Seeds of Growth | An insight to the first virtual #ICCSSummit21 with Nick Bolton

Seeds of Growth | An insight to the first virtual #ICCSSummit21 with Nick Bolton

On the 22nd of September, 2021, the International Centre for Coaching Supervision will be holding its first, virtual summit, entitled “Seeds of Growth: A Day of Reflective Practice and Learning for Coaches”. 

With 2 keynote speakers, 12 concurrent workshops, and a fun networking session all in one virtual event, coaches and coaching supervisors can look forward to a day of professional growth and learning by refreshing themselves with new ideas, practices and reflection.

I talked to ICCS founder and CEO, Nick Bolton, and asked his insights into the summit as well as his vision and hopes for the coaches looking to participate. 

So Nick, can you tell us more about what the #ICCSSummit21 is all about? 

Seeds of Growth is a day of reflective practice and learning for coaches. It’s aimed at coaches and supervisors across the world — whether you are a relatively new coach or a highly experienced coach. 

There’s something in this for every coach because it’s about looking into yourself, which is always the best place to start the journey.

Where did the idea “Seeds of Growth” come from? 

And, Seeds of Growth is really recognising that at any given point, you can sow new seeds for how you change as a person and how you change as a professional.

It’s about finding little pockets and nuggets of ideas that can inspire somebody to grow as a professional coach or a supervisor and how we can offer them this moment to reflect, become inspired and gain some new perspective that they can take out into the world. 

So, that was the real purpose of the day and of the name itself.

Learn more: Registrations Now Open for the #ICCSSummit21

Why did you decide to make the summit a day of reflective practice? 

My original plan was that this was going to be a very typical conference where we have supervisors talk to supervisors about supervision. 

However, I went to a conference recently and it was good. But, I was left feeling, “Wow, we’re all talking to ourselves!” 

It’s supervisors talking to supervisors about supervision. But, where’s the actual user of supervision? Where’s the coach?

It really occurred to me that we get very insular in different professions. Coaches talk to coaches about coaching. Counsellors talk to counsellors about counselling. 

Who’s talking to the actual person that benefits from this stuff? And I just thought, well, let me change it up a bit. Let me do a supervision conference that was for coaches. 

When you then think about what supervision is, fundamentally, it’s a reflective practice. I thought that calling the summit supervision would be a barrier to people’s understanding and wanting. 

“Why don’t you come to a day of supervision?”

It sounds way too heavy, doesn’t it? 

But, if you think about it as a reflective practice, that feels more engaging, more personal, more fun, lighter. 

So, that’s really what it is. It’s really a chance to kind of show people: What does it mean to be in supervision? To be experiencing a moment of self-reflection around your practice?

What are you hoping to achieve in this first ICCS Summit?  

When I think about the outcomes of the day for coaches who are coming, I suppose the biggest thing for me is that they reconnect to their profession and their work. Or, if they’re already connected, that there is just something that triggers or inspires them to do something different. 

We’ve got such a range of workshops that day that could be something interesting or completely new for them. 

You know, you might discover somatic coaching, neuroscience, or nonviolent communication. All these things are sorts of like moments of discovery for somebody. And I think that’s really fascinating. 

So, if I could kind of dream my biggest outcome, it would be that everybody that comes along closes their laptop or their computer with some new journey to go on. 

You know, some new learning that triggers a sense of, “Wow, I’m going to explore that one further.” 

And when I think about the wider profession, rather than just the individual coach, I guess I’m less grandiose than expecting it to have a major impact on the profession.

But, I would love to think that the ripple effects from let’s say 500 coaches who spent a day just thinking about the practice and finding new areas to explore. That in itself will have an impact on the profession in some small way. 

Of course, the bigger journey for me is to ensure that this isn’t a one-off — that the International Centre for Coaching Supervision and our sister school, Animas, are creating many more opportunities like this to engage coaches and the profession. 

What workshops do you think will be fascinating for the participants? 

When I look around the collection of workshops, they’re all different. 

So I think, in true coaching style, to answer your question, I would say everyone will find their own.

When I look at it, I’m really intrigued by Rachel Bamber’s workshop on using neuroscience to face the fear of certain clients that would otherwise treat you in particular ways. I find that a really interesting concept. 

But, everybody’s going to find their own little area which fascinates them.

I think that’s the beauty of coaching is that we don’t say this is the answer. It’s like, what’s the answer for you? 

Other than the workshops, what else can participants look forward to? 

The key thing apart from the workshops is going to be just a general sense of community coming together. 

Right at the end of the whole day, we’ve got a networking session. The idea is that you’ll be able to go around different virtual tables, kind of like world cafe style networking. So, you can sit at a table with other coaches and supervisors.

And when you feel you’ve had enough of that table, you can get up and virtually leave that table and join another one.

I think that’s going to be a lot of fun in terms of just building that community vibe and that feeling of being part of something bigger than just yourself. 

You know, I do think one of the challenges with the COVID experience has been the sense of isolation that people feel. 

We’re working from home. We have home shopping delivery, whatever it might be. We’re coaching and supervising on Zoom. There’s very little human contact. 

And in some parts of the world, that’s coming back, like in the UK. But in others, I know it’s completely locked down still. And I think that’s something that’s been missing.

So, this community thing is going to be really big from this event I think.

What’s the importance of this summit, especially during these times? 

You know, when I think about the #ICCSSummit21 in the context of the world, I don’t mean in a sense that kind of put this summit as some sort of solution to world issues. 

But when I think about those coaches who are attending, for me, it’s definitely resourcing them for what is still an inevitably difficult phase in front of us. 

There’s no obvious sign of life getting back to the traditional normal at the moment. So, I felt the best we can do is to continue to resource ourselves intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, whatever the case might be for you and navigate this difficult time as best as we can. At the same time, you should recognise that you’re still growing in it. 

I think the risk is that we think it’s about survival only and we stop thinking about how do we grow through this and we start thinking only about how do I survive through this. 

I think we need to always be thinking, “How do I grow through this? How do I learn from this experience, but also use this experience as a time to learn?” 

So that could be using the summit as a place to get that extra little bit of inspiration. 

But ultimately, you know, I think it’s all about people just being resourced. That’s a really critical thing for me. The resource to keep thriving through difficult times. 

Refresh your coaching practice and join the #ICCSSummit21

Nick parted with his invitation to those looking to join the free virtual event,

So if you’re a coach, no matter where you are in the world, whether you are a brand new coach or a highly experienced coach, this day is for you because learning starts inside you.

It doesn’t matter where you are on your journey. This day of reflective practice is perfect for you. 

Seeds of Growth: A Day of Reflective Practice and Learning for Coaches will take place on Wednesday, the 22nd of September, 2021. 

Interested coaches can join and RSVP to the workshops through this link