Mastery in Business Coaching
 

Mastery in Business Coaching
Core Syllabus 2011

The following notes illustrate some of the core areas of focus of the 2011 MBC programme, module by module. They are not intended as complete descriptions of the syllabus, which may be adapted in both content and sequence to the needs of the particular programme and the participants in it.  

Module 1	The strategic coach path: a comprehensive road map of major transition Laying the foundations: how will we create ‘ecological’ ground rules for creating a learning network and a collective learning process? Leveraging cultural diversity: how can we explore, understand and utilise the diverse cultures and environments of client organisations? As coaches, what do we use to coach a major strategic transition that takes meaningful purpose into action?
Module 2	Individual and collective cross-cultural contracting The coach’s role is to accompany the client’s evolution; to do this the initial agreement between client, coach and the organisation hiring the coach must be both rigorous and strategic. This coaching ‘pact’ will be the basis for all actions to come; it sets not only the business agreement but the values, ethics, nature and quality of the relationship between the client and the coach.
Module 3	Alliances and partnerships What is an alliance? Whom do we make alliances with? Why and where are the comfort and discomfort zones? Where does creativity emerge? In this session we will go through the ingredients that make up an alliance, use games and tools to illustrate the life cycle of an alliance and explore the importance of alliances in generating creativity.
Module 4	The ‘symbolic journey’ This module explores some of the more intimate tools and theories that we use as coaches. Our clients will go through discovery, adventure, transformation and renewal. This learning process of transformation is very powerful and often leads to breakthroughs. It can be defined as the “symbolic journey”. The structure and ingredients of a heroic journey and of the hero that lies in every client is the subject of this module.
Module 5	Mid-programme working ‘retreat’ This mid-cycle module takes the form of a learning ‘retreat’ where the participants spend 4 days together in the natural beauty of Mazille, in Burgundy. Tailored to where the group actually is in its development to date, this module allows the group to assess and evaluate how they have evolved over the past seven months. It provides a turning point in which each student can focus on themselves and where they are in their learning process, understanding the process of self-transformation. The group will practice group coaching amongst different sub-groups, undertaking assignments that will allow them to call upon all that was learned during the first half of the program (leveraging cultural diversity, facilitating a group from beginning to end, building up future alliances for a learning network).
Module 6	Intuition and creativity; the ‘posture’ of a masterful coach Masterful coaches are masters of learning and curiosity. What responsibility do we have toward the processes of learning and creativity – both for our clients and for ourselves as coaches? We explore intuition and experiment with powerful ‘projective’ tools to further investigate co-creation in both individual and team coaching.
Module 7	Executive coaching and the future perspective This module specifically deals with one of the main preoccupations of our clients: how to navigate the uncharted waters of the future when one is a leader and is ‘supposed’ to be leading the ship? We study theoretical frameworks for navigating the unpredictable future and then work through practical exercises to illustrate the different, alternative ways executives can use to think and search about ‘tomorrow’.
Module 8	Coaching leaders: beyond power games ‘One cannot coach leaders if one does not feel like a leader’. This module specifically deals with coaching top executives or boards. How do we as coaches assume our own leadership? How do we deal with strong leadership without entering into power games? How do we answer the need of a powerful leader or board to accompany them in a transformational change, daring to constantly innovate: ‘co-sensing, co-transforming, co-realising’?
Module 9	Completion and next steps One of the themes of this final 4-day module will be the closing of this learning journey and the opening of a new one. This wrap–up session begins with a collective exercise on metaphor. Participants will then be asked to coach the group, utilising and demonstrating what they have learned over the past eight modules.

Advanced Workshops Theese workshops form a key element of the Diploma in Coaching and Advanced Certificate in Coaching programmes.