Coaching, Leading and Going Forward Together with a Service Mind - International Coaching Federation
New Member-Exclusive Benefit: ICF Engage

Coaching, Leading and Going Forward Together with a Service Mind

Posted by Jean-François Cousin, MCC | April 17, 2018 | Comments (2)

“What is the most important thing you do to show up as a leader?”

That was the initial question asked to ICF Global Board Directors in a town hall conversation with Chapter Leaders at last month’s 2018 ICF Global Leadership Forum (GLF) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The idea that first crossed my mind was, “Partner with humility and vulnerability.” But, I readily acknowledged that I am not always strong enough to embody such traits….Hence, I responded with what my Board colleagues and I strive to consistently show up with: a service mind.

Ingraining a Service Mind in Our Foundation for Leadership

I explained that a service mind is crucially important to us because:

  • We are elected to serve our fellow ICF Members and our profession. “Remember who we serve and why” is the first of our Global Board Promises and Agreements
  • In high-performing teams, “The task is the master; there is no team leader and every team member serves the others,” according to leadership guru Peter Drucker (he expresses this idea at 1:25 in this video)

I also shared that I had just been touched by the great service mind of Elisa, my room attendant at our hotel. Elisa is so dedicated to her mission that she came back after her service hours to supply a Kleenex box she had forgotten to replace in my bathroom and to offer a toothpaste tube, as she had noticed mine was almost empty. She also left a handwritten note of apology. Elisa and the experience she creates are an inspiration to me. Elisa honors her country—the friendly Canada—and reminds me of the hotel maid who is one of four heroes in Robin Sharma’s book The Leader Who Had No Title.

thank you card 1    thank you card 2

Strikingly, all Chapters honored with the ICF Chapter Recognition Award and the ICF Foundation Gift of Coaching Awards at GLF also displayed an admirable sense of service to their communities alongside their work towards exceptional achievements. They are an inspiration to me, too! For example, ICF Germany coaches offered no less than 10,800 pro bono coaching hours to serve school teachers over the past 10 years. What a humbling contribution to the future of children and their country!

How can we—ICF coaches, volunteer leaders and staff—unleash our service mind further, to be more of an inspiration to those we meet and partner with?

Embedding a Collaborative and Agile Culture of “Partnership and Accountability” across ICF

A service mind is at the heart of the “Partnership and Accountability” work culture that ICF is embedding across its many parts. So are collaboration and agility. They will help us enhance the experience of our members and the vitality of our chapters.

At GLF, a Chapter Leader told me that he was concerned about his leadership team’s disengagement despite his repeated efforts to motivate them. Here are some of the ideas that emerged from our conversation:

  • Consider the following from the Global Board Promises and Agreements that may be helpful in this situation: “Listen to learn, and express to explore, with an open heart, mind and gut”
  • Reflect on: “Who am I being as a leader that my partners are not engaged?” and shift from thinking, “What’s wrong with them?” to “How can I change?”
  • Redefine collectively “Who we want to be as a team” and “How we can best support each other to take our collaboration and agility to the next level in service of our community”

As food for further thought, here are a few traits of agile and collaborative leaders I identified during my corporate and executive coach careers. What other traits would you add?

Agile leader chart from JF Cousin

How can we—ICF coaches, volunteer leaders and staff—become even more collaborative and agile, as we partner to enhance the experience of our clients and communities? And how can we hold ourselves accountable for progress?

At stake is finding a great way forward in a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity where:

  • The only constant is change
  • No leader alone has a chance to figure out robust solutions to our upcoming challenges

But, together we can! It is with a service-minded attitude, in inclusive and accountable partnerships, with your ideas and your help, that we will together lead our progress going forward, as a community and as a profession, on our purposeful path toward making coaching an integral part of a thriving society.

P.S. To learn more about the thoughts on leadership shared by ICF Global Board Directors at GLF, I invite you to read a summary written by our colleague Glenn Taylor, MS, ACC. And, I invite you to share your own leadership takeaways and insights in the comments.

Jean-François Cousin, MCC

Jean-François Cousin, MCC, has been an Executive Coach for more than a decade. Previously, he served in senior leadership positions in Asia and Europe for a global company. Jean-François coaches CEOs, CXOs and board members worldwide on topics including leadership development, board relations, strategic planning, organizational and cultural change management, onboarding and role transition. A longtime member of the ICF Singapore Charter Chapter, Jean-François has contributed to multiple coaching conferences and actively supported the launch of ICF Bangkok. Dedicated to the growth of the coaching profession, he has advocated coaching to numerous corporate audiences, co-authored two books promoting coaching and written Game Changers at the Circus about unleashing greatness in organizations with a coaching culture. Jean-François currently serves as the 2019 ICF Global Board Chair and was Secretary/Treasurer on the 2018 ICF Global Board.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts featured on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the International Coach Federation (ICF). The publication of a guest post on the ICF Blog does not equate to an ICF endorsement or guarantee of the products or services provided by the author.

Additionally, for the purpose of full disclosure and as a disclaimer of liability, this content was possibly generated using the assistance of an AI program. Its contents, either in whole or in part, have been reviewed and revised by a human. Nevertheless, the reader/user is responsible for verifying the information presented and should not rely upon this article or post as providing any specific professional advice or counsel. Its contents are provided “as is,” and ICF makes no representations or warranties as to its accuracy or completeness and to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law specifically disclaims any and all liability for any damages or injuries resulting from use of or reliance thereupon.

Comments (2)

  1. pgudr@hotmail.com says:

    Hi JF – Indeed the service mindset is pivotal in leadership. I think “Listen to learn (without any biases) & trust authenticity are the ticket to entry towards driving better collaboration in today’s global environment. Thanks for your valued sharing and contribution…Pankaj, ICF Singapore

    • Hi Pankaj,
      Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts, they resonate with my experience. We, as coaches, role-model “listening to learn (without any biases)”, trust and authenticity, and we are seeing our Clients gradually ingrain them in how they show up as leaders. That facilitates productive relationships and effective collaboration, as you said. A contribution we can be happy about!
      Cheers,
      JF .

Leave a Reply

Not a member?

Sign up now to become a member and receive all of our wonderful benefits.

Learn more