Coaching for Community Transformation FAQ

How did Coaching for Community Transformation begin?

Leadership that Works has a long, well established commitment to social justice. Coaching for Community Transformation (CCT) was born from that desire to make coaching accessible to all communities. CCT can be a powerful resource in the social justice field and community transformation can help create more equitable and just communities.

How does CCT change the coaching profession?

In the early days, coaching clients were often corporate executives and professionals with coaches from upper-middle-class backgrounds. This early coaching model focused on professional development and success. As a consequence, coaching was primarily a profession of and for those who already had power and privilege.

Leadership that Works is committed to changing that dynamic. We understand the early training professional coaching model is not broad enough to achieve a vision for widespread reach and social change.

Who seeks CCT training?

Leadership that Works provides Coaching for Community Transformation training to a variety of community members and groups: nonprofit leaders, nonprofit and government service providers, executives, consultants, educators, community organizers, community residents, board members, and volunteers.

CCT trainees have come from organizations working on community and economic development, affordable housing, financial asset building, workforce development, early childhood and youth development, as well as human service agencies, and social justice organizations, school districts and community initiatives.

What are some ways coaching supports communities?

Leadership Development Initiatives. Coaching support for leaders who feel isolated and unsupported, as well as grassroots leaders who are not in traditional positions of power
Issues-Based Work. Coaching and coaching skills training to support targeted community issues such as health education, immigration reform, early childhood education, teenage pregnancy, prison reentry, and implementation of ongoing racial equity and cultural awareness work in communities.
Coaching Skills Integration in Schools. Coaching and coaching skills training for teachers and administrators to support collaboration, engagement (students, teachers, parents/guardians), shifts in the ways of viewing each other, and discovering creative and innovative solutions to energy-draining problems.

How does coaching affect service providers?

As more and more communities and organizations add coaching to their tool box, more clients who seek services from multiple agencies are being supported from a common, client-centered, empowering, coaching-based service delivery model. This broadens the support for personal and community transformation.

In addition, when managers and directors take the coaching skills training with their staff, they jointly discover how to create a coaching culture within their organization. This coaching culture supports them in working collaboratively and in shifting their focus from problems to possibilities, creative action, accountability and achievement. This is sustainable, empowering change.

What is the Leadership that Works vision for community coaching?

Five critical components are necessary to bring our Coaching for Community Transformation vision into reality:

We partner with the community by listening and working to incorporate their experience, wisdom, and ideas on how to best implement coaching for community change.
Creating a community training model for that does not depend on graduates becoming professional coaches
Embracing cultural diversity and awareness as an organizational priority
Challenging the entire coaching profession to make cultural awareness work a priority and train a more diverse pool of coaches who are equipped to serve a much wider coaching audience
Sharing materials, lessons, research and contacts widely to make our work accessible to all

What has CCT learned from our work in communities?

The early experience with direct service providers was a microcosm of what we are now discovering about taking coaching deeper into communities. The horizon for community coaching has endless possibilities as each community begins to imagine and explore how coaching skills can support the change they wish to create.

Leadership that Works is at the forefront of this innovative and cutting-edge work. We are bringing culturally-aware coaching into groups, neighborhoods and organizations that are committed to enhancing the quality of life for all people in their community.

I’m interested in bringing coaching to my community. What's next?

Answering the following questions may help you think about what is possible for your organization and/or community:

How can coaching help the community flourish?
Can coaching skills positively impact systems of community change?
Can coaching skills training support and impact various interest groups in your community? For example:

What is possible if parents are trained in coaching skills?

What impact is possible if coaching skills were taught in languages other than English to include those leaders and community members who are often left out?

How can you experiment with using coaching with issues that cut across agencies and interest groups in your community?

That’s it. I’m ready. How can I bring CCT to my organization, school, and/or community?

Let's discuss how coaching skills training may support your vision for enhanced connection, engagement, communication and collaboration in your organization, school and community.

Call or email Leslie Brown at 734-678-3017 for more information.

Check out what Participants are Saying about Results!

3 Ways to Work With Us