Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Mahatma Gandhi
Consciousness as the path to coaching TEXT: ARNE ADRIAENSSENS | PHOTOS: IPEC AMSTERDAM
In a time where many are now calling themselves a coach, it is excellent training, accreditation and a high level of consciousness that will set you apart from the rest. At the European branch of the prestigious American coaching school The Institute of Professional Excellence (iPEC), you learn all the skills and insights you need to soar high as a coach and leader. “We support coaches and leaders to tackle tomorrow’s leadership challenges.” ‘The leader as coach’: that headline adorned the latest issue of The Harvard Business Review. It describes a business 52 | Issue 73 | January 2020
landscape in which leaders don’t manage their teams from an ivory tower but in which they work together, using a coaching approach to leadership. This tendency is all but new to Simone Noordegraaf, formerly a leading lady in the global world of finance and business services. Since 2017, she has been both an executive coach and the CEO of iPEC in Europe and Asia. “Life coaches, sports coaches, business coaches, health and wellness coaches…we train them all,” explains Noordegraaf. “At iPEC, we teach our students excellent coaching skills and models, as well as principles of consciousness. As an individual, you view the
world through filters based on your experiences, values and assumptions – they either limit what you see or expand it. This affects how you act in different situations and holds you back from realising the full potential in yourself, your life and your career. The most liberating experience of our coach training is uncovering these filters and realising that you have choices that you didn’t know you had.”
Living inside-out One of the things that sets iPEC apart from other coaching schools is its signature Core Energy Coaching™ approach. Nearly all coach training schools focus