What is Team Fitness Coaching?
Developed by Andy Ceperley exclusively for college and university staff, Team Fitness Coaching creates structure and space for the individual and collective power of a campus group. The TFC program is an empowering three-month integrated learning experience designed to enhance team synergy, maximize individual potential, and support institutional agility.
How does TFC make a difference?
TFC unlocks four high-impact outcomes for a campus cohort you convene—perhaps your new or existing staff, your senior leadership group, a committee you chair, or a campus division you lead. Members of your TFC cohort will:
- Make progress on specific individual professional goals of their design.
- Focus their collective energy on a linked goal that is shared by all in the cohort.
- Deepen their relationships with one another.
- Experience a sense of professional belonging.
Who benefits from Team Fitness Coaching?
Staff professionals on campuses in the United States and abroad have participated in TFC since it was first piloted by Andrew T. Ceperley & Associates in 2019. All TFC alumni demonstrate a commitment the mission of their campus. They all care about their work, and they are interested in strengthening their campus impact. Some who have participated in Team Fitness Coaching are seasoned administrators. Others are emerging staff leaders, members of newly formed or standing committees, or staff on existing teams whose work has been disrupted by institutional change. TFC cohort members grow in their awareness of self and of others. They gain insight and experience in how to effectively leverage their personal values in order to add significant value to their campus communities.
Who takes the lead to bring TFC to their campus?
TFC campus champions are college and university leaders who nominate and convene a cohort of between 4 and 20 staff to complete the Team Fitness Coaching curriculum. As a TFC campus champion you may be:
- A new vice-president, dean, chair, or director looking to establish an environment of individual support and collective pride for your leadership group.
- A human resources leader wishing to enhance staff morale and retention across disparate campus divisions.
- A chair of a cross-campus strategic committee who wants to cultivate a resonant esprit de corps as your committee completes its work.
- A designated leader of a recently reorganized office or division wishing to animate your team through structured, holistic professional development.
- A department head who leads a cross-generational team of both seasoned staff and newer professionals trying to identify and leverage their unique strengths and shared vision.
- A founder of a campus start-up, a new office or center with new staff desiring collective purpose and a sense of belonging on campus.
- An academic leader assigned to direct an administrative staff team for the first time and seeking to enhance department harmony.
Your customized Team Fitness Coaching curriculum offers your participants a wide array of learning, connecting, and reflecting experiences and resources.
All-Cohort Experiences
Coach Andy Ceperley facilitates 4 all-cohort experiences throughout the curriculum.
- An initial Preview Experience breaks the ice for the newly established Cohort, establishes program parameters, and addresses initial questions. (90 minutes virtual).
- A Launch Experience enhances participants awareness of their personalities, priorities, and motivators while learning how to read similar characteristics in their cohort peers and others in their professional network. (full day, virtual or live).
- A Midpoint Experience looks at the self-imposed obstacles that prevent participants from achieving their aspirations and reveals a wiser mindset for making positive impact, as individuals and as a group. (Half day, virtual).
- A Completion Experience ties the TFC program together, enabling members of the cohort the opportunity to share the wisdom they have gained throughout TFC and coach one another as they envision the future of their group. (Half day, virtual or live)
Individual Coaching
All participants benefit from 6 individual coaching sessions with Andy, enabling them to address in a confidential setting their primary areas of interest and growth. (45 minutes each)
Wisdom Portfolio Assessments
TFC participants are encouraged to create a Wisdom Portfolio to collect and organize all they receive throughout the curriculum. They will be developing and sharing two drafts of their constellation of personal values, completing an Ikigai Purpose Questionnaire, and developing Everything DiSC and Positive Intelligence Saboteur profiles.
Big Talk Conversation Pods
Team Fitness Coaching strikes a balance between all-cohort experiences and individual coaching sessions by developing 3 structured Big Talk Conversation Pods for small groups to discuss specific topics of interest to the cohort.
Weekly Communications
Brief e-communications on Mondays throughout the TFC curriculum keep the cohort on track and deepen their understanding of frameworks and principles that support their individual and collective goals.
Book and Media Club
The TFC cohort benefits from the wisdom of each and every participant, and together they co-create a guide highlighting their most inspired professional development books, films, podcasts, and other media favorites.
Featured Book
All members of a Team Fitness Coaching cohort receive a copy of Andy Ceperley’s 2024 book, Tone Setter’s in the Academy: How to Build an Inspired Life as a University Administrator.
