Stepping In New Ventures West

In this episode of Stepping In, Adam speaks with Christy McClendon, a New Ventures West graduate and President/CEO of New Pathways for Youth (NPFY), an organization serving youth living in extreme adversity. NPFY programs aim to break through self-destructive thinking and develop essential skills, empowering youth to achieve their desired future.

In our conversation, Christy explains how NPFY’s youth, mentors, and staff engage in ongoing self-development, which is, in many ways, at the root of the organization’s impact. This fascinating exploration of the intersection of service and skillful means provides a powerful glimpse into how Integrative Coaching can support this essential work.

Here are some of the topics covered in the Stepping In podcast episode Supporting High-Risk Youth with Integral Coaching:



How to New Pathways for Youth provides one-to-one mentoring and creates communities of mentors and youth for support.

The ways coaching helps mentors focus on vertical growth and holds an aspirational space for youth.

The importance of achieving milestones like passing classes, graduating high school, and having a post-secondary plan to break the cycle of poverty.

How to break the cycle of poverty by achieving external goals, fostering internal growth and resilience.

How to create a sense of belonging or acceptance, so New Pathways aims to provide this essential sense of connection and belonging.

Addressing emotional challenges like anxiety and depression is crucial to academic and career development.

Building resilience, enabling youths to face challenges without derailing their progress.



 

The overall goal is to help all individuals, whether as coaches or parents, cultivate awareness, empathy, and effective strategies for nurturing growth and well-being in others.

About Christy McClendon

A former CEO, Christy McClendon, now provides executive coaching and consulting to leaders focusing on personal development and self-discovery.

She holds a deep central belief that each and every individual has potential and capability that can be unleashed through thoughtful reflection, observation, and practice.

Leveraging over three decades of executive experience managing high-performing teams and leading for impact, Christy now helps leaders of corporate and nonprofit teams to navigate strategic, challenging, and high-stakes initiatives with grace, wisdom, and compassion.

About Adam Klein

Adam is dedicated to creating a more just, sustainable, creative, and loving world. Before joining New Ventures West, he helped create a first-in-class business solution to combat global slavery and relaunch a San Francisco Bay Area center for integral spiritual formation.

Adam has a Master’s degree in Engineering from Santa Clara University. Some time ago he entered the world of Ironman triathlons and ultra-running as a means to further understand the importance of the body and the deep, integral nature of being human.

Adam focuses on integrating NVW’s purpose and bringing it to fruition. He oversees strategy, tech, and the flow of various internal work streams, as well as supporting graduates and ensuring ICF compliance.

He regularly leads the Professional Coaching Course, hosts our orientation events in San Francisco, is the creator and host of the NVW podcast Stepping In, and has his own business coaching leaders and individuals.

About the Stepping In

Stepping In is a podcast of bold inquiry into life’s biggest challenges with one of the world’s oldest and most distinguished coaching schools, New Ventures West.

In a spirit of curiosity, compassion, and honesty, we delve into how Integral Coaching can address some of the most pressing issues we face as individuals, communities, and stewards of our planet.

How does Integral Coaching, a method that works at a deep developmental level, translate to working with leaders and corporations?

This is a common question and elusive territory for potential coaches.

To help illuminate the topic, Adam Klein spoke with Andrea Garfield, founder and CEO of the Awesome Institute, a company that offers executive leadership and team coaching inside organizations.

Andrea shares plenty of examples of how Integral Coaching can catalyze shifts and open possibilities for individual leaders and, as a result, entire companies.

Here are some of the topics covered in the Stepping In podcast episode What Works When Working With Leaders:



The universal challenges leaders have and their significant impact on organizations.

How coaching leaders has a profound influence on their organizations.

Teaching leaders to embrace new learnings and perspectives spreads these positive changes throughout their organizations.

Where methodology is combined with real-world experience practicality to ensure clients see the value in the coaching process.

Balancing pragmatism and Integral approach to support long-term developmental objectives.

Building trust so clients need to feel seen and heard, often for the first time in their lives, to build confidence in the coaching process.

How self-care, especially sleep, nutrition, and work-life balance, is important, challenging the culture of overwork and achievement at any cost.

How to focus on self-awareness rather than immediate behavioral change and looking at the underlying motivations helps clients make sustainable changes.



 

About Andrea Garfield

Andrea has been building businesses and teaching entrepreneurs her whole career. Before co-founding Awesome, she was President of ServiceRocket, where she helped rebuild an international team to build a culture that led to a doubling of revenue. Previously, she co-founded Startech Global, an international, full-service software development firm. She ultimately sold and exited.

Andrea taught and assisted hundreds of business owners with strategic growth planning each year in her work with UCLA Anderson’s Management Development for Entrepreneurs Program. She was previously the Global Committee Chair of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization Accelerator Program, a volunteer for the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and a board member for Project Echo.

Born into a family of teachers, Andrea brings a wealth of experience and love for learning to the Awesome Institute. She received her MBA in entrepreneurial studies from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and her BA from UC Santa Barbara.

