Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Coaching with an Italian Flavor
11 Plays6 months ago
In this insightful episode of the Culture in Coaching series, we sit down with Master Certified Coach Camilla Cesari to explore how Italy’s rich cultural tapestry and experiences can help us see how culture, in general, influences any coaching relationship. By unpacking the Italian lifestyle's regional diversity, expressive communication style, and emotional depth, we shed light on culture's power over every client's context. Rather than relying on stereotypes, we emphasize the importance of approaching every client as a unique individual—while remaining sensitive to the cultural narratives that may shape their worldview.
Listeners will gain practical insights on navigating creativity, adaptability, and emotional intelligence as strengths and recognizing when those qualities might become challenges in the coaching process. This episode encourages coaches to experiment, stay curious, and see cultural differences as opportunities for learning and growth.
💬 Notable Quote
"We coach the person, not the culture." – Camilla Cesari
📌 Topics Covered
- The diversity and cultural richness of Italy
- Strengths and challenges Italian clients bring to coaching
- Balancing cultural context with individual focus
- The importance of global coaching perspectives
🎧 Perfect For
Coaches working internationally, those curious about culturally responsive coaching, and anyone interested in the intersection of culture and personal development.
Connect with Camilla at https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillacesari/
#CultureInCoaching #ItalianCulture #CulturalIntelligence #GlobalCoaching #EmotionalIntelligence #CoachingPodcast #DiversityInCoaching #ICF #MasterCoach #PRIMECoachingAcademy
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Prime Space Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to Prime Space, a Prime Coaching Academy podcast with your host, Elias Scultori.
00:00:14
Speaker
And hello coaches.
00:00:15
Speaker
I am here smiling because I have today a dear friend and wonderful coach here to spend these next 15 minutes together with me.
00:00:28
Speaker
I have coach Camilla Chesari and I was practicing how to pronounce your last name here, Camilla.
00:00:35
Speaker
Welcome to Prime Space.
00:00:38
Speaker
Thank you Elias.
00:00:39
Speaker
So thank you so much for having me and I'm very, very excited to be here with you and your audience today.
00:00:46
Speaker
Oh, it's a true joy.
00:00:48
Speaker
Every time I speak with Camilla, there is a smile on my face because you bring so much sunshine and energy into the conversation.
Camilla Chesari's Coaching Philosophy
00:00:57
Speaker
Camilla, it's truly a joy.
00:00:59
Speaker
It really fulfills my heart here to have this interaction with you and to call you my colleague and my friend.
00:01:05
Speaker
For those of you who do not know Camilla, she is an MCC coach, a fabulous coach.
00:01:11
Speaker
She is a coach trainer, fabulous coach trainer, mentor.
00:01:15
Speaker
She assesses for several different coaching training programs.
00:01:20
Speaker
She has been a coach for 15 years and she met coaching.
00:01:24
Speaker
She found coaching when she was in Australia.
00:01:27
Speaker
And at that time, she was doing international tax law.
00:01:31
Speaker
She was doing her MBA and she fell in love with coaching.
00:01:35
Speaker
And from that point on, she became a full time coach and really went into the industry with her whole commitment here.
00:01:46
Speaker
And now she
00:01:47
Speaker
Camila has worked.
00:01:48
Speaker
She is really a worldwide coach.
00:01:51
Speaker
She has coached clients in over 50 countries in leaders and teams.
00:01:58
Speaker
But now there is an emphasis.
00:02:00
Speaker
This is what Camila was telling me, that there is an emphasis on supporting coaches while she's training and mentoring to go beyond the rules and be able to fully express themselves in the coaching process.
00:02:15
Speaker
Oh, you spoke my language, Camilla, because that is exactly my point here.
00:02:20
Speaker
I so appreciate that.
00:02:22
Speaker
So, Camilla, welcome to Prime Space.
00:02:25
Speaker
Thank you, Elias.
00:02:26
Speaker
And you spoke about sunshine for me.
00:02:28
Speaker
I'm speaking about music and harmony when I connect with you.
00:02:34
Speaker
And this is something that you shared that it's important to you.
00:02:36
Speaker
The adventure of nature and feeling the energy of nature is so important to you.
00:02:42
Speaker
You share that in every moment that you are here.
00:02:46
Speaker
But I brought Camilla here because...
The Influence of Italian Culture on Coaching
00:02:48
Speaker
Camilla is right now talking from Italy, and Camilla is an Italian coach.