Every TFC schedule is customized and co-created to accommodate the unique needs and timelines of your organization and your campus. TFC can be adapted to run the length of an academic term, to bridge university break periods, and/or to pause during workload crunch periods or vacation times. Team Fitness Coaching includes post-TFC afterglow coaching, enabling champions and participants to reflect on their experience one to three months after the program ends.
Here is an example of a standard 12-week+ TFC schedule.
WEEK 1
All-Cohort
TFC Overview
(Virtual)
90 minutes
TFC Overview
(Virtual)
90 minutes
WEEK 2
Individual Coaching 1
(Virtual)
45 minutes
(Virtual)
45 minutes
WEEK 3
All-Cohort
Experience 1
(Virtual or Live)
Full day
Experience 1
(Virtual or Live)
Full day
WEEK 4
Small Group
Conversation Pods
(Virtual or Live)
45 minutes
Conversation Pods
(Virtual or Live)
45 minutes
WEEK 5
Individual Coaching 2 (Virtual)
45 minutes
45 minutes
WEEK 6
All-Cohort Experience 2
(Virtual or Live)
Half day
(Virtual or Live)
Half day
WEEK 7
Individual Coaching 3
(Virtual)
45 minutes
(Virtual)
45 minutes
WEEK 8
Small Group
Conversation Pods
(Virtual or Live)
45 minutes
Conversation Pods
(Virtual or Live)
45 minutes
WEEK 9
Individual Coaching 4
(Virtual)
45 minutes
(Virtual)
45 minutes
WEEK 10
Small Group
Conversation Pods
(Virtual or Live)
45 minutes
Conversation Pods
(Virtual or Live)
45 minutes
WEEK 11
Individual Coaching 5
(Virtual)
45 minutes
(Virtual)
45 minutes
WEEK 12
Completion Experience
(Virtual or Live)
Half day
(Virtual or Live)
Half day
AFTERGLOW
Individual Coaching 6 (Virtual)
1 to 3 Months Following Completion Experience
45 minutes
1 to 3 Months Following Completion Experience
45 minutes
Team Fitness Coaching applies a variety of tested coaching methodologies, tools, and resources to achieve desired individual, cohort, and organizational results. The TFC curriculum is grounded in five theoretical foundations.
Why should I bring Team Fitness Coaching to my campus?
Now is the time to champion TFC. Higher education is facing unparalleled disruption. More than ever, staff members, workgroups, committees, and teams are seeking ways to ignite their creativity and improve their work satisfaction in a virtual, hybrid, and traditional campus setting. TFC is an excellent team development initiative for times of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It cultivates insight and habit formation while building a cohort of trust, self-awareness, and collective aspiration.
How do I know TFC will actually improve the performance of my staff?
The Human Capital Institute and the International Coach Federation partnered on a research study of 432 participants across a multitude of industries to test the hypothesis that coaching is a powerful tool to develop employee potential, modify behaviors, and drive organizational success. The study validated the hypothesis and justified additional coaching benefits:
- Coaching helps individuals explore their resistance, enhance their communication, and promote resilience in the midst of change.
- Coaching effectively addresses leadership style as well as personal strengths, blind spots, agility, and habitual habits (good and bad).
- Bottom line: Coaching delivers cost-effective results through increased self-awareness, higher levels of engagement, completion of goals, greater personal fulfillment, and positive organizational impact.
As a champion for Team Fitness Coaching, how can I ensure that I am appropriately involved?
Your role as TFC champion is vital, and not just as the leader who approves the financial commitment and convenes the TFC cohort. When actively co-created by champion and coach, TFC creates a shift in how the cohort feels to its members, how they engage with one another, and how they perceive their TFC champion. You may choose to participate fully as a participant. At the very least, you will work with Andy Ceperley and your cohort on the development of a linked coaching goal, one shared by all in the cohort and one of strategic interest for you and your campus. You will meet with Andy at various points throughout the curriculum to check on cohort progress.
What if my team is swamped and feel that they don’t have the time for TFC?
Team Fitness Coaching takes effort, dedication, and focus, and it can be fully experienced, and enjoyed, in the midst of a bust academic term. Participants can expect a time commitment of approximately 1 to 2 hours per week over the course of the curriculum. Because TFC is about growing individual and team fitness, those cohort members who create the most space for this experience will likely experience the most growth and in turn provide the most long-term impact for the campus.
Wouldn’t it be more effective to invest in a one-day retreat for my team?
