Coaching & Consulting Network

Before I share on some personal questioning, I would like to underline an obvious accomplishment: over the past twelve years and onging incremental improvements, the Metasysteme systemic coach-training program has gradually become much more than just another teaching program on performing coaching and managerial skills. 

The renowned Metasysteme Coaching program is now a known benchmark transformational experience.  It has become a recognized, challenging, personal and professional growth process, a powerful, demanding initiatory journey towards coaching mastery, an existential journey provoking major shifts of perspectives, a collective and creative community-driven, socially-responsible learning process, etc. In just a few words, its pertinence and scope has become blissfully motivating for a wide range of professionals! 

• The Fundamentals of Systemic Coaching, 9-Day, or four month, or 240-hour course is its foundation. The next two English-language programs will start very soon in Bucarest September 21-22 and a little later in IASI October 23-24
  
• The three-day Supervision Marathon is the follow up that serves to anchor participant learnings and developement in time. The next is very soon in Iasi October 28-30 and a bit later, in Bucharest December 7-9 2017.
  
• The two-day Metacoach workshops are independent support and developmental  training environments for change-management professionals.  It is focused on the acquisition of theoretical and methodological frameworks for work with teams and organizations.   The next one on Delegated Processes is in Bucharest October 30-31, focused on team and organizational coaching and collective collaborative processes.
  

Equivalent programs are proposed in Spanish in Madrid, and of course, in French, in Paris. 

For me also, the Metasysteme Coaching training program has become a very enriching, creative, motivating and innovating leaning environment.  It seems my best way to really learn is by transmiting value to others, in all generosity.  As the saying goes, the more you sow, the more you reap!

Again as always, I thank you all deeply for your kind word-of-mouth to people and organizations (executive team members and managers) who may want to come to the above in order to develop into their potentials.  So don't hesitate to pass the word within your networks on this latest update!

In a much more unpredictable way, I am regularly sollicited to deliver short on-location or online conferences.  For the international ICF on a regular basis.  For a Lyon-based coaching school this last Saturday.  For the UCO of Anger on September 12.  For DESAFIO COACHING 30 DIAS in Argentina on Septembre 13. For the Romania ITSummit November 1 or 2 - the precise date and location will be determined shortly.  For a Québec coaching school December 14.  For the French SFCOACH early next year...  And there will surely be more. I truly feel blessed to be able to contribute to the development of the international coaching community in this way!

The subjects of my deliveries mostly concern how I explore the inner edge of coaching, the core or heart of our dear profession - as well as that of management.   I am indeed convinced that our real limits are always internal.  No need to add more accessories to coaching, to management or in our lives, and especially not as repackaged marketing gimmicks to get attention! In all we do, in all we are, there are really no limits out there, other than in the projection of our own internal ones. 

On that subject, to challenge my habits, my very practical ongoing question has become: How can I continuously practice very simple, minute operational behavioral skills in order to have an ongoing positive fractal or viral effect in all my personal and professional environments?   On the one hand, every time I repeat these minimalist practical behaviors or skills, I rewire my own synapses, and on the other hand, they continuously have a viral impact on more people and systems.  For your inspiration as a manager, coach, spouse, parent or citizen, I suggest the following links towards articles/chapters on how to practice these skills.  More or less recent, all these texts concern what I call systemic micro competencies:

• On how to provoke creative circularity in all aspects of your life, in order to get out of conservative ruts, and routinely create yourself space for new opportunities. 
  
• On how to constantly provoke decisions in order to interrupt all forms of very creative postponing strategies, including analytical passivity, workaholism, repetitious habits, emotional ruts, etc.
• On low positionning and vulnerability, one of the most important delegation postures for managers, coaches, parents, leaders, etc.  
• On the art of feed forwarding, another Metasysteme original that is totally complementrary to the legendary intercultural, managerial and parental positive-or-negative-feedback issue.
  

Also, in order to challenge and coach yourself and for a small fee (Paypal), you could also try the fractal online self-coaching journey for managers and coaches.  Only if you like to be challenged, of course.

