More than 400 delegates from more than 40 countries flocked to Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city, on 18-20 September for the International Coach Federation (ICF) Global conference.
The theme was: Courage to create change: courage for a sustainable future, and the conference was hosted jointly by five ICF chapters: Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Poland. Speakers included Alf Rehn, chairman of management and organization at Åbo Akademi, University in Finland, who spoke on: Developing innovative thinking (this time without the bullshit).
Professor Rehn said that while innovation and creativity are viewed as core personal competencies, they are being used increasingly vaguely. This risks “devaluing and diluting them to the point of triviality and bullshit”.
In addition to challenging many widely held assumptions about creativity and innovation, he spelt out how these can be saved and how capabilities in these areas can be developed.
Other speakers included David Peterson, director of executive leadership and coaching at Google, on: Becoming a master coach in turbulent times: dealing with complexity, chaos and constant change.
He examined the new capabilities required by leaders and how coaches can support them to learn faster.
Margaret Moore, co-founder and co-director of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, delivered a session titled: Organize your mind for coaching, and Sarah Lloyd-Hughes’ session on:
Be the change you wish to coach in the world, sought to explore the key fears that hold coaches back from courageously communicating about their work in public speaking situations.
Caitlin Walker’s session, From contempt to curiosity: creating the conditions for groups to collaborate, explored through a systemic lens how to create conditions for teams to collaborate and create group level change.