Coaching in Ethiopia - summit

On day 1, more than 200 NGO leaders came to the UN building in Addis to participate in a one-day meeting. Ben Croft & David Clutterbuck opened the event with keynotes, before Nobantu & Dumi encouraged everyone to get into the right frame of mind for learning. The rest of us, including Chip & George (below) got ready to deliver breakout workshops, in which leaders coached each other on their leadership goals and on overcoming obstacles to achieve those goals.

By the end of the day new connections had been made and everyone went home happy.

Day 2 began with an optional session on the 'Wisdom of Crowds' led by the wonderful Katherine Holt. In less than 35 minutes, groups of 6 - 10 leaders came up with short videos on subjects such as creating innovation cultures, succession planning and other themes previously identified as important by local leaders.

Another 200 leaders came to the rest of day 2, this time 40 leaders with their teams. Over the course of an intensive day, the teams identified the characteristics of high performing teams in an Ethiopian NGO context. They then discussed their own strengths and weaknesses, before coming up with visions for their success and accompanying commitments. If anything, the mood at the end of day 2 was even more energised than the end of day 1!

Now comes the ongoing coaching piece, with 10 - 20 NGO leaders and their teams receiving ongoing coaching over a period of at least 12 months. Everyone involved is confident the coaching will be successful because every participant attending the two days appeared fully engaged and committed to learning. The core Ethical Coaching team, led by Jane Cooke-Lauder and Rebekah Uccelini, are committed to proving the power of this concept, so it can be leveraged in other countries around the world. To find out more, check out ...