00:02:56
Speaker
And in the series of Culture and Coaching, I thought that it would be important for Camilla to share a little bit of the nuances of Italian culture and what might or might not influence the coaching when we are working with Italian clients.
00:03:14
Speaker
And so Camilla, just to get started here, a question.
00:03:19
Speaker
What should coaches keep in mind if they are working with someone that comes from Italy?
00:03:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:29
Speaker
So when I think about Italians and I think about Italy, I think there are so...
00:03:36
Speaker
many fascinating aspects to consider.
00:03:40
Speaker
And the geography and the political and the social, the history has shaped us a lot as a culture, as a population.
00:03:54
Speaker
So first of all, geographically, Italy is a peninsula that extends in the Mediterranean.
00:04:00
Speaker
which made it a crossroads of trade, cultural exchange for ages.
00:04:06
Speaker
And so this central position of cross-pollination, of crossing of cultures contributed to an expressive communication style, relationship-oriented approach, and we're very used to interaction.
00:04:24
Speaker
Italy also has an incredible diversity in landscape and people.
00:04:28
Speaker
We have different climates, mountains, valleys, plains, diversity in local produce.
00:04:34
Speaker
We're very proud that, you know, we eat different things, even though to the foreigner eye, they might look the same.
00:04:41
Speaker
They might say different kinds of pasta, like they might seem similar kinds of pasta where we're like, no, like the feeling is slightly different.
00:04:50
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:04:53
Speaker
So we have a pride in our regional differences.
00:04:58
Speaker
There's different patterns, there's a sort of a north-south divide, which makes us slightly different in work styles and attitudes towards time and structures.
00:05:12
Speaker
So these regional differences run deep.
00:05:18
Speaker
I appreciate what you're describing there and just listening to what you're saying about Italian culture.
00:05:26
Speaker
What is coming to surface for me, and I think it's very valuable to us listeners, is this richness of culture.
00:05:37
Speaker
experience that the culture has brought to the individuals.
00:05:45
Speaker
You were raised in a place where there is so much richness of culture.
00:05:50
Speaker
Italy is an old country compared to the U.S. that is a young country.
00:05:56
Speaker
So there is a
00:05:59
Speaker
What's coming up for me is this idea that the Italian culture was exposed to so much different perspectives and a broad aspect of life that perhaps people in America, and when I say America, I say South America, Central America, North America, the whole America, may not have had culturally the same extent as Italy has.
00:06:27
Speaker
What are your thoughts there?
Historical Context and Its Impact on Coaching
00:06:29
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:06:30
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:06:32
Speaker
Very ancient and rich, beautiful cultures, which we study nowadays.
00:06:38
Speaker
When I was in school, I studied Latin, ancient Greek,
00:06:44
Speaker
all the beauty and the things of the Renaissance, the arts, so a lot of richness.
00:06:50
Speaker
And yet we are a very young, in a way, country because we got put together in 1861.
00:06:57
Speaker
And up until then, we were really different political and social systems.
00:07:07
Speaker
So...
00:07:09
Speaker
for a long time, for instance, to touch on another thing, you know, there has been a division between land that pertain to the church and the Pope and the land that pertain to the emperors.
00:07:20
Speaker
And let me share something about my hometown, which I think is peculiar.
00:07:26
Speaker
So in medieval Bologna, I live in Bologna,
00:07:29
Speaker
The society was deeply divided between two rival political factions, like the Guelphi Guelphs and the Ghibellines.
00:07:38
Speaker
So the Guelphs supported the papal authority and the Ghibellines backed the Holy Roman Emperor.
00:07:45
Speaker
And this division went beyond mere politics.
00:07:48
Speaker
It permeated daily life, even architecture.
00:07:52
Speaker
So we have squared top merlons that identified the buildings owned by the Guelph families and swallow-tail shaped merlons on the top of buildings that belong to families loyal to the emperor.
00:08:08
Speaker
So Bologna's skyline became a visual map of political division and many of these distinctive battlements can still be seen today.
00:08:17
Speaker
And so these two were two different souls.
00:08:21
Speaker
It was not just one being with one side and one with the other.
00:08:25
Speaker
They held different characteristics of the way that these people went through life.
00:08:33
Speaker
This is fascinating.
00:08:35
Speaker
And I hope that you, the listener, is paying attention to the richness of history that may be at play, and not may, it will be at play with the individual.
