Dear Fellow Coach,
Happy Thanksgiving! I began writing to you a quiet little note about taking a moment to pause and count your blessings this season. Then I met with a coaching client this afternoon. She blew in breathlessly from the busy street with apologies for being late and the word "frenetic" on her lips, along with anxiety about roasting the turkey to host her extended family, her first time hosting this holiday at her home. She carried the stress of the rushing world with her. After regaining her calm, she reflected thoughtfully, "I just hope I remember to enjoy it all!"
Great point. It's so easy to catch the contagious, grouchy energy of traffic, grocery lines, and cracking pie crust. Let's just remember to enjoy it, no matter how it goes. Last year, after hours of patiently waiting well past sundown for a specially brined turkey to finish slow-cooking, we accidentally locked the turkey in the oven just as it was finally ready to serve. When the oven door clicked into lock/cleaning mode, my husband's face registered the horror of the situation. After all, he had insisted on the innovative super-slow-cook method! We've never laughed so hard. The (eventual) turkey was delicious, but the memory still makes me smile.
Gratitude is the theme of this month's newsletter. I hope you enjoy these resources and ideas and find much to be grateful for in your own life at this special time of year. 
Sincerely,
Kate EbnerCEO The Nebo Company |
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Blessings
Writer John O'Donohue was the author of some of our favorite books; books expressing beautiful sentiments often felt, but rarely put into words. His titles include Anam Cara, a reflection on friendship, Beauty, a magical book about the power of beauty to inspire and uplift us and To Bless the Space Between Us in which O'Donohue has given us the gift of original blessings, created to acknowledge and celebrate many of life's universal moments.
O'Donohue invites us to "receive each day as an invitation" and helps us remember the meaning and purpose of blessings. As he puts it, "A blessing is a circle of light drawn around a person to protect, heal, and strengthen. Life is a constant flow of emergence. The beauty of blessing is its belief that it can affect what unfolds."
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we share this blessing from To Bless the Space Between Us:
For Celebration
Now is the time to free the heart, Let all intentions and worries stop, Free the joy inside the self, Awaken to the wonder of your life.
Open your eyes and see the friends Whose hearts recognize your face as kin, Those whose kindness watchful and near, Encourages you to live everything here.
See the gifts the years have given, Things your effort could never earn, The health to enjoy who you want to be And the mind to mirror mystery. |
Brother David Steindl-Rast:
An Approach to Life in Fullness
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Brother David Steindl-Rast
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Do you find it difficult to imagine that gratefulness could ever become your basic attitude toward life? Brother David Steindl-Rast asked this question in the opening chapter of his contemplative book, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer. He invites us to adopt gratefulness as a spiritual practice, a way of waking up and allowing ourselves to become more and more awakened.
Born in 1926 in Vienna, Austria, Brother David studied art, anthropology, and psychology, receiving an MA from the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and a PhD from the University of Vienna. He emigrated to the United States in 1952 and joined a Benedictine community in Elmira, NY, Mount Savior Monastery, of which he is now a senior member. After twelve years of monastic training, Brother David was sent by his abbot to participate in Buddhist-Christian dialogue, for which he received Vatican approval in 1967. He studied with Zen teachers and opened the Center for Spiritual Studies in 1968 and is renowned today for his achievements in building bridges between religious traditions.
At present, Brother David serves a worldwide Network for Grateful Living, through www.gratefulness.org, an interactive website with several thousand participants daily from more than 240 countries.
You might enjoy receiving his occasional enewsletter, dedicated to gratefulness or exploring the generous website to discover inspiring resources for living in the "gentle power of gratefulness, which restores courage, reconciles relationships, and heals our Earth." |
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Workshops for Coaches
If you would like advertise a program or opportunity for coaches in our newsletter, please contact Erin Gregg.
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A Special Invitation for Georgetown University Leadership Coaching Certificate Program Alumni
The Alumni Career Services Office at Georgetown University would like to invite graduates of Georgetown's Leadership Coaching Certificate Program to be listed as a coaching resource for Georgetown University alumni. This is a special opportunity to be listed in Georgetown's Alumni Career Coach/Recruiter Directory. If you would like to be listed in the directory, please send the information below to: acs@georgetown.edu.
