"Full Circle" Strengths: Training Coaches in the Philippines

On a recent Called to Coach, we spoke with May Soriano, Chief Empowerment Officer of Coachmay, Inc., and a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach who has been coaching in the Philippines for 22 years. Coach May talked about the rich coaching community that she is a part of in the Philippines, including The Coaches Circle -- a method of training coaches through goal-setting and having them coach each other. Saurav Atri from Gallup's Singapore office was the guest host.

NEW: Below is a full transcript of the conversation, including time stamps. Full audio and video are posted above.

Jim Collison 0:00

Hi, I'm Jim Collison and live from the Gallup Studios here in Omaha, Nebraska, as well as our offices in Singapore and in the Philippines, this is Gallup's Called to Coach, recorded on June 26, 2019.

Jim Collison 0:22

Called to Coach is a resource for those who want help others discover and use their strengths. We have Gallup experts and independent strengths coaches share tactics, insights and strategies to help coaches maximize the talent of individuals, teams and organizations around the world. If you do have questions during this webcast, we do have a chat room that's available for you. It's part of the live YouTube instance. So there's a link below the video at coaching.gallup.com/live. Love to have you log in; many of you have. Ask your questions there. If you're listening to the recorded version, you can send us an email coaching@gallup.com. Don't forget to visit the Gallup Strengths Center just gallupstrengthscenter.com for all your CliftonStrengths coaching resources and training needs. You can also catch the video on both downloadable audio for offline listening -- we call that podcasting -- you can download this to your mobile device and listen when you're on the road, on a train, in a plane -- those kinds of things. You can find the links to all of those things that our coaches blog, coaching.gallup.com. Saurav Atri is our host today. Saurav is the Regional Director for Southeast Asia, and Saurav, it's always good to see you welcome back to Called to Coach.

Saurav Atri 1:18

Thank you so much, Jim. And it's a privilege and a pleasure to be back on Called to Coach, you know, and this time for the Philippines edition and you know, I'm so glad to introduce our coach today. Coach May Soriano, you know, she's one of the pioneers of coaching in the Philippines -- over 22 years of professional coaching. So we're looking at some wisdom to be shared today. And more than three decades of training, consulting and coaching experiences.

Saurav Atri 1:45

She's also an instantly first Filipina graduate of the Coaches Training Institute of the USA and a global member of the ICF -- a recognized you know, awardee so awarded top hundred best global coaching leaders in 2017; women leadership awardee; women, world women leadership 2019, the only international master facilitator of points of view in the Philippines. Also she has been through the ASC, you know, the first batches in the ASC in 2015. I remember very fondly Danny and I were part of that experience, and also the member of the Strengths Council from 2015-2018. She proudly calls herself the Chief Empowerment Officer for Coach Making. Coach May, welcome to the session today. Tell us a little bit about yourself and you're starting with your Top 5.

May SJ Soriano 2:34

Hi, everyone. Thank you, Saurav. I feel like I'm already given a number of years. But you know, we call ourselves the people of wisdom instead of age. Thank you for that great introduction. Hi, Jim, and everyone else in the Philippines and all the coaches that I represent in the Philippines. Yes, my Top 5: Positivity is No. 1 obviously with that and No. 2 Belief; No. 3 I'm an Arranger; 4 is I am a Maximizer; and No. 5 is Connectedness. And you know when I found out about this in 2015 and at that time I was a of course obviously I was a coach already and it got hit -- I got hit by what I have read just like Gallup or the StrengthsFinder really knew me from the very start, so I am glad I am now a Gallup Strengths Coach.

Saurav Atri 3:37

Beautiful, thank you, and again 22 years of coaching you know -- what got you into this you know, field as a pioneer when coaching wasn't as prevalent the Philippines? How did you become a coach?

May SJ Soriano 3:46

You know, in the late '90s I was a two-year-old coach, you know, I was being mentored by another consultant and I was doing coaching many organizations survey -- little did I know that coaching has become a profession already. I chanced upon an article about the International Coach Federation. I didn't know that it existed at that time. It was, I think, a three-year-old organization. And so I went to in a way represent the Philippines in the 1999 conference, found out that, you know, the Filipino coaches at that time, were not really more of the professional coaching coaches, we were more of counseling, we were actually asking what went well and what didn't go well.

