This is an article co-written by Carly Anderson & Karen Boskemper.
2017 brings changes to The Mentor Coaching Group, with Karen moving on to other projects. In this article, we recount some of the things we’ve both gained, and learned, over the past 4 years co-leading together.
About 5 years ago, Carly was being interviewed by a friend and colleague, Michelle Duval. At the end of that interview Michelle asked her whether she was mentoring coaches. Her response was that she had stopped the past few years as she was no longer interested in mentoring newer coaches.
Through that conversation, Michelle encouraged her to look at mentoring in a way that would work for her, and after some months reflecting, she realized that she had a passion for advancing the professionalism of coaches, and that she could contribute through mentoring toward an ICF credential, MCC, PCC or ACC.
Once she had realized that was the focus that inspired her to want to mentor again, she felt the overwhelm of doing this on her own; creating a group and individual mentor coaching format. Eeek!
As it happened, we had been working for the same leadership development company. We were given a project to work together on and it was through that project that Carly realized that if possible, she would love to work together in co-creating a mentor coaching program. After several conversations and consideration, we agreed to explore the opportunity together.
So in late 2012, we started putting our thoughts together, and we started our first mentor coaching program in February 2013. Now, at the end of 2016, after leading 15 mentor coaching programs together, Karen is moving on to other projects in 2017. We knew this day was coming because Karen has spoken about what excites her and the work that she wanted to do more of.
Even though we are sad that our partnership in this form is coming to an end, we fully support each other living and working authentically to our passions. Itâs a journey we both have undertaken; to be really clear about the type of work we each want to be doing, and fully focus on that.
Laugh, have fun
One of the fundamental qualities in our partnership that has made working together a joy is our ability to laugh and be playful. We live on opposite sides of the US, Carly in California, Karen in Virginia. We built our business and personal relationship through Skype and there were many calls that we left with sore bellies from laughing and joking with each other.
We both had âfull permission to be humanâ by not taking ourselves too seriously and cultivating the ability to laugh at our own and each others foibles. We will both miss the frequency of our phone calls
Speak your truth
[Carly] There have been times when weâve had to have challenging conversations with each other, and to be honest, Karen was really the leader in setting up these conversations to happen. Karen made me stop and think about my actions, which were usually unintentional, that did not land well with her. Having someone who is willing to challenge you and use excellent communication skills to express themselves, was a gift. I value authenticity, and Karen brought me to new levels of authenticity in communication with her.
[Karen] My gift from Carly has been to trust my gut. Whenever I was indecisive about something she would ask: âWhat does your gut say?â Being challenged to pay attention to what my body was telling me, trusting that impulse, and choosing accordingly has grown my self-confidence in a way that is immeasurable. I will always be grateful to her deeper wisdom and challenging approach of finding my true nature.
Stretch
[Carly] Karen will be the first to tell you that doing a lot of detailed work is not her preference. And yet she created this AMAZINGLY detailed outline of what we do each session in our mentoring program; content, what we send out before and/or after each call, referencing resources, etc.
Karen has deep skill in designing training programs, and she brought that, and more, to our partnership. I am forever grateful for her skills and what she has contributed to me in this way.
[Karen] We both certainly brought different skill sets to the partnership. Carlyâs technical abilities of creating the website, doing updates, creating the private pages that house all our mentoring recordings and materials has all been her work. There is nothing she canât figure out and she has the drive and ambition to make things happen. I often joked that I was always running to catch up with her, which has stretched me to achieve more than I ever would have on my own.
Growth
[Carly] When we started our first mentoring group in early 2013, we started with an open format, meaning anyone could join at any time. We soon found that this didnât resonate with us as a format, and we kept morphing the mentoring program into something that felt right to us, and that provided the type of connection and safety we wanted for our mentoring clients.
The format that we have now is so different than what we started with. And a few months ago we made another change by having all our group mentoring calls be done using web conferencing. This required a whole lot more thinking in how we present information in real time. Each upgrade weâve made has brought personal and professional growth, for which I’m grateful.
[Karen] I am very proud of the growth of our mentoring program. We never considered the program complete. It was always in a state of continuous improvement. We both would have different ideas that built on each other and we were always looking for new ways of doing things. I loved the collaborative thinking process.
My growth as a coach and mentor though this process has also been remarkable. Carly is one of the best mentor coaches in the industry and I had the good fortune to be her understudy. I could not have asked for a more qualified teacher. My only regret is that mentoring coaches is not my calling. I wish it was, but my gut keeps informing me otherwise
Next Chapter…..
[Carly] Iâm still as passionate, if not more, about mentoring coaches toward their next ICF credential, because I know the process increases their professional coaching skills, and in turn their clients are benefiting from even more effective coaching. Iâll be leading all groups solo in 2017, which feels right for now.
However, Iâm open to the next chapter that might bring another partnership, who knows who, who knows when. For now, I cannot express my gratitude enough to Karen for the friendship, partnership, laughter, and growth.
[Karen] I am deeply grateful and proud to have been a part of building The Mentor Coaching Group. The program is primarily Carlyâs brain child but I also know that as her co-driver we have figured out the current  process together. The value of the program will continue with Carly at the helm as she is truly brilliant at what she does.
[Karen] I want to thank all of you who have gone through the Mentor Coaching program. It has been a pleasure working with you all!
Are you preparing for your first or next ICF Credential?
Do you want to “Sharpen the Saw” as a Coaching Professional?
February and March, 2017 commencing Mentoring Groups released!
February commencing group is for ACC and PCC skill levels. March commencing group is for MCC skill level.
Start early with your mentoring requirements in the year of your renewal, especially if you plan to submit for your next credential instead of renew your current one. You will need to submit your application by mid August in order to accommodate the 18 week ICF process.
The Mentor Coaching Group program is approved for 23.5 ICF Core Competency CCE units! (including 10 hours of mentor coaching)
Carly Anderson will be ‘flying solo’ in 2017 as Karen Boskemper goes on to work on other projects. I will her miss her wisdom and support, and yet wish her all the best in her next endeavors.
We offer an awesome mentor coaching group and individual program that has many exclusive offerings for our participants. You can read some testimonials here
We have been trained by the ICF to assess using the new PCC Markers. Carly also assesses for the ICF MCC and ACC credential.
One of our unique offerings is an extensive library of MCC, PCC and ACC coaching sessions for our participants to listen to, evaluate, debrief, and learn from, along with The Target Approach to demystifying the ICF core competencies. These are incredibly valuable learning tools, and will accelerate your understanding of competency distinctions.
Carly has created products to more deeply understand Establishing the Coaching Agreement and Ten Characteristics of MCC Skill Level.
Hereâs where youâll find more about The Mentor Coaching Group