About Adam Klein

Adam is dedicated to creating a more just, sustainable, creative, and loving world. Before joining New Ventures West, he helped create a first-in-class business solution to combat global slavery and relaunch a San Francisco Bay Area center for integral spiritual formation.

Adam has a Master’s degree in Engineering from Santa Clara University. Some time ago he entered the world of Ironman triathlons and ultra-running as a means to further understand the importance of the body and the deep, integral nature of being human.

Adam focuses on integrating NVW’s purpose and bringing it to fruition. He oversees strategy, tech, and the flow of various internal work streams, as well as supporting graduates and ensuring ICF compliance.

He regularly leads the Professional Coaching Course, hosts our orientation events in San Francisco, is the creator and host of the NVW podcast Stepping In, and has his own business coaching leaders and individuals.

About the Stepping In

Stepping In is a podcast of bold inquiry into life’s biggest challenges with one of the world’s oldest and most distinguished coac...

Catherine Bronnert DeSchepper, NVW graduate and founder of Interweavers, joins Adam to talk about the myriad ways we can—and perhaps already do—integrate these two roles, and how powerful the effects can be.

Here are some of the topics covered in the Stepping In podcast episode Coaching as a Parent:



* Ways coaching skills overlap with the skills needed in parenting?

* How does the coach’s presence help the client’s nervous system settle, similar to how a parent’s presence helps a child’s nervous system settle?

* How should parents balance the need for deep attachment with setting boundaries for their children?

* What similarities and differences exist between the body of a coach and the body of a parent regarding their roles and responsibilities?

* How can coaches and parents be with suffering without feeling the need to fix it instead of comforting?

* What are some strategies can parents use to help their children build resilience, especially when faced with disappointments or challenges?

* What does it mean for a client or child to feel truly seen, and how does that experience facilitate growth?

* How can positive discipline help parents understand and address the underlying needs behind their children’s behaviors?

* How can parents and leaders maintain kindness and firmness simultaneously when setting boundaries or providing guidance?

* What practices can help individuals, both children and adults, build their capacity to see through the good and the bad times.

* How adults can recognize and embrace their “second mountain moments” or times of reorientation in life?



 

The presence we are continually developing as Integral Coaches allows us to be with clients—and parents of children—in a way that has them feel safe, seen, and capable. Addressing the issue beneath the behavior, being curious and receptive, and working to mitigate our own reactivity are all competencies that are essential for relating both as a coach and a parent.

Resources mentioned in this episode

Dr. Stephen Covey: Author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and creator of personal development frameworks.

David Brooks: Author of “The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life”

About Catherine Bronnert DeSchepper

A Certified Positive Discipline Trainer, Integral Coach, and Realization Process Meditation and Embodiment teacher dedicated to creating equitable learning communities centering on belonging and transformation. She believes that ending adultism, racism, and other forms of oppression begins with our own unlearning and healing.

Catherine has over 25 years of teaching, facilitation, and coaching experience from early childhood through graduate school. Catherine has a Masters in Early Childhood Education, a Montessori Administrator Credential, and is a Certified Realization Process Embodiment and Healing Ground Teacher.

About Adam Klein

Adam is dedicated to creating a more just, sustainable, creative, and loving world. Before joining New Ventures West, he helped create a first-in-class business solution to combat global slavery and relaunch a San Francisco Bay Area center for integral spiritual formation.

Adam has a Master’s degree in Engineering from Santa Clara University. Some time ago he entered the world of Ironman triathlons and ultra-running as a means to further understand the importance of the body and the deep, integral nature of being human.

Adam focuses on integrating NVW’s purpose and bringing it to fruition. He oversees strategy, tech, and the flow of various internal work streams, as well as supporting graduates and ensuring ICF compliance.

He regularly leads the Professional Coaching Course,

At this year’s Enneagram Global Summit, James Flaherty spoke with host Jessica Dibb about the inextricability of humans and systems. They delve into how each Enneatype can develop their engagement with systems to revolutionize them at every level, from personal to organizational to global.







This is James’s third appearance at this annual event and, as Jessica points out at the beginning of this recording, their conversations grow more profound each year! We hope you enjoy listening.

Anne Egseth, NVW graduate and trained actor, joins Adam in this engaging conversation to speak to what can open for us and our clients when we begin to be present in our bodies. They also discuss myths around embodiment and common ways of accessing greater somatic intelligence.

Here are some of the topics covered in the Stepping In podcast episode How Embodiment Frees Us:



Understanding the body’s role in somatic work, acknowledging its importance in coaching and leadership development.

How does the body manifest in coaching sessions, what is its significance in personal development, and what are the challenges of integrating body awareness in educational settings?

Techniques for guiding someone’s attention to their body, recognizing tension, breath, and posture.

Understanding how our body shape reflects our narratives, history, and strategies developed for connection or safety.

The benefits of somatic work include feeling more connected to oneself, others, and life in general.



