Competency No. 5

Brisbane, Australia based leadership coach Zsofia Juhasz, MCC acheived a herculean feat: Certifying as a Master Certified Coach instead of renewing her PCC. She had the hours and the focus amidst Covid-19. Within a year of stating her intent to herself, she passed her performance evaluation on her first submission. We hear of Coach Zsofia's journey from HR to coaching, from Hungary to Australia, and the changes in her 20+ years in the industry. We hear how she's training and certifying MCC coaches (eight to date) alongside her leadership coaching. "I find this very rewarding."You can find Coach Zsofia on LinkedIn here. Find Becoming a Masterful Coach, her coaching practice here. [Note to listeners: We lost Coach Zsofia's audio at the end. Small snafu.]Your show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, is an MCC communications coach for Fortune 100/500 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here.   Join her active listening and communications workshops on Maven here and here. 

We ask Leadership Coach Jennifer Maxson when and how she knew to build her own coaching business, how to stay connected with our clients, and why and how the International Coaching Federation's Proficiency exam despaired us both (and we still passed.)You can find Jennifer Maxson & Associates here and find Coach Jennifer on LinkedIn here. Your show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, is a communications coach for Fortune 100/500 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here.   Join her active listening and communications workshops on Maven here and here. 

I can’t remember a time where people didn’t confide in me. Every time, it felt like an honor. I was super young when I first noticed the pattern, which began before I was aged five, in New Zealand, and has continued to this day, even inspiring my later-in-life career as a communications coach.My first memories of people sharing their all with me come from visiting my dad’s farm a year after his divorce from my mum.There I quickly bonded with dad’s new wife, Jane, a gorgeous Kenyan British woman with long blonde hair, a kind face, and knowledge of herbs and healing, long before natural medicine was “cool.”This was 1974 New Zealand. It was on our rambling walks outside over the hills and gulleys and our horse rides together that I learned what was on her mind. In those moments, away from the farm and the kitchen, she emptied her bucket. And I learned all kinds of things I didn’t yet know about adults and how they think.You can read along to this essay on Substack here. Your show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, is a communications coach for Fortune 100/500 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here.   Join her active listening and communications workshops on Maven here and here. 

In a new favorite episode, we asked Master Certified Coach trainer and author, Dr. Marcia Reynolds: how do we coach the person, not the problem? And why business leaders ought to join coaches in this highly-rewarding and joyous activity. We met with Marcia a week after her second edition of "Coach the Person, Not the Problem" became a bestseller on Amazon. Marcia shares her love for taking coaching slow (especially in the beginning), noticing everything, interrupting (as needed) and staying blissfully curious. We hear about the writing of her second edition (and all that entails) and about her love for coaching, that hasn't faded one bit since entering the field decades ago. You can find Marcia on LinkedIn here and the new second edition of "Coach the Person, Not the Problem, a Guide to Reflective Inquiry" on Amazon here. Visit Covisioning LLC here. Your show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, is a communications coach for Fortune 100/500 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here.   Join her active listening and communications workshops on Maven here and here. 

Dr. Matt Barney is a true scientist practitioner and an entrepreneur in the field of measurement and analysis. His most recent tool, the TruMind.ai Leader and Coach Assessment, he feels supremely hopeful about, because it helps coaches help their clients see and note their progress, something that's otherwise hard to quantify and measure. "Reviews tell us that most coaching outcomes are measured by one metric alone: whether the executive liked the coach," he notes. "That's not enough. We need more ROI." In an interview from his Philippines base, we hear of Matt's love for inventing, coaching, and the hope he feels for the coaching industry and its 60,000+ ICF coaches with AI tools like his. At a time when clients need to see and hear the value of human coaching, we've a great incentive to try. You can find Matt Barney on LinkedIn and TruMind.ai here. You can find a video of our interview on YouTube here. Your show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, is a communications coach for Google PMs through Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here.   Join her active listening and communications workshops on Maven here and here, with a new Listen Like a Boss coming soon. 

I certified as a Master Certified Coach two weeks ago, ending a two-year long odyssey in mindfulness, active listening, and perfectionistic goal setting. Feels amazing finally reaching that top 4% of ICF certified Master Certified Coaches. This week's episode reads from my Substack post on this victory and especially the growth I felt with my comfort with silence. I stayed comfortably silent with my client in the recordings I submitted ICF assessors for over a minute. Most of us don't pause for longer than a second in a given conversation (and I was one of them, prior to my coaching MCC experience). I've since evolved and found I can even delight in extended pauses, because that's where the magic begins.  You can join the LinkedIn post here. Your show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, is a communications coach for Google PMs through Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here.   Join her active listening and communications workshops on Maven here and here, with a new Listen Like a Boss coming soon. 

Leadership coach Amy Krymkowski fell in love with coaching through her work in HR. After observing a coach in action, she found the approach so spacious and like nothing else. "I was in awe with how much progress and awareness came from listening, silence, and creating space through inquiry," she says. She declared coaching as her primary profession, certified, and joined an outplacement firm as a full-time job search coach before founding her own firm: Better Path Coaching, guiding professionals and leaders through career transformations and transitions in holistic ways. From her Milwaukee, Wi. base she's stayed in love with coaching ever since and all it brings. While coaching and transformation is what she brings her clients, silence and a practice with observing silence is part of Coach Amy's self care and flow. In our interview, we hear of her retreats, training, and her discovery on what changes within her, simply from creating space for something no money can buy: quiet, and time to just "be" and think. You can find Coach Amy on LinkedIn here and Better Path Coaching here. Your show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, is a communications coach for Google PMs through Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here. Join her active listening and communications workshops on Maven here and here, with a new Listen Like a Boss coming soon. 

