Fortunately

Unfortunately I am skeptical of conferences

Fortunately I went to the ICF Playground Conference on September 18 at the Exploratorium in San Francisco

Unfortunately I am also an Enneagram 4 which means I have a fairly well-developed instinct to question everything

Fortunately I love Improv

Mallory Penney, PCC, CPCC led an improv workshop built around “Fortunately / Unfortunately”

She is too young to know that Fortunately is actually a book by Remy Charlip from back in the day

But I knew it immediately

My mom read it to me for years. We still quote it

Fortunately this workshop brought me right back there

I took my first coaching class almost 20 years ago through the San Francisco State University Core Strengths Coaching Skills Certificate Program which no longer exists. The fundamentals were just he beginning. Everything since has been this incredible journey of learning, practicing, relearning and becoming better at the work

Becoming a PCC was part of that journey

So was giving myself over to the ICF process when I wasn't always sure I believed in it

So was getting out from behind my screen and being in community with other coaches

So was spending the day in my adopted hometown of San Francisco, back by the water at the Exploratorium

And fortunately the workshops were fantastic

The improv session reminded me how much play opens up thinking

Mo Fong AI workshop pushed me to think differently about coaching and where our profession is going

Almost 20 years later I am still learning