I am currently leading Process in Vancouver with Joni Mar, and three fabulous assistants: Mary Crayston Fulber, Catharine Chu Chang and, Kristina Katayama Bass.
As we were debriefing at the end of the day we got to chatting about pivotal moments in the coach training process for people, and Mary said – “Oh yeah, I remember my Signy moment, it was when…”, then Catharine chimed in “oh mine was when…”. It got me to thinking.
Obviously I love being a CTI trainer, it is one of the best jobs in the world!! I get to be a part of changing people’s lives, doing what I do best, calling them forth to live their biggest, best lives. Yummy! And one down side of the job is… I don’t necessarily get to hear the depth of the impact , because after the course they may or may not let me know what their big moments were, and what the ripple out effect was.
I am curious to hear (both because it keeps me going, and because I think it might inspire others to know what is possible, how change happens and how deep it can go) what your Signy moment was (or a few if you’ve had more than one!)… feel free to include anything from: what happened at the time, to what was the impact for you, to what did it change for you or in you, how are you different now as a result, to what was the impact of that change on others, or whatever your heart desires.
Looking forward to hearing!!
Hi Signy,
Love this idea! My favourite Signy moment took place in Toronto in early January 2011 where you were conducting In The Bones (Synergy now!) with Deborah Coleman. I quickly found myself inside the circle being coached by you and Deborah, being called forth. I was struck by your fierceness, your intuition and your deep caring. You were authentic and real and connected with me, and we’d just met. You screamed at me about the walls I kept putting up and the lies I was telling myself. And honestly, your screaming, combined with your fierce intent to wake me up to my life and your deep caring (that I felt through all the screaming) made me realize that my life was right now and I had to start living it the way I wanted. Something clicked in my head and I made a decision to take the leap right then. Within 6 months I’d quit my job and opened up my own coaching business. I’m just finishing certification now and about to launch a couple new products and services in my business. Most importantly, I’m clear about my purpose & the impact I want to have, I’m clear about what I want, I’m clear about who I’m becoming and I have never felt more alive, fulfilled, challenged and successful. I know what a fulfilling life feels like and I know I’ll never let it go again. And, I feel I’ve grown more in the 18 months than in the last 18 years! Thank you. You are an inspiration and I hope to recreate some “Signy” moments with the clients I serve.
Please say hi to Kristina for me! I met her in Ottawa last April at an NTL program.
Wishing you much continued success!
Susan
WOW! Susan. I am so humbled and pleased to read this. And so very, very proud of you. What an inspiration you are. And thanks for contributing this “Signy Moment”. XO
Wow, I love Susan’s moment!
I have 3 ‘Signy moment’s’. I will start with one of them for today.
The most recent: Assisting Process.
At the end of day 2, the leader’s Signy and Joni, converged with us assistants. We all shared what the day was like for us, what we noticed, what we were feeling now. Anyway, we got in to a moment where Signy and Joni empowered me to scream. The thing is I was called by Signy to scream F*(! Y*U!!!!
At first Signy said, “there must be some part of you that wants to say that to me”. Joni piped in saying “no, actually she loves you”. That was one moment for me because I had been feeling a bit uneasy around Signy’s intensity and wasn’t sure what that was. When Joni said that, I looked in to Signy’s eyes and knew that was true. I felt her love right back. Because of that, and her egging me on in a very Process way, I did it! I was quivering with fear, afraid of hurting someone, afraid of the power in me and what I could feel in my body was safety and so with that, and on my third attempt, from the bottom of my pelvis, I powerfully yelled FUCK YOU directly at Signy. Seriously, how cool it was for me to be given the freedom to yell those words.
I will always remember my belly quivering, feeling paradoxically intensly freaked out and so supremely safe. I released a piece of what I have stuffed away. It was like a volcano erupted and the lava continues to flow.
Signy, is intense for sure. What is striking is her heart,so giantly tender.
That was one of my brilliant Signy moments.
Happy Birthday! Relish in the delicious celebration. YUM!
Testing testing. I wrote one earlier today and it seems to have disapeared. EEK.
Happy Beautiful Birthday!!!
Mary – that was such a huge moment! I remember your face, so fierce and committed. You are such a huge force, and now you have more access to it! Keep going, girl!!
