from me to we

For the past six months, I've been the chairman of a committee of extremely competent and committed coaches in charge of producing an award ceremony for the local chapter of the International Coaching Federation.

Last week, we awarded two Prism Awards to two very deserving organizations in Calgary, in front of an audience of 350 people. Brett Wilson delivered a powerful keynote address and Beverley Mahood and Kunny Munshaw inspired us all with the great music they've written and performed. By pretty much any account, the event was a great success and went a long way to build profile for professional coaching in Calgary. For me it was the best team experience I've had.

The event was the brainchild of last year's board, under the direction of then president Gord Aker. Gord and the board decided it was time to do something big. I think as coaches and as an organization of coaches, we sell our selves short and get caught thinking small about the contribution we have to make to society, organizations, team and individuals. It's a relatively new profession and we have not yet established our profile in the world.

Last year's board asked me if I could speak to Brett Wilson to see if he would be the keynote presenter (I'm his coach). Brett is a well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist in Calgary and has made a name for himself as one of the Dragon's on CBC's "Dragons Den". Such a high-profile consumer of coaching would no doubt help us build profile. As an association we were starting to think big.

I decided to volunteer on the committee that was producing the event, since Brett was my client. Then the chairman of that committee moved to Edmonton, so I thought I might as well volunteer to be chairman. Then the new board for 2010 needed a vice president and apparently the vice-president's job is to produce the Prism event, so I was volunteered for that role as well.

At first I was the only person on the committee so I articulated a vision for the event, coaching in general and the chapter specifically, along with a plan to execute the awards ceremony. Most of the directors signed on to the committee, realizing how vital the event was. Then a very cool group creativity kicked in and took over. It seemed that once there was a document that expressed the feeling and intentions of the team, the team took off and action followed.

I learned a lot about being a leader during this process and a lot about being on a team as I watched my colleagues take the lead. I was certainly not everyone's boss since we are all volunteers and yet everyone stepped up in ways that were certainly beyond my imagination. Nor did I make up a vision for me and try to sell it to the team. I think the team, myself included, had this feeling of size, burbling up for many years that wanted out. It's also very clear to me that I am and we are a part of creative process that neither started nor will end with me and us. I simply had the good fortune to come along at just the right time and put words to a very important feeling we all seemed to share. It seemed like my primary responsibility was to maintain a strong belief in the project, the team and each person on the team, making sure that the contributions of each team member meshed with the contributions of the other team members.

And, we pulled it off.