May SJ Soriano 4:36

And at that time, the biggest thing that I might take away from that conference was we were lacking in many of the skills under coaching as a mother skill, more so on the forwarding of the action, and so that's when I didn't hesitate at all to look for a venue for me to, to learn more about coaching, the professional coaching. So I looked and looked and and that's where I found out about the Coaches Training Institute. And, you know, I, I looked for a venue where I can be aligned in terms of my values in terms of how I was a teacher, I was a trainer before. So that's when I got to know the the Coaches Training Institute. So the rest is history.

Saurav Atri 5:28

Beautiful, and what led you to, you know, embark on the strengths journey becoming a Strengths Coach?

May SJ Soriano 5:34

Well, in 2015 was the refresh -- I was in a big transition -- a professional transition at that time. I needed a break. And I need I needed some form of transformation as well. So it's time for me for my personal self-development. And I was invited by no less than Coach VS. A very good, a great proponent of coaching, she would Gallup to bring that ASCC to the Philippines. And that's when I became part of the first batch. I we fondly called the people who attended the ASCC outside of the Philippines "zero batch." So we're the first bunch.

May SJ Soriano 6:27

And, you know, it was important for me to be there because I felt like strengths is something that can complement what I do. And I'm aligned to the values of what the strengths bring. Because I believe that every person here in this world has, has his own strength. And being a coach, I want to bring that out.

Saurav Atri 6:55

Thank you and also I'd like -- and we've been hearing a lot about the Philippines coaching community and, you know, the buzz around this, and I think globally as well -- the coaches I know Strengths Summit that happened, there were people are talking about it. Tell us a little bit more about what's unique in that community of StrengthsFinder in the Philippines.

May SJ Soriano 7:11

First and foremost, I would like to say that strengths coaching is more fun in the Philippines. And what I love is we are a community of coaches. We are very generous in terms of sharing our skills and knowledge to each other. And we have at least four strengths meetups. We have many devoted strengths coaching leading them. We have close to 200 ASCC graduates and 140 Filipino coaches right now. And we have a Strengths Council. I'm very proud that I have served the council as head of the coaching concerns and training for three years.

Saurav Atri 7:54

So tell us more about you know, what does the council do? And also I think you've got some initiatives running as well locally. Tell us a bit more about, you know, how do you organize it? How do you orchestrate it? And what's the value that coaches get from that being part of that community?

May SJ Soriano 8:07

First and foremost, the council is composed of devoted volunteer coaches. And we meet every so often and talk about, you know, what can -- how can we serve the community of coaches in the Philippines. So, and we have learning sessions, and being part of the council that heads coaching.

May SJ Soriano 8:33

When there was an opportunity to initiate what we call The Coaches Circle, I did it, and this is a very this has a huge potential at that time to give service to these coaches, to our coaches, in terms of learning, relearning and unlearning process of coaching. And since I have quite a history of coaching, and I began to share and The Coaches Circle was a platform to share. We had the first Coaches Circle last year and the most recent they graduated just this June 15, as a matter of fact, 20 or more people graduated from The Coaches Circle, just recently. Coaches have landed already in individuals and organizations and, you know, the challenge is to continue to create that learning and coaching culture within the organizations because many of our coaches are also consultants and coaches to many organizations. Hence, I figured and we figured together with the Strengths Council and, of course, the encouragement of coach VS to do the strengths Coaches Circle, to learn from each other.

Saurav Atri 9:53

So, when you gather experienced coaches into a room like, you know, we expect a lot of wisdom-sharing to happen there because now you're bringing so much wealth of experiences coming. So what happened -- some of your insights and the impact that you felt were created as part of the coaching circle, Coach May?

May SJ Soriano 10:07

In The Coaches Circle, I must say that before I embarked on it, I was doing a lot of organization development work with companies like, you know, in the Philippines, you would know Jollibee broup of companies. You have not gone to the Philippines unless you have eaten Jollibee you know, the burgers and of course, I know Coach Dani, Dani's favorite is spaghetti -- I, I'm quite sure that she would go into this webcast. And,

