Practitioner Diploma / “I really liked the structure and content of the Practitioner Diploma”

Judith van de Pas has over 25 years of professional experience in technology & digital strategy, transformation and change management, working for commercial organisations such as Deloitte Consulting. As founder of Bloom Coaching & Consulting, she has shifted her work to coaching full-time and focuses on people leadership, change leadership and transformation. Here she shares her personal perspective of coach training on the Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching.

Prior to developing yourself as a coach, you worked for organisations including Diageo, Shell International and Deloitte Consulting. Who or what introduced you to coaching and led to you signing up for coach training with the AoEC?

I was introduced to coaching very early on in my career, when I was offered the opportunity to go through a leadership programme that was based on Sir John Whitmore’s GROW model. That experience, and the GROW model, stuck with me and I used its principles throughout my career, without necessarily calling it ‘coaching’. It was not until 10 years later that I did my first formal coach training when I was with Deloitte Consulting in Canada. This was an internal course and I already knew then that I would want to do another programme ‘one day’.

That ‘one day’ arrived when I was stuck at home during the first Covid lockdown – after years of a very heavy work-related travel schedule, I had more free time and I took the opportunity to focus on something outside work that was for my own personal development. The AoEC was recommended by a friend and I really liked the structure and content of the Practitioner Diploma, so signing up for the programme was an easy decision.

What were some of the positives and challenges you experienced while doing the diploma?

The whole Practitioner Diploma programme was such a positive experience for me. The amazing support from the faculty members, both during and in between the different modules, and the connection with my peers on the programme are two absolute highlights. I am still in touch with part of my cohort, some of them have become colleagues and even close friends. I was a little nervous about the ‘experiential’ learning elements, which for me turned out to be the most valuable, and enjoyable, parts.

As for challenges during the programme, I did not find it easy to slow down. Not just slowing down in coaching (practice) sessions, holding the silence, pacing the conversation and giving my client space to do their best thinking, but also in my own reflections and development, allowing myself the time and space to reflect and learn from my experiences.

What is your top advice to others considering coach training?

Consider what brings you to coaching and what you would like to get out of your coach training, what is your purpose in terms of the skills you would like to learn and the context in which you would like to apply them. What will you use your coach training for and what kind of clients would you like to work with? Consider how important accreditation is for you, and which professional body you would like to accredit with.

Also think about more practical matters, such as in-person or online training, timing of the programme modules, as well as pre-work, coaching practice and final assessment requirements. What specific support will you need, what are your preferences and what is your time commitment?

Looking back at doing your diploma, what has been its lasting impact on you as a person and you as a coach?

The impact of completing the diploma on me is incredibly profound, both personally and professionally. Not just the skills I developed, which helped me to be a better leader and coach, but also learning to pause and reflect, to become more aware of myself and others. The great thing about the focus on experiential learning and coach practice throughout the programme is the many opportunities not only to coach others but also to be coached yourself – such a unique opportunity to take a step back and reflect on my own values and goals.

It ultimately led me to make the transition from my corporate career to setting up my own business, working with clients around the world and even joining the AoEC as an associate faculty member. Plus, the collaboration and friendships with many of the peers in my cohort are things I truly cherish.

Can you tell us more about your personal coaching model and how this has evolved since doing the diploma?

My personal coaching model hasn’t actually changed that much since doing the diploma. Perhaps the focus has shifted a little, spending time creating the partnership with my clients and inviting them to reflect on what they truly want and what makes that important for them, rather than going straight into the planning and doing. I probably now also pay more attention to the ‘ending’, allowing sufficient space for my client to reflect on what they have learned, about their goal and about themselves, and how they can apply what they have learned.

You now work as an executive coach and set up your own practice Bloom Coaching & Consulting in 2022; can you tell us about the type of clients you are working with?

Since setting up Bloom Coaching & Consulting, I have worked with very different kinds of clients and the services I offer them have evolved, including leadership coaching and development, team coaching, workshop design and facilitation, and more recently, transformation advisory work. I don’t have on specific client ‘type’, as I enjoy the variety of working with a very broad range of clients in terms of their industries and geographies, currently working with clients in North America, UK and rest of Europe, Africa and Asia. Many of them are senior leaders and professionals stepping into a senior leadership role for the first time.

What are some of the issues and opportunities you coach people around?

As for the topics my clients bring to coaching, on the surface they usually are specific leadership-related challenges, to do with strategic, people and change leadership. Often, my clients discover there are other goals underneath these perhaps more ‘transactional’ goals, relating to values, confidence, balance and their professional ambitions and fulfilment. Getting to these goals helps their coaching to have a more lasting and often transformational impact.

You have gone onto be accredited with the ICF at PCC level and EMCC Global at Senior Practitioner level. Why was becoming accredited important to you and what value has it brought your practice?

The original driver behind getting accredited was a very practical one: it was a non-negotiable requirement of one my clients for all their coaches to be accredited, which certainly helped me focus and speed up the process. Accreditation is important for some clients, or at least their sponsoring organisation, it seems to give you more credibility in their eyes. Being affiliated with both the ICF and the EMCC offers me access to an enormous network of coaches across the world and a wide range of professional development opportunities and support, both for practical and ethical matters.

Can you share a success story or testimonial from one of your clients that highlights the impact of your coaching?

One client who immediately comes to mind was a commercial director for a global investment bank. She came to coaching with generally a feeling of ‘meh’ about her work and career, feeling stuck and lacking purpose, energy and confidence. Exploring what truly mattered for her in her work, and life in general, helped her gain clarity on her professional purpose. Through a mix of deep reflection and practical exercises, she was able to shape her own path forward, increasing her confidence and putting her ‘inner critic’ to a much more helpful and constructive use. It was brilliant to hear from her a year or so after we finished working together, when she sent me an update on how she was getting on and told me that the coaching ‘had changed her life ‘.

What do you find most rewarding about your work as a coach?

Partnering with my clients who go through this exciting, sometimes daunting and tough, and often also very enjoyable, coaching experience for them to become clearer about what and who they want to be and how to can go about becoming that person; witnessing them develop that sense of awareness, of empowerment, of transformation even, is pure magic. And for me as their coach to be able to shape a tiny part of that experience is simply amazing.

Our sincerest thanks to Judith for sharing her personal journey and experience of coach training at the AoEC.