Time is such a slippery thing. On the one hand this year feels like it has flashed past and yet when we started digging in to all our achievements as a company this year, 2018 all of a sudden started to feel like a very long and jam packed year.
Everything grew in 2018, our students came from even more diverse countries and backgrounds and we added even more team members to our existing 40 plus staffing body around the world.
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Our community connected more than ever before too, with students, graduates and trainers travelling the world and meeting up with peers and colleagues for connection and learning.
2018 in Review
Here is just a sample of the many achievements and highlights of 2018 at International Coach Academy.
CURRICULUM
The benefit of hosting our curriculum in the cloud (as opposed to big printed binders) is that we can update and review easily in response to industry trends, and more often than not, changes in ICF Policy.
In 2018 we made the following changes:
1. The Coaching Agreement
The ICF have placed a heavier weight on the importance of the Coaching Agreement over the last few years, and so have we. In 2018 we created an entire new module in our Accredited Program, developed a new resource, provided professional development to our trainers and made sure the Coaching Agreement was being thoroughly taught across our programs.
2. The PCC Markers
The PCC Markers have also gained a lot of attention over the last 12 months, and once again we responded by developing a series of video resources that break down each marker and show what would need to occur in the coaching for the marker to be met.
> Click here to Play the PCC Markers Overview
3. Stop The Clock
Our students often express a desire to see “Coaching in Action” so this year we put some resources towards developing a series of Live Coaching Demos, hosted by our Training Director Merci Miglino, MCC. Merci observes a coaching session then “stops the clock” to point out when ICF competencies are demonstrated.
> Click here to play a Stop the Clock Demo
4. New Learning Area: Coach Discovery
In 2018 it became really clear for us that our unique contribution to coaching, and the thing that sets us apart from other schools is the way we train and develop our students to develop their own coaching model. We present our students with the range of models, philosophies and theories that already exist, but then we ask that they develop their own. This is challenging and takes some time, but the payoff is huge. Each coach graduates with a clear direction and understanding of who they are as a coach and what the change is that they want to create.
FACE TO FACE CONNECTION
It seems F2F was the new black in 2018! We are slightly unusual at ICA in that we were a global, online training academy since day 1, back in a time when e-learning was still relatively new and only just being taken up by universities and colleges around the world. We were, as they say, ‘ahead of the curve’
But in 2018 a couple of things changed
- Online learning became more widely accepted, no longer something to be feared or avoided.
- New technologies are not random occurances but rather daily realities. And people both old and young are adopting and adapting with much more ease
> Click here to Learn How Our Classes Run
So it is in this context that Zoom hit the market. Zoom is an online video conferencing software similar to GotoMeeting, but way more user friendly and much cheaper. We have seen dozens of these video conferencing software apps come and go over the years, but they were never quite reliable or accessible enough for us to roll out into our classrooms. In 2018 that changed and we launched new, f2f classes using Zoom both in our English and Chinese Programs
MEETUPS
We had more than our fair share of Meetups in 2018, as ICA Faculty and coaches travelled the world seeking out their colleagues.
Students, Graduates and Faculty meet up in Niagra falls, August 2018
Chinese Program Faculty meet up in Shenzhen, December 2018
Community Meetup & Workshop, Venice, September 2018
ITALIAN PROGRAM
All our Global programs have grown in 2018, but the Italian Program has gone nuts! It has literally taken off going from xx students in 2016 to xx students in 2018, plus a Facebook Group
> Click here to Visit our Italian Community
BOOKCLUB
This year we launched the Paperback Coaches Bookclub, with Julia Griffin, an ICA Graduate living in London, turning the pages for us. Each month we choose a book, read and discuss on facebook then get together for a Zoom call to dig deeper.
Our first book was Marie Kondo ‘The Life Changing magic of Tidying’, mostly we were surprised at teh incredible gloabl reach this book has had. Our coaches called in from all coreners of the globe, and the book had been seen literally in every bookshop. This month we are delving into a coaching classic, A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, and already we have mixed feeling from our coaches.
THE OFFICE
In 2017 we launched our Singapore Office to give our students and graduates in Asia Pacific a place to come and connect when in town. Viya Chen, our Asia Pacific Strategy Director, used it for meetings and events throughout the year.
Then in August this year, after nearly 18 years working virtually, with staff from over 13 countries around the world we decided to set up a Head Office in Melbourne, Australia. Initially we were looking for our own space, but then we came across this concept of the “niched co-working space” T
he Clik Collective is a brand new development for e-Commerce businesses complete with separate offices, communal areas, training rooms, meeting rooms, a photo studio… and a pet policy! That’s right, it’s ‘bring your pet to work’ day everyday at the CoachCampus office now.
It’s a Wrap
Well, thats it from us in 2018. We cant wait to welcome in another year of community, learning and growth in 2019!