Last Friday, January 16, I heard from the assessors at the International Coaching Federation that I passed their famously difficult and evasive Master Certified Coaching Performance Evaluation. I've still the Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA), a four-hour exam to go, before I get to join the 4% of MCC coaches globally, a rare group of around 2,240 coaches within 56,000 ICF credential-holders worldwide. But the hardest part (the performance evaluation) is now behind me.I was amazed and cried a lot when I read I’d passed and wrote on what's coming up for me on my Substack here. This is my immigrant dream coming true. Over winter break, (having submitted my MCC submission in September) I convinced myself I’d need to resubmit multiple times, like many coaches do. I still can't believe I passed with my first shot.  Curiosity, presence, and determination helped me the most, along with the accountability this podcast, Competency No 5 brought. [So, thank you for bearing with me!]In this week's episode, we welcome back MCC Coach Ben Dooley, one of two MCC coaches who mentored me. Ben tells us what that CKA is all about and how to pass it. I've since booked my CKA exam for early February.  Reach out to MCC Coach Ben Dooley via his website, here. Your show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, is a communications coach for Google PMs through Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here. Join her workshops on Maven here and here.

When Karen Canham struggled with anorexia, her body felt numb. In fact, she couldn't access her body mentally at all, because the eating disorder stemmed from trauma. Through therapy and recovery, she came out the other side, learned yoga, how to regulate, and reconnect with her body after years of disconnection. Yoga taught her presence. Breath taught her patience. And after years in the corporate world, her new journey began: Teaching others how to move beneath perfectionism and performance and return to themselves; not through hacks. More so daily practices helping us regulate our nervous system and lead with presence, clear communications, while inviting safety for others to do the same.  In this interview, we experience that shift live time through inquiry and candid sharing. The shift feels unmistakable. Learn from a somatic and wellness coach stories of bravery, presence, and the powerful shifts on what we see before us when we pause, notice, and anchor in our conversation and bodies. You can find Coach Karen on LinkedIn here and visit KarenAnnWellness here.Your show host, Debbi Gardiner McCullough, is a communications coach for Google PMs through Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here. Join her workshops on Maven here and here. 

In our final episode for 2025, First Year Harvard student Nicholas McCullough shares how he maintained presence, calm, stoicism, and all those great things amidst a pressured first semester at Harvard University as a footballer and Economics student. He and other student athletes averaged 65+ hour weeks. In this interview, Nicholas (my oldest son) shares the power of camaraderie with his fellow Harvard athletes (his fellow footballers and other athletes across campus). He shares the importance of managing our time well, choosing quiet places to focus, and managing others' expectations of us when time affluence becomes low. And we hear of the gifts and opportunities of taking a chance and moving far away from all we know to pursue our dreams. There's some real excitement that comes from being truly anonymous and having no history whatsoever, aside from the new story we create. My dear listeners of this small but growing show, thank you for following me. This is our last episode until the New Year. Happy Holidays. May you rest, be calm, and merry. If you're a coach following my documentary on my MCC submission efforts, until I hear otherwise, the ICF will alert me of my pass or fail January 15. I have an essay to write and read on how daunting that feels. If you'd like to follow Nicholas and support him in his endeavors, you can find his LinkedIn profile here. Your show host, D G McCullough, is a communications coach for Google PMs through Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here. Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here. 

A simple daily flow of coaching questions helps me feel happier, but also more focused, ambitious, and committed to my work and life goals. My goals typically seem to come true, in part of this vital practice grounded in maintaining presence in the wake of not knowing. And slowing down long enough to see all that's going great, right now, without wanting nor needing to change a thing. You can read my Substack post on how and why I pause to applause here. Your show host, D G McCullough, is a communications coach for Google PMs through Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here. Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here. 

When customer operations manager Jeanette Bernard lost her husband Matt four years ago, the flippant comments from others on her need to rebound fast upset her as much as the grief. “People would say: You’ll be back out there in a couple of months. You’ll be fine,” she recalls of awful comments at her husband’s funeral. “I was so mad. I will never forget Matt. Nor does he want me to.”Now four years later, and the anniversary of Matt’s death on Thanksgiving week, Jeanette still communicates with her childhood sweetheart in her own special way. She finds talking with him, asking for signs of his presence, and remembering him coming to her in her dreams (and one very powerful time when awake) helps her feel comforted. She still feels his presence and his love. And keeping connected with him also helps her function at work and in life. In a touching episode, we hear Jeanette’s encounters with seeing her husband, how she asks for signs, and how those signs appear, often within 1-2 days. We hear on this upcoming Thanksgiving week her appeal to us all to continue communicating with those we love who have passed away. “They want to hear from us. They want us to remember them,” she says. “So talk to them.”Your show host, D G McCullough, is a communications coach for Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn. Book her for coaching, training or ICF mentoring here. Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here. 

Chapter 5 of the Harvard Mum essay project documents the truer reality of Harvard life now 2.5 months have passed, the pressure has raised, and athletes and scholars (like my son) must juggle robust commitments to their sport and studies. There's also the inevitable pressure of being an eighteen-nineteen year-old student, often far from home, and admitted into the world's most revered university. Read from my essay on Substack. Your show host, D G McCullough, is a communications coach for Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here. 

