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Greetings!
Happy Holidays! What follows is an abundance of gifts from the coaches at the
Coaching Center of Vermont. Some are sweet; some more spicy. All contain
some special wisdom for a beautiful Holiday Season. Please enjoy as we wish you and yours all of the blessings of the season.
As 2010 approaches, we invite you to step boldly into a new year of wide open potential by enrolling in one of our powerful development programs.
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 Christmas Reflections on Being a Parent by Liz Dallas |
This holiday season, the Christmas Spirit has found me.
It was a year ago this week that my husband and I answered a call to become foster parents of a beautiful 11 year old girl. I cannot begin to share how rich my life has become and how blessed we feel each and every day to be the sharing our home, wisdom, values, and love with this precious soul. Just when I thought my capacity for love was being sufficiently expanded by my various leadership roles in the community, God showed me how one small child not only could stretch my capacity for love tenfold but that she was infinitely worth any growing pains and stretch marks that might result from the endeavor.
This past year has been an unbelievable change of roles in my life. I have stepped back from several leadership positions in my community. Not everyone has been happy with these decisions, but it was clear to me that this child needs me more than they do. I have also been surrounded with more love and support than I knew possible. I am forever amazed at how first, we need each other; and second, how much we hold each other up. There is nothing like being in a place of need to experience God's Grace.
This Christmas will most definitely be different. And I am betting that both mercy and grace will be the foundation upon which my capacity for love expands and the joy of Christmas flows in!
May yours be just as joyful.
 Founder of the Coaching Center of Vermont, Inc, Liz Dallas coaches corporate leaders to grow their own capacity for transformational leadership and to develop emerging leaders to steward bottom line success. For more information on the transformation of corporate cultures, visit the CCVT, Vital Business Division.
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The Not Perfect Holiday
by Lucy Gage Bogue
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Does the mere thought of the upcoming holiday season get you anxious? Are you struggling to muster some enthusiasm for Christmas trees, decorative lights, cookies, presents, packages, and special meal preparation? Do you feel responsible for creating the perfect holiday-complete with all the trimmings -- for you and your family? If so, I have a story to tell you.
 When I was a young mother, the yearly stress of the holidays was intensified by the search for the "perfect" tree. I remember annually traipsing around three or four lots of trees in the cold, wet, and snow, rejecting tree after tree because it was too short, too tall, too scraggly, or too thick with limbs. This is the way it had been in my family growing up, and it had not yet occurred to me that getting a Christmas tree could be done any differently.
After the birth of our second child, twenty years ago in late November, one thing became very clear to me as the holidays approached -- I was exhausted, and I was not going to be the one to go out and get the Christmas tree. I said to my husband "Please just go get a tree, any tree." He and our three year-old daughter came back with a scrawny tree that would never have passed even the first round of cuts had I been the judge. It was incredibly freeing when I realized that I didn't care! We had a tree. More importantly, we had two healthy children, a loving extended family, and we had each other.
Over time I have learned that my own unrealistic expectations were the source of a great deal of my holiday-related stress. Twenty years later I know what's important to me about the holidays -- being with and enjoying my family, and working together to create a pleasant -- not perfect -- holiday.
What perfection can you let go of this holiday season?
Lucy Gage Bogue, MA
is a Certified Family Coach & Gifted Education Specialist.
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| A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to a Meaningful Holiday by Lea Belair
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Or..."Deviation - The Unexpected Way to Create a New Habit!" I was telling someone the story of how I
began routinely giving to my local food shelf and how this new habit
got created accidentally from a single deviation.
One definition for deviation, "the difference between an observed
value  and the expected value of a variable or function", although
mathematical in nature, also applies to how doing something outside of
my regular routine led me to create a new habit - quite unexpectedly.
Since we often find it hard to create and stick to new habits, this is
one way to make creating a new habit easier - a lot easier. Continue reading about the surprising power of deviation...Lea Belair is a partner in
the Coaching Center of Vermont, Inc., a leader in the coaching
profession, and author of Walk on Water: How to Make Change Easier. |
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| A Heart Warming Holiday by Kim DuBrul |
Another year has passed. It is hard to believe it is that holiday time of year again. This year make your holidays something extra special by doing something new -- try something old!  Think back to the traditions from your family's past. Which ones are you still doing each year? Which ones have you forgotten about? Which ones cause you to think "We should do that again," or "I've always wanted to do that?" So, how about letting this year be that year -- the year to bring back some old and memorable traditions. This can include activities, like Christmas caroling or Church; it could be food, music, decorations, presents; or maybe watching special shows or movies; or re-connecting with the simple joy of sending holiday cards with a handwritten note. No old traditions to bring back? For fun, ask friends what traditions they have or used to have. Borrow some ideas for yourself! Consider recording the daily experience of your holiday season this year by creating a personal journal. Note the parties you give or attend (even what you wear!); cards you sent and those you received; holiday activities you attended; shows you saw; food you ate and made; gifts you gave and received -- both material and through just being kind, who you helped, who helped you; the decorations you put up -- who helped and special meaning to all of it; what music you enjoyed; and every other detail. Have some fun with this -- it will be special keepsake -- a snapshot in time, a picture of your life right now. I hope these ideas can give you some thoughts of your own in creating a meaningful holiday season. May you relish all of the blessings of the season. For 8 years, Kim DuBrul has been joyfully coaching her clients to reach their goals. She intends each day to live in the moment as much as
possible and thanks her children for keeping her on her toes!
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A Tradition of Re-dedication
by Laura Lind-Blum
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December 11th marks the first night of Hanukkah, the jewish festival of lights, the Feast of Dedication. It also marks the beginning of my very favorite holiday tradition.
