Coaching World Issue 16: November 2015 | Page 22

Shutterstock.com/Dmitry Guzhanin Ann Betz, PCC 22 Coaching World Ann is the co-founder of BEabove Leadership and an international speaker and trainer on the intersection of neuroscience, coaching and human transformation. She is the co-developer/leader of BEabove Leadership’s popular training program for advanced coaches, Neuroscience, Consciousness and Transformational Coaching. Ann is considered a thought leader in the field of neuroscience and coaching, and serves as the neuroscience consultant to The Coaches Training Institute (CTI). She is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach through CTI and a Certified NeuroTransformational Coach. A prolific writer on coaching and neuroscience, Ann is the author of a groundbreaking white paper on brain research and coaching and is the co-author, with Karen KimseyHouse, of Integration: The Power of Being Co-Active in Work and Life (Changemakers Books, 2015). It’s Not ( Just) About the “Aha!” Moment Watching the coaching profession mature is a bit like watching a child grow up and head off to college. Twenty-some years ago we were all just playing in the sandbox, creating and trying and failing and discovering, but we’ve become a fully established field, one that is now “going to school” by linking coaching to outcomes, productivity and neuroscience. It’s been a fun ride (one that I’ve been on myself since 2001) that’s brought us to this point. And just as different things are expected from a child than a young adult, different things are now expected of us as coaches. In the early days and even through our adolescence as a profession, it was often enough to say to a client, “Oh, just trust me, coaching works.” Not anymore. And the good news is, we don’t have to. My own background and studies in neuroscience and consciousness have given me deep respect for the true power of coaching. It’s so much more than a moment of insight, or even the resolution of an ongoing issue. It’s a way of integrating different aspects of the brain and being, and this integration invariably leads to higher states of awareness and increased effectiveness in life. Coaching, in my opinion, is a workout for the brain.