Conspiring Women Coaching Co-Op FAQs
The Conspiring Women Coaching Co-op is a reciprocal peer coaching exchange for mission-driven women.
Each woman is matched with two other women* - one as a coach and one as a coachee! Watch our free recorded information session or read through the FAQs below.
Each woman is matched with two other women* - one as a coach and one as a coachee! Watch our free recorded information session or read through the FAQs below.
Who is the program for?
This program is specifically for women who care very much about growing, stretching and ultimately, making a difference in the world.
- The women who participate value on-going leadership, personal and professional development and a supportive structure and community to do this.
- We are inclusive of all women and gender-fluid/non-binary people who value being included in such spaces.
- Our aim is to help build deep, empathetic, connected relationships among the women in this community through ongoing rounds of peer coaching. We hope our members are into that!
- The participants in the co-op understand that receiving coaching is hugely beneficial as it holds a space for reflective and reflexive leadership practice and values-aligned living.
- Our members are mainly women in the nonprofit and public sectors. Some are social entrepreneurs and creatives. All care deeply about having their lives lead to something positive in the world.
- We will match people based on years of experience, so you can expect to work with someone who is a peer.
- They value this because it matters to them to support the development of other women.
- They realize that when coaching others, we typically walk away with big insights for ourselves as well. In fact, sometimes you take away more insight and inspiration when coaching than when being coached!
How Does it Work?
The structure is simple. For each coaching round...
1. You are matched with one person to coach you for six sessions.
2. You are matched with another person whom you coach for six sessions during the same time period.
3. Our online peer-coaching platform will give you everything you need to know how to coach and be coached, define your coaching goals, and track your progress as coach and coachee, and provide feedback on your experience.
That's it!
1. You are matched with one person to coach you for six sessions.
2. You are matched with another person whom you coach for six sessions during the same time period.
3. Our online peer-coaching platform will give you everything you need to know how to coach and be coached, define your coaching goals, and track your progress as coach and coachee, and provide feedback on your experience.
That's it!
Who Will Coach Me
Once you are accepted into the Co-Op (after a self-assessment and reference check), you will enroll in a round of coaching. The others in your "round" will be people within a similar range of years of work and leadership experience.
You will be able to view the profiles of the people in your round and request at least three of them to be your peer coach based on these profiles.
We can't guarantee that you will get one of the people whom you selected, but we will make every effort! Some of the magic about reciprocal peer coaching is discovering what you can learn with the person with whom your matched. Keep in mind that no one is in the Co-op as a professionally trained coach so different people will bring who they are to the structure provided. Part of being coachable is keeping an open mind and staying curious about what space this match will create for you and to see what unfolds.
You will be able to view the profiles of the people in your round and request at least three of them to be your peer coach based on these profiles.
We can't guarantee that you will get one of the people whom you selected, but we will make every effort! Some of the magic about reciprocal peer coaching is discovering what you can learn with the person with whom your matched. Keep in mind that no one is in the Co-op as a professionally trained coach so different people will bring who they are to the structure provided. Part of being coachable is keeping an open mind and staying curious about what space this match will create for you and to see what unfolds.
Who will I coach?
You will coach a woman who is committed to making good use of your time and to developing herself. Most likely, she will have selected your profile. She will be a woman whose values align with those of this women-supporting-women Co-Op who seeks to grow, develop and to contribute back for other women to do the same. The rest-- well, you'll find out!
We expect that being in the Co-op will lead to:
- Each member having a consistent space in which to reflect, prioritize, explore and make shifts in thinking/behavior.
- Some members will really click and develop ongoing personal and professional relationships
- A network of women who have done deep work together will grow -- the potential of which is inspiring to consider!
We expect that being in the Co-op will lead to:
- Each member having a consistent space in which to reflect, prioritize, explore and make shifts in thinking/behavior.
- Some members will really click and develop ongoing personal and professional relationships
- A network of women who have done deep work together will grow -- the potential of which is inspiring to consider!
How will I know how to coach?
We will provide some guidelines and a little bit of training up front. Before each session, you will have access to guidance on coaching skills that you can practice with each upcoming session. Your professional coach, Jen, is continually updating resources and there to guide and support you. Your first session will be highly structured, and will include some practice conversations. You are not expected to be a professional coach, however the basics to remember will include:
Step 1: Set the Agenda.