May SJ Soriano 10:39

And like also, Shell, Holtz, CM Smart, among others, Texas Instruments, Amcor, to name a few. And all of them, we created what we call The Coaches Circle -- wherein it was a venue to create a coaching culture within the organization. And when I got into strengths coaching, it was a good complement to the tried-and-tested way of having a coaching culture. And so what we did, as a matter of fact, we have the first slide we can show them, and this is how it works in a four-step process. What we did first, of course, is to have the coaches learn the coaches skills, not the basic and then we created what we call The Coaches Circle. The Coaches Circle, if we have, let's say, the three of us now Jim may answer in one circle, Jim can be coaching May; May can be coaching Saurav and Saurav coaching Jim. So it's like you know, a circle and then each of the circles will be manned by an external or external coach, no -- a trained external coach. In the in the coaches training, we also have do first of course, the training about strengths as a matter of fact, so, it is enhanced by strengths discovery and facilitated workshops. Each of the members of the circle will then declare two goals, because we believe that personal and professional goals are should be aligned to each other. And so, they declare a goal that is achievable; a goal that is stretch enough; we cannot take any goals that you know, every day they will anyways do it because of one way or another this is part of their accountability or deliverable. It has to be "stretch" enough that there is a need for a coach, OK? And in the process of the three months, they become coach and coach each other and there are catch-up sessions to be done every month, because every circle will have its own experiences and ups and downs. And so during plenary sessions, we are able to share each of the each of the other circles, our ups and downs and learning and in the process, additional skills are learned; additional skills also are being given by other coaches even outside of the of the circle, like in this case of this year's circle, we have invited the likes of you know, (name). And, and, and some others like Ken Costales, who has given us about marketing, and even Leia did some actual learning and you know, from every person who is part of the circle can give an input or, you know, that can be of benefit to the rest of the coaches. In fact, as feedback, they even said that, it's one of those things that they love best. And in the last portion in the Step 4 was integration process and culmination of what to do next. They have done their, their skills building, and at the same time they have achieved their goals.

Saurav Atri 14:34

Beautiful and you know, just as context, so super Sidney, you know, he was the Called to Coach previously, so if you haven't seen his Called to Coach, you can go log in and check that out as well. Ken Costales is Forbes 30 under 30 entrepreneur within the Philippines, so hugely successful there as well. And also Leo Kesslers is for management strategies, also a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, so feel free to connect them offline as well with these guys, but also Coach May, just you know, talking about The Coaching Circle, especially when you bring all these learning in a room, you know, and what I'm hearing is a lot of ongoing development that the community feels for each other, what, you know, in in such a magical environment, I'm sure there's some sparks fly off some insights and Aha! moments and feedbacks flies off as well. Tell us a little more about what's been your takeaways and your insights that you've experienced from people around you.

May SJ Soriano 15:18

Well, actually, I've asked for feedback and, you know, feedback, and "feed forward" as a matter of fact, no, so that the next Coaches Circle can benefit from you know, what they have learned. And they all said that, you know, coaches got to practice a lot now from being coach and coach each other. And now given that they're each of them -- that each of us -- would have different personalities and styles of coaching, they were able to have an experience of the different ways of coaching, the support system for learning express, and from the coaches for fellow circle coaches, the lead coach, because for every Coaches Circle, there's a lead coach, you know, for, you know, some kind of accountability, and the lead coaches, I deal with them on a different chat. And the learning also happens every time that there's a catch-up, you know, the inspirations that we got from each other, and everybody becomes a push to each other, both on the personal and professional aspects of achieving the detailed goals, they, you know, it's many of them, they said that they look forward to the plenary sessions as well. And by the way, even without the plenary sessions, the Coaches Circle meet, also, even in chat rooms. So you know, there's a, there's a different bonding at the same time as they push push each other into attaining their goals. And as a result of that, things become unthreatening for them. And at the same time, having the excitement of gaining their trust as they they -- they get into their goals achievement, and by the way they achieve their goals, their big takeaway from this is everybody needs a coach, you know, as we all say. Hence, if we do this in organizations, coaches' training behavior enhancement is one of the keys key is the key in order for the coaches' development and coach environment to be created in the organization. Self-mastery is first needed, creating, you know, creating from within first -- we call it, aside from self-mastery, which, of course the self self study or, or we call it inner research, in the points of view, we call it inner research. So there's a lot to do with that first, before we can create from others. Part of the intention is we cannot, one of the things that we cannot have is our coachee asking us, you're coaching us and yet you're not able to coach yourself. Yeah. So that's part of the integrity of being a coach, and having a good person in the organization yields to better results for the organization. And of course, the ROI is also affected by you.

