Mónica Pérez-Zorrilla has just been recognised with the Master Certified Coach (MCC) title by ICF, a milestone that reflects her extensive experience in coaching, demonstrated through over 2,500 hours of practice and which places Mónica among the most qualified professionals at the European School of Coaching. Mónica is the ninth person to achieve this accreditation at EEC worldwide, the seventh in Spain and the second in Barcelona. This is her testimonial upon learning of her MCC.
«Our work is more about illuminating than shining.»
Congratulations, Monica! How do you feel? What does being an MCC mean to you?
I feel very happy. For me, achieving this goal is down to two types of motivation, one more intrinsic that connects me with significant personal effort: putting in the hours, working in-depth on the standards that ICF demands of us, and going through a process of various milestones that are met until reaching the end has been both challenging and satisfying.
And on the other hand, and I think more importantly, there is another more profound motivation, connected with purpose, since Having come this far means you've worked all these years for others, and that fills me with even greater gratitude.
What would you highlight about the path to becoming an MCC?
The journey to get here has been a huge learning experience for me. Although I accumulated the coaching hours quite a few years ago, it's clear that isn't enough and requires dedication and commitment to demanding quality standards.
I believe that, in this regard, the ICF is a very good guarantor of our profession, with a very well-defined and structured code of ethics and key competencies that ensure our work is of high quality.
I believe that an MCC coach embodies a mindset; is not make coaching as a MCC, it is about be a coach who has an inbuilt set of beliefs that allow him or her to work on another level. This implies knowledge, practice, focus, commitment…
What has been the most difficult thing in your career as a coach? The most beautiful, the best?
I would say my career as a coach, rather than difficult, has been and continues to be challenging. I've always had a strong interest in surpassing myself, in achieving new challenges, in evolving, and I believe this connects to the best aspects.
In my career as a coach, I've learned how to learn – to develop a learner's mindset. Furthermore, I believe that's the essence of coaching as a learning process. From there, the coach becomes a mirror and a catalyst for change, serving both the client and themselves, and undoubtedly, that has been the best part.
What have you learned in this process? What do you know now, as an MCC, that you didn't know before?
Now I know that I know more than before, although I still surely know nothing... but that's okay. Our work has more to do with illuminating than with shining. and that implies a commitment to having the ego well-managed and to be very aware that we are vulnerable and that at some point we will make mistakes.
Every opportunity is unique for learning and, in a more practical sense, preparing myself to be an MCC has meant being dedicated to deepening my knowledge of the competencies to integrate them into my sessions and gain effectiveness and, of course, be consistent with the commitment to continue training and growing as a professional to offer the best version of myself to my clients.
What does the MCC allow you to do?
I believe that, like any other level of accreditation, it allows us to be guarantors of the profession's values.
This involves collaborating with our clients with high standards of professional competence, commitment to continuous learning, the ability to create environments of trust (in ourselves, in the client, and in the profession) to be able to offer the best quality to our clients, a high level of integrity, professionalism and humanity in our work.
What coaching for today?
I believe that, finally, society and, in turn, organisations are becoming increasingly aware that people's wellbeing is fundamental. We cannot be good parents, good partners, good friends, good professionals if we are not well balanced internally.
Coaching, as a creative and continuous process of self-discovery, allows us to continue developing as individuals in a more conscious way and achieve extraordinary results in both our personal and professional lives.
What would you like to leave as a legacy?
I believe in people and, invoking Viktor Frankl, I think we all have the power and the freedom to choose how we want to live.
I want to be a silent witness accompanying the growth of others, in that connection with their own power, thereby contributing to the well-being of all those life has given me the opportunity to encounter.