My husband, David, and I grew up with different traditions. And while neither of us came from particularly devout families, the holiday season is marked by the pull of the traditions we experienced as children. Over the years, David has had the opportunity to endure or enjoy any Christmas tradition that felt important to me (and there are a lot of them!). I wanted us to also create something special that was sourced in his tradition.
Early in our marriage, we received the gift of a menorah, the nine branched candelabrum central to the celebration of Hanukkah. David taught me the hebrew blessings that are said before and after the lighting of the candles. And he shared that traditionally children are given a gift of Hanukkah "gelt" -- gold coins (or chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil) or money. Well, we really didn't want to exchange money (we were fresh out of gold coins at the time) -- that didn't feel quite right. So, what then? And spontaneously we hit on the idea of exchanging kisses -- after the blessings, 1 kiss per lighted candle. Not a little peck, but the kind of "I-Love-You-and-I- mean-it!" kiss that requires a bit of time, attention, and dedication. (By the 8th night, there is some serious smooching going on!)
Continue reading "A Tradition of Re-dedication"...
Laura Lind-Blum, the idea midwife™ uses playful strategies to help you bring your creative self into the world ... without so much pushing.
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Now the Jingle Hop Has Begun
by Sharon Snow
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 You've worked your ass off to get where you are because well, everyone knows women work twice as hard as men and are at least 10 times as smart. As Ann Richards used to say, "The rooster crows but the hens deliver."
So now that you've got a title and maybe even a window you don't want to trip up and slide back down the ladder even if you do have a mild concussion from bumping your head against that damn glass ceiling.
Now I don't want to scare you or anything -- but, the truth is that it can all fall apart in the splash of a cocktail, the flash of too much cleavage, or asking your boss, "Who's that doofus in the corner with the comb over?"
That's right, I'm talking about navigating the minefield called the Company Holiday Party. I'm not saying you shouldn't go - I mean you have to go - I just want you to know that there are absolutely no do-overs when it comes to making an ass of yourself.
Continue reading Sharon's wisdom for navigating the Company Holiday Party...
Sharon Snow is a Women's Leadership Coach, writer and columnist for Vermont Woman.
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Don't Miss Out!
Register now!
Business Coaching
Certificate Program
January 13, 14 & 15, 2010
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Good coaching is an integral part of a productive and winning team.
In
business, this translates directly to improving the bottom-line while
building strong partnerships and maintaining a culture of support and
opportunity. If you believe people are the real source of your
competitive advantage, then learning how to coach your employees is an
investment you can afford to make! $500 GRANT FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR EMPLOYERS IN:
Manufacturing, Information Technology, Healthcare, Telecommunications, and Environmental Technology sectors. In partnership with  The process is simple. There is no paperwork for you to fill out!
Contact Kitty Martin at CCVT to initiate the grant process, or call her at (802)654-8787
VSAC non-degree grants can also be applied to this program
If the January dates don't work for you, we are also now taking enrollments for our upcoming Spring session: May 17, 18 & 19, 2010 (with a two hour follow up on June 18th, 10am to Noon.) | In partnership with
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Terrified and Great!
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Enroll Now!
Succeed at Public Speaking!
Date: January 27, 2010
Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Investment: $599 Includes full-day workshop at the Coaching Center of Vermont at Champlain Mill in Winooski, lunch, coaching support, and a meet-up. Click here to download an information sheet (PDF)
Email Kitty at the Coaching Center for more information, or click here to enroll. |
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Emotional Intelligence
for Educators
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Dates: January 6, 13 & 20, 2010
Time: 7:00 to 8:00 pm
Place: Coaching Center of Vermont, Champlain Mill, Winooski, or by telephone.
Vital Education  Coach Sharon Snow offers this three-week series of one-hour teleclasses focused on developing and honing your Emotional Intelligence.
Click here to download the program flyer(PDF)
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Beyond Time Management
A Workshop for Educators
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Vital Education Coach Marty Garrett offers this custom values-based coaching program focused on developing meaningful goals, overcoming obstacles, and moving into the future you envision for yourself.
 Marty offers an individualized mix of mind/body/spirit awareness, skills development, straight talk, creativeity, planning, accountability, and humor to evoke your personal best.
Curious? Contact Marty by email or by phoning 802.865.3212 for more information.
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Your Day of Transformation
January 8, 2010
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 Are You Ready to Make 2010 the Most Beautiful Year of Your Life? Coach Kim DuBrul's unique daylong Life Workshop for Women, Your Day of Transformation, will inspire new ideas about how you see yourself and what's possible in your life. Click here for more information, or contact Kim by phone (802)985-2482 or by email.
And, check out Kim's continuing Teleclass Series. |
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Parenting Workshops
by Lucy Gage Bogue,
Family Coach
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Listen to your Children for Understanding
Date: January 26, 2010
Time: 6:30 to 8:30 pm
At the Hinesburg Town Hall
$25, sliding scale
 Sponsored by the Green Mountain Friends School
Email Lucy Gage Bogue for more information | This is the second of four parenting workshops. Visit our Calendar for the complete listing.
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Mark your calendars!
Enrollment is now open --
Educator's Coaching Certificate Program is
August 2, 3 & 4, 2010
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VSAC non-degree grants can be
applied to this program.
Program includes a two hour follow up 8am-10am on September
30th. Classes are limited to 12 students. |
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| CCVT Blogroll
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Laura Lind-Blum, Editor
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 I'd love to hear from you! Click here to share your feedback & comments. |
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