May 2025 FLA Newsletter
đź“° The Courageous Coach Chronicle
Your Monthly Guide to Coaching Education
 May 2025 Edition
Delivering lessons, tools, and updates to inspire growth in yourself, those you lead, and those you coach.
🔥The Founder’s Corner
“Goals, Objectives, & Key Results”
I subscribe to the idea that every true leader holds firm to their life goals while adapting their objectives as life happens along the journey. Goals are for a lifetime. Objectives change. Key Results measure the journey.
A quick story to illustrate my point. As I was retiring from the Marine Corps my eldest son was accepted to MIT. For my wife and me, one of our three life’s goals was to educate our children at the world’s finest universities. But I had also been telling anyone who would listen for decades that I was going to retire and run for Congress in Washington State. I had the district picked out; knew what I had to do to make a name for myself; and had steeled myself for the long climb out of obscurity.
As my son walked down the driveway with the fat acceptance envelope, my answer was already clear. He would go to MIT and our family would remain in Virginia. Congress was an objective and his education was a goal. The goal clearly took precedence and the objective changed.
And my first Key Result was to earn some money to pay for MIT! And that is why we started Flatter, Inc.
This month, I gently challenge you to achieve one (1) Key Result; that contributes to an Objective; which adds to one of your life’s Goals; that directly advances your coaching journey.
Options might include:
·       If you are seeking your first credential, schedule your mentor-coaching sessions.
·       If you are growing as a coaching leader, nominate your rising stars for their coaching certifications.
·       If you are preparing for Level 1 certification, schedule your performance evaluation.
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See you in June!
Very respectfully,
J.R.
🔥Flatter Leadership Academy Updates
🎉 Congratulations, Coaching Culture Facilitator Course (CCFC) Graduates!
A round of applause for our latest cohort of 35 Army, 50 Air Force, and 4 Space Force Certified Coaching Culture Facilitators who graduated on April 17, 2025! These newly certified coaches have completed over 80 hours of rigorous coach education and practice, exemplifying commitment, growth, and courage. We can’t wait to see how their facilitation shapes coaching cultures in organizations across the globe! Graduates, please, stay in touch and join our alumni group at www.linkedin.com/groups/12702052.
🗓️ New Coaching Culture Facilitator Course (CCFC) Course Launching April 22!
Due to continued interest and the incredible success of our last cohort, we’re launching another Coaching Culture Facilitator Course starting April 22, 2025. This transformative experience equips leaders with the tools to cultivate psychologically safe, feedback-driven, and purpose-aligned workplaces. Although, this is the final CCFC scheduled for 2025/2026, we continue to offer custom cohorts to meet the demand for coach education.
🛡️ Level 2 DoD Cohort, Reporting for Duty!
We’re proud to welcome another custom Level 2 cohort to the Department of Defense this April. These 40 DoD leaders will go straight to PCC eligibility, after receiving 125+ coach education hours!
🤖 AI Spotlight: Meet Our Coaching AI Persona Tool
In March 2025, we began piloting our very first AI Coaching Persona Tool, designed to enhance reflective practice, deepen self-awareness, and simulate client scenarios for coach learners. The tool is grounded in our ICF-accredited frameworks and reflects the principles of trust, presence, and ethical engagement.
Student-Coaches — we want your feedback!
As one of the first to engage with this innovation, your input will directly shape its future development. Look out for surveys and demo labs in the coming weeks. More to come soon!
🧑‍🎓FLA Alumni Spotlight
This month, we celebrate two courageous FLA alumni who continue to advance their leadership goals:
·       LTC (Ret.) Michelle Carter recently completed her ICF ACC credentialing and has launched her own executive coaching practice focused on military transitions and organizational resilience. Michelle shared that the coaching mindset she developed at FLA helped her unlock a new chapter of impact after her distinguished military career.
·       Jason Ramirez was promoted to Director of Workforce Development at GlobalTech Solutions, where he is integrating a coaching culture into their frontline leadership programs. Jason credits his FLA training for helping him shift from traditional management to transformational leadership, emphasizing ownership, growth, and courageous conversations.
Congratulations,
Michelle and Jason — and to all our FLA alumni advancing coaching cultures across industries.
We are proud to walk this journey with you.
🎓Upgrade to an FLA Level 1 Certificate
If you graduated from a previous Flatter Leadership Academy cohort under our former ACSTH accreditation pathway, you are eligible to upgrade your certificate to the new FLA Level 1 Certificate.
The biggest advantage for seeking this upgrade? You no longer need to submit a recording and transcript of a coaching session and then wait for an external review.
Instead, simply schedule one live mentor coaching performance evaluation directly with me. Once you pass the evaluation, we will issue you and upgraded certificate.
➡️ Schedule your evaluation here: J.R. Mentor Coaching Session
Let us help you take the next step in your coaching journey.
đź“Š ICF & Industry News: Ethics and Innovation
The International Coaching Federation (ICF) has continued its 2025 theme of balancing innovation with integrity. Key highlights from the latest roundtable discussions include:
·      A deeper emphasis on ethical considerations in AI coaching tools.
·      The role of credentialed coaches in adapting to AI augmentation without compromising human connection.
·      Emerging pathways for team and systems coaching certifications.
We encourage all alumni and coach learners to stay engaged with ICF developments and attend their upcoming Global Coaching Symposium in June.
🛠️ This Month’s L.T.C.
(Lesson, Tool, Case Study)
Lesson: Progress vs. Perfection
 As coaches and facilitators, we often hold ourselves to high standards. But perfectionism can paralyze progress. This month, we
explore how to coach others — and ourselves — toward courageous action over endless refinement. Growth happens in motion, not just in theory.
Tool: The Debrief Loop
 Use our simple three-step “Debrief Loop” after each coaching session:
1.      What went well?
2.      What could improve?
3.      What will I do differently next time?
🗓️ Upcoming Events
·      May 20, 2025: Noon-1:30pm; FLA AI Coaching Tool Demonstration to our Alumni
·      June 12-14, 2025: ICF Global Coaching Symposium
·      July 21-24, 2025: Open-Enrollment 30-hour coach certification seminar; email FLA@FlatterInc.com for registration information or view our seminar page to fill out our application
·      Ongoing: Mentor Coaching, Asynchronous Coaching Education, and Performance Evaluations available year-round; email FLA@FlatterInc.com for registration information
Let’s Keep Learning Together
Have ideas or stories to share? Want to be featured in an upcoming newsletter?
 Email us at FLA@FlatterInc.com — we’d love to hear from you.
💙 From all of us at the Flatter Leadership Academy — thank you for being part of this coaching movement.
Proceed with courage,
 The FLA Team
