Dear Members of COMENSA,

A lot has happened in our country since our last Newsflash. Allow me therefore to reflect on the few activities that has taken place, which in my view are worth reflecting on:

1. We saw the government lifting the remaining COVID-19 restrictions, including limitations on gatherings, international travel and wearing of masks in public. Personally, I think such a move by government was premature especially taking into account the looming winter that was imminent. It is what it is…The Board of Directors will be meeting on the 20th July 2022 and part of the agenda will be to reflect on this government decision especially as it relates to the face-to-face events. President Cyril Ramaphosa still gave this cautionary statement, where he asserted that with the restrictions lifted, the responsibility for preventing a resurgence of the disease now rests with each of us. We are still required to act sensibly, understanding the risks and doing what we can to minimise them;

2. On the 2nd June 2022, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CoachHub, the leading global digital coaching platform located in Berlin-Germany. They can be accessed on https://www.coachhub.com

3. After the launch of our new website, we are still experiencing some technical encounters which we believe by end of this month will be sorted out. Teething glitches are an expected consequence in projects of this nature and magnitude. Members are requested to report and bring to the attention of Tamara Naidoo, our National Administrator any challenges experienced on administrator@comensa.org.za

4. According to economists at the Bureau for Economic Research (BER), South African households will be hit by higher petrol prices this week, compounding the financial woes brought by municipal electricity tariff hikes that took effect from 1 July. The official petrol price for July: Petrol 95= Increase of 257 cents per litre, Petrol 95= Increase of 237 cents per litre

5. The Load Shedding drama continues…

Against all odds, we remain hopeful and optimistic.

Yours In his Service,

Mokadi Mathye

National President: +2783 325 4676     

We are now entering the second half of the year and it seems how incredibly fast the time is going. For many people there will be a short winter break and we wish you well to enjoy the time and come back refreshed for the rest of the year.

I am settling into the role of VP and finding out about all the work that goes on in the background with the Board members and volunteers. The recruitment drive for volunteer roles received a great response and we are looking forward to filling vacancies in Marketing, Supervision, Social and Ethics, Disciplinary and Audit and Risk Management. Credentialed members receive 3 CPD points as a thank you for working on a committee. We are keen to find other practical ways to incentivise volunteers in the organisation and would welcome any ideas that you may have. Please just drop me an email with your suggestions.

The new website is nearing completion and we are looking forward to ways in which we can continue to enhance the member experience through strategic partnerships going forward. Again, if you have any ideas then please send them to me: VP@comensa.org.za

Veronica Wantenaar

National Vice President

Dear Coaching and Mentoring community,

I hope you are mentally, physically and spiritually well!

I was fortunate to represent COMENSA at the 5th roundtable meeting hosted by Coaching at Work, facilitated by Liz Hall.

The meeting known as Towards Race Equity in Coaching Roundtable was attended by representatives from the following bodies, Association of Coaching Supervisors (AoCS), Association for Professional Executive Coaching and Supervision (APECS), British Psychological Society Division of Coaching Psychology (BPS DoCP), Coaches and Mentors of South Africa (COMENSA), European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC) UK, International Society for Coaching Psychology (ISCP), and the Psychological Society of Ireland Coaching Psychology Special Interest Group (PSI CP SIG).

During the professional body update, COMENSA noted that it was proud that it has a diverse board of directors.  It was also highlighted that we recently carried out an audit which looked at current standards within COMENSA measured against local and international laws and regulations. One of the five areas focused on was social & economic development. The audit highlighted the need to address and validate socio-economic equity, and to implement an equity statement for COMENSA and look at updating our transformation policy.

At the last roundtable meeting the host of representatives agreed to explore the possibility of collaboration to produce a charter for race equity in coaching, stemming from previous conversations on diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging, focusing on race for now.

At the current sitting we explored the following:

• The charter would highlight best practice around racial diversity and inclusion in coaching.
• The charter would be a “living document”, pointing “to our ability to sit with errors and learning as an active process”, sharing enquiries rather than seeking to be experts.