Saurav Atri 18:28

Thank you for sharing, and also, like, none of these experiences come without challenges. So what challenges and barriers have you faced in setting up the coaching circle, but also for people who are looking to become a coach with your rich experiences of having navigated this coaches landscape in the Philippines? What what challenges, barriers would you say they need to watch out for and how to overcome them?

May SJ Soriano 18:48

You know, I am always asked, what's the minimum requirement to become a coach? And I say, you have to have the heart for it. And this is not just heart, and I call it hard work. You know, instead of hard work, you know, put the heart into whatever you're doing. So coaching for me is a mission. And, you know, because coaching has landed, there are so many coaches, here and abroad, the competition is higher now. And so there's a lot of investments now. And nowadays, you know, professional licensing, the practice, more and more certifications are coming out. Hence the investment of time. And of course, money has become one of the major challenges of a coach. And that's why whenever somebody asks me, Can I become like you or Can I be mentored by you? I make sure that before they even invest on the time and effort I coach for this people into their purpose in in life first, you know. You know, nowadays, you know, one time coach (name) emailed me saying that, would you believe that there's a $20 coaching certification? Oh, my gosh, you know, I wish we had that. Yeah. So the continuing learning must be there. And I say this is part of the challenge, considering that every coach has to be aligned to his purpose. And every day we ask ourselves that we are, are we still aligned with such purpose, continuing of learning, bringing in your learning new methods, tools like, of course, using the points of view as I mentioned a while ago, is deepening of the strengths coaching. Second challenge is to me, big thing is walk the talk. And I've been integrity from mind, body, spirit and heart. Every day, I check in on this because, again, from alignment of myself with my purpose.

Saurav Atri 21:05

And you know, some of people sometimes even struggle with finding that purpose as well, Coach May. What's your advice? And how do they identify that purpose in them? And if this is the right profession for them, as well?

May SJ Soriano 21:16

Get a coach! No. 1, you know, sometimes self-coaching is OK as well, no, but you know, get somebody to help you out in terms of identifying your purpose. Because in spite -- you know, would you believe in the 22 years that I've been doing this, a lot of people still don't know what their purpose in life is? And, you know, they get the way they, they can be carried away by the hustle and bustle of, you know, everyday life and providing for their families. But yet, I've always mentioned this, that my intention for everyone is, every day as you breathe, every minute that we walk through this life, are we in purpose, because, you know, we are temporary here. So it starts with that and in everything we can anchor on that purpose. Full intention.

Saurav Atri 22:19

Yeah, and there's no better meaning if you can align that purpose with you know, growth and development of other human beings when your heart work is aligned with, you know, elevating others around you. And that's the noble profession of coaching is about so, you know, and also it all starts with you as well, like, you know, what, you know, Coach May talked about is how do you, you know, develop yourself, starting with getting a coach and also, Coach May, I think, you know, growth happens when you discover something new or you remember something you've forgotten, and that is that leads to Aha! moments, you know, what happened, your Aha! moments in your life journeys in this entire coaching tenure?

May SJ Soriano 22:55

Actually, before I answer that, that's the reason why, you know, talking about heart work, it cannot be that the first motivation is money, this kind of, you know, work because really, every day, we get to be challenged as we all say, wherein your purpose, you'll, the tendencies, the universe will challenge us. And so with the, you know, the punch, we know that, you know, we're in purpose, and we can, you know, we can tell the universe, Bring it on. But sometimes like that, OK, I have so many stories to tell already, stop banging on me! So, you know, the Aha! moment is I get to be amazed on each person that I coach that they would allow me to be a witness to their own transformation. That's a big thing for me. So I value most the trust that was given, or it's being given to me. So every moment that I spend with my coachee -- even if almost every day I do it -- is an Aha! for me, that everyone has a unique and amazing story to tell. And because everyone is a storyteller, and you know, I have coached a lot of people in the last 22 years, so, and many of them remained my friends. And, you know, one of them, I became, you know, a sponsor in his wedding already.

May SJ Soriano 24:37

And one beautiful, you want some stories?

Saurav Atri 24:42

Yes, please.

