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The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.
― Frederick Buechner

MH Coaching & Consulting launched in 2019. For eight years prior, I had been working for the Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC)  and its parent organization, Congo Initiative (CI), first as Strategy and Development Facilitator, then as Director of Faculty Development and Bilingual Affairs. 

During my time with UCBC and CI, I coached administrators, faculty, staff, and students as they developed leadership competencies. I developed more than a dozen programs, initiatives, and collaborations to benefit the organization. More importantly, I experienced the power of a compelling vision despite overwhelming odds.

It’s a gift to remain involved with UCBC and CI as a board member and a formal and informal coach to several staff.

Prior to my time with UCBC and CI, I was Director of Professional Development and then Special Programs at National Middle School Association (now Association of Middle Level Educators). Before that, I worked with Project Adventure as trainer coordinator and manager of the Adventure in the Classroom initiative.

I earned my BA in English and Secondary Education at Gordon College, and my M. Ed. in Learning and Development at Harvard University. 

Among my delights are my family (three adult children, their partners, two grandchildren, a sister, a nephew, two nieces and 13 grand nephews and nieces), good coffee, dark chocolate, friends and family in DRCongo, reading, writing, the outdoors.

My work is informed by several things. Here are core influences: 

  • Three Centers of Intelligence. Human beings are whole creatures of mind, body, and spirit. Each way of knowing and processing our experiences provides information and wisdom to inform and guide us. Each of us relies on one center, leans on another, and disregards the third. It’s important to learn how to access all three centers to help us group in courage, confidence, and compassion.
  • Enneagram Wisdom. Each of us is a complex being who has developed a personality that helps us navigate the world. That personality, however, shields us from understanding our true selves—our real motivations, our real fears, our real gifts. The Enneagram is a rich, dynamic method of understanding ourselves for the purpose of personal and professional growth and to develop understanding and compassion for others. 
  • Experiential Learning Cycle. We learn best and most profoundly when we (1) reflect on and process experiences, then (2) analyze and generalize from that to pull out learning, so we can (3) apply that learning to new situations or experience. And that is a key feature of coaching.
  • Al-Anon and the 12 Steps. A major turning point in my life was admitting that I needed Al-Anon. Through membership in Al-Anon and practicing the 12 Steps, I’ve experienced serenity, learned to let go instead of getting dragged down, learned to set and respect boundaries, recognized over and over again that I’m powerless over pretty much everything except how I respond to life and people.
  • International Coach Federation Coaching Guidelines and Ethics. Coaching focuses on where the client is now and what the client is willing to do to get where they want to be in the future. As a coach, I know that each client has the capacity and knowledge to make the changes they want to make. My role is to partner with the client as listener, observer, collaborator, support, and, if necessary, an accountability partner.
  • Faith in a merciful, loving God.

 

headshot of Mary henton in a black dress sitting on na windowsill

Memberships and Affiliations

Logo: In Blue Ribbon FOUNDATIONAL PRACTITIONER with TEAM DIAGNOSTIC SURVEY under the banner
Enneagram Institute of Ohio Certification Logo
Institute of Coaching Logo