My Odyssey to CTC

The Synopsis

I recently became a scrum alliance certified team coach. Decided to roll with it couple of years back & see where I end up, certainly not the plan of a being a CTC certified individual but, as someone who’s always been open to change, thrive on new challenges, inspect and adapt well to the situation. 

A journey to make challenges a favorite part-time with echoes “give me a Problem and I’ll Solve it”. I knew it was worth at least trying to work for it. I sat propped against thin musty pillows on the bed of my house on June 2017 when I decided to explore on the domain Scrum Alliance

So what it is? - Expecting endless exposure in return for a visit on the above said domain page? 

Transforming to a COACH

It took years for this coming and the YAHOO moment then knocking! The curator was the accomplisher. It was not just the typical text-book classroom drills but also included great interactions with leaders, achievers and coaches throughout the span, going through the experience of handling on ground challenges at work and positively responding to it.

In this Journey I have realized that our mind is the barometer of our knowledge and the only way your mind can speak to you is through impulses that are sent through the mind and body. I call it the "MINDSET CHANGE" with the right impulses bubbling with the passion of being an agile enthusiast/Coach. 

The Way….

One who’s considering taking the leap, the best advice I can give is stay true to yourself and, never compromise your integrity… after that you’ll fly it. The Journey is Not for People with casual agile/coaching Interest or someone having the knack of making their certification kitty heavy to showpiece their achievement on social platforms.  

In the section - “The Recipe”, I would like to share the know-hows to achieve the feat of being a CTC.  Everyone has to start somewhere. I didn’t just pull ideas out of thin air, rather took time to conduct research and then formed opinions based on my findings. Let me try planting some ideas, thoughts and emotions by taking you through the journey as I share...

At times your patience will be at the side of a low ebb. Carrying the nervous tone “Can I”?  Challenges will be all around in different forms - The ability to deal with the challenges is dependent on the depth of the coaching stance that the coach has adopted. With that depth of the coaching stance comes the power to balance effectively between systemic coaching, teaching/consulting, training, mentoring and managing.

With this one should change the way of working (coaching) & start focusing on “system as a whole” & over the time build the system approach of looking at the things, seeking more feedback, continuously incorporating the feedback in coaching.

The Recipe

Let’s begin with the checklist for CTC. Any item that one cannot confidently check may indicate a gap to be filled before you proceed with the application process. Scrum Alliance Checkist

In the pre-application call, reviewer can ask to demonstrate professional coaching & can give you a scenario to start with. So if you have all the theory but did not get much time to practice, do it before applying to CTC, attend various agile gatherings, explore opportunity to be part of coaching clinics where you can coach the associates & look for active feedback after the sessions. All this can prepare you for this call.

Part-1 & Part-2 The answers of the questions in the first & second part need to be no more than 750 words (if you are not native English speaker). As all of them are open questions so there is no standard answer for it. It is quite easy to carry away while writing but then the most difficult part is to cut it short & bring it back to word limit without losing the essence.

Other than application, you can get through if you are having below kind of R&R:

1. Working with teams to help them become better in doing scrum.
2. Enabling Scrum Masters and Product Owners learn how to do their job well and embrace a mindset for continuous improvement through intense one-on-one coaching.
3. Supporting multiple teams & middle managers to find their new role in an agile setting.
4. Able to give Agile Leadership training's.
5. Good experience in coaching teams & leadership

Few Basics

1. Fail fast, have a safe environment to practice with your mentors, friends, fellow coaches, make them review your application & take feedback.
2. Don’t get nervous during Vcon interviews/coaching conversations, show your reviewers some improvement every time they talk to you.
3. Working on the application part-1 & part-2 need one of the Scrum values that is Focus.
4. Inspect and Adapt, divide your applications into small sprints & keep working on increment feedback which you will get from your friends, coaches, mentors.
5. Review your application thoroughly as it is full of tricky question that may lead to assumptions.
6. Find gatherings large and small that meet at least monthly to discuss Scrum, Agile, coaching, and product development. I was part of two distributed groups & that has brought lot of positivity & learning.
7. Last & very important, enjoy the journey.

The Outcome

1. After CTC credentials you can certify up to 50 CSM & 50 CSPO’s (Assuming you have CSPO certification in your kitty) . 
2. You will become a Scrum Alliance Guide which will provide you access to all of the CSTs, CECs and CTCs and lots of information of scrum alliance.
3. Access to coaching retreats before the scrum gatherings.
4. Opportunity to work as a coach in the scrum gatherings in form of coaching clinics.