May SJ Soriano 24:44

You know, one beautiful story that I have is the case of (name); (name) is can is also a strengths coach in Cebu, Cebu in the Visayan areas area of the Philippines. She was a client before -- actually, we work together in one workshop. And then I was listening to her because she was enjoying her own transformation. I was in my personal development. And I found out that, you know, she was hopping from one training after another, trying to figure out what will go well with her, so in one of my conversations with her, I said that You are a searcher and, and at the time, I encourage her and said that, you know, you are becoming a victim of your past experience. And at the same time, she's Futuristic, by the way, so she's being boggled by what is there in the future. So what I did was to give her a bracelet, actually a rosary bracelet, so that whenever she is being blocked by what's happened in the past, and being worried about what will happen the future, they can look at what is present by rubbing the, you know, using the method of something of something that can be touched. And I use that for her. And that went well for her whenever she's worried. She just had to touch the bracelet. And, you know, it helped her to put more herself in the "here and now." She became my friend, and up to now she'll be forever my friend, and you know, and I encourage her to be a coach for her own organization. She is the owner of a very progressive school there in Cebu, a Montessori School, as a matter of fact. She's now a certified strengths coach. And she claims and very well claim that she's the first strengths-based coaching school. I mean, sorry, first strengths-based school in Cebu City. I'm very proud of her. And, you know, I listened to her continuing story and I couldn't be prouder. That's why …

Saurav Atri 27:16

Yeah, (name) has transformed education in Cebu with Montessori kids and, you know, imagine young adults, young kids, you know, having the opportunity to discover their strengths and being able to, you know, make a difference, you know, in the world, just by leveraging who they are. And we've been seeing, and I had a chat with (name) on this as well. And you've been seeing that students from our schools are now going international, where they actually representing the school in different colleges. And then I would say, events globally, and winning some awards there as well. It's a great, I know I'm starting from something from scratch and being able to build something which is powerful and meaningful, is amazing. And thanks, Coach May, for transforming that partnership with (name) as well. Also just, you know, similar stories, we love to hear more stories and all some tips and techniques that you'd advise for new coaches who are embarking on this profession. You know, how do you create meaning and purpose in other people's lives for your coaching?

May SJ Soriano 28:07

I, you know, sometimes I've been asked, What's your secret? There's no secret! There's no secret! Actually, if there's a secret, actually, I don't even call it a secret. My only -- I always say my only agenda is the coach's agenda. There's nothing else you know, ego is not part of this. And as coaches it's not, of course, we need to be enhanced or to be skilled as a coach. But once we're with our coachee, it's about the coachee. It's not about us. So I listen very well. And one is, once I listen, and find out about their agenda or intention, I also listen from what is articulated through words. And of course, listen what's behind the words and and from then on, I make sure that they are accomplishing what they said that they would like to accomplish. And one of the things there is for the coaches not to be falling into the trap that coaches know everything. We don't know everything. In fact, the coaches, the coachee, our clients would know. And they just need guidelines, they know they need the our powerful questions to be asked of them, no? And some tips. I -- one of the biggest tip is -- get a coach!

May SJ Soriano 29:55

That's why we can work into this profession, the coach will guide, the coach will champion us, the coach will tough-love us, you know. And there are things that the coach will see that of course, the blind spots of the coachee, there are many issues and concerns in life that the coachee doesn't want to, you know, to look at himself in front of the mirror, so the coach will have a sense of that. Research best practices -- don't fall again into the trap that we know everything. OK, enroll in coaching classes, if you are a coach, and credentialing courses. Clients, we look for credentials. And, you know, it's not like 22, or 20 or 22 years, when we were just a few. Nowadays, there are a lot of coaches. So definitely the competition is up. But you know, I am still encouraging new ones. And what coachees or the client potential clients would would look for is the authenticity, the authenticity of the coach, how he talks, how he feels, how he can put himself in the shoes of the, the coachee, and please join the coaches, networks and communities. There's a lot to, to discover and to hear from fellow coaches. Practice makes perfect -- practice, practice, practice and get feedback!

Saurav Atri 31:39

And that's the power of the collective community as well. Now I believe in the concept of abundance, that we can all grow together as a community because as you know, enough, there's 7 billion people in the world that need coaching, and you know, to help them unleash that. And so partnering with other coaches as well, coach me know, some of the coaches here also would love to hear, you know, like they've been facing challenges with being present in the moment, you know, what are your advice on how can they be present in the moment during the coaching experience and listen for the right things? What's your advice on that?