The holidays can stretch too many of us bringing heightened stress and surface-level conversations, even with those we love. Paris, France-based Coach Marie-Louise Pereira knows how to bring coaching skills and Competency No 5 (maintaining presence) into our daily flow and to our relationships with those we love. In a lovely conversation with a dear friend and peer coach, we unpack how we use our active listening skills and clear boundary setting (and even our ability to say 'no' vs 'yes' to things that drain us) to stay calm, even amidst the holidays. If you find the skills and tips from one New Zealand coach and one Parisian coach help you, please forward this episode on to another person needing more calm, flow, and fewer disconnects with those they care for. You can find Marie-Louise on LinkedIn. Your show host, D G McCullough, is a communications coach for Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here. Blank page to Byline, write your annual review like a global business reporter, her newest writing workshop is on Luma, click here. 

It's the annual review season and the final quarterly review for those on the quarterly system. I hear rumblings from many I coach who feel stretched too thin, burdened with too many projects, and exposed to failure more than they'd like. If the task becomes writing on our work, all that went well, and how things emerged as we'd hoped, ought we also address what flopped? I say: Yes. We ought to. Failure opens up great storytelling opportunities and if you're working 330+ days in a year, perfection's impossible. But how to feel better about the bleak or imperfect moments? Journalism storytelling techniques can help. So can Competency Number 5, maintaining presence, staying calm and peaceful in the wake of not knowing, because it gives us excellent perspective on what matters, and what doesn't. Also, how to trust ourselves amidst ambiguity. And career failures can certainly feel ambiguous. Reading from Medium, my musings on how maintaining presence helps us communicate what did not go right with our work with more calm, clarity, and conviction in hopes you feel comfortable doing the same as you write your review. Especially helpful for those seeking a promotion, because failure, after all, separates the meek from the courageous. Your show host, D G McCullough, is a communications coach for Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here. Blank page to Byline, write your annual review like a global business reporter, her newest writing workshop is on Luma, click here. 

My Master Certified Coaching submission is finally in with the International Coaching Federation! I await my ICF assessors’ feedback on whether I pass or fail. My musings on active listening and masterful coaching since I hit “submit” this past Monday, including final indecisiveness, a solar eclipse across my birthplace in New Zealand, and a stunning reminder from the late Dr. James R Doty, an esteemed neurosurgeon, on what active listening really means, and feels like, for the receiver.  (And why we all ought to strive, therefore, to listen to the very best of our capabilities as our generous and uplifting offering to humanity.)Join the celebrations on LinkedIn here. Your show host, D G McCullough, is a communications coach for Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here. Blank page to Byline, write your annual review like a global business reporter, her newest writing workshop is on Luma, click here. 

I’m one week shy of finalizing my MCC application process, which began with the launch of this podcast in July 7, 2023. This week’s episode is documentary style. No music. Just raw footage, of me documenting the many final steps, big decisions, the over thinking,  and the huge importance of staying present when working in a state of not knowing.Thanks to my many peer coaches, my clients, and friends and family who’ve supported me in this journey, which has changed how I feel about myself and how I communicate forever. Your show host, D G McCullough, is a communications coach for Fortune 100 leaders, a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here. 

Pharmaceutical executive Jill Staudacher took things harder than she thought when her middle son Dean moved out of home and seven hours away for his studies and baseball. I’ve struggled moving my oldest son Nicholas into his dorm last week at Harvard University—now living 1070 miles from his Wisconsin base.The college transition can challenge parents—and the teens who move away. Exact data’s scarce; but we know 16% of 18.4 million undergraduate students in the U.S. live in some form of campus housing, and many of those are far from home.In this episode, two mothers and coaches share their ways of maintaining presence and staying calm staying in that place of not knowing, whilst missing their sons terribly. [Note: We host this podcast from Jill’s farm. Please excuse the occasional interjection from her chickens and turkeys.]If you’d like to reach out to Jill for friendship or guidance, find her via her website  Refocus your Health. Your show host, D G McCullough, is a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here. 

When Fortune 500 Chief Technology Advisor Suhail Syed learns that clients are upset, the instinct is to jump in and solve. That’s what often feels right. Something’s broken; so fix it. But as someone intent on staying calm amidst crisis, Syed finds that asking questions and listening well works best. “It’s amazing what unfolds,” he muses. “Clients feel listened to. They get to vent. And from that more peaceful, trusting state, we problem solve together.”This delightful conversation with Suhail reminds and affirms for me the power of active listening in business and how much listening well boosts our brand and our executive presence. When we’re grounded, listening, owning responsibility vs. fighting back and stamping out a fire, not only do meetings become more productive, the entire perspective on a problem shifts for the better. You can find Suhail Syed on LinkedIn here. Your show host, D G McCullough, is a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her communications and active listening workshops on Maven here and here. 

