By: Romana Carden & Samantha Kallman
Twice a year, the Leadership Coaching Committee, LCC extends offers to new coaches after they have completed an application and interview process. Upon accepting the offer to join the experienced team of SWE members known as the LCC, new coaches continue to acquire additional training to holistically prepare them as a coach.
This summer we accepted 17 news coaches to the LCC. We asked New Coach Training Lead, Kelsey Riffle to share an overview of the training for the new coaches who began their 2-year term in July. Kelsey shared,
Each new coach that joins the LCC must go through a series of training sessions to learn about all of the resources SWE has to offer that they can share with their sections. Each cohort of new coaches goes through 6 training sessions covering 7 topics before being certified as a leadership coach: Introduction to SWE & LCC, Bylaws, Branding, Finance, Diversity & Inclusion, Mock Shadowing, LCC Logistics. On top of the training sessions, the coaches are expected to complete case studies with their accountability partner. Each group is given a topic (building membership, strategic & tactical planning, etc.) and a section demographic (professional vs collegiate, small vs large, etc.) and they brainstorm questions the coach should ask the section and vice versa. The coaches will then present to the new coach training lead and another member of the LCC leadership team. The case studies are something new this year and they were a great experience for the coaches to practice what they've been learning in training. The new coaches from this cohort have stated that the case studies "increased confidence" and are a good way to "get people thinking about specific scenarios".
The New Coach Training program started back in 2018 and has been developed by each new coach training lead since the program's start. Each topic discussed relates to common questions coaches may receive from sections. The biggest goal of the training program is to make sure coaches know the resources available, not necessarily having all of the information presented memorized. Coaches are meant to assist sections by sharing resources with them and that's exactly what we want to do in the training program. While there are requirements for new coaches to graduate to officially being a coach, my main focus is whether they feel confident in their role as a new coach and feel as if they are contributing to the committee. At the end of the day, the LCC is a team that serves sections but we also engage with fellow committee members and build relationships. It is so important that each coach that comes in feels welcomed and wants to share their vast and diverse SWE knowledge and experiences.
The LCC, is continuously evolving to ensure that new and experienced coaches are trained. Let's hear from two of our new coaches why they decided to join the team and their perspective on the provided training:
Claire Penrose:
My name is Claire Penrose and I am a soon-to-be graduate of The Ohio State University (BS Chemical Engineering December 2020). At Ohio State, I got involved with SWE my first semester of college and have been heavily involved since. I was the Social Director, Secretary, and Vice President. I was involved with many other activities on campus such as Greek life, College of Engineering Ambassadors, and was a Teaching Assistant.
Becoming an LCC Coach has been an exciting journey! I was really interested in becoming a part of the LCC after talking to Kelsey and learning more about the committee. Training was a great experience to learn more about SWE and how to be a great coach. I have been able to really connect with most of my sections and be a great resource for them. I love being able to work with collegiate sections and helping sections grow. I am working with a start-up section and it is a great learning experience to be able to bring a collegiate group of women to a full on section. I am excited to continue to work with these sections and learn and grow alongside them.
Taylor Daniels:
Being a December grad and transitioning from collegiate to professional life during FY21, I was looking to continue my leadership experience within SWE but outside of my collegiate section. It's been super rewarding to connect with my eight assigned collegiate sections and use my personal leadership experiences with SWE to help guide them to success! I plan to continue serving as an LCC coach after FY21 and looking further beyond that, I'd love to serve as a Coaching Lead, overseeing other LCC coaches, or using my experience as an LCC coach to move into another leadership role within another SWE committee.
Claire and Taylors’ testimonies of why they joined the LCC are only two of the 17 for the new coaching class, along with the training that was led by Kelsey. We continuously are accepting new coaches at the LCC and look forward to the continued growth and impact we make.
Join us in welcoming the 17 new coaches as part of the Society of Women Engineers Leadership Coaching Committee.
Each new coach that joins the LCC must go through a series of training sessions to learn about all of the resources SWE has to offer that they can share with their sections. Each cohort of new coaches goes through 6 training sessions covering 7 topics before being certified as a leadership coach: Introduction to SWE & LCC, Bylaws, Branding, Finance, Diversity & Inclusion, Mock Shadowing, LCC Logistics. On top of the training sessions, the coaches are expected to complete case studies with their accountability partner. Each group is given a topic (building membership, strategic & tactical planning, etc.) and a section demographic (professional vs collegiate, small vs large, etc.) and they brainstorm questions the coach should ask the section and vice versa. The coaches will then present to the new coach training lead and another member of the LCC leadership team. The case studies are something new this year and they were a great experience for the coaches to practice what they've been learning in training. The new coaches from this cohort have stated that the case studies "increased confidence" and are a good way to "get people thinking about specific scenarios".
The New Coach Training program started back in 2018 and has been developed by each new coach training lead since the program's start. Each topic discussed relates to common questions coaches may receive from sections. The biggest goal of the training program is to make sure coaches know the resources available, not necessarily having all of the information presented memorized. Coaches are meant to assist sections by sharing resources with them and that's exactly what we want to do in the training program. While there are requirements for new coaches to graduate to officially being a coach, my main focus is whether they feel confident in their role as a new coach and feel as if they are contributing to the committee. At the end of the day, the LCC is a team that serves sections but we also engage with fellow committee members and build relationships. It is so important that each coach that comes in feels welcomed and wants to share their vast and diverse SWE knowledge and experiences.
The LCC, is continuously evolving to ensure that new and experienced coaches are trained. Let's hear from two of our new coaches why they decided to join the team and their perspective on the provided training:
Claire Penrose:
My name is Claire Penrose and I am a soon-to-be graduate of The Ohio State University (BS Chemical Engineering December 2020). At Ohio State, I got involved with SWE my first semester of college and have been heavily involved since. I was the Social Director, Secretary, and Vice President. I was involved with many other activities on campus such as Greek life, College of Engineering Ambassadors, and was a Teaching Assistant.
Becoming an LCC Coach has been an exciting journey! I was really interested in becoming a part of the LCC after talking to Kelsey and learning more about the committee. Training was a great experience to learn more about SWE and how to be a great coach. I have been able to really connect with most of my sections and be a great resource for them. I love being able to work with collegiate sections and helping sections grow. I am working with a start-up section and it is a great learning experience to be able to bring a collegiate group of women to a full on section. I am excited to continue to work with these sections and learn and grow alongside them.
Taylor Daniels:
Being a December grad and transitioning from collegiate to professional life during FY21, I was looking to continue my leadership experience within SWE but outside of my collegiate section. It's been super rewarding to connect with my eight assigned collegiate sections and use my personal leadership experiences with SWE to help guide them to success! I plan to continue serving as an LCC coach after FY21 and looking further beyond that, I'd love to serve as a Coaching Lead, overseeing other LCC coaches, or using my experience as an LCC coach to move into another leadership role within another SWE committee.
Claire and Taylors’ testimonies of why they joined the LCC are only two of the 17 for the new coaching class, along with the training that was led by Kelsey. We continuously are accepting new coaches at the LCC and look forward to the continued growth and impact we make.
Join us in welcoming the 17 new coaches as part of the Society of Women Engineers Leadership Coaching Committee.
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