For further reading on Race Equity, enjoy the following articles:

Coaching at work – Race Consciousness – https://www.coaching-at-work.com/2021/03/01/race-consciousness/

Coaching at work – Plans for Race Equity Charter – https://www.coaching-at-work.com/2022/04/30/plans-for-race-equity-charter/

Until next month be safe mentally, physically and spiritually.

With Love & Light

Ashnee Naidoo – SEC Chair

SEC@comensa.org.za

We are currently busy creating the new process for the investigation of complaints in COMENSA.

All our members sign up to the COMENSA Code of Conduct and Ethics, which is their commitment to acting ethically in all their dealings with their clients as a member of COMENSA. We want any clients working with a COMENSA coach to know that they will conform to the highest professional standards.

The Code of Conduct and Ethics can be found on the COMENSA website:

https://www.comensa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/COMENSA-Code-of-Ethics-and-Conduct-

For this month we thought we would highlight who can register a complaint with the Investigation Committee.

Anyone using the services of a coach/mentor; and is taken to be interchangeable with any other term that the parties to the coaching/mentoring relationship may prefer, including ‘coachee’, ‘mentee’, ‘partner’, ‘protégé’.

COMENSA can only receive complaints about members in good standing, or who were in good standing at the time of the complaint issue.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the following email address: investigations@comensa.org

Veronica Wantenaar – Chair

MCSC – Membership Criteria & Standards of Competence Committee

MCSC often notice or get notified when individuals or Training Providers flash the COMENSA logo, claiming that they are accredited or recognised or in some way associated with COMENSA. We then check and investigate and often find that they were members or training provider members before, but their membership has expired and in the case of the Training Providers their programmes have not been approved by COMENSA since we started to only approve programmes.

It is rather sad that we continue finding these kind of scenarios, and often the words accredited and recognised gets thrown around so easily. COMENSA does not accredit or recognise people or Training Providers, we CREDENTIAL members and we APPROVE Training Provider Programmes.

As Charles Darwin said, ‘Great is the power of continuous misrepresentation’ and people believe what is put out there, and even though not correct, it misleads them into believing what has been misrepresented, and once they become aware of the facts, it has already caused damage to Coaching and Mentoring.  

I encourage you to please take note of this when you advertise, post or send out any communication. And on that note, we need you to assist us by making us aware of any misrepresentations by members, non-members and Training Providers. This is to protect you, to protect us, to protect coaching and mentoring, and to protect COMENSA.   

Recently Credentialed Members

Congratulations to our four members who have recently been Credentialed.

Zazi Makapela – COMENSA Credentialed Coach

I found the thought of credentialing to be more intimidating than the actual process. It took me two months to just do the written submissions. The entire time I kept wondering if I can really do it – some of the scariest places on earth exist in the human mind.

From submission to evaluation everything went smoothly and professionally. I always knew where I was in the process and what was coming next.

In hindsight, I could have done it so much sooner!

I’m appreciative of the coaches Janice and Andre for their patience and coaching through the process. It made things much easier.

 Neil Jansen – COMENSA Master Mentor

 First the process followed was clear and both Andre and Yolandi were calm, focused and honest. I could sense that the feedback was meant to build me as a mentor and the gifts or areas of improvements were spot on and examples were provided. They stick with the COMENSA behavioural standards and it was obvious that they not only know it but they live it. I was once again reminded that the work we do as coaches and mentors are critical and that we must at all times conduct ourselves in a manner that does not do harm to our COM-CRE-MEN07 Rev Mar2022 Applicant Self Reflection Form, clients, COMENSA and ourselves. COMENSA should be proud of its credentialing processes. As a seasoned human capital executive with over 28 year’s experience I have been through many “assessments” such as the Investors in People Standard, etc. The Master Mentor Credentialing process has been the most thoroughly done.

Tsietsi Telite – COMENSA Credentialed Coach

The Gauteng Chapter Committee had a planned conversation with the Deputy Chair of the Membership Criteria and Standards of Competence Portfolio Committee (MCSC): Pranesh Anandlal in April. He took us through a simplified step by step credential process and encouraged us to pursue the paths of COMENSA. The MCSC would be available to guide and support each one of us to attain the relevant credential, Pranesh assured us.