The Harvard Mum essay project is my documentary essay series on immigrant motherhood, immigrant dreams, leadership, and all the deep lessons on staying calm and present as my oldest son joins the Harvard University class of 2029 this fall. He’s one of 3% of applicants to gain admittance and only one of a few Wisconsinites to do so.My Chapter 2 essay, the high school graduation, revealed the vast numbers: 3.9 million high school graduates graduated from high school as the Class of 2025. Most American families celebrate in some way their teen’s achievement — and resources pending, with much time and money invested. The graduation and send-off party dominates this chapter, the last at home before the big move from the Midwest to the Northeastern part of the America: Boston. With revelry and celebration comes cultural confusion, because the culture around accomplishments is so different to the egalitarian culture of New Zealand. I'm also reminded of my own adversity I encountered at age 18 as I entered university as I struggled with poverty and hardship to support myself and a severe eating disorder. Amidst all this, I hope to stay calm and present working in that space of not knowing as Nicholas navigates his own challenges and opportunities ahead. This becomes the very premise of the ICF’s fifth core competency: Competency No 5, which will hopefully help us all in Chapter 3 of the Harvard Mum essay project.Your show host, D G McCullough is a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. She runs Hanging Rock Coaching and serves as a communications coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her communications workshops on Maven here and here and free Lightning Lessons. 

If you've ever had your hands in clay, you know: The experience can connect you to a deeper part of yourself--as it does with any art medium. Art unlocks. It connects us to our body. And the flow state helps us detach from our fears and a want to control, because art is so uncontrollable. I spoke with Santa Cruz, calif.-based artist and coach Tess Mascari amidst her own flow state building stunning ceramic pots in shapes of Tibetan men, all in states of bliss. She calls them her spirit vessels and in an upcoming workshop she's hosting from her garden, she hopes to help others find themselves a little more tranquil amidst this chaotic world by creating their own. PS Our audio's a little crackly on Tese's side; but hopefully it doesn't detract from our interview. You can find Tese Mascari through her website and on LinkedIn. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  Find my new trainings on Maven, Listen Like a Boss, a bootcamp on active listening for distracted leaders and Brag Anyway, Move your one-liners and bios from basic to powerful in 7 hours. 

The International Coaching Federation’s Competency 8 asks its certified coaches to work with clients in ways that great leaders do with their team:  consider possibilities, create action plans, and explore learning. It also requires developing measurable achievements. In a new coaching session with MCC Coach Ben Dooley, we review a strong— perhaps an excellent contender for my second recording submission to the ICF for my MCC certification. It seems strong to me—and to Coach Ben— but without time-stamped requests for specific action steps at the end. Does this eliminate me and make this recording? I’m still not sure. The client establishes action steps, but perhaps not in textbook perfect ways. Listen into a mentoring session for fodder for your own ICF certification and/or more training on deep, active listening.Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  Reach out to MCC Coach Ben Dooley via his website, here. 

This month, the U.S. reaches historic milestones in some lovely and not so lovely ways. In my world, June 2025 brings joy and hope to 3.9 million high school graduates. Class of 2025 becomes the largest and most diverse class in history, experts say, and with historically high competition for college placement, too. My son, Nicholas, and his friends joined those millions this past Sunday at Muskego High School here in Wisconsin.What the media skips over is the deep emotions and new perspectives graduation brings for students and parents, especially those emerging from more egalitarian cultures like New Zealand which favor equality and humility and discourage displaying our success.And that’s what I’m documenting in my second essay for the Harvard Mum project, an essay project on all that I’m learning about leadership, confidence, my American dream, and immigrant motherhood as my son joins Harvard University’s Class of 2029 this fall. The moment feels far closer now he’s high school graduated — and with that, I’ve much to process. You can read my first essay here.You can read along with this essay on Medium here. Your show host, D G McCullough is a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. She runs Hanging Rock Coaching and serves as a communications coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her Brag Like a Boss three-hour workshop on Maven here and check LinkedIn for free Lightning Lessons. 

“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” Albert Einstein, our beloved German-born physicist and mathematician, owns the delightful quote. And I find it especially timely when I’m mid-build of something big, new, risky, but beautiful. I find when I’m imagining what’s truly possible, I love to collaborate with my inner circle (new and old). I also love to isolate. This feels intelligent (or at least sensible) to me. Imagining is where the magic is. We can always curtail our hopes once we see how things land.Once the build begins and progresses, and as launch deadlines near, I find even more need to isolate. This helps protect you from my diluted focus. And it helps  tame my inner critical interference (a Saboteur hijacking) and tap instead the creativity and strength of my inner girl and of my Sage. She tells me to think bigger. Trust more. And to calm my mind.  In this week’s episode, reading from Medium, I’m exploring this creative, self-preservation process on why you won’t hear from me mid-build in hopes it sparks a new way of looking at courage and imagination in you. I wrote and read this episode on the week of a huge launch: my first Lightning Lesson on Maven, a precursor to a my Brag Like a Boss workshop I’m launching in July. This sharing helped anchor me as I hope it does you. Your show host, D G McCullough is a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. She runs Hanging Rock Coaching and serves as a communications coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her Brag Like a Boss three-hour workshop on Maven here and check LinkedIn for free Lightning Lessons. 

In 2025, the ICF estimates 109,200 ICF certified coaches exist worldwide, an unprecedented milestone exceeding the 100,000 mark. Most recent 2023 data has MCC coaches at 2,203. So reasonable to expect, it’s still under 3,000. How high am I with this long climb and summit of certifying with the International Coaching Federation as a master certified coach, an honor the international non-profit, the largest for coaches globally, bestows to only 4% of its coaches globally. Well. I need to secure my second recording having secured one clear winner. And whilst I see the summit, I’m not quite there yet.  I LOVED and felt euphoric about a recording I recently shared with MCC Coach Ben, my partner on this climb, with whom I’ve mentored ten times since last May. (I also shared this recording with you as episode eight.) Having listened together, my mentor and I both feel this effort’s a ‘maybe’ a ‘probably’ vs a clear ‘yes.’ In this week’s episode, with my client’s blessing once more, you’ll hear Coach Ben and my musing on the ICF evaluators and their very strict rule book of eight core competencies. We just don’t know how much they’ll love this attempt. The sharing’s a little choppy as we’re stitching together (with dear Dotun’s help) a conversation prior to listening to the coaching call with a conversation after listening to the coaching call.Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  Reach out to MCC Coach Ben Dooley via his website, here. 

