum” and all the chapters around the world. We are part of an amazing global community of coaches. I feel honored to be a part of it and humbled to have served as your leader for my short time on the ICF North Texas board.

If you’ve been showing up all year, I look forward to seeing you again. If you’ve been away much this year, please make a point of coming to our Annual Chapter Meeting and Holiday Party so I can say hello again (or for the first time!).

With gratitude,

Mike Caracalas, PCC
ICF North Texas President

October 2019

Celebrate Coaching Within Organizations

As coaches, ICF North Texas members are well aware of the power of coaching. Whether it’s with our own clients or when we’re on the receiving end of great coaching, we’ve seen the impact coaching can have. It has the power to change someone’s world.

What I find equally exciting is the impact coaching can have on the results and culture of an organization. On October 11, we have the opportunity to share that exciting message with colleagues from around the DFW Metroplex with Celebrate Coaching 2019: The Business Case for Building a Coaching Culture.

Our own Sara Smith will share the latest research from ICF and HCI about how companies with a coaching culture outperform their peers and she’ll present the recipe for how to create a coaching culture. Then we’ll hear from a panel of companies who’ve had some success in this regard. We’ll finish with a keynote by Steve Sosland, who’s created coaching cultures within multiple organizations.

And it’s all happening at the beautiful La Cima Club in Las Colinas. Details can be found in this month’s newsletter. This is our chapter’s signature event of the year. Make sure you don’t miss it!

With gratitude,

Mike Caracalas, PCC
ICF North Texas President

September 2019

Developing Talent through Coaching

In mid August, several ICF North Texas board members—along with one of our counterparts at ICF Global—spent the day at ATD’s 2019 Southwest Learning Summit at the Plano Event Center. If you’re not familiar, ATD is the Association for Talent Development, formerly ASTD (hint: the T was for Training). With respect to coaching within organizations, we believe developing a partnership with ATD makes a lot of sense. After all, what’s the best method of developing talent if not coaching? Okay, that’s my opinion, but it’s a hard-earned and well-informed opinion.

The keynote speaker called himself a coach, many of the breakouts mentioned coaching, and ATD global is even offering a coaching certificate. Given all that, I found myself surprised at the number of attendees who stopped by our booth with only a basic understanding of what coaching is and why it’s such a powerful way to develop talent. It was a reminder to me that I can sometimes get insulated in my community of coaches and forget that the general public, and even Talent Development professionals, are still ripe for an education about the power of coaching to transform lives and organizations.

Our event Celebrate Coaching 2019: The Business Case for Building a Coaching Culture is coming up on October 11. More information is coming very soon, including the opportunity to sponsor a table so you can invite your clients and prospective clients. We’ll certainly be inviting our new friends at ATD, and can’t wait to share the great story of coaching!

With gratitude,

Mike Caracalas, PCC
ICF North Texas President

August 2019

Building the Business Case for a Coaching Culture

Lately, I find myself more and more wanting to sell organizations on the value of coaching. It’s not always easy for me to do. From my personal vantage point, it’s crystal clear. I’ve benefited from some world-class coaching and in my practice, I get to see its effects on those I coach. But when it comes to selling organizations on why they should invest their precious capital in the coaching of their leaders, it’s not always easy to put the data into words that tell a story.

Fortunately, ICF has partnered with the Human Capital Institute (HCI) to create a fabulous presentation on Building the Business Case for Coaching in Organizations. In case you missed it, Sara Smith did a fantastic job of delivering that presentation recently in an ICF North Texas sponsored webinar. You can catch the replay here. Additionally, you can have access to the PowerPoint presentation, which you can present on your own.

This October, we’ll be hosting our Celebrate Coaching 2019 event (see the “Save the Date” in this month’s newsletter) and our focus is on bringing in organizational leaders to educate them on the business case for building a coaching culture. And if you haven’t heard, ICF is in the middle of an organizational transformation to, among other things, bring greater emphasis to supporting coaching within organizations. There will be more to come on that in the months ahead, including an update at the October Celebrate Coaching event.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer, and I’ll see you in the fall.