I started my path in May, utilising the user-friendly platform on the COMENSA website. Having submitted all the relevant information and documentation, I set for my knowledge assessment. The online examination required of me to show my understanding of what goes into the coaching practice. Surprisingly, I did not have to “study” anything new for this sitting.

During the final stage of my journey, I was evaluated by MCSC Chair: Andre Retief and Deputy Chair Pranesh. They were very welcoming and supportive. Much appreciation to both for making me feel part of the conversation that was to take place.  I was comfortable and felt that if anything does not go right, it would be of my own making. The evaluation report recognised my strong points and also invited awareness to those areas that require further development on my part.

I am excited to say that I am now a proud Comensa Credentialed Coach. I encourage my colleagues in the GP Chapter and members across COMENSA to make use of this rewarding platform offered to us to grow and develop.

Lindiwe Stacey – COMENSA Credentialed Coach

I found the credential process to be quite rigorous and thorough. I felt confident to go through a process that was professional and thought provoking.

I felt challenged and out of my comfort zone on completing the Essays and citing real life examples. This demonstrated how credible COMENSA credential process was.

My interview with the senior coaches from COMENSA was nerve wrecking at first, however I felt at ease and comfortable quite soon. The evaluator and the other coach were very kind and friendly.

They managed the process so professionally and real! I am so proud to be credentialled with COMENSA, a credible coaching organisation! Thank you so much for the opportunity.

Will YOU be Credentialed next……

And if you struggle or find it challenging, we can assist you….

André Retief

MCSC Chair

mcsc@comensa.org.za

Research requests

Requesting COMENSA members to donate 1 hour (2 if you can) of your time to help improve the knowledge base of coaching in South Africa. Please contact one or both practitioner-researchers below to participate in a one-hour research interview. These interviews will ask you to describe your experiences, thoughts and opinions.

Mindfulness in coach supervision

I am inviting coaches and coach supervisors to participate in a research study to explore the potential role that mindfulness practices could play in coaching supervision which may facilitate coach well-being. With coach supervisors, I am particularly interested in how you apply mindfulness practices in supervision, and for coaches, how you experience mindfulness practices in these sessions.

You will be asked to join a one-on-one interview with me for one hour on Zoom or MS Teams. Please contact me at stinedasilva22@gmail.com

Coaches and the environment

My name is Isabel Wolf-Gillespie, I am a student of the MPhil in Management Coaching at the University of Stellenbosch Business School. The purpose of my study is to assess the role coaches play in promoting pro-environmental behaviours and organisational citizenship behaviours for the environment in leaders they coach, whilst gaining an insight into the possible ethical implications of this practice.

I will be gathering data from coaches and leaders, and I am seeking research participants via the COMENSA platform. If you are willing to participate in an interview (1 hour) on this topic, please do reach out to me at isabel@earthawareness.co.za.

The latest research in coaching supervision

In 2007, Suzie Pomerantz and Jackie Eiting wrote an article for the International Journal of Coaching in Organizations on ethics in coaching, contracting and confidentiality. In a later commentary on the article, Pomerantz wrote the following:

       “Coaches must have the ability to identify the ethical components or underpinnings of a client issue, as well as a willingness to declare the ethical elements and implications withing dialogue with the client. So much of what we do as coaches involve holding up that metaphorical mirror for our clients, that I would argue that we are responsible to include an ethical reflection as part of our role as mirror.”

      “At the very least, coaches need strategies for how to identify when there is an ethical issue at play…”

Being in supervision is one of the best ways to help us as practitioners to identify ethical issues, and to help us figuring out a way of dealing with it. Indeed, hot-of-the-press research, published on the 29th June 2022, by Ratlabala and Terblanche, shows that there are two types of ethical challenges that are typically brought to coaching supervision.

