Client Spotlight: Carey Lucki 

Carey Lucki is the CEO of Circle of Care, a non-profit home and community care provider in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada that offers programs and services to improve the well-being, independence and quality of life of their patients. Carey was a member of TEC Canada (also known as Vistage in the USA), and she first learned about Frame of Mind Coaching™ when Kim Ades hosted a leadership and coaching workshop with them.

During Kim’s presentation and interactive session, she shared some information about the unique Frame of Mind Coaching™ approach and principles that really resonated with Carey. “I appreciated the whole concept of how our thought and belief patterns impact our behaviors, our interactions and how we choose our goals,” she says. “Other coaching programs that I had exposure to help you outline personal goals and plans, but as an executive, I wanted to learn more about my leadership style to influence my teams and for the organization as a whole.”

As an executive, Carey enjoyed how her 1:1 Frame of Mind Coaching™ experience helped her better understand situations with, and reactions of, employees; her perception of uncomfortable or challenging meetings; and her own responses to events and conversations. “Kim’s approach of examining our thinking and belief patterns about different situations shed a new wave of understanding. Sometimes, we have to challenge long held assumptions based on our beliefs, and these are things we don’t typically think about because we are comfortable with our default,” she says.

After the TEC presentation, Carey asked for a complimentary coaching session with Kim, who matched her with FOM Coach Chari Schwartz. Chari led her through the 10 week 1:1 Executive Coaching program, and continues to coach her with the Frame of Mind Coaching™ Maintenance program to practice and apply what she learned in coaching. 

“Chari is the best coach I have had in my entire career in leadership,” says Carey. “She’s always there for you in a heartbeat. She listens, she gets your story and she coaches you to understand different perspectives and really think them through. She gently nudges you to challenge your beliefs. When she encapsulates what the real story could be—embracing all of the FOM Principles—this is when the ‘Aha!’ moment happens.”

One FOM Principle that Carey has found to be especially helpful is “circumstances don’t dictate the way I feel. The way I perceive circumstances dictates the way I feel.” During their coaching, Chari helped Carey remind herself that she doesn’t always have control over certain situations or events, but she can control how she feels, thinks and behaves. As Chari told her during a discussion about a particularly difficult situation, “You can’t control the outcome of this, but what you can do is be the best leader that you are and shine through.”

Carey also learned how to be a more effective coach to her direct reports and to her teams, as well as in her personal relationships as a wife and mother. “I ask more questions now. It helps me peel back the layers so I can get a better understanding of a situation. Asking questions also helps me understand how someone’s thought and beliefs may be causing some degree of distress for them.”  

“Frame of Mind Coaching™ is an excellent program and particularly useful for executive leaders. Believe me, you will learn something new about yourself, which is why I recommend FOM Coaching ™ all the time to everyone,” says Carey.