Descripción
ICF Japan Coaching in English Group October Meeting: From Complaint to Choice: Moving Clients from What Happened to What’s Possible Presenter: Cory McGowan, PCC, team coach, and founder of Adventure Partner CCE: 2 Date: Friday, October 2, 2026 Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m. JST, with networking afterward. Doors will close at 7:00 p.m.; please arrive early. Location: Convention Room AP Akihabara, Akihabara 1-1, Akihabara Business Center Building 5 F Cost: ¥3,500 (ICF Global members affiliated with the ICF Japan Chapter) or ¥4,500 (non-ICF Global members and ICF Global members not affiliated with the ICF Japan Chapter). If you are a member of an organization registered with the ICF Japan Chapter as an ICFJ corporate partner, you may attend at the corporate partner price of ¥3,500. Offer limited to two people from the same organization. Special Note: Registration closes on October 1 at 5:00 p.m. JST. Please register early, as we cannot make exceptions for requests to register after the deadline. ICFJ affiliates, take note: The Peatix form will ask for your ICF Global membership number, so please be ready to fill it in. If you attend the event as an ICF Global member affiliated with the ICF Japan Chapter, you must provide your ICF Global membership number. If you are an ICF Global member NOT affiliated with the ICF Japan Chapter, you must register for this event as a non-chapter member. ICFJ corporate partners, take note: The Peatix form will ask for the name of the organization you are affiliated with, so please be ready to fill in this information. From Complaint to Choice: Moving Clients from What Happened to What’s Possible What do we do when a client has a really good complaint? Our clients trust us. One of the ways this shows up is their willingness to share things they may not share with anyone else—and sometimes those things are complaints. A colleague who did something they didn’t appreciate. An event that didn’t go the way they hoped. A promotion that didn’t come through. And sometimes, it really does seem like they have every right to complain. Part of our role as coaches is to listen without an agenda and empower the client to decide what they want to do with the situation, if anything. But we can also notice when a client is so activated by what happened that their reaction is limiting what they can see and the choices available to them. In this session, we will explore a process for working with these situations. Drawing on the ontological coaching tradition, we will look at who the client is being in relation to what happened and how we can support them in taking responsibility—not blame—in a way that creates greater freedom and choice, without requiring anything from anyone else. By the end of the session, you will: Understand the process and why it can be effective Be better able to recognize when this process may—and may not—be appropriate Practice coaching to help clients recognize their freedom of choice Receive a practical tool you can use to work through your own challenging situations and share with your clients ICF Core Competencies you will strengthen in this session: 7. Evokes Awareness 7.02 — Challenges the client as a way to evoke awareness or insight 7.04 — Asks questions that help the client explore beyond current thinking 7.05 — Invites the client to share more about their experience in the moment 7.08 — Helps the client identify factors that influence current and future patterns of behavior, thinking or emotion 7.09 — Invites the client to generate ideas about how they can move forward and what they are willing or able to do 7.10 — Supports the client in reframing perspectives 8. Facilitates Client Growth 8.01 — Works with the client to integrate new awareness, insight or learning into their worldview and behaviors 8.02 — Partners with the client to design goals, actions and accountability measures that integrate and expand new learning 8.03 — Acknowledges and supports client autonomy in the design of goals, actions and methods of accountability About the facilitator: Cory McGowan is a PCC and certified team coach, and a long-term resident of Japan based in the mountains in Minakami, Gunma. His business, Adventure Partner, creates curated leadership experiences for leaders and leadership teams in Japan and Asia that combine ontological coaching, outdoor adventures, and connection with rural Japan community. He would love to show you why Minakami is the best place in Japan, and invites you to come out sometime on a Monday Adventure .