XO
A Signy moment….oh I’ve got a few. I think the most special is probably from Synergy during a tag team coaching exercise where she was the client and we were all the coaches. I was truly blown away by how she was completely vulnerable and raw in sharing something very personal with us in order to help each of us grow as coaches. What a gift! It was both precious and powerful at the same time, which is probably how I would describe Signy. She is absolutely precious and tender and loving, but she’s also powerful in her fiercely courageous and direct style. I’ve been mesmerized by her massive heart and talent as a coach since I saw her in action in the first few minutes of Fundamentals. I adore you Signy and aspire to be more like you!
Jodi
xoxo
Jodi,
thank you for that. When I am in it, I am just in it, and it is so great to hear the impact after the fact. And BTW you are already more like me than you might know!
One moment was just watching her coach a course mate during Fundamentals. I was so struck by her authenticity and energy as she pounced on him like a tiger on the hunt for true potential. She demonstrated a fearless connection with the student that I desire to find in my coaching.
Another moment that was perfectly timed was during Synergy. By this point I had been to the first Leadership Retreat and had become aware of a very prominent edge that I hadn’t identified initially when we were asked what our edges were (maybe that happens in Process, I can’t remember, I just remember not realizing this one existed in my coaching). *For publishing purposes – the edge is the thing you can’t be with, the wall you bump up against when your coaching, or just life, seems to be going to the places you haven’t faced or resolved.
As I was coaching my partner she came over just as I was awkwardly dancing all around my edge. She gently took me by the hand and lead me to it. A territory very familiar to her, she was able to lead me in and I was able to safely navigate through a world I had previously been so fearful of. I discovered things that I didn’t know I was missing but actually deeply desire and it has continued my own personal healing and growth, not to mention making me a better coach and leader!
Nicole, this so touches and moves me, to read this. I am so glad to have been a powerful part of your journey. More to come.
OXO
S
I first met Signy sitting around a circle during my first coaching course with CTI – Fundamentals. She came up and introduced herself and we had a great little chat about our unusual (and frankly, quite beautiful) names. She was easy and quirky and yet there was something intense about her that I only sensed, but didn’t realize it until later.
Well, later came. Signy called me up for the first hot seat of the course and I, not knowing anything about how CTI training worked, thought we were going to do some role playing or something fun and silly. About 45 seconds into the ‘speed coaching’ session I realized THAT was not going to happen. Things got a whole lot real in that moment. I thought, “Okay, here we go. I said before coming that I was going to fully ‘show up’ for anything that came my way and this was that opportunity.” GULP. BREATHE. Be you, Michaella, all of you. Raw, vulnerable, real, honest.
So we went into some detail about what I was being coached on. I choked back tears. The room had a vibration and a stillness that I could taste. People were engrossed. They came into my view and they left. I would be aware that there were 30 other people 10 feet away and then I would feel like it was just Signy and I in a Plexiglas box. She was inquisitive, probing, kind, sensitive and no bullshit. And yes, no surprise here…we got to the point of it all.
I, being the ever faithful student and person of integrity, did as requested of my dear coach Signy and did my homework. Albeit 3 weeks later. I was after all held by my coach as all-knowing and I knew what worked for this homework to happen in the best way possible. My friend and I had a monthly date night, so the conversation I needed to have was on my ‘agenda’ of a few things I wanted to chat about. It came up in conversation quite naturally and was an easy conversation. In fact, she herself is struggling with similar issues which I didn’t know, so it just was another case of working it up as something bigger to me that it actually was and inside the conversation was an opportunity for deeper connection with my friend and an alignment with my value of authenticity. Ahhhhhhhh…. Felt good to have it out in the air though. In fact, as soon as I realized it needed to be done, there was relief. Hahaha. Seems she REALLY knows what she is doing. As if I ever had any doubt! Lol.
So, in a nutshell, Signy helped throw me into CTI coaching with a slam-bam and I wouldn’t have had it any other way!
Michaella,
I love how evocative your story telling is! And how much of you that you reveal in and through it. Every minute you highlighted here is now clearer in my memory.
Thank you for sharing all of you!!
You are a gift.
XOX
S
How could I Dare not to be part of this “Daring Greatly” book club and bigger learning and conversation! Saw her at the ICF Global conference in London, bought the book and can’t wait to dig in even deeper!
Cheers,
Sue