Harvard University received 53,700 applications for this incoming class of 2029. Of those, 1,950 were admitted, a 3.63% acceptance rate. My oldest of two sons, Nicholas McCullough, is one of them. He’ll play defensive tackle for the Harvard University football team, who recruited him, and he’ll study economics.As mother’s day weekend approaches, my last with him under our roof, I’m feeling what any Harvard parent might feel: Pride. Euphoria. Excitement. Awe. The deeper feelings, impending heartbreak of him moving away from our Wisconsin base to Boston, I’m processing—and managing, in part through honoring Competency No 5. That deceptively tricky competency of staying present in a space of not knowing feels super powerful and potent to me now, with one delightful and lovable son still with us and one getting ready to leave. I’m reading this episode from a first essay published today on Medium, honoring an 18-year chapter of raising a son within two cultures and in ways that instilled confidence, calm, and a quest for adventure. And we’re starting another. I’m calling this essay series “the Harvard Mum Project” (because we say “mum” vs. “mom” where I come from).Your show host, D G McCullough is a former reporter for the Guardian, the Economist, and the FT of London. She runs Hanging Rock Coaching and serves as a communications coach to leaders all over the globe. Find her on LinkedIn.  Join her active listening workshop on Maven, Listen Like a Boss. 

“The summit is what drives us; but the climb itself is what matters”The delightful quote comes from Conrad Anker, the American rock climber, activist, author and mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest three times. Anker, known for his visionary approach towards hardship, also tackled challenging routes across the Americas, Antarctica, and the Himalayas.I’ve thought of Anker’s views on the journey of learning often whilst securing my final goal of MCC certification: Finding a second viable coaching recording to submit to my ICF evaluators.In this week’s episode I’m airing (with my clients encouragement and permission) a coaching call that came once I refocused my mind to love and trust the climb vs. the summit.  (This may meet the mastery level ICF evaluators look and listen for. It may not. But I love it.) Why? Because I felt so anchored and present in this call for the entirety vs. moments throughout. I encouraged and witnessed my coachee’s empowerment without pouring in ideas. The results? Massive clarity, awareness and truly a joyous human experience requiring trust in the journey of learning–for us both. Listen in. 

For Anna Damsma, maintaining presence was not much on her radar when working as a consultant. Work was more about pouring in excellent advice and building profits. But when later training to become a coach with the prestigious Co-active Coach Training Institute, Anna, based in the Amsterdam area, discovered three levels of listening existed. And level three listening—a universal level of listening which requires listening on a deeper, more full-sensory level,  brought her extreme presence. “This felt so wonderful,” she recalls. “I’ve been hooked  ever since.” In our delightful conversation on how we both define and strive to maintain presence, even when the mindset and feeling feels unattainable, we hear of a woman who now builds her very day around creating moments of presence.  For Anna, that feeling of calm and bold intuition comes from setting her intention in the morning, visiting her garden often (and between calls). Presence comes from coaching, being with her family, and from immersing her hands in clay as a potter.  Whether we’re busy or not, we can learn lessons on maintaining presence as we coach, lead, and live our lives from our interview with Anna. You can find Coach Anna Damsma on LinkedIn by clicking here. Find me, your show host, via my website, or find me also on Linkedin. Join my first workshop on  Maven, Listen Like a Boss, here. 

I’ve not mused about my certification efforts with the International Coaching Federation as a master certified coach for a good while. Much has happened, and not happened since my January update. Here’s where we’re at.To certify as an MCC coach, coaches must submit for thorough evaluation two recorded coaching calls of at least 25 minutes in length. These conversations must resemble pure coaching, not a smidgen of consulting nor therapy, and at a level of coaching the ICF, the world’s largest non profit organization for coaches, deems as “exceptional” even “beautiful coaching.”If you’ve been following my Competency No 5 show, you’ll know I’ve secured one recording I deem as “beautiful” and my MCC mentor coach Ben Dooley agrees. Oddly, I’m struggling to secure the second. In this episode, I share my struggles lest it helps fellow coaches striving for MCC, that top 4% of ICF globally certified MCC coaches. My musings may also help  other deep listeners who also find asking “how are you?” opens floodgates. That very genuine inquiry, especially in these troubling times, allows us to ask with heart, but then risk losing the thread of the conversation, or even creating one. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin. Join my first workshop on Maven Learning, Listen Like a Boss, here. 

Amidst world chaos, uncertainty, and a lunar eclipse, I felt a guided meditation from my Wisconsin prairie would make a nice gift for my dear listeners this week. Thank you to Dotun Ayeni for the lovely edits and to Positive Intelligence, CEO Shirzad Chamine for the meditation. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin. Join my first workshop on Maven Learning, Listen Like a Boss, here. 

