Q&A with 1,000th MCC Credential-holder Lyne Desormeaux, Psy.D.
Lyne Desormeaux, Psy.D. (USA), is ICF’s 1,000th Master Certified Coach (MCC), a milestone that came less than a month after the passing of an ICF leader who played an integral role in advancing ICF’s credentialing program globally. ICF Global Past President Kay Cannon, MCC (USA), passed away on October 29, 2018, following a seven-month battle with glioblastoma. To celebrate Kay’s legacy and honor her commitment to coach credentialing, ICF awarded Lyne with a one-time $575 USD scholarship to apply toward her continuing professional development. We spoke to Lyne about her accomplishments and the scholarship.
Coaching World: How did you start coaching? What inspired you to pursue coaching credentials?
Lyne Desormeax: I was doing a pre-doc at the California Pacific Medical Center in their mental health clinic, following my psychology doctorate at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, when colleagues of mine moved to New York and started taking coach training and doing coaching.
It seemed interesting and like something I might like so I started the Co-Active Coach Training and Leadership Development program on the weekends in 2000. I really loved it and thought my psychology background would be very helpful in doing coaching for business. By day, I was seeing mental health clients and at night, I was coaching.
After finishing my Co-Active training and my post-doc, I was lucky enough to find a position with a small consulting firm in Connecticut that wanted to add coaches to strengthen their business strategy work.
CW: What’s your favorite part of coaching?
LD: Coaching keeps me on my toes. I don’t like to get bored with coaching; it’s always something different. Every client is different, every session is different, every group coaching engagement is different. It’s a privilege to work so intimately with clients. I love the combination of business, innovation, creativity, challenges, growth and self-discovery. Seeing clients grow, learn and succeed makes it all worthwhile.
CW: How do you think the MCC Credential is going to help your career?
LD: I’ve had my business Desormeaux Leadership Consulting since 2006. Some of the corporate and business clients I work for really value coaches who have experience and are ICF credentialed. Having the MCC will let my current and future clients know that I have coached over 2,400 hours, received coaching supervision, know the ICF ethical principles, and understand in depth the ICF MCC competencies. I have been coaching since 2001 and love coaching, but I know that it carries high responsibilities as well as some challenging situations. The more we keep learning as coaches, the better for our clients.
CW: How does it feel to receive this scholarship?
LD: It feels great. Kay Cannon had a great vison! I was supervised by two great MCC supervisors, Anna Gallotti and ICF Past President Janet Harvey. I learned so much from both. ICF is very important to me as a community that embraces continuous learning. I work for a few coaching companies and love to partner and collaborate with fellow coaches, especially on large-scale coaching engagements. It’s terrific to now be among 1,000 ICF Master coaches!
CW: What opportunities has coaching brought you that you feel other careers wouldn’t give you?
LD: I find this work so creative and limitless. It’s a great career to have! I appreciate the innovation, flexibility, continual growth, surprises, challenges and especially feeling like I can build something through partnering with clients, companies and colleagues. In the last few years, I’ve been doing more sports (ocean swims, marathons, triathlons), and I’ve hired coaches to help me with my training. I love applying what I’m learning from sports training to my own coaching and my own clients. I love coaching in French and hope I can travel more with my business; I love any opportunity that involves discovering the world.
Savannah Patton
Savannah Patton is the ICF Communications Assistant and a freelance writer for Kentucky Sports Radio. She graduated in May 2016 from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor's degree in Integrated Strategic Communications with a focus in Public Relations.
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