There is always value in one-off professional development events. But once-and-done events yield limited organizational improvement over time. Team Fitness Coaching creates an arc of engagement over the course of several months to support the professional growth of the individual participants, their TFC cohort, and your school?
Can I begin Team Fitness Coaching before my area is fully staffed?
Definitely! Although it is helpful for a champion to have a strong cohort core, additional participants can be brought in up to the mid-point of the TFC curriculum. For larger cohorts, TFC can be staggered with a second cohort beginning at a later date once new hires have been made
How can Team Fitness Coaching reduce staff conflict and improve staff retention?
TFC provides structured opportunities for participants to be heard, understood, and appreciated. Through individual coaching sessions, small group conversation pods, all-cohort experiences, and weekly e-communication, participants deepen their understanding of themselves and each other, overcoming assumptions they make about one another. This reduces organizational mistrust and enhances commitment to the work at hand and to the mission of the campus.
How is TFC a good use of limited funds?
TFC is typically less expensive per person than sending staff to a higher education conference, and the investment in professional growth is much greater. Plus, it is more flexible. TFC can be delivered in a hybrid fashion or completely virtually. TFC ensures dedicated attention to individual staff while meeting the broader needs of the organizations they serve. It is also scalable. Up to 20 participants can form a cohort, and additional colleagues can participate in one of the all-cohort experiences to broaden the program’s reach.
Is there value in forming a TFC cohort for campus professionals nearing retirement?
Team Fitness Coaching is especially powerful for individuals and groups who are considering, or in the midst of, professional transitions of any kind. Several TFC champions have included participants who had announced their retirement as a way to celebrate their service and benefit from their experience and wisdom.
What about including new staff in Team Fitness Coaching?
Those early in their careers make excellent TFC cohort members. They are eager to learn the ropes of their new organizations and discover the unique value that is theirs to make. Often, coaching programs are the purview of senior college officials. Team Fitness Coaching demonstrates institutional commitment to all staff levels on campus, including newcomers.
How will you ensure participant confidentiality?
The designed alliance between Andy Ceperley, PCC, TFC’s Professional Certified Coach, is guided by the ethics and standards of the International Coaching Federation (ICF) in which he holds active membership and certification standards. All individual coaching conversations are confidential.
Will TFC conflict with other professional growth programs already offered through Human Resources or other campus offices?
Each TFC program is fully customized for each institution and can be co-created with the campus to support and enhance existing professional development offerings.
“I really enjoyed the work we did as a group. It was lovely to connect with people who I don’t work with directly day-to-day. Our team enjoyed good relationships to begin with, but I do think TFC took us to a whole new level of vulnerability.”
“After TFC, I am developing the habit of connecting with people more and building relationships, and not just focusing on tasks.”
“Thank you, Andy for the most authentic and awesome work you have done with my team. I now have a staff who believe in our mission now, thanks to TFC and your engagement with each and every one of them.”
“Andy’s care, understanding, and warmth made the TFC experience enjoyable and productive.”
“I found Andy to be a skilled listener, an insightful advisor, and just a really kind and thoughtful person to talk to. I always looked forward to our sessions and left feeling confident and prepared to take on new challenges using Andy’s recommended strategies.”
“After TFC, I feel that I have a better, clearer mindset now in relation to my work. I know that I will reflect on the knowledge and advice he shared, and use it over and over again in all areas of my life.”
“It was powerful to meet with my colleagues in small groups and learn of the journeys that brought each of them to this place.”
“TFC’s large and small group components helped to inform different work styles, values, and priorities, and how to best consider them when working with colleagues campus-wide.”
“I especially valued the coaching sessions with Andy, and I enjoyed the conversation pods to get to know colleagues on a more personal level. Backgrounds, interests, values, priorities all inform our work styles and I was reminded that our differences are what make a team rich with unique perspectives that enhance all of the work we do.”
“The individual coaching, values work, and self-assessment helped me become more self-aware and overcome my imposter syndrome.”
“As a result of Team Fitness Coaching, I have own more of how I lead, manage, and show up at work. I am clear on my values, and I am not so afraid to show who I am to my colleagues.”
“Everyone who has the chance to work with Andy is very lucky, and I am so grateful that I got to be one of them.”
Would you like to discuss how to customize a Team Fitness Coaching program for your campus group? Send an email to [email protected] or schedule a convenient Zoom conversation below to learn how TFC can ignite your team’s growth and development.