We’ve a rare treat this week in sharing a coaching call in its entirety, with my client’s blessing and encouragement. The topic? Staying calm and grounded as we grow our business and dreams—a timely topic for entrepreneurs and anyone wanting to create positive life and career change. This often starts within ourselves, our relationship with time, and looking (with blameless discernment) at the flow of our day. Marie-Louise and I wanted to share this conversation for the rich learnings—and there are many, as she’s so inspired and empowered in this call. Also, with the growth of AI coaching, we want to show vs. tell the special role that humans have (and will always have) in coaching. Our conversation, a deep, slowed-down, beautiful conversation, shows what’s possible when two humans trust, connect, and actively listen to one another. Powerful awareness, epiphanies, and changes happen with the deep inquiry and spaciousness that no bot (we suspect) can ever bring.  Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin. Join my first workshop on Maven Learning, Listen Like a Boss, here. 

Experts at the World Health Organization estimate around 4% of the global population experience an anxiety disorder. The National Alliance on Mental Illness finds anxiety the most common mental health concern in the U.S. with 19.1% with anxiety, over 40 million adults. Victoria Torno, based in the Philippines, decided a fresh approach to her own anxiety. (Anxiety affects 12.5 million Filipinos, around 12% of the population.) Her anxiety grew gradually and ultimately culminated into panic attacks and hospital visits to cope. She found, after therapy, her own hyper achieving mind was part of what drove her responses. And rather than minimizing the anxiety, she decided to partner with it. Embrace it. Even give the anxiety a name. In this touching interview, Victoria tells us that meeting with her anxiety (she calls hers “Deborah”) daily for an hour and allowing herself to hear her anxious thoughts has helped her see they’re not so bad after all and worthy of listening to. Troubles feel smaller. Achievements bigger. The worries helpful—a prompt for positive change.  And with that, she’s renamed herself Victoria, because after all, she is victorious, over her own mind. You can reach out to Victoria on LinkedIn here. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin. 

San Diego based technology project leader Limei Wang loved the Lunar New Years from her past. Growing up in a small rural village in Northern China, the incoming lunar year brought the best food, clothing, and gatherings for the year. Little sleep punctuated the festivities, which lasted all week. Children received beautifully, hand-stitched clothing made just for them and red envelopes of money. They could spend it however they wanted. But in the generous spirit of Lunar New Year, Limei remembers children buying things for each other.In our ad hoc interview, Limei remembers the calm and peace from this centering time with fondness and nostalgia. She’s also reminded that while life has more abundance today, community can take a backseat. Prioritizing connections with others can become a renewed focus in this Year of the Wood Snake, a time to embrace change, make thoughtful decisions, grow, transform, and stay wise. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin

Over the last year, I’ve listened to 35 different coaching calls I’ve conducted and recorded with a quest to submit one recording (a beautiful recording) to the International Coaching Federation (ICF). I’ve created a self-imposed deadline of Lunar New Year, January 29, Wednesday. (I know my critical mind. With no deadline, my Avoider and Stickler saboteurs will prevail.) If you’ve followed this podcast and mused with me on Medium, you’ll know what this is about: I’m attempting to join the top 4% of coaches globally to certify as a Master Certified Coach. Evaluators at the ICF, the world’s largest nonprofit of coaches determine this fate. And I’ve done (almost) everything to prep, except find a viable recording. So far, none make the cut. Reading from my essay on Medium, this week humor me as I discern the competencies to better honor to help me get there. And follow my musings on what’s going on when I don’t honor these well-intentioned ICF rules very well at all. I’m ready, you see, to make the final cut. And coaching at the MCC level (or at least trying to) becomes the world's best possible training in brevity, trust, confidence, and mindfulness. The activity brings beaucoup training for coaches, but also leaders and anyone wanting to communicate efficiently and listen at a depth you may never have felt before.  Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  Follow other episodes on MCC certification here, here, and here. 

Our Competency No 5 podcast has focused much on how to stay calm and present when we coach, lead, and live our lives. For coaches, part of that calm ties to making a living from our coaching, which requires marketing ourselves to our prospective clients. I’m no expert; but I have built a prosperous coaching business in a relatively short time from putting one piece of fresh content “out there” once a week. Through podcasting and writing essays and instructional guides or musings to help democratize communications coaching, bringing the wisdom learned to as many as possible, I’ve retained and attracted a steady base of up to 90 coaching clients. This week’s episode shares some of my tactics, approaches, mindsets towards marketing ourselves as coaches, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs in hopes it sparks creativity, trust, and awareness within you. You can read my musings on this topic on Medium here with all the hyperlinks to the essays I’ve noted. Thanks for listening this year, dear listeners! Dotun and I wish you all the best for the new year and we’ll be back the second week of January 2025. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  

I muse and mentor some more with MCC Coach Ben Dooley this week, getting deeper into the nitty-gritty on how to lock in, stay fully present with our coachee. We address the inevitable blunder of speaking over—so hard not to in a 45-minute session, ways to rebound earlier, and wonder: how much does this matter?We also tackle an age-old adage almost every coach in training hears as they master active listening: WAIT (why am I talking?). Coach Ben finds this acronym can make us even more self-judgmental. (He urges us to focus more on whom am I talking on behalf of?)It’s a great mentoring session, recorded with Ben and my permission, in service of any certifying ICF coach and anybody simply wanting to become a more effective, more grounded, peaceful and locked-in listener. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  Reach out to MCC Coach Ben Dooley via his website, here. And you can tap his Coaching Skills Forum here. Find our earlier mentoring sessions here. 