00:08:49
Speaker
That particular individual that has grown in a culture that has all of these intricacies, all of these separations, all of these historical moments, all of this, the unity of the kingdoms and the papal separation and all of that.
00:09:09
Speaker
There is an open, as you were saying, that when you were in college, you had to learn Latin and Greek.
00:09:17
Speaker
culture and all of this, there is a richness in that person's mindset and in that person's view of the world that will inevitably influence the coaching process.
00:09:30
Speaker
That's what I'm getting from this.
00:09:31
Speaker
What do you think, Camilla?
00:09:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think so.
00:09:34
Speaker
I think there are some traits that I see as cultural strengths of Italians.
00:09:48
Speaker
The other thing that, and we talked a little bit about this before we hit the recording button, is because there is so much diversity in the culture, the importance for us to, yes, this person is from Italy, but this person is a unique individual.
00:10:06
Speaker
I would love for you to talk about that, Camilla.
00:10:09
Speaker
Yeah.
Balancing Cultural Context and Individuality in Coaching
00:10:10
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:10
Speaker
So I can...
00:10:12
Speaker
I always say that we coach the person, not the culture.
00:10:18
Speaker
So I think it is very, very essential and fair to consider that, first of all, in front of us, we have an individual and we're all human beings, isn't it?
00:10:31
Speaker
made of the same substance.
00:10:33
Speaker
And then for sure it is important, it might be important to consider context, yet we need to really remember and know that we are connecting human to human, we're humans.
00:10:52
Speaker
And so...
00:10:55
Speaker
In respect to considering the context, first of all, I would ask the client, you know, I would say to the client, is there something that you believe it is important for me to know, you know, being the first time or me not being very acquainted with how you live your life in your country?
00:11:14
Speaker
So is there anything that I should know that it would be best for me to know, to coach you, to be the best coach possible for you?
00:11:23
Speaker
And also maybe do some research about always doing research considering what is truly useful and what might be actually getting in the way for us to be truly with that person in partnership.
00:11:42
Speaker
And so what could
00:11:44
Speaker
nurture some assumptions or might create bias that we otherwise wouldn't have.
00:11:52
Speaker
So there's this reflection on this balance between what I know that is useful and what might actually get in the way for doing what I need to do with this person.
00:12:05
Speaker
And this is at the core of this series, the culture in culture for me.
00:12:10
Speaker
Yes, there is the context that I think it's very helpful for us to be mindful of.
00:12:15
Speaker
So in today's episodes, we are talking about the context of growing up and becoming and being an Italian person.
00:12:25
Speaker
But at the same time, for us as coaches to be very careful on how these labels can get in the way of meeting the individual, the person, regardless of where a person comes from, regardless of where the client comes from.
00:12:43
Speaker
That client is an individual, is a unique person.
00:12:47
Speaker
And for us to, yes, utilize context as something that supports that.
00:12:53
Speaker
but primarily be very open to meeting the person as who they are as an individual person.
00:13:01
Speaker
So I so appreciate you bringing that nuance here.
00:13:04
Speaker
When you think of the context of Italian culture here, what are particular strengths that you see that a client from your culture might bring to the coaching conversation?
Cultural Strengths and Challenges in Coaching
00:13:18
Speaker
Camilla.
00:13:19
Speaker
Yeah, so I can see...
00:13:22
Speaker
Many strengths, many strengths.
00:13:25
Speaker
I maybe I'm biased, so maybe I'm also very positivity oriented, but I see a lot of creativity, innovation,
00:13:35
Speaker
The capacity, our ability to think outside conventional boundaries.
00:13:40
Speaker
I see a lot of adaptability and resilience.
00:13:43
Speaker
So also thinking about how, you know, our history navigating through complex situation or bureaucracy.
00:13:52
Speaker
This needs a lot of skill.
00:13:55
Speaker
I also can see strong interpersonal skills and capacity, emotional intelligence.
00:14:00
Speaker
We are a lot with each other.
00:14:03
Speaker
And also we are willing to engage in passionate debates around our ideas and go deep in there.
00:14:13
Speaker
Resourcefulness in problem solving and also appreciation for quality aesthetics that also can inform
00:14:22
Speaker
you know, vision setting and definitely, as I said before, a strong sense of regional and cultural identity and pride that also can provide, you know, some grounding and yeah.
00:14:38
Speaker
Yeah, I am fascinated by it.