 

About Anne Egseth

Anne has studied at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London and has spent her life teaching drama, dance, and devising plays in the UK and her native Norway. Anne teaches somatic development in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and recently debuted a novel, “This Is All He Asks of You”.

Anne is an Integral Coach and facilitator of embodied learning and, since 2014, has been leading the somatic competence training days for New Ventures West’s Professional Coaching Course. She also teaches The Discipline of Authentic Movement in person and online, combining coaching with somatic/movement work.

About Adam Klein

Adam is dedicated to creating a more just, sustainable, creative, and loving world. Before joining New Ventures West, he helped create a first-in-class business solution to combat global slavery and relaunch a San Francisco Bay Area center for integral spiritual formation.

Adam has a Master’s degree in Engineering from Santa Clara University. Some time ago he entered the world of Ironman triathlons and ultra-running as a means to further understand the importance of the body and the deep, integral nature of being human.

Adam focuses on integrating NVW’s purpose and bringing it to fruition. He oversees strategy, tech, and the flow of various internal work streams, as well as supporting graduates and ensuring ICF compliance.

He regularly leads the Professional Coaching Course, hosts our orientation events in San Francisco, is the creator and host of the NVW podcast Stepping In, and has his own business coaching leaders and individuals.

About the Stepping In

Stepping In is a podcast of bold inquiry into life’s biggest challenges with one of the world’s oldest and most distinguished coaching schools, New Ventures West.

In a spirit of curiosity, compassion, and honesty, we delve into how Integral Coaching can address some of the most pressing issues we face as individuals, communities, and stewards of our planet.

In the Stepping In Podcast, we explore what it takes to develop the sensitivity and capacity required to live and thrive in an increasingly complex world.

About New Ventures West

From its humble beginnings to one of the top accredited coaching schools in the world, New Ventures West pioneered one of the deepest, most transformative forms of human development available for coaches, leaders, and anyone looking to bring people alive in possibility.

Further Exploration

New Ventures West: https://www.newventureswest.com/

Getting Started with Integral Coaching: https://www.newventureswest.com/get-s…

Free and paid Integral Coaching events: https://www.newventureswest.com/class…

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction and what is somatics

Whitney Hess, a coach, writer, and designer, sits down with Adam Klein to delve into the nuanced topic of empathy in an insightful exploration of what true empathy is, distinguishing it from sympathy and compassion.

Listeners will gain a richer understanding of empathy and its integral role in building meaningful personal and professional connections.

Here are some of the topics covered in the Stepping In podcast episode The Power of Empathy:



Defining true empathy as the felt experience of another’s emotions/needs, distinct from sympathy and compassion

The innate human capacity for empathy and how to intentionally develop it

Practices for building empathy skills like nonviolent communication and self-empathy

The importance of connecting with one’s own feelings/needs before empathizing with others

How coaches bringing empathy and vulnerability can deepen connections with clients

The power of empathy for building meaningful personal and professional relationships



 

Resources mentioned in this episode

Karla McLaren, Author of The Language of Emotions, discusses how emotions are trying to tell us something.

Robin Parker Meredith: Whitney Hess’s instructor who taught about being a “compassionate witness” in coaching.

Nonviolent Communication (NVC): Community and resource for building empathy skills.

About Whitney Hess

Whitney helps progressive, creative leaders design their careers and accelerate their missions. Her techniques help people gain self-awareness, identify blind spots, navigate obstacles, and bring their whole selves to their work.

For over a decade, Whitney was a user experience consultant who made technology more straightforward and pleasurable. She has been recognized for her work with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Foundation Center, Seamless, Boxee, and WNYC. She is named a co-inventor on a U.S. patent with American Express.

Whitney is a two-time Carnegie Mellon University graduate with a Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction and a Bachelor’s in Professional Writing and HCI. She is a Certified Integral Coach through New Ventures West and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation. She writes on her blog Pleasure & Pain, co-hosts the podcast Designing Yourself, and speaks at conferences and corporations worldwide.

About Adam Klein

Adam is dedicated to creating a more just, sustainable, creative, and loving world. Before joining New Ventures West, he helped create a first-in-class business solution to combat global slavery and relaunch a San Francisco Bay Area center for integral spiritual formation.

Adam has a Master’s degree in Engineering from Santa Clara University. Some time ago he entered the world of Ironman triathlons and ultra-running as a means to further understand the importance of the body and the deep, integral nature of being human.

Adam focuses on integrating NVW’s purpose and bringing it to fruition. He oversees strategy, tech, and the flow of various internal work streams, as well as supporting graduates and ensuring ICF compliance.

He regularly leads the Professional Coaching Course, hosts our orientation events in San Francisco, is the creator and host of the NVW podcast Stepping In, and has his own business coaching leaders and individuals.

About the Stepping In

Stepping In is a podcast of bold inquiry into life’s biggest challenges with one of the world’s oldest and most distinguished coaching schools, New Ventures West.

In a spirit of curiosity, compassion, and honesty, we delve into how Integral Coaching can address some of the most pressing issues we face as individuals, communities,