How to choose which recorded coaching call to submit to the International Coaching Federation to certify at the Master Certified level still perplexes me. And after all this excellent mentoring, I’m feeling more conscious of where I’m falling out of mastery as I coach. Does any perfect coaching call exist? And assuming not, how much margin of error does the ICF allow? These questions I posed to MCC Coach Ben Dooley, my mentor coach, this week. I’m feeling clearer and clearer and even more inspired. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  Reach out to MCC Coach Ben Dooley via his website, here. Find our earlier mentoring sessions here. 

Pharma sales executive, Jill Staudacher, appreciates the value of pharmaceutical medicines. She also finds value in natural medicine, especially now as we approach cold and flu season here in North America. (Echinacea, honey, vitamin d and vitamin C can boost our immunity really well.) In our lovely interview, we hear of homeopathic remedies and foods which can help boost our immunity and calm us down, even amidst Q4–a stressful time for many. We also swap notes (as fellow Wisconsinites and working mothers) on how to find our calm and bliss amidst Thanksgiving season, a celebration focused on creating, planning, and sharing food, but also gratitude and how to make time for ourselves and our own self care and reflection, no matter what. If you’d like to reach out to Jill for friendship or guidance, find her via her website  Refocus your Health. Want to work with me or join my podcast(s)? Write to me at [email protected] You can follow me also on LinkedIn and find details on my coaching and trainings via my website.  

I’ve often bristled with the International Coaching Federation’s rule to establish (clearly—and in multiple ways) the topic and hopes for the coachee (our client) in every coaching call. Why? Because when you’re locked in and connected, the coaching conversation (in the real world vs. the ICF world) unfolds. Even asking the coachee to establish the topic or confirm it can feel prosaic, inserted, or forced, especially as we’ve already been talking about it. But without that established topic, the ICF gets antsy and will likely fail any recorded submission of our coaching without it. In this week’s episode and recorded mentoring session with my MCC Coach and mentor, Ben Dooley, I’m reminded that these rules become valid and worth following, not just so we can certify at that MCC level, but also to best serve our coachee. Establishing what we’re coaching towards in this moment, why, and what outcome they seek sets us both up for a solid coaching conversation. Establishing what they want and don’t want (and how we can help with that) also helps us feel more confident on how to bring value, and with that stay more present. In driving for specifics on what our coachee truly wants, we also ensure our coachee gains the outcome they seek. So while I still find it irksome, after this week’s training with Coach Ben, I’m really working to reframe how I think about the entire rule. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  Reach out to MCC Coach Ben Dooley via his website, here. Find our earlier mentoring sessions here. 

About 900,000 Americans retired in the first five months of 2024, part of a “silver tsunami” of those reaching retirement age. My father-in-law Nick McCullough is one who retired a few years back, and in beautiful ways returning to the land just outside of Ruth Mississippi where he grew up. The cotton farm of his youth is now his retirement land where he lives with his Cajun wife, Crystall, my American Mum. After years of running his own auto repair workshop outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, he’s done with work, for now. In our touching interview, Nick (who’s hard of hearing, hence me booming my voice just a wee bit) reflects on his farm labor as a boy which started at six a.m. and ended at twilight. He believes growing up rural taught him how to work hard and how to think big. The very openness of the land brings peace, calm, tranquility—and a feeling that anything’s possible. And it is. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  

Part two in a two-part series on maintaining presence when certifying as a Master Certified Coach, especially whilst the International Coaching Federation evaluates us. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  Reach out to MCC Coach Ben Dooley via his website, here. 

To certify with the International Coaching Federation, the world’s largest nonprofit organization, coaches must submit a recording of a coaching call they deem…well, worthy of certification. The stakes and expense (and the agonizing decision on which recording to submit) goes up with our credentials. The fee to submit a recording for the Master Coaching Certification? Between $675 to $825 US. And the expense of mentoring with a mentor coach, who can review your coaching skills, adds up too. Of course, you’ve the time expense as well — coaching and then analyzing which of your calls might best adhere to the ICF’s core competencies. As of December 31, 2023, there were 2,204 active MCC credential-holders worldwide, and if you’ve been following my writings and podcasts a while, you’ll know I’m vying to join this elite, super rare group. My mentor coaches have taught me a lot on this topic — and helped remove some of the ambiguity and guess work. In this week’s podcast, part of a two-part series, I’m chatting with my newest MCC mentor coach, Ben Dooley, on my residual and ongoing blockers, and his suggestions on getting out of our own way.Part two in this two-part series lives here.  Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin.  Reach out to Coach Ben Dooley via his website, here.

Air Force contract specialist Kyana Gayden finds that it’s the small tweaks in how we spend our time that yields the biggest results when it comes to work-life balance. She also marvels in that fabulous invention: Paid Time Off, which she never had as a graduate student, and does something fun—and spontaneous—when not working hard. “It makes a difference,” she finds, “and you feel more gratitude for your job, too.”

Warning: This episode's super ad hoc. This week, I met my new mentor coach, Ben Dooley. He's a former actor (among other things) and now runs his own coaching training academy and helps coaches certify in empowering ways. (I felt so inspired connecting with him via our Discovery session, I had to hit record.) In our conversation, we hear from Ben on his first failings as a certifying MCC coach, the blockers many of us striving for that master certification face, and how to navigate the entire process when (like me) you struggle following rules and/or are super creative. You can reach Ben Dooley and learn more about his trainings via his website. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin. 