Always let your coachee decide on the agenda for the conversation. It's a good practice to not proceeed with the conversation until you are both very clear about what this agenda is AND why this agenda matters to your coachee.
Step 2: Ask Questions and Reflect Back What You Hear/Observe to Tap Into Your Coachee's Insights & Wisdom.
- You are a coach, not an advisor or expert. Your job is simply to ask good questions and provide a space for reflection.
- Be curious; ask open ended questions that help your coachee discover her own insights and tap her own inner resources.
- Reflect back feelings or thoughts that you hear
- Reflect back what is unsaid (e.g. "I'm hearing a lot of emotion in your voice"; You paused just then -- can I ask what you're thinking? ""I'm noticing that you're getting stuck while trying to explain how you feel.")
- Check in a few times throughout - "How are we doing with your agenda?" "Are we still on track with the agenda, or have we switched topics?"
Step 3: Notice any shifts, new openings, "ahas" that you hear.
- Don't worry if you don't hear these - you can always ask your coachee if she's felt any such shifts.
Step 4: From Insight to Action
- Ask the coachee to come up with an action to take on between the session and the next one. It's always best for the coachee to come up with this?
- Close the call asking the coachee to reflect again asking a final questions like: (What did you gain from this conversation? What are you taking away? What was the single most important insight from this conversation?)
After you coach, you will simply go into the coaching system and indicate that you have completed the session. This will help us to be sure that the sessions are happening. Don't worry, we'll prompt you to do this!
Step 1: Set the Agenda.
Always let your coachee decide on the agenda for the conversation. It's a good practice to not proceeed with the conversation until you are both very clear about what this agenda is AND why this agenda matters to your coachee.
Step 2: Ask Questions and Reflect Back What You Hear/Observe to Tap Into Your Coachee's Insights & Wisdom.
- You are a coach, not an advisor or expert. Your job is simply to ask good questions and provide a space for reflection.
- Be curious; ask open ended questions that help your coachee discover her own insights and tap her own inner resources.
- Reflect back feelings or thoughts that you hear
- Reflect back what is unsaid (e.g. "I'm hearing a lot of emotion in your voice"; You paused just then -- can I ask what you're thinking? ""I'm noticing that you're getting stuck while trying to explain how you feel.")
- Check in a few times throughout - "How are we doing with your agenda?" "Are we still on track with the agenda, or have we switched topics?"
Step 3: Notice any shifts, new openings, "ahas" that you hear.
- Don't worry if you don't hear these - you can always ask your coachee if she's felt any such shifts.
Step 4: From Insight to Action
- Ask the coachee to come up with an action to take on between the session and the next one. It's always best for the coachee to come up with this?
- Close the call asking the coachee to reflect again asking a final questions like: (What did you gain from this conversation? What are you taking away? What was the single most important insight from this conversation?)
After you coach, you will simply go into the coaching system and indicate that you have completed the session. This will help us to be sure that the sessions are happening. Don't worry, we'll prompt you to do this!
How do i figure out what to work on with a peer coach?
We will help you determine your coaching focus at several points in the process.
1. When you view the profiles of coaches to request some to coach you'll indicate the general coaching topic as well. These will be leadership development, career management, career/life transition.
2. In preparation for your first session with your coach, you will complete a pre-coaching exploration worksheet. This will help you articulate what you hope to gain from your coaching sessions and the progress you'd like to make over the six sessions. Don't worry, you can change this as you go along, but you will start off with some defined idea of what you want to take away from the sessions. This worksheet will invite you to scan some of the most common coaching topics within the categories of leadership development, career management and career/life transition.
3. You and your partners will track the topic of each coaching session as well as what you took away from each session. Each time you submit this feedback, you'll have the opportunity to ask Conspire Coaching for support or suggestions for how to take full advantage of the peer coaching, including refining the coaching topics to be the best suited to peer coaching.
What's the timeline for this Round
See dates here.
How do I enroll in a round of coaching?
To join the co-op you pay an initial $19 joining fee that you'll never have to pay again. This enables you to enroll in this and any upcoming rounds of reciprocal peer coaching. Once you are accepted, rounds of peer coaching cost $65.
