Coaching and Social Action: Giving of Your Coaching Expertise to Create Positive Change

Published in, and reproduced with permission from, choice, the magazine  of professional coaching

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I believe we need the inhabitants of this planet to exhibit ideals and values and then to live in congruence with those ideals and values.

When I think of what the process of coaching brings to others, the words that come to my mind are connection, collaboration and co-creation. I think these qualities are also what we need more of in the world. We are connected globally more than ever, mostly by electronics (cell phones, email, chat, texting, Twitter, Facebook and other social media), yet there is a robust hunger for true connection and meaningful relationships. The more “high-tech” our lives become, the more “high touch” we need in our lives.

Given the incredible results I have witnessed from coaching (as both the receiver and the coach), I had a vision in 2005 of finding a way to bring the power of coaching to the underserved and remote locations in the world. That vision became a nonprofit corporation, Coaching the Global Village. In my work experiences in Africa, Turkey, Australia,  Italy,  Costa  Rica, Mexico and  many other cultures, I have gained as much from those I helped as they did from my efforts. I believe that coaching is the missing link to empowering people to carry on after receiving assistance from nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations.

At Coaching the Global Village, we started with a founding board of advisors, created a coaching curriculum, conducted three pilot studies and one paid training, collected research, and have now formed a new official governing board of directors. Our new board is multicultural, multilingual and international in scope. We are looking for ways to partner, collaborate, and connect with other nonprofits, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and communities around the globe. We have a newsletter, so if you want to be kept informed of what we are doing and discover your part, please sign up. Go to www.Coaching TheGlobalVillage.org As this new venture indicates, coaching is an evolving profession, a methodology focused on empowerment that challenges many of us to seek positive change in the world.