- Name & Graduation Year:
- Business name:
- Title/Function:
- Street address:
- Business phone:
- E-mail address:
- Website:
- Who pays your fee (client or company)?
- What is your area of specialty?
- Geographic location of jobs?
- Available for phone and/or in-person appointments?
The directory is located on the Georgetown website, and is password protected: http://alumni.georgetown.edu/olc/membersonly/GTW/careerm/careerm_5.html
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Coaching Practice of the Month:
The Gratitude Journal
 As coaches, we are well aware of journaling as a valuable practice for clients and for expanding our own awareness. The Gratitude Journal Practice provides a bit of structure and a powerful focus to journaling. Here's how the practice works:
Select a journal and designate it expressly for journaling about gratitude. Once a day, write for five minutes about what and whom you appreciate in your life. Reflect with gratitude and be as specific as you can in your writing. What do you appreciate? To whom are you grateful? Why?
This practice will help you to make space in your life to show appreciation and love for the people and things around you. You may find it easier to remember and express your gratitude thanks to this reflection. Writing in your Gratitude Journal will help you shift from a mindset of scarcity and struggle to a deep awareness and appreciation of what is already present in your life.
This practice has a remarkable side benefit: as you practice gratitude, you naturally will reduce negativity and bring more and more positive people and circumstances into your life. The Gratitude Journal practice, undertaken with sincerity, can be life-changing. Give it a try!
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Gutsy Transitions: Finding the Courage to Pursue Your Dreams
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Christine M. Wahl
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Chris Wahl, founder of the Georgetown Leadership CoachingProgram and longtime innovator in the field of coaching, joined Kate Ebner this month to talk about transitions. As Chris put it, "There just isn't enough support available for people who are going through transitions." To hear Chris's ideas about how to navigate your own transitions or help someone else traverse this aspect of their journey, listen to the episode. She offers powerful coaching questions that invite the heart to speak and guide during times of uncertainty.
All episodes of Visionary Leader, Extraordinary Life are available via podcast. |
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First
I thank the Source
of all life
for this life's meaning
then I can begin
first
I create the space
in which to grow
into new dimensions
then I can move there
first
I envision the garden
full of rainbows
and scents of nectar
then I can plant them
first
I touch my heartstring
and feel its resonance
with the harmonies of all
beings
then I can share love
first
I hear the bird sing
filling the garden
with melodies beyond my ears
then I can appreciate life's
music
first
I taste the morning light
with which to create
food for my soul
then I can cook
-- Harriet Kofalk
from Life Prayers From Around The World,
edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, 1996
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Book Review
If You Will Lead: Enduring Wisdom for 21st-Century Leaders, by Doug Moran
We recommend If You Will Lead: Enduring Wisdom for 20th Century Leaders, by Leadership Coach Doug Moran. Using Rudyard Kipling's classic poem "If --", Moran has created a leadership framework that offers 16 essential leadership attributes. The book combines the power of storytelling with leadership lessons, as the author poses four critical questions for readers to consider:
- Who am I?
- What do I want?
- How can I get others to make their own choice to follow me?
- How can I earn and retain the privilege to lead?
Moran guides us through the process of finding our own answers to these questions. For coaches, this book is a valuable resource. Full of enlivening leadership stories, it will help you to illustrate important points about leadership as you work with your clients, even as it frames the questions too few leaders have truly considered. |
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Your Signature Energy Presence (Part 2)
On November 16th - 17th, Nebo hosted a learning intensive workshop featuring well-known author, energy therapist and teacher Suzanne Scurlock-Durana. Seven master coaches attended this two-day program in Reston, Virginia and learned new distinctions about their own energy signature and how to work with the energy of others. For more information about the Full Body Presence and Signature Energy Presence courses, contact us.
We will be offering these programs again in 2012.
Also, if you'd like to learn more about Suzanne, don't miss her as a special guest on Visionary Leader, Extraordinary Life on Monday, November 28.
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"There are three pre-eminent forms (of giving): giving up, thanksgiving, and forgiving. The heart knows that all belongs to all."
-- Brother David Steindl-Rast |
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