Eva López-Acevedo and Silvia Guarnieri, founding partners of EEC, review the organisation's trajectory on the occasion of its 15th anniversary.
«Although it may sound like a cliché, I feel like these 15 years have flown by. I remember the excitement and enthusiasm with which we started our coaching journey in Spain as if it were yesterday, when practically nobody knew what this discipline consisted of,» says Eva López-Acevedo, co-founder of the European School of Coaching (EEC) along with Silvia Guarnieri, with a smile.
«The highlight of these years is undoubtedly having contributed to ensuring that coaching is now understood in Spain as a serious profession that brings benefits at a personal and professional level,» continues Eva López-Acevedo, who recalls the «constant work of preaching the virtues and enormous possibilities of coaching and not faltering in the face of the prevailing scepticism in the early years.».
In her 15 years at the helm of EEC, Silvia Guarnieri highlights «unprecedented social change, a radical and unthinkable paradigm shift in companies and in the way of approaching life», as well as «the transformational value it represents for each person to go through a coaching process and for them to finally say “now I'm happier“".
Madrid, 2003. EEC is launching by delivering the Executive Coaching Certification Programme. Immediately following this are locations such as Barcelona and programmes like Team Coaching and corporate interventions. Today, the programme is delivered in several languages and in numerous countries, and the organisation's portfolio includes a dozen options for coaches and for professionals from other sectors who want to incorporate communication and leadership skills into their daily lives, as well as a growing strategic consulting area that leads EEC to work with Ibex 35 companies and large multinationals.
«New challenges, same commitment»EEC's motto for 2018. Uncertainty is never an obstacle when approached from an executive coaching perspective. Nor is the future.
«The challenges involve continuing to support people and businesses closely, understanding very well what they need. That's why the commitment to empathy, to listening, to admitting we don't know, to the mystery of learning together how to navigate in uncertain times, remains the grand plan, the grand challenge,» states Silvia Guarnieri, Academic Director, who continues to oversee the pedagogical design of every programme and training bearing the company's name.
«On a business level, this year is proving to be “effervescent” as agile methodologies require new skills and a paradigm shift in organisations. And we know a lot about that! I feel we are embarking on a new phase of development with countless application possibilities,» states Eva López-Acevedo, CEO of EEC, who maintains a close relationship with clients.
Gratitude, satisfaction and joy. The sentiment today is one of gratitude, satisfaction, and joy, as both partners point out. «Gratitude towards the clients who have trusted us and continue to do so today. Gratitude also to all the collaborators who have made it possible for our vision as EEC not only to be fulfilled but also to expand year after year thanks to their valuable contributions.».
«Satisfaction at having managed to maintain consistency between what we preach and what we practice, as we have managed to create an “EEC culture” that our entire team feels, lives, breathes and transmits; that our clients perceive and recognise as something very much our own and of great value in these times. And joy because with the two previous points, we feel we are in the best moment of our profession and this encourages us even more to work and contribute to a better world.
Adding to Violeta Parra's words, Silvia Guarnieri states, «all I can do is thank life for putting me on the path of a profession which, by focusing on the learning of others, returns to you like a boomerang a personal and professional wisdom that I doubt I would have acquired in any other way.».
«We have never stopped innovating, evolving, learning and creating,» concludes Eva López-Acevedo, who reveals that the organisation is preparing several special moments to commemorate and celebrate this 15th anniversary.
