The coaches’ coach.  That’s sort of how I think of Cinnie Noble (pictured right).  I’ve gotten to know Cinnie a bit over the last couple of years, through social media, and via reading her excellent book, Conflict Management Coaching: The CINERGY Model.  

The other day I actually had my first opportunity to chat with Cinnie, via Skype.

I wanted to know more about her work as a Conflict Coach, and specifically her approach with the LinkedIn group, Conflict Coaching Guild, of which she is the owner.  I have been impressed how she interacts with group members, including myself, and given her coaching expertise, I thought she would have some great insights to share with the rest of us around online community management.

Here’s a synopsis of our conversation, at least as far as Cinnie’s observations and insights re: LinkedIn and the Conflict Coaching Guild go…

Genesis behind the (Conflict Coaching) Guild

• The Guild grew out of Cinnie’s observation of how important it is to connect with like-minded people, around the world, and also her love for communities of practice, and group think
• And, of course, the term “guild” has historical roots, in medieval times when craftspeople met for mutual aid…

Goals for the Guild

• Tap in to people’s individual and collective wisdom, especially given coaches come from different, diverse backgrounds
• Find and talk about things that might be common to wide range of (group) members
• Treat as a discussion group, as an opportunity for thought leaders to engage others…. instead of just as advertising medium

Guild constituency

• Coaches, mediators, ombudsmen, human resource personnel, union reps… lots of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) types!
• The context draws people in; e.g., “sometimes we get people who say ‘I don’t do any of those things, yet I’m around conflict all the time’” (sounds familiar LOL)
• The Guild (see image below) was started in late 2008, and now has 1700+ members
  

Managing the Guild

• Cinnie’s approach is very personal
• She is “so thrilled that people wanted to share/talk about their ideas”… leads to reciprocity from Cinnie; e.g., appreciation, following up, reaching out
• The Guild has become a place that people feel they can share, be welcome in, and safely engage in authentic conversations
• The members want to keep the group intimate; hence it is as a ‘closed’ group, where people share important events, issues in their lives… Cinnie sees this a gift

Impact of the Guild

• Stories are heard
• “Rarely a week goes by without someone indicating they’d like to post a topic on such ‘n such, and would it be ok?”
• Often feels like a spectator, observing others…
• Somehow people raise a topic, and connections are made, to move things forward
• Some people are so surprised at amount of comments left on their topic
• As one participant said, “this is only social media site where I can talk, have a voice”

Lessons learned

• Hosting a group is a big responsibility… and requires much effort to do it well, keep on top of things, not to mention the challenges of virtual facilitation…
• The importance of maintaining a social media space where people can safely verbalize (big theme, no!) what’s important to them
• The Guild takes people to a more focused and personal level, offsetting some of the more free-for-all types of social networks
• “Many people view conflict coaching as one and the same with mediation, and mediators consider what they do in caucuses and pre-mediation meetings as coaching… these are forms of coaching”; further education is required to differentiate mediation coaching from the alliance that comes with a sustained coach/client relationship
• Being so involved with the group also provides an opportunity for self-reflection

I’ve met some good, and some not so good (e.g., absent landlords so to speak), LinkedIn community managers; people facilitating (or not) group discussion.  Cinnie is a wonderful example of someone doing online community management the right way.  And, I'm sure that the many of you who already know Cinnie would agree, too.

What’s your experience with community managers on Linkedin, or other social network for that matter?  

[Note: This post was also published on Collaborative Journeys ]