May SJ Soriano 32:07

Be present in the moment, actually, there are a lot of coaches that are having difficulties in being in the moment. That's why having to be skilled, as coaches we can hear, we can sense if they're not in the moment, for coaches, to be present in the moment would mean that we have our own self-development. And that's part of the being an authentic coach, as a matter of fact, so having to -- just like what we do in the Philippines, of having the coaches circle, learning from each other, getting authentic, no holds barred, feedback. We can be tough on each other, really, we cry together. And at the same time we laugh together and we love each other in the process of learning and colearning from each other. So to be to have that sense of wholeness would mean asking for help from from people to be whole, yeah.

Saurav Atri 33:19

And to all the coaches who are listening in from around the world, you know, who are in this journey individually, and are seeking support, you know, the best support you can get is from fellow coaches, you know, because some of them, and it's been those journeys before you some of them are on the journeys with you. But there's a power of the collective and that, you know, coming together as a community. So if you really want to learn more about how do we organize more coaching circles around the world, you know, let's reach out to Coach May, reach out to Coach P or reach out to us as well. And we'll help you point in the right direction of how do you gather together this power of this collective mission that we have to align those expectations as well. And then be able to learn some tips and techniques along the way. There's a powerful community, that Jim runs with the -- the Facebook group, you know, there's a lot of chatter that comes along, which the way coaches are helping each other out, there is a WhatsApp communities that are being formed as well. So feel free to be part of those to help you grow as well. Jim, any questions from your side?

Jim Collison 34:12

Yeah, there is. Beverly was asking this question in particular, and how do you get started with this coaching circle idea? So Coach May, if you were to say they were, if there was a group just starting this, what kind of advice would you give them?

May SJ Soriano 34:26

Um, what we did is even if, like there is the coaches, training, I'm sure that every every coach have done has done no more or less his own training, what we do is to gather coaches, if we are the two things, what we did for fellow coaches is different from what we do for our clients now. So with our fellow coaches, this is what do we recently do with strengths coach community, we gather them have them have what we call The Coaches Circle, so if we have 24 people gathered, we usually sub divide them into four Coaches Circle, and then each of the circle will have a lead coach. And usually, I'm the overall lead coach and each of them will have their -- they will declare their stretch goal, no, stretch goals, you know, that in terms of personnel and the professional, because they need to be aligned. And and having them aligned is contributing the wholeness of the person, because we know for a fact that every coach, you know, has big integrity to to be fulfilled. And so, we also are humans wanting to be in the process of learning, relearning and learning here. So, and in the process of the three month period, there will be they will be coaching each other in whatever they have declared as a three month stretch goal, both on the professional and the personal side. And each of the, the circles will be managed by a coach, which is also the way to support each other. So the entire support system is very much in place.

May SJ Soriano 36:25

For the corporate, it has to be a corporate agenda, you know, a stretch agenda that, you know, most of the time we get the approval of the, the boss, even before we start to embark on the three months, usually it's a three month period, because in the three months, why three months, because it is when the habits are formed, know, and bad habits are, you know, are being unlearned here, and, and in the three months we co create from each other. And there's a lot of dynamics that are being formed in terms of the learning the learning process. In every month, we have what we call the catch-up session, you know, and the catch-up sessions, there's a lot of learning on the planet, you know, so the learning is so huge here, the coaches circle will have learning on its own, I gathered my coach will be having learn and learning from each other. So what these are coaches circle, if Jim is the coach to May, May is the coach to Saurav, Saurav is the coach to Jim. That's how it works. So and then each of the circles is manned by a head coach, you know, so the support system is very much in place. And each of the, the circles members, especially the professional stretch goal wll have to even be checked out by whoever is the the champion of the program. So I will be glad to have more conversations with anyone because it's really a three month goal, it's part of an organization development intervention. So the first one, inside, you know, the coaches circle is, is holistically being developed, because he needs a stretch goal, both on the personal and the professional. And at the same time, if it is a corporate, it's contributory to the corporate goals. So it's part of an organization development program as a matter of fact that I've done with many organizations. So for anyone that's listening, and would like me to share, I'd be glad to share.

