Where it began for me
It was 20 years ago that I walked into my first Co-Active Coaching workshop.
I was at the lowest point in my life and didn't even know it. I had a promising career, an amazing wife, a new baby - and I was numb.
I would take the 7am flight from Amsterdam to London City Airport three times a week. The flight crew saw me more than my family. I was in this pattern for years. Work, eat, sleep (not well), repeat. I was financially successful but failing in all the ways that matter most. I thought this was how life worked.
Sensing my struggle, a member of my team, Dan Tesnjak, made a suggestion that changed my life. He recommended I attend a weekend course run by a little California coach training company Called the Co-Active Training Institute. Thankfully, I enrolled.
I hated the first day and called my wife that night to tell her I was coming home. "These people are crazy! Life does not work like this. You don't get to create a life you want and then choose how to show-up in it". She convinced me to stay.
By the final day, I knew coaching was the work I needed to do. I didn't know how. I built a career leading sales teams. I had stock options. A family to provide for. A million reasons this would never work.
It took several more years to shift into coaching as a career and another decade to own my gifts fully. It was a long and winding road, as the Beatles sang, but it led to where I am today.
Every CEO I coach, leadership team I support, and transformation program I design rests on the foundation of Co-Active. There are many paths up the mountain - this was mine. I'll be forever grateful.
To my fellow Co-Active coaches (whether you attended Fundamentals or are a CPCC), post in the comments where and when you first experienced Co-Active Coaching - and tag someone who played a role in your journey. I'll get it started with my comment below.
(Full disclosure: I serve on the Board at CTI. I have no financial interests in the company and donate my Board stipend to the CTI scholarship fund. It’s a labor of love)