Articles

Envisioning the Coach You Are Becoming…A December Reflection for the ICF North Florida Chapter

By: Lisa J Kuruvilla, MCC

As we stand at the edge of another new year, many of us feel the familiar tug toward resolutions—toward lists of things to give up or do differently. But what if this year, instead of looking at January 1st through the lens of restriction, we stepped boldly into a vision of who we are becoming?

Take a breath. Now imagine yourself on January 1, 2027—one full year beyond the year ahead.

• Who are you as a coach on that day?

• What does the best version of you feel like?

• What has shifted in your presence, your practice, your impact?

This month, I invite you to sit with the questions that resonate, stretch us beyond performance goals and toward purposeful becoming.

• Strategic Clarity:
  What is the biggest decision you’ve been avoiding—and what’s at stake if you continue to delay?

• Mindset & Self-Awareness:
  What is one fear or limiting belief quietly shaping your decisions, and what becomes possible if you name it?

• Relationships & Investment:
  What relationship in your coaching practice—client, colleague, mentor, or even self—deserves more intentional care to support your 1/1/2027 vision?

• Letting Go:
  If we honor the tradition of “giving something up,” what is the one thing you know you need to release but haven’t yet? Where are you spending time that no longer aligns with your highest-value role as a coach?
  

• Embracing What’s Next:
  As you release what no longer serves you, consider what you are ready to welcome in.

• What future is already unfolding that I haven’t fully acknowledged yet?
• If I allowed myself to step into my next chapter without hesitation, what would I begin doing differently tomorrow?
• What inner wisdom have I been resisting—and what becomes possible if I listen?
• Which emerging opportunity feels both exciting and uncomfortable, and what does that discomfort reveal about my potential?
• What new way of being is quietly asking to be expressed through me as a coach?
• If I trusted myself 10% more, what decision would I make?
• What is the smallest courageous action I can take that aligns with the coach I envision on 1/1/2027?
• What possibility am I finally ready to stop postponing?

These questions aren’t meant to pressure; they are meant to open. To spark. To plant a seed.

December is a bridge—a space between what has been and what could be. Let this month be your invitation to a quiet, brave conversation with yourself about the coach you are becoming… not just in January, but in the year that follows.

As you imagine that 2027 version of you, notice the first small step that comes to mind.
Hold it gently.
And when you’re ready—take it.

Wishing you a season of deep reflection and renewed possibility.
We are becoming, together.

Member Spotlight: Karen Anderson, PCC

ICF Global Member since 2004 | ICF Credentialed since 2007 | ICF North Florida Chapter Member since 2016 | ICF Assessor since 2018

By Della Shaw, PCC

“When you offer full presence to another person, it has incredible transformative power. That is coaching at its essence.” 

~ Karen Anderson, PCC

More than 20 years ago, serendipity reshaped Karen’s life and work.

As a master’s-prepared leader dedicated to high-quality professional development, she received an invitation to join educational leaders from across the United States in an intensive leadership coach training program.

What began as a professional opportunity became something far more profound as she and her colleagues were introduced to the transformative power of coaching. They saw how leadership could be different.

Those realizations gave birth to her company, Results Coaching, LLC, which, in the years that followed, became a nationally recognized ICF Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP). Their work cut across all levels of education, grounded in the belief that everyone is a potential leader when equipped with the right mindset and skills.

Mindset: Being Before Doing

The behavioral shifts were undeniable. Mindset and language shifted; leaders asked more open-ended questions, and conversations changed. Teacher training programs such as Lipscomb University integrated Results Coaching training into their teacher preparation programs. Many former participants have gone on to become credentialed coaches themselves.

“One of the hallmarks of our company is our commitment to the ICF competencies. We eat them, breathe them, live them. It’s not so much about what you say or do. It’s about who you are.”

Karen describes her latest book, Results Coaching- Transforming from Leader to Coach Leader, co-authored with Kathryn Kee, Vicky Dearing, and Frances Shuster, as a labor of love for two key reasons. First, it shares powerful stories of transformation from leaders who discovered the impact and potential of coaching as a way to lead. Second, it explores the journey of becoming a Coach Leader—someone who inspires growth, accountability, and purpose in others. Within these pages, readers uncover the why, the what, and the how of becoming a more powerful and inspiring leader.

Four years ago, Results Coaching, LLC was purchased by Solutions Tree, helping to expand the reach and legacy of their work.

Coaching as a Way of Being

She says one of the most powerful coach competencies she has internalized is #5 Maintains Presence. “When you offer full presence to another person, it has incredible transformative power. That is coaching at its essence.”

She is deeply influenced by neuroscience, and David Rock’s SCARF Model®, which she integrates into leadership development to help leaders understand how subtle shifts in language can fundamentally change experience.

Language, she teaches, is a pattern—and rewiring patterns takes conscious practice. When leaders shift language, they shift culture. Mindset leads.  Language follows. Identity transforms.

Mentoring the Next Generation

Karen delights in mentoring coaches pursuing ICF credentials. She loves the rigor of feedback and the visible growth that comes from a coach integrating learning. Our local community of coaches in ICF North Florida has been so fortunate to have benefited from Karen’s many professional development programs over the past decade.

To new coaches, her message is simple and supportive: “You know enough right now but never stop learning. Coaching is a journey, not a destination.” More than two decades into her journey, she models that message — she is still learning, still refining, still studying, still practicing.

After more than 20 years as a contributing author to multiple books, creating a nationally respected ICF ACTP training program, and influencing thousands of leaders, she remains excited about ICF’s evolving ethics and competencies and the continued evolution of coaching as a profession and as a way of being.

She continues to show up fully present, embodying coaching as a friend and colleague, a coach, a mentor, and an educator.  As she says, it’s a mindset. It’s who she is and what she gives to the world.

Beyond Coaching

Outside her professional life, Karen’s greatest joy is her grandchildren. She speaks tenderly of witnessing their individuality and growth. This grounding in family mirrors the essence of her coaching philosophy—honoring each person as precious, capable, and becoming.

Learn More

Contact Karen at [email protected]

Visit Karen on LinkedIn

Explore Results Coaching: https://www.resultscoaching.com

Books

Results Coaching: The New Essential for School Leaders, 2010

Results Coaching: Next Steps, 2017

Results Coaching: Transforming from Leader to Coach Leader, 2026