On a regular basis throughout the year, I also post shorter articles on LINKEDIN and FACEBOOK, videos on YOUTUBE, books on KINDLE.  To consult these, the key search engine words (not very original) are always  "Alain Cardon MCC".

And with my team coaching and organizational coaching clients, I have an important program coming this fall with multicultural and international clients, most often within various East European or EAMEA branches. As a matter of fact, I just finished 3 days organizational coaching with a Czech Republic leadership team of 32 very dedicated managers and executives. 

In my coaching profession, I regularly meet really active entrepreneurial spirits and incomparably creative and commited people.  Here too, I have the pleasure of learning every day!  I am among those who truly believe the only option for the future of each of our countries and companies is Europe, and I consider it is my job to contribute to making it a more performing and sustainable environment.

Parallel to the above, as a more personal counterpoint, an imposing question mark currently seems to be my favorite form of punctuation.   This spring, the end of our three-year pilgrimage or quest to Compostella and Fistera in Galicia had left me facing the vast empty Atlantic horizon.  I marked that accomplishment by passing out with a meaningful vagal syncopia - surely very impressive for my entourage.  I, however, was simply absent for a few long minutes!  Since the completion of that extraordinary and very intense journey, my disturbing question is...  so what's next?  What defines my future path?  And the question is tenacious.

Summer vacation followed, most often at one with nature and as a couple.   Some surf and sea sport, many beautiful sunrises, the freedom of wide open spaces.  That allowed me more space to contemplate my insisting question, sometimes to dive into the issue more intensely.  And so the question lingers on.  (But please don't fret! I sleep rather well, so the depression diagnosis is overruled.  Besides I'm quite busy, so I don't really have time to spare for that!) 

End of August, we went to the International ICF conference in Washington DC.  Interestingly, DC is formally out of all the states, yet the capital of all the States.  This central yet external status felt eerily familiar.  The content of most of the conference workshops didn't strike me as extraordinarily original.  Fortunately, however, event processes and architectures always inspire me, and intercultural opportunities never fail to challenge and enrich.   So I participated quite peacefully, simultaneously feeling quite estranged: not so much from myself as from all that was going on around me.  As such and for most, however, the conference was quite coherent, and surely very interesting.

So this September, I am quite aware I could give in to any of a number of easy temptations: quickly embark on other ambitious professional projects, commit to new motivating activities, churn out more creative writing, plan for another far-reaching pilgrimage.  Those have always been my preferred types of drive. Of course, I may keep some of these options, but for later.  But considering my frame of mind, all the options or answers that have emerged so far seem to be easy escapes, passing tangents, known and actionable illusions.  I can't, or don't want to immediately fill this void, or open space, or internal silence, or challenging discomfort. Surprizingly, I find this state neither demotivating nor demotivated. I feel as if waiting to meet a very important person, so my anticipation and curiosity is keeping me from quickly jumping into familiar projects and known processes. 

Am I becoming more detatched?  Maybe less material?  I hear people my age lose bone and muscular mass unless they fight back to keep fit.  Interesting metaphor.  Maybe also am I gradually becoming wiser? Or I am nearing my Seventies passage, my seventh decade, without having precise models on the question.   

So I am interested to discover, intrigued with what may follow.  This motivates me to leave my question wide open for what may emerge. Even if it may just be a new form of space, a particular shade of availability, a welcoming vacum.   Maybe I am learning to live without projets, just accepting and embracing the proverbial now.  For the time being, it seems to be all about just being present to myself.  And that too may eventually pass. 

To conclude such questioning would be putting an end to it, and in this case that would be premature.  When facing uncertainty, welcome it, they say!  So I intend to continue to meet people and progress on the road ahead, embrace pertinent personal or professional opportunities and challenges as they surface or unfold.  So far, they have always emerged as if of their own volition.  So I am trustful.

And of course, as in the past, I hope you will be part of that process in the future, in whichever way suits you best.   So I will continue to share occasional news here, hoping some will inspire you, and that you will not hesitate to answer or call to meet, for a coffee or beer, for a chat, or a challenging project.  

Thank you again for your presence at our sides,

Alain