Four in ten Americans don’t take their full paid time off (around 46%) of full-time workers according to the Pew Research Center. But that’s a real shame says Oliver Singh, manager and part-owner of the Ocean Mile hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Fl., who really gets to see the benefits of holidaying when interacting with his guests. In our lovely conversation, we hear how Oliver once aspired to become a doctor or lawyer like his siblings. When his parents (who bought the hotel several years ago) asked him to manage the place and make it better he found he had the best job in the world. It’s finding people at their very best—on holiday—that makes him so happy; but also his communications and interactions with his steady and regular guests. When mentoring hoteliers suggested he outsource the phone answering, he torpedoed the idea. “I just love hearing what people want and how I can help improve their stay,” he says. “I’ve found happiness through happiness.”We talk too about why many don’t take their paid time-off. (There are many blockers, including worrying that we’ll burden our workmates, getting behind, or losing our place.) But when we do, all sorts of magic occurs with our work and relationships, even if it’s a stay at home. You can find the Ocean Mile hotel here. Reach out to me, your show host, for keynote speaking engagements, group coaching, and training via my website, or find me also on Linkedin. 

With so much mayhem, worry, and turmoil, more clients struggle to find much to celebrate or to declare a true win. But coaches like my show guest this week, Coach Anita Rodriguez Cordero, set that intention each session to ask her coachees what they want to celebrate. Coach Anita takes this intention far beyond the International Coaching Federation's want for facilitating client growth (competency number eight) and evoking awareness (competency number seven).   For her, it ties as much to being Puerto Rican (she tells us) a culture celebrating everything, even the dead. It's also a delightful way (one of many, we both decided) to cue the mind to pause, reflect, and feel gratitude for what's right. You can find Coach Anita Rodriguez Cordero via her website, Knowing deeper Coaching and Consulting or via LinkedIn. Reach out to me, D G McCullough, for insights on my group coaching and training packages on everything from active listening, public speaking fear, to personal branding. You can find my LinkedIn profile here and my website here. 

I’m recently back to journaling most days after a good nine-month hiatus. I’ve missed it so much. For me, journaling feels like emptying my bucket of all that’s within. As I get older, I’ve noticed its importance for my mental and physical health. My journal’s a forum for not explaining things, unless I want to and a place to unlock enormous ideas within.And I’m not the only one. The data tells us 74% of Americans find “emotional venting” via journaling improves their mental health. 65% found journaling reduces their anxiety. I agree with both data points and find other additional benefits to my creativity, clarity, even my sleep. In this week’s musings, all inspired by a journal entry by the way, I’m sharing the hidden power and comfort I find through journaling and the surprising boost it brings my coaching, my entrepreneurship, and creativity, too. You can read my essay on journaling from which I read this week’s episode here. And join the conversation on LinkedIn here. Reach out to me, D G McCullough, for insights on my group coaching and training packages on everything from active listening, public speaking fear, to storytelling. You can find my LinkedIn profile here and my website here. 

My guest this week is my friend and MCC mentor coach Sophia Casey who trains coaches like me to strive to become our very best version of ourselves and with that, our most present. We chat about all the barriers getting in our way, including wanting to perform, or solve, even direct our coachees towards profound epiphanies and results. (None of which makes us very present at all.)Coach Sophia, whose MCC and runs a fabulous coaching training business by the way, also humors her mentee by coaching me using a three-word question technique. Very powerful results come from our session indeed. What a treat. And how beautiful to feel and hear how our conversation slowed with just three word prompts. (Or, less.)If you’d like to find Coach Sophia Casey’s academy, ICLI Rising, click here. You can also follow Coach Sophia on LinkedIn here. Reach out to me, D G McCullough, for insights on my group coaching and training packages on everything from active listening, public speaking fear, to storytelling. You can find my LinkedIn profile here and my website here. 

Guess who my podcast guest is this week? It's Jackson James McCullough, my 14-year-old son who I consider a hugely calming influence on me and my life. (I've long wanted to interview this wise young man and he finally said 'yes.' )Join us on our adhoc interview and woodland walk in our leafy state of Wisconsin, just days after Jackson finished his first year at high school. You'll hear his insights on how to try not to overload, to rest when we're done, to block off time for our bigger tasks, and to make time for things outside of work and school that connect us with our community and bring us joy, every day. (He's a leader beyond his years.)Reach out to me, D G McCullough, for insights on my group coaching and training packages on everything from active listening, public speaking fear, to storytelling. You can find my LinkedIn profile here and my website here. 

I’m one of millions of people globally who not only love bird watching, I love to do so from my garden. What a treat to interview Jacqueline Crivello, an award winning photographer, author, bird feeding store owner, a birder, entrepreneur and even an inventor of a bird feeder for hummingbirds. (The latter comes inspired from her very first bird feeder she created as a girl in the forest behind her Wisconsin home. She used a baby food jar and nail polish to attract them.) In our interview, we’re both surprising crisp and sharp given we both woke at 3:30  a.m. that day, drawn from our sleep by the fuller moon and bird song. (Jacqueline hears her from her forest backdrop in Colorado and mine from my Wisconsin garden.) You’ll enjoy hopefully hearing two entrepreneurial women who’d never spoken prior to our interview and find plenty of through lines and shared loves: birds, nature, reinvention, and finding peace and calm through the outdoors. Also, lessons from our girlhoods, which still guide us today. Join us. Follow Jacqueline Crivello on Instagram and find her photography and children’s nature books via @jacqueline_crivello_author and her website.Reach out to me, D G McCullough, for insights on my group coaching and training packages on everything from active listening, public speaking fear, to storytelling. You can find my LinkedIn profile here and my website here.