Coaching & Consulting Network

I am French and would like to share my perception of recent events in my country.  The news this fall have kept France in the headlines with very familiar scenes of strikes, sometimes suggesting a popular revolt if not another revolution.  The official story is that this upheaval was about retirement reforms.  I am 62, and I do not believe a word of it.  Retirement is not the deep issue at stake.

Much like elsewhere, the French population is very slowly coming out of the global financial, economic and social crisis.  This crisis has become political.  The French are facing the present situation and the future, and are considering options.  But the country is governed by people who seem to be simple-minded accountants.  Indeed, the French government wants to cut social, ecological, and longer-term development-oriented investments and propose the same old type of program as what has been done in the last fifty years.

The recent strikes are not about retirement, nor are they a revolt led by a minority of opportunist students looking for excitement.  It is more about a whole country's population expressing  anger at hearing the same uninspired officials propose the same type of numerical logic and the same financial answers that have created the crisis in the first place.  For the French, coming out of the recent crisis does not automatically mean going back to  "business as usual".  For the French, and maybe for others elsewhere, post crisis should mean that now, we have to seriously consider changing perspectives and prepare for a different future. 

The strikes may not be a model of civilized expression to foster political change, but they are a way to try to get the message across.  The question is: if economic outlooks are going to become a little better in the years to come, what quality do we want to insure for our future?  I think the question is good, and it needs to be considered both individually, and as a society.  I am not ready for retirement right now.  There are important things to do to prepare for the future of this planet, and our accountants are not inspiring leaders.  I want to participate in the necessary change now.  This cannot be put aside for later nor for our children.

Fundamentally, this is what the coaching profession, my profession, is all about.

Since September 2010, our personal and professional lives are pulsating to a very different, more active and European rhythm.  The original concept was 50-50 between Paris and Bucharest.  The reality is that we have more client needs in Bucharest than expected, expanding to Eastern Europe, and the little time that we have left for Paris is also for Madrid, Hamburg, Brussels, etc.  So we are less in Paris than planned.   Are we going to do something about that?  We will keep the question open for a time, but we are searching for a bigger flat in Paris. 

The present adjustments in our lifestyle are minor and progressive.  They illustrate that we haven't yet stabilized since last year's personal upheavals and that we are experimenting to feel what fits us best and who we are becoming. Maybe also, that is going to be our normality.  But we are preparing for a more European 2011 and beyond.

My investment in developing the coaching profession and accompanying my clients in Europe is in keeping with what I feel I do best and with what I believe is needed.  A reduced agenda for the near future into early 2011 is presented below.

The next "Fundamentals of Coaching" cycle will start in Bucharest January 25 & 26, 2011 is already half full.  The next course for Madrid co-delivered with Claude Arribas is starting February 28 & March 1, 2011.  I am having great pleasure teaching systemic coaching and how to work with coach-client resonance.  This type of coaching is very powerful and a world exclusivity.  The course is meeting great success everywhere it is offered, and my skills-training methods are improving every time.   More and more HRs and managers are attending this program to fine-tune their skills, so I am more than satisfied with its future outlooks.

There is room for more participants in the "Supervision cycles" delivered in Bucharest by myself and in Madrid by Claude.   To build a solid and sustainable professional base, the commitment to this cycle is for one year (one day per month), the work is collective and demanding, and the results are in keeping with each individual's engagement.  There are no secrets: beyond learning the basics, only supervision permits deep personal development of practical coaching skills.  The rest is theory (The word theory has the same root as theatre.  It refers to the same type of fiction, quite distant from reality).

On November 22 & 23 2010, I am delivering a "Breakthrough" workshop for managers and Coaches in Hamburg.  This workshop is focused on individual and team coaching tools to significantly expand personal and professional perspectives on potentials to achieve extraordinary results.  On February 21 & 22, the "Individual and Team Diagnosis" workshop will deliver some of the basics of how to understand individual and team "client" needs with a number of simple and very operational models.  There is a lot of theory there, and a few immediately operational tools for coaches.  Excellent for those coaches who need to understand their own and their client strengths and challenges.  Same pertinence for managers and entrepreneurs.

As all the programs for Bucharest are on https://www.metasysteme-coaching.ro/romana/agenda-si-preturi-2010/.  the ones for Madrid are on https://www.i2c.es/web/es/servicios/coaching/escuela.  The program for Hamburg is on https://www.cq-kommunikation.com/aktuelles.html  These workshops get filled by word of mouth, thanks to their excellent reputation.  Do not hesitate to tell your friends about it.  They will thank you, and so will I, for your continuous support.  And naturally, all these master courses are ACSTH, or International Coach Federation validated, to get your coach-training hours for that association.

Also, a Mandarin language Metasysteme website has re-opened on https://www.metasysteme.cn/ .  You may suggest corrections if you feel competent in the matter.  I am proud to announce that a substantial portion of the planet now has access to some of what I have developed.

And besides that: I am focusing on one book to be published in France, and two books to be published in Romania.  One of the latter is translated, at last, and the other one is in the process.  I am in discussion with one or two publishers.  I am also preparing shorter online conferences (already have a few long ones, see : https://www.metasysteme-coaching.ro/romana/actualit%C4%83%C5%A3i/alain-cardon-conference-on-video.html).  I am  also preparing another longer term online questionnaire project, but that will take much longer to finalize, so it will keep me busy, and out of trouble. 

Voila for recent news.  I wish you an excellent year end, and until my next newsletter early 2011, don't forget to ready yourselves for your future, making the best out of the coming post-crisis years. 

Coachingly yours

Alain