Interview with Carol Ross

"I have been a coach trainer and supervisor for the Coaches Training Institute since 1999, working with thousands of coaches, and rarely have I come across a more natural, playful, sharp and effective coach. Carol embodies the true spirit of coaching, which is to use everything that is available to her and her clients for the sake of their journey through life."

— Jeff Jacobson, Professional and Personal Coach, Coaches Training Institute faculty

I learn a lot by asking questions. So here are some questions people have asked me over the years that will help you get to know me.

How did you become a coach?

No one ever sets out to be a coach when they enter the work world. But through twists and turns, people end up as coaches because this work is so satisfying, enjoyable and meaningful.

I started out as a chemical engineer in a nuclear power plant outside of Chicago. This was before Homer Simpson but no less strange an environment. Lots of big pipes, pumps, and turbines, control rooms manned by veterans from Navy nuclear submarines (it takes a certain kind of person to survive months in a human sardine can out in the middle of the ocean), and procedures for every single activity one could conceive of to maintain a nuclear power plant.

I realized that this was not the environment to be in, not because of a concern for my physical health and safety, as the plant was still under construction when I worked there. I was not being intellectually challenged. It was hard to be a professional. The plant was unionized, male-dominated, and not the place where a young Chinese woman could find a best friend.

I lasted for 3 years before returning to grad school. After grad school, I worked for the telecom industry for 15 years as a software engineer. I was in research and development for Telcordia, U S WEST, Lucent and Avaya. Throughout those years, I enjoyed being in a community of intelligent professionals, people who approached problem-solving with rigorous thinking and respect for others, no matter their gender or race. What mattered was the depth of one's thinking and competency.

During my last few years at Lucent and Avaya, I was drawn to the people side of engineering-creating and leading technical teams that "clicked." The technical aspect of the work no longer appealed to me. At the same time, I started on a personal development path that is ongoing-learning about myself, developing creativity and intuition, and increasing my emotional intelligence. I discovered a passion for bringing the human spirit into the workplace (see my article entitled, Quietly Transforming Avaya).

I had a rare opportunity in the fall of 2000 to create my own position as Retention Leader for the R+D community. I gained experiences and developed skills that any outside consultant would envy. I cut my teeth working with groups of engineers on the soft skills-team development, career development, reward and recognition programs, change management.

When I was laid off in 2002 (yes, even Retention Leaders have trouble keeping a job in a downturn!) I had already decided to go through coaching training as a way of adding to my consulting skills. It never occurred to me to do anything other than start my own business after I was laid off. I was more than ready to be my own boss.

When I opened my doors in 2003, I thought it would be all about consulting. It's evolved into applying the coaching approach, mixed in with my own expertise in life and business, to help individuals and organizations go to the next level.

What is your educational background?

I have a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master's degree in Operations Research, both from Northwestern University. In 2004, I became a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) after training with The Coaches Training Institute. I am credentialed by the International Coach Federation as an Professional Certified Coach (PCC) which means I have done the required training from an accredited coaching program and have at least 750 coaching hours under my belt.

What qualifies you to be a coach?

I love this question because it speaks to more than just the training and skills. People are impressed by my engineering degrees. Once, a woman became interested in a coaching demonstration I was giving only after she found out that I had been an engineer in a previous life. Her words said it all: "You must know the root of all things!" Well, not quite. I could be a great engineer and a lousy coach.

My engineering mind has taught me the value of discipline and analytical thinking. Life experiences have given me the courage to trust my intuition and to work with emotion, and the joy of being creative with others. Coaching school provided a place for putting it all together-the logical left brain and the intuitive right brain. Mix in my own innate curiosity, learning to have compassion, seeing the divine in others, fearlessly taking a stand, and most importantly, having to walk my talk. The training is important but just as critical is the everyday practice of having a "coaching mind." If it sounds a bit Zen-like, it's because you can't coach someone well if you don't have the "being" part of coaching.

I have a pet peeve about coaches who don't "live the coaching life" and are coaches only when they are with clients. (Similar to when a friend told me about seeing her therapist driving in traffic and flipping someone the bird.) So what qualifies me to be a coach is that I practice the principles of coaching in my everyday life, whether I'm with clients or not. Principles like being curious, listening for what's not being spoken and trusting my intuition. I don't always succeed, especially with my family, but it's something I aspire to.

How has coaching impacted you?

What I didn't realize at the beginning of this journey is that becoming a coach is not just about adding a new skill set. It is a way of life. I'm not just a better consultant because of coaching. I am a better person. That's pretty significant. I can't say the same thing about engineering. I'm grateful for all the colleagues who have coached me over the years, as well as the clients who have taught me about the human condition and that we are so much more than our circumstances.

Coaching has helped me resolve things in my life that were affecting me in ways I didn't even know, to get past fears and to step into a bigger place. Being in the coaching community has given me a network of people who want the best for me, who support me in the messiness of life, and who encourage me to be more than I think I can be.

In short, coaching has been transformative, both as a client and as a coach.

What type of client do you coach best? What's your niche?

I enjoy taking intelligent professionals to the next level through whole brain thinking — e.g. helping left-brained analytical thinkers get more creative and working with creative individuals to get more focused. My clients are usually in their mid-thirties to mid-fifties and highly competent. The question that comes after competency is, "How can I be more satisfied?" Sometimes, this means a new career, sometimes it means stretching in other parts of their life. My oldest client is in his eighties and is starting his fourth career. See the Clients page for more examples of people I work with.

What type of client do you find hardest to work with?

It's hard for me to work with people who only want to stay at the surface and who can't be authentic, even under the safest of conditions. It's a challenge for me to work with individuals who are unwilling to learn about themselves. Having said that, I try to make sure that before someone signs up as a client, there is a good fit between what I do best and what the client needs.

What are you passionate about?

I had to think about this one for awhile. There are lots of things I like to do but that's different from being passionate about something. I'm passionate about uncovering truth, creativity and creating, and learning. If I couldn't have these three things in my life, I would be miserable. Besides coaching, these passions get manifested in a number of ways:

Writing, especially when I write about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.
I created a forum, called the Co-Creative Coaching Studio, as a way for coaches to demonstrate coaching in public, to hone their skills, and to become more visible in their community. It's been a great learning vehicle for coaches all over the world as well as for the public. Not to mention a creative experiment that actually worked!
Collaborations with either clients or colleagues. Some people call this "co-creating." This can happen with clients in an individual coaching context or group facilitation context. Collaborations with colleagues take all different forms, from consulting to workshops to being on a leadership team.
A deep yearning to create the workplaces that honor authenticity, creativity, and learning. This is the essence of bringing the human spirit into the business world

What are you grateful for?

I'm grateful for my failures because failures result in inflection points — the places in life when I've had to rethink and reflect and try something different.

I'm grateful for blue Colorado skies (I live near Boulder, Colorado) with only a wisp of a cloud and sunshine, 300+ days a year. I'm grateful for the afternoons spent on my backyard patio, typing email responses or a writing a new article or coaching a client over the phone. I'm grateful for mid-week hikes and weekend naps.

I'm grateful for the laughter in my household and with my friends. I'm grateful for the unconditional love of my family and the silliness that kids bring into life.

I'm grateful for my clients, who are always willing to explore and learn together. I'm grateful for great writers like Maya Angelou and Anne Lamott and Anna Quindlen. I'm grateful for collaborations with so many interesting colleagues.

I'm grateful for my health and looking younger than my age.

When you think about it, there's a lot to be grateful for.

What are YOU passionate about? What are YOU grateful for?

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