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Resources HKICC Newsletter Review of HKICC’s First Executive Coaching Conference Develop Organizational Potential through Executive Coaching – an afternoon of expertise and interaction for senior executives and HR leaders. This was the catchy title of the first ever event held by the Executive Coaching Committee of the HKICC on 27th March, 2007, led and coordinated by David Mooijaart, HKICC’s VP of Executive Coaching. The enticing program covered the impact of coaching in organizations, the value of coaching, and how to create, lead and implement sustainable coaching programs. The choice of speakers and panelists combined highly relevant "big picture" perspectives with local experiences and stories. Over 20 senior managers from major Hong Kong companies attended and gave very positive feedback. The level of engagement throughout the day was very high with lots of listening, note taking and participation. The conference broke new ground for this kind of learning event by allowing participants to share their own situations, actively participate in the conference, and discuss issues which could be addressed constructively through coaching. Another very unusual aspect was that there was no Master of Ceremonies. Instead, the organizing coaches each ran different sessions. The result was a seamlessly timed and coordinated event with a wide variety of friendly faces and styles who led us through the afternoon. Our keynote speaker Alan Seiler, Director of Newfield Australia explained how progressing as a human being, bottom line results and executive coaching are all related. He talked about the Return on Investment of coaching and gave an example of a study of 100 executives that found an average return of six times the cost of coaching. He explained that “conversations and relationships” are at the heart of organizational effectiveness and raised two powerful questions:
Next Patrick Ng, one of our organizing committee members and also a Licensed Brain Gym Trainer, led a short exercise for everyone to experience how we can balance our mind-body system for optimum performance. These movements were easy to learn, full of fun and re-energized the participants for the next session. Charlie Lang, Executive Vice President of HKICC, moderated the first panel which looked at the experience of being coached. The audience was inspired by the sharing of Brian Maher of Barclays Capital who explained that he had at first been quite resistant to receiving coaching but in the end he discovered that it was extremely valuable and worthwhile. He has since received the promotion he was hoping for but he said the most significant difference was in the changes in his personal life. His first-hand experience is a very inspiring demonstration that executive coaching not only works on executive's performance but also helps an executive achieve a balanced life. It demonstrated how one’s working performance is a reflection of ones "being" at that moment. Participants who had experienced coaching also shared their experiences. Committee members Angela Spaxman and Yvonne Yam moderated the next panel discussion which for many was the highlight of the event. Three organizational leaders with pioneering experience in implementing executive coaching programs provided detailed and open sharing about what they had learned about using coaching in their organizations. Paul Choi, Executive Director of Human Capital Management for Goldman Sachs, Theresa Chong, Human Resources Director of Amoy Foods Ltd and Cheyenne Yu, former CEO of Shekou Terminals all answered a lot of practical questions from the floor including "how to select coaches", "how to evaluate the ROI from executive coaching", and "how to convince senior management to buy in to the concept of executive coaching". Questions and answers continued for over an hour, but the audience stayed engaged and greatly appreciated the high quality of the discussion. Congratulations to all nine coaches in the organizing team who combined their talents and energy over the past few months to make the conference a great success. They really walked the talk of the essence of coaching – demonstrating a remarkable degree of collaboration and effort and attention to important details on a wide range of topics. Everyone was included according to their talent and motivation and when issues came up they knew how to listen and make the changes needed. They leave behind a legacy – a first executive coaching conference from users to users. The HKICC has much to be proud of – this will be a hard act to follow. The organizers would like to gratefully extend their thanks to their sponsors: Brett Cameron our choice photographer who captured the event on film, the Dutch, French and Canadian Chambers of Commerce for help in spreading the word, and of course Cliftons Conference Centre for the excellent venue. To view photos of the event, click here.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For HK$600 per person Brett will bring along his studio lights and equipment You may contact Brett directly on: |
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