Jim Collison 38:53

May, I get this a lot, we create all these videos for people. And then oftentimes I hear people say, I just don't have time to do it. So Chris asked this question. He said, how would you convince them of an ROI? I hear people you know, I can I can hear people saying this now: I'd do this, but I'm just too busy! How would you respond to that?

May SJ Soriano 39:16

I say that we can, maybe being busy is the coachable area, you know. So if, if being busy is always the reason for not achieving the desired goal, maybe it's not the goal itself. So it's our conversation piece as a matter of fact. So if it is the ROI, then we have to have a value for that ROI. You know, one of the things that I have experienced specially in doing a lot of organizations is, you know, it is mandated by the organization, and the coaches will not see the value or it has less of the value in the mandate, the mandated goals, then you there's this, there's this coachable area or there, there could be a communication issue here, or an alignment issue to the goals. So you know, there has to be something that could be first there has to be a buy in on the the stretch goal. And if this coming only from tell me what to do it that's important. That's why it's part of an organization development intervention. And whenever I do this organization, why it has to have the mandate of the top person. And at the same time, the top management will have also know how to listen to what the rest of his people are saying. That's why it's part of an OD process. So I've done this is in many organizations, and again, for those who are listening and its entire, you know, OD process that I'm sure it was start talking about this I made, you may not you may have a problem telling me to stop because of the many things that that go with it. And I'm just, you know, I'm in a stage right now that I'm very willing to, to listen to the questions being asked because I, I've been doing this and I've seen it happen and quite successful. As a matter of fact.

Saurav Atri 41:31

Thank you for that, Coach May, you know, you're willing to help and I'm willing to support, you know, we had a theme at the Strengths Summit, called willingness to act. How do you recommend people start with the first step? You know, what, what is your advice on that? And you know, what, what tips and techniques Do you have to offer on "act"?

May SJ Soriano 41:47

Ah, you mean, the ACT?

Saurav Atri 41:50

I'm interested to learn more about that as well.

May SJ Soriano 41:53

You know, A-C-T, you know, finally, because there was you know, this, this action model, the self-awareness and action model came about while I was facilitating a workshop, and all of a sudden, you know, this Aha! moment, you know, that everybody has it was during the whiteboard, and then I say, okay, point one, first point "A" -- and then it should there should be an awareness and acceptance of the present reality, right? "A" so and then I said, Okay, we're talking about action here. Let me see letter "C," people have choices. And of course, letter "T" -- taking action and total responsibility, which is the, the ACT model. And I've been doing this model for, for personal and even professional, intentional for my clients. And even for myself, what does it do? Each person would have to know what he has at the moment. Now, acceptance could be a coachable area, because you know, a lot of people will have a lot of people from my experience, at least, have some difficulty in accepting that they're not achieving what they want in their life. So it's a very coachable thing just to be aware and accepting of the present reality. And this is my model, this is our modeling partner. And from that point A, what's the choice of that person to move forward or stay in that present moment, with all his questions, with all his reasoning for not achieving results. And once the person has made the choice to move forward, then it's a taking action. So I use this model, whenever I coach and whenever we're assessing an organization, so I'll it's the ACT model. And it's pretty, it's pretty simple. You know, it's funny that whenever I introduce this model, a lot of people are saying there's an "S" there -- "ACTS" -- meaning, surprises in their life comes out whenever they do act. So I'm glad that you know surprises while we're here in this present world, this coming up once they act on themselves.

Saurav Atri 44:31

Beautiful, thank you so much for that. And again, you know, for coaches who are would like to also create their own communities create their own, you know, councils globally to be able to form coaching circles, and obviously, take advice from Coach May, Coach (name), who've been instrumental in being able to drive this power of the community in the Philippines. And what I've personally observed, there's three things that really stood out for me in that community is that there's a steering committee, now you have a strengths council where likeminded people have come together to really align forces to come with new initiative to drive collective growth and ultimately grow the business of coaching, the impact of coaching. Second, you know, I also see that they create online social communities, so WhatsApp groups, from a steering committee, so everybody who gets certified becomes part of the strengths Philippines group that Celine sort of manages that across for the entire group. So they all together on one WhatsApp group, over 140 of them, so just a power of energy that keeps circulating every day on that group as well. And also, they have strengths Philippines, they're all part of the Facebook group. They're very active proponents of strengths and active proponents in communities in sessions like these so you have a lot of life coaches locked in as well. The third thing I've also seen is they focus on development -- meet regularly, they have meetups every weekend, they have meetups happening in different location, not just one meetup, they have four meetups happening every, every week, around the country, in different locations. So you don't have to get 50 people in a room, you can get 5 people and you can get started from there, that also creates the power of that, right. And you know, even from a Gallup perspective, we work quite closely with the community in the Philippines as well to see how we can support and encourage ultimately, it's, it's a common mission, no, the most important thing is, you know, create your common mission and purpose and I know for strengths Philippines it's stronger Philippines, stronger you, where each coach is empowered and focused on developing a strength based country. And again, it all comes with that belief that Coach May started off with as well. Coach May, any final words from you before we sort of, you know, bring it back to Jim to close this up.