To apply to join the co-op, return to this page and follow the steps for New Members to join the co-op and enroll in the upcoming round.
To apply to join the co-op, return to this page and follow the steps for New Members to join the co-op and enroll in the upcoming round.
Once you're accepted into the co-op, you'll be invited to participate in each round of reciprocal peer coaching. At this point you'll pay the $65 round fee and set up your profile for the round. A few days later, you'll be invited to view the profiles of the others in your group with similar years of work and leadership experience and request at least three to coach you. A few days after that you'll be matched and given instructions on how to get started with the coaching experience.
What are some characteristics of people who are coach-able?
1. You value/feel the need for some time to step back and reflect on at least one area of your life (e.g. leadership/career/life/transition). You understand the benefit of reflecting on your professional and personal practices and adapting your approaches, perspective and behavior accordingly. You are interested in living with a coaching mindset; being someone who lives life with intention, choice and as a "practice."
2. You are coach-able, meaning you will commit to being open to your peer-coach's questions to see where they take you. You will be curious about what insights you might gain and shifts you might experience by setting aside space, time and enrolling someone else's support.
3. You will be willing to choose an over-arching coaching goal and think through some milestones or signs of progress that are track-able. You are free to change your mind, but we want everyone to make an effort to go into this experience with some intention about what they'd like to take away from it. Your first session with your peer-coach will be a structured conversation that will help you to establish this coaching goal.
4. You will be self aware about what might get in the way and choose to let go of these things. Typically these things include worrying about doing it right or wrong, worrying about looking bad, judging your coach and thinking she's not good enough, feeling as though you're being forced to do the program rather than choosing it when resistance pops up.
5. You are reliable. You show up on time for your appointments and are ready to be coached. If you aren't fully present, you make an effort to communicate that and ask for help in getting present to the coaching conversation.
6. You are willing to be vulnerable and honest in order to experience significant shifts and growth.
2. You are coach-able, meaning you will commit to being open to your peer-coach's questions to see where they take you. You will be curious about what insights you might gain and shifts you might experience by setting aside space, time and enrolling someone else's support.
3. You will be willing to choose an over-arching coaching goal and think through some milestones or signs of progress that are track-able. You are free to change your mind, but we want everyone to make an effort to go into this experience with some intention about what they'd like to take away from it. Your first session with your peer-coach will be a structured conversation that will help you to establish this coaching goal.
4. You will be self aware about what might get in the way and choose to let go of these things. Typically these things include worrying about doing it right or wrong, worrying about looking bad, judging your coach and thinking she's not good enough, feeling as though you're being forced to do the program rather than choosing it when resistance pops up.
5. You are reliable. You show up on time for your appointments and are ready to be coached. If you aren't fully present, you make an effort to communicate that and ask for help in getting present to the coaching conversation.
6. You are willing to be vulnerable and honest in order to experience significant shifts and growth.
Who would be a good peer coach?
1. You are genuinely interested in other people. You are able to let your natural curiosity and intuition guide you in asking open-ended questions that lead to exploration.
2. You would find it rewarding to contribute to the growth and development of another mission-driven woman.
3. You are reliable. You show up on time for your appointments and are fully present to the person you are coaching.
4. You generally notice that when you are able to support someone else to reflect, you also take away insights that you can apply to your own life and find coaching conversations to be mutually rewarding.
5. You are comfortable letting your coachee drive the agenda of each conversation and trying hard not to impose your own agenda or judgement on the conversation.
6. You are able to see your coachee as resourceful, just fine the way she is, and the number one expert in her own life. You are committed to helping her tap into her own inner resources and arriving at her own conclusions.
2. You would find it rewarding to contribute to the growth and development of another mission-driven woman.
3. You are reliable. You show up on time for your appointments and are fully present to the person you are coaching.
4. You generally notice that when you are able to support someone else to reflect, you also take away insights that you can apply to your own life and find coaching conversations to be mutually rewarding.
5. You are comfortable letting your coachee drive the agenda of each conversation and trying hard not to impose your own agenda or judgement on the conversation.
6. You are able to see your coachee as resourceful, just fine the way she is, and the number one expert in her own life. You are committed to helping her tap into her own inner resources and arriving at her own conclusions.
Any more questions?
Contact Jen at [email protected]