The 1st is three-way relationship and confidentiality. This entails the complexity of the relationship between the coach, coachee, and the sponsoring organization. One of the main challenges coaches experience in this setting is that the organization sometimes expect coaches to break confidentiality and provide feedback to the organization about the coachee.

The 2nd is the nature and implementation of the contracting between coach and organization. An important aspect is the weight seemingly carried by stakeholders in the contracting. Do we collude with the organization against the coachee? Do we have information shared by the coachee, that is critical for the organization to also know? Do we use ‘performance’ coaching to get rid of employees?

If you as practitioner coach find yourself in difficult situations such as these, talk to your supervisor. They are trained in coach supervision and will use supervision strategies to support you through these challenges.

 Research Portfolio Committee

GP NEWS: July Edition

In our GP Chapter AGM this year, we encouraged each other to increase own numbers on the COMENSA credentials list. GP Chairperson: Tsietsi Telite has responded to the challenge. He undertook the journey and is now a COMENSA Credentialed Coach. Thanks to Pranesh Anandlal (he walked the entire journey with Tsietsi) and Andre Retief for making it smooth in a very professional way. Congratulations Tsietsi. We continue to encourage our members to work towards attaining their credentials.

We have nominated our colleagues to assist in some of the portfolio committees of COMENSA. We will keep you up to date as and when we receive confirmation of their participation in those structures.

July marks Leadership and Mandela month. We pose the question: are leaders born or made? For COMENSA: GP, leaders are born. The leadership character in them then gets developed, honed and crafted into a beautiful gift that benefits humanity and the human environment.

We think back to the service, the sufferings and the sacrifices made by our leaders of yesteryear. We are providing the gesture of 67 minutes of coaching on 19 July, to reflect on what matters to each one of us. What matters to each one of us as individuals and as a collective. We want to make our contribution to catapult the youth forward through coaching, mentoring and supervision. An invite has been sent out. Please register for this interactive occasion.

We avail ourselves to provide pro-bono coaching and mentoring to those who will raise their hands for support this leadership month. Please contact the Gauteng Chairperson on the contact details below.

Tsietsi Telite       Gauteng Chairperson      gpchair@comensa.org.za

You can find contact details of other committee members via our COMENSA website https://www.comensa.org.za/Contact/Gauteng.

We convey our commitment to the cause of leadership development.

Please remember to:

• Renew / update your membership

Yours in service: Tsietsi Telite, Karabo Manyama, Joyce Baloyi, Motshidisi Letloenyane, Vesper Nkoane and Mohau Mphomela

NEWSFLASH June 2022- KZN

Greetings from the KZN Chapter

June saw us host the COMENSA supervision committee, which offered a supervision session to coaches in attendance.  We were honoured by the presence of Michael Cullen, an associate through the Association of Coaching Supervisors from Canada. Michael joined the supervision committee for the evening and led one of the supervision groups. The event started with Lesanne Brook, one of the COMENSA supervisors, explaining that the coaching muscle, like any other, needs to remain fit. She noted that supervision provides a space for coaches to keep coaching fit.

During the supervision part of the session, I joined Jeremy Clampett’s supervision group with four other coaches.  We spent thirty minutes in the supervision session, and I witnessed how skillfully Jeremy created a safe space for a fellow coach to resolve an issue of judgement she held towards a coachee, helping her decipher what was going on.  He involved the rest of us by letting each pose a question, which allowed a variety of insights to surface. The experience was powerful as we realised there is more to the perceived judgement than meets the eye.

Various teams reflected on their experiences thereafter. Although each group had an individualised experience, three elements stood out in the concluding discussion.  Supervision assists coaches in shifting their lenses; it reminds us to put our thoughts and emotions aside or, as Lesanne put it, “leave your cloak at the door when you enter into the coaching relationship” and to recognise and reflect on assumptions about a coachee. On a personal note, the supervision experience made me introspect my coaching and the need to be vigilant in my role in the coaching relationship.