Mike Caracalas, PCC
ICF North Texas President

June 2019

What’s the Value of Your Membership?

Earlier this spring, I renewed both my ICF Global membership and my local ICF North Texas membership. I happily paid those dues because as a professional coach, I couldn’t imagine it any other way. As a board member, I’ve been fortunate to see more deeply into the ICF organization, participating at the both the Southeast Regional and Global levels. The biggest value for me has been actively becoming part of this amazing community of coaches. I’ve learned from my colleagues and made great new friends. Along the way, I’ve benefited from a wide variety of professional development opportunities.

How about you? What do you value about your membership? Maybe it’s the networking. Or it might be the LINC groups. In this month’s newsletter, our Director of Membership, Laurie Goetz, outlines five benefits of ICF North Texas membership.

Maybe you find value in the opportunities ICF North Texas provides to give back to our communities. We’re still in the midst of our annual International Coaching Week effort, where we’re providing pro bono coaching to the leaders of the North Texas Food Bank, which you can read about in this month’s newsletter. We’re making a real impact in an organization that is feeding the hungry in our local community.

Or maybe you really value the professional standards and industry research that comes with your ICF Global membership. In this month’s newsletter we’ve highlighted the launch of the ICF Global Coaching Survey, which ICF is conducting in partnership with PwC. I like to use the data I receive from Global to build credibility with my clients.

No matter what keeps you coming back to ICF, I hope you are engaging as fully and enthusiastically as you can. I truly believe you get back in proportion to what you put in. Paying your dues is a great start, but it’s just a start. Make your membership work for you. Take advantage of all that ICF membership has to offer!

With gratitude,

Mike Caracalas, PCC
ICF North Texas President

May 2019

It’s International Coaching Week!

I was at the dentist today, getting my teeth cleaned with my mouth full of stuff, when the hygienist asked me what sport I coach. All I could manage was a grunt. It’s hard enough to explain “coaching” without the oral impediments of dental torture.

That’s why I love the theme of this year’s International Coaching Week—Experience Coaching! The words we use to describe coaching are excellent pointers, or guideposts, to what coaching is, but until you experience it, it’s hard to understand the impact and why it works. This year we’re helping 40 leaders at the non-profit North Texas Food Bank experience coaching in support of their vision for a hunger-free, healthy North Texas.

I hope you are as proud as I am to be a member of the North Texas Chapter of ICF. My personal goal this week is to share my love of coaching in every way possible. That means showing up as my best self with every client I see this week, proclaiming my pride for our profession all over social media, and continuing to develop myself as a coach with chapter webinars, monthly meetings, workshops, LINCs, and everything else our chapter has to offer coaches like me.

Becoming a coach was never a “job” for me. Becoming a coach was a choice that transformed my life. Celebrating my chosen life during International Coaching Week is the cherry on top.

With gratitude,

Mike Caracalas, PCC
ICF North Texas President

April 2019

How Do You Contribute to ICF North Texas?

Yes, I know you contribute your money in the form of dues and event fees, but we all know there’s more to it than that. We are an all-volunteer organization and this month, it feels especially fitting to recognize our volunteers. April is the month that volunteerism is celebrated nationally (National Volunteer Week is April 7–13 this year).

Like many professional organizations, we would not exist and be able to offer the benefits to you, our members, without the work of volunteers. In fact, four of our members: Katherine Bock, Marie Raines, CurVie Burton, and Laurel Rolls, have spent the last eight months planning the 2019 ICF All-Texas Conference and Retreat. The retreat was held March 28 – 31 in the Texas Hill Country. According to initial reports (and Facebook) a fabulous time was had by all 80 attendees. Thanks to the leadership of these members along with members in Houston and Austin, this event, which didn’t exist two years ago, came to be. We have also seen members joining the Membership and Communications committees, bringing their valuable expertise to help the chapter.

