Well, it’s official. C.J. Kern has stepped forward as President-Elect. Way to celebrate your commitment to coaching and the NJPCA, C.J.!
Here’s a bit about C.J. so we can all get to know him and celebrate him, for who he is and the work he will be doing to help NJPCA live its best life. C.J. described how he came to coaching in 1997 when he started working in management at IBM. Lou Gerstner who was the CEO at the time made the statement that if you want to be a successful leader in IBM you need to be a coach. C.J. embraced that idea and incorporated coaching into his management style. After a while he found coaching to be the most satisfying part of his job and also realized he was good at it. So, C.J. followed his heart and left IBM to become a full-time coach. He’s had his own coaching practice since 2006. What C.J. loves the most about coaching is being part of the process that empowers people to pursue what they want in life.
C.J. decided to step forward to become our President-Elect because he saw there was a need and felt this was something he could do, as he likes being part of the process of moving things he believes in forward. C. J. says, “If I could help the NJPCA reach its goals then not only would I be helping the organization but also helping to grow the profession of coaching, which in the end will help all of us.”
C.J.’s vision for the NJPCA is the same as the NJPCA’s vision, which is to be a leading-edge professional coaching community; living excellence, innovation, integrity, leadership and joy to maximize the impact of coaching. To move this forward, C.J. brings his experiences in leadership positions in both the corporate environment as well as in volunteer organizations. He believes that the two most important leadership skills he’s developed over the years is the ability to listen to what people need first before acting and second is to champion their ideas once he understands what they need. C.J. also mentioned that he believes one of the biggest strengths of coaches is helping others become the best they can be. He added, “As an organization, our biggest strength is each other. Together we can grow our skills as coaches and the profession of coaching far better than we can alone.”
C.J. hopes to motivate our members to be more involved by modeling and taking an active role himself—another reason why he stepped up to the President-Elect role; Saying that, “If I wasn’t willing to step up and fill a need when I knew I was capable of doing so, why should I expect anyone else to do it?” Additionally, C.J. believes we need to be clearer in our communications in order to create a better awareness of what is happening inside the NJPCA and the value we offer to our members and the outside community. C.J. would like to see our members be more active in the process, from attending meetings, reaching out to share ideas with the NJPCA community or raising their hands to volunteer to help out on a committee. He says. “We can only be as strong as our membership is active.” Are we ready to take action? Let’s get going….
When asked what he thinks NJPCA can do to maintain coaching as a vitally important part of life during these tough economic times, C.J. replied, “I think coaching is needed more now than ever. People are struggling and worried and as coaches we come with a unique perspective that can help people understand what is going on within their lives and businesses and take the action needed to move forward and not become paralyzed by fear. By participating in the NJPCA we will become better coaches and in turn become resources that are sought after.” Sounds like C.J. is celebrating us!