00:14:41
Speaker
You know, I have to I didn't mention this.
00:14:43
Speaker
I should have mentioned this at the beginning of the of the conversation here.
00:14:47
Speaker
But I would say that perhaps 25 percent of of my blood comes from from the Italian peninsula.
00:14:53
Speaker
You know, my great grandfather came to from Italy to Brazil.
00:14:57
Speaker
So there I've always been fascinated by Italian culture.
00:15:01
Speaker
But listening to your conversation,
00:15:04
Speaker
to your description there, I can see like the richness that the culture in the history of the country might be playing in the background of working with an Italian client.
00:15:18
Speaker
And I can even think of some of the Italian clients that I had.
00:15:22
Speaker
And I can see that that openness, the creativity, that thinking outside of the box and
00:15:29
Speaker
and seeing the world through a much broader lens.
00:15:34
Speaker
And it's fascinating.
00:15:35
Speaker
And I know that this is not, you know, the place that you usually go here, but here comes the question, Camilla.
00:15:41
Speaker
What are, you know, possible challenges working with an Italian client?
00:15:49
Speaker
Yeah, this is a more difficult question for me.
00:15:52
Speaker
I would say really that maybe some challenges might come from
00:15:58
Speaker
these trends overplayed.
00:16:00
Speaker
When we go a little bit excessive into something, too much creativity, too much parallel thinking, or then this sense of extra quality aesthetics, the passion for something.
00:16:20
Speaker
I think maybe overplaying some of these trends might
00:16:25
Speaker
as it often happens, might become a point of attention.
00:16:32
Speaker
Yeah, I love what you're saying here.
00:16:34
Speaker
And to me, it applies not only for Italian clients, but for everyone.
00:16:40
Speaker
When our strengths change,
00:16:42
Speaker
can go overboard and all of a sudden start being detrimental to ourselves.
00:16:48
Speaker
You know, our we are passionate, you know, I'm so I am so I love passion.
00:16:53
Speaker
I'm a passionate individual myself, probably because my talent blood, you know, but I can see in myself how much how many times my passion can
00:17:03
Speaker
Go overboard and prevent me from seeing things more clearly.
00:17:09
Speaker
So I love that regardless of the client, regardless of where the client comes from, how strengths can become, if we extend it too much, how that strength can go to a place that it becomes detrimental.
00:17:23
Speaker
So thank you for that,
Embracing Global Diversity in Coaching
00:17:25
Speaker
Camilla.
00:17:25
Speaker
I'm sorry that we don't have more time to talk here, but we will bring you back because you, not only about Italy, I would love to talk to you about your experience.
00:17:40
Speaker
adventures in coaching and other aspects of coaching because you're doing so much and a lot here.
00:17:45
Speaker
Any final words that you would like to give to our listeners here when we are thinking about Italy and coaches in Italy and clients in Italy or your insights in general?
00:18:01
Speaker
Yeah, well, first of all, thanks.
00:18:03
Speaker
I'm always happy to be with you.
00:18:06
Speaker
It's always a great space.
00:18:09
Speaker
I believe adventure, try, coach, experiment.
00:18:18
Speaker
From my experience, I can say really, I take a lot of pleasure by coaching different cultures and learning and engaging and getting in contact with different styles.
00:18:32
Speaker
It's so inspiring for me, truly.
00:18:38
Speaker
We have this gift of being different, of being placed in different places, being exposed to different things.
00:18:48
Speaker
And it quenches my thirst for learning, but also for self-reflection.
00:18:55
Speaker
I think it's a great space.
00:18:56
Speaker
So go coach globally.
00:18:59
Speaker
Coach globally.
00:19:01
Speaker
Yes, coach as many clients as possible with as many different backgrounds as possible.
00:19:09
Speaker
There is so much richness and beauty all around.
00:19:11
Speaker
And so Camilla, thank you for reaching us here today.
00:19:15
Speaker
And everyone, thank you so much for listening.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:19:19
Speaker
I will put in the description of the podcast a way for you to contact Camilla if you want to continue the conversation and learn more about her practice because she's doing fantastic work.
00:19:29
Speaker
work in the world.
00:19:30
Speaker
But for now, everybody, thank you so much.
00:19:32
Speaker
Don't forget to subscribe and share these episodes with other people.
00:19:36
Speaker
And I will see you next time.
00:19:38
Speaker
Take care.