May SJ Soriano 46:33

Coach, I have this favorite quotation of Thomas Bandy, by the book Coaching Change. Coaching is not always about winning games, it's about growing winning people. I love that because you know, it's not always having to get into the 100%. It's a it's about, you know, how the person is being developed. Coaching is not about the coach, it's about the coachee, but the coaches need to undergo his own personal transformation, his own professional development, it's a nonstop thing. Otherwise we might be asked, you know, of our own integrity, which is part of the challenge of being a coach. And I remember just an anecdote here. One time I was with my coachee, who happened to become my friends, my friend, very close one, and then I was being I was being entertained by my friend, and she has a son who's competing in the university, in swimming. And since the mother was chatting with me, she was not able to go to the university and watch his son in the studio competition. When the son came to the house, you know, the side the mother asked, Son, did you win? And the son said "No, but I was better than yesterday." So that's, you know, that's about coaching it's not always the 100%. Thank you. Thank you, Saurav. Thank you, Jim. And thank you those for those people who have joined us and I'm here to really be of support and and to be a resource to anyone -- be free to reach out.

Saurav Atri 48:42

Thank you Coach May, it's absolutely a privilege to listen to your wisdom and just your insights and also just your selflessness towards this mission of human growth and development of other coaches. You've had this experience and yet you're sharing it with other coaches and helping them become better coaches as well. That's a master coach right there. So thank you for being a guru of coaching in the Philippines. And, you know, for other people who would like to be part of this amazing community in the Philippines, you know, a natural introduction is you know, going to the ASC as well in the Philippines which is a powerful community. So, there is no other ASC like the ASC in the Philippines as you got to experience it for you to believe it. We have people from around the world coming to them, the program in the Philippines and we have one coming up in July from 29 till August 2 as well so you know, feel free to connect up and you know, Celene will then naturally induct you into the coaching group as well after it and the program as well. Thank you so much for that and again we have few more programs coming up in the Philippines but the Coaching Builder Talent so we introducing for the first time outside the US and India, we've got CBT the Builder Profile 10 coaching certification coming -- well coaching program coming to the Philippines as well in August 5 and 6 as well. So feel free to sign up for those. And you know, Jim, could you share more about you know where they can find that information as well?

Jim Collison 49:55

Yeah, you bet as we go we'll remind everyone to take full advantages of all the resources we have available gallupstrengthscenter, gallupstrengthscenter.com, so send us your questions or comments. Any questions on this by the way you can just send us an email, coaching@gallup.com. Saurav was mentioning some of these training opportunities that are coming up we have a whole site website dedicated to them. Just head out to courses.gallup.com you can search by country, you can see all around the world what's available for you. And if you want to stay up to date maybe this is the first time you've joined us on a webcast and we had a big crew tonight -- 25 or so, which is pretty unusual for doing this in the evening or in the morning there in Asia. So the first time we do these quite frequently if you want to stay up to date with all of the ones that we do you can follow us on our event brite page just go to gallup.eventbrite.com, and if you didn't catch all that stuff, you can just rewind this and go back and write it down -- it's available for you there as well sorry mentioned the groups that are available if you want to head over to our largest group about almost 13,000 now in our Facebook group, you can join us on Facebook facebook.com/groups/calledtocoach -- all one word TO -- called to coach. We'll get you in there just ask to be put in and all the chin and a couple hours and we just keep the spammers out want to thank everybody for joining us today. Appreciate it. We'll be back with another Called to Coach soon. And with that, we'll say goodbye, everybody.

May SJ Soriano's Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Positivity, Belief, Arranger, Maximizer and Connectedness.