Most of us, some time or the other, experience some judgement towards a coachee or find ourselves at a coaching impasse. It is reassuring to know that a COMENSA supervisor is available to guide us in overcoming obstacles when needed.  COMENSA supervision groups exist in all the provinces.  If you have not joined a group yet, ask your Chapter Chair or the COMENSA Administrator to connect you with a supervisor in your area.

A heartfelt thank you to the COMENSA supervision committee for the sterling work they do in helping us stay coaching fit so that we can maintain high ethical standards in coaching.

Stay safe!

Best regards,

Adina De Vries

KZN Deputy Chair

July 2022 Newsflash – Western Cape

Greetings to everyone from the Western Cape

We have officially entered the second half of the year. For some, it’s been a time of opportunity and learning. For many it’s been tough dealing with the numerous challenges of everyday life such as rolling black outs, the cost of life going up, to name just a couple. Our clients too face these challenges, and it is our job to be in their corner, and assist them as they search for purpose/meaning in their lives.

Our life’s life purpose consists of the central motivating aims of our lives—the reasons we get up in the morning. Purpose can guide life decisions, influence behaviour, shape goals, offer a sense of direction, and create meaning. For some people, purpose is connected to vocation—meaningful, satisfying work – not unlike the work we do as coaches and mentors.

But how do we sustain this for ourselves and others? Join the Western Cape Chapter for our next event as Klasie Wessels leads us in an exploration of Logotheraphy — a therapeutic approach that helps people find personal meaning in life, focused on the future and on our ability to endure hardship and suffering through a search for purpose.

TOPIC: “Coaching Towards Meaning and Purpose – Using the Principles of Logotheraphy”.

SPEAKER: Klasie Wessels

DATE:  Wednesday, 13 July 2022

TIME: 18:30 – 20:00 (PM)

VENUE: Zoom link will be sent

Sending you all best wishes,

Claudio, Teresa, Charne and Merlinda

LIMPOPO CHAPTER OF COACHES AND MENTORS OF SOUTH AFRICA, (COMENSA)2022

Hello to Limpopo Coaches and Mentors,

 Invitation to serve on the Limpopo Chapter Committee: Membership Secretary

We invite members who are willing to volunteer as Limpopo Chapter: Membership Secretary.to register your interest at lpchair@comensa.org.za or lpsecretary@comensa.org.za

To our members who need to credential, please log in to our website: www.comensa.org.za

for more details or contact mcsc@comensa.org.za  Explore the COMENSA’s improved website,

Thank you!

lpchair@comensa.org.za ,0836996600

CHAPETER CHAIRPERSON

REUBEN RAMMBUDA

COMENSA MASTER COACH 3179

SIOPSA AND COMENSA PARTNER TO ENHANCE THE IMPACT OF COACHING IN THE WORKPLACE. 

CLICK BELOW TO READ MORE ABOUT OUR EXCITING VENTURES WITH SIOPSA

CLICK HERE

To Register for the 24th Annual SIOPSA Conference Partner you may use the link below Registration closes 6 July 2022.

24TH Annual SIOPSA Click here

For group bookings, if you book for 8 the 7th one goes for free. 
Please email Accounts@siopsa.org.za should you wish to make a group booking.
More information is available on the conference webpage here: https://www.siopsa.org.za/conf2022-2/
View the programme here: https://www.siopsa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Conference_Programme-6-June-2022.docx.pdf

SOUTH AFRICAN BOARD OF PEOPLE PRACTICES (SABPP)

MCSC – 12 July

The Inner world and of…

The Inner world and Game of personal coaching mentoring mastery 18:00 – 19:00 Speaker: Bill Price

WC – 13 July

Coaching towards and…

Coaching towards meaning and purpose – using the principles of logotherapy 18:30 The Western Cape Chapter invites you to hear Klasie Wessels unpack the principles of logotherapy as we explore its use in coaching towards meaning and purpose. 

Gauteng – 19 July

Catapult Your Career

Young leader, catapult your career forward with 67 minutes of professional coaching, mentoring or supervision 18:00 – 19:07

MCSC – 26 July

How to be found on the…

How to be found on the COMENSA Website 18:00 – 19:00 Facilitated by Dawn Klatzko.