I’ve just returned from ICF’s Global Leaders Forum in Dublin, Ireland, where I represented our chapter along with Kathleen Klaviter, ICF NT Programs Director and a couple hundred other chapter leaders from around the world. This event highlighted the critical role volunteers play not just locally but globally. I was absolutely stunned by the energy, diversity, and talent of the volunteer leaders who make ICF what it is around the world. I could not have been more proud to be serving as your North Texas representative. And it was easy to be proud, given that ICF selected our chapter as an honoree in the 2018 Chapter Recognition program. Along with 12 other impressive chapters from around the world, we were in great company. Here are a few of my photos from the event.

How can you contribute to the chapter? In so many ways, but one in particular has to do with our International Coach Week Celebration (ICW). ICW is April 29 – May 5. It is a tradition during this week for ICF chapters to partner with a non-profit to provide pro-bono coaching. We have the opportunity for 40 coaches to provide 3 hours of pro-bono coaching to the External Affairs team within the North Texas Food Bank. It would be a small portion of your time to make an enormous impact on those helping to feed the hungry in North Texas. This is a member-only opportunity and you must be logged in to sign up. Join us as a volunteer!

Yours in volunteer service,

Mike Caracalas, PCC
ICF North Texas President

March 2019

Building a Vibrant Coaching Community

What I love most about my ICF North Texas membership is the opportunity it provides me to be part of a vibrant community of professionals. Being a solopreneur coach, I need to be intentional about engaging with my community.

This morning I was part of a very lively Digital Marketing LINC with eight of my ICF-NT colleagues. Some of us are novices at Digital Marketing, some are experts, and some are in the middle. Besides learning from each other, we had a lot of fun and simply got to know each other better, as professionals and as people. LINCs are a member only benefit that offer a great way to build Community (and if you don’t recall, that’s Laugh, Interact, Nurture, and Contribute).

As a board member, I get the chance to be part of a larger coaching community as well. We’re part of the Southeast Region, and I meet monthly with my counterparts from ICF chapters across the Southeast. It’s a great group of people to work with and I’ve made lots of new friends in the process.

Later this month, Kathleen Klaviter and I will be representing ICF North Texas at the ICF Global Leaders Forum (GLF) in Dublin, Ireland. In addition to all the learning we’re going to experience, I plan to raise a pint of Guinness or two (or maybe a Jameson Irish Whiskey) to the amazing global community we’re all a part of.

And it starts right here, in our backyard. I hope to see you at our next meeting on March 8, or in one of the LINCs, or maybe even as a fellow attendee at our next webinar on Tuesday, March 26.

Yours in Community,

Mike Caracalas, PCC
ICF North Texas President

January 2019

How Will You Serve This Year?

That’s a question I’ve been asking myself as the reality sinks in that I’ve been elected to be your President for 2019. The rest of the board and I are in the process of setting our goals for the year, but I can tell you now what my biggest priority is.

I want to engage more of you in making a difference for our chapter.

I joined the board three years ago as a way of deepening my connection and commitment to the chapter. It definitely worked! Before that point, I was coming to a few meetings, but I was still “on the outside, looking in.” Now, I’m playing a central role in keeping our chapter growing and moving forward which, as a coach, is what I strive to do in all aspects of my life.

There is a phrase that’s been floating around among some of our fellow ICF chapters in the region which is “moving from consumer to contributor.” I’m sure you know this, but I’ll remind you, we are a volunteer-based, member-led organization. We have no paid staff. Without our members contributing to the operations of our chapter, our operations falter.

One thing that holds us back from stepping forward to contribute may be that it’s not clear exactly what help is needed. For that reason, I’m focusing this year on getting us to document the specific ways you can contribute. My vision is that you can click to a page on our site and see all the available opportunities to contribute, documented in one place, with details about the time commitment and task responsibilities. We’re not there yet, but we’ve begun. Click here to check out what we’ve started. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact me directly to chat about how you can contribute (president@icf-nt.com, 972-863-1852).

How will you contribute this year to the continued success of your chapter? Let’s work together to make this year an outstanding one for ICF North Texas!