Slavnostni uvodni nagovor predsednika Evropskega združenja za coaching in mentorstvo (EMCC

Slavnostni uvodni nagovor predsednice Slovenskega coaching združenja Celebratory opening address of President of Slovenian Coaching Association ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Nevenka Oštarjaš

Slavnostni uvodni nagovor predsednice Združenja EMCC Slovenija Celebratory opening address of President of EMCC Slovenija ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

dr. Danijela Brečko

Slavnostni uvodni nagovor predsednika Evropskega združenja za coaching in mentorstvo (EMCC) Celebratory opening address of President of European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Dr. Riza Kadilar

Dear distinguished academic and business professionals,

I’m proud and happy to witness the establishment of EMCC Slovenia under the leadership of Danijela and her team. I’m confident that with our inclusive approach, evidence based quality standards and state-of-theart offerings, EMCC will prove to be a valuable source of inspiration and support for the business life in Slovenia.

EMCC aims to contribute to the development on an inclusive society fit for digital transformation and able to cope with climate challenge. With our more than 7000 members all over the world, and with more than forty thousand graduates of our accredited training providers we stand as the “go to body” in our profession. Our more than 200 volunteers continuously contribute to our purpose to develop, promote and set the expectation of the best practice in mentoring, coaching and supervision globally for the benefit of the society.

I believe today every business thrive on optimizing their human and financial resources. And various top notch academic research we have conducted shows that coaching and mentoring are the best investments for human capital development across all sectors. Therefore with our inclusive approach, EMCC aims to provide a platform for business leaders to benchmark their best practices in this area. Digital transformation, changes in job market, generations gap especially with millennials and fast changing social norms require every person in today’s society to possess coaching and mentoring skills. Engaging into a non-judgmental dialogue, learning how to listen with a systemic approach, asking the right questions, excelling in empathy, self-awareness, compassion and care are the keys for a successful and fulfilled personal and professional life. In that regard, thanks to our evidence based standards, professional designations, approach to continuous professional development including supervision, and to our global reach enhanced with our 25 years of successful existence, I feel confident that EMCC is the right and preferred partner.

Actually we are going through hard times. It’s hard to imagine what historians will be writing about the current global pandemic. We wonder what makes the current one different than the all previous or future ones. So most probably the way we react to what’s happened so far will determine the fate of this crisis. I’m sure that humanity will win this battle despite all collateral damage, including lost lives, disruption in our economic model, and changes in our routines. Now, as Churchill once said ‘we are maybe at the end of the beginning’. Most probably a new episode begins. While the pursuit for an efficient treatment and a vaccine is accelerating, thanks to the globally coordinated efforts of scientists, we will at the same time be obliged to develop new psychological strategies to cope with the changes in our socio-economic lives. Just after having managed to survive under various types of lockdown and social distancing, now, in order to sustain a certain level of economic activity, we will be expected to go back to work despite our reluctance, concerns, and fears. Never ending cycles of adapting, readapting, skilling, upskilling, and reskilling etc.

Therefore I may argue that as practitioners of coaching, mentoring, and supervision we have an important role to play during these challenging times. Our communities expect us to provide care, support, compas-