Co-Active Training Institute - CTI

Before Allison Cannady-Smith experienced Co-Active, she'd been told to hold back her sassiness. Her boldness. Her truth-telling.

The reason: it would make her seem less threatening.

But during her time at Co-Active Training Institute, she heard a different story.

At one point, her group was asked to answer one question: "What skills do you want to see someone bring forth more?"

When it was Allison's turn, the feedback was unanimous—from her peers and the co-leaders.

Her sassiness. Her boldness. Her truth-telling.

For the first time, she heard that the very things she'd been told to stifle were needed in coaching. And needed in the world.

"As an African-American woman," Allison says, "I'm often trained to hold back, so I don't show up as threatening."

But her Co-Active experience showed her that to be an effective coach and leader, she didn't need to quiet parts of herself. She needed to bring her full self forward.

"It changed my life," she says. "I have the confidence to go out and change the world."

Her classmates gave her a nickname: Rockstar.

Allison continues to leverage her Co-Active training as founder and chief coaching officer at Cannady Smith & Associates, and in her role as a pastor and spiritual advisor in Denver. To find out more, connect with her at https://bit.ly/4uZYUXt or [email protected].

If coaching has been on your mind, this is your moment.

Spots for our next Explore the Path to Coaching Success session are filling up. This free 1-hour webinar gives you a real look at Co-Active coaching in action, including a live demonstration, faculty commentary, and a Q&A to get your questions answered.

Whether you're considering certification or simply want to bring stronger coaching skills into your work, this session is a fantastic first step.

One hour. Real clarity. No commitment required.

Register for June 11th or find an upcoming session: https://bit.ly/4udBMTT

The Coaching Summit 2026 is happening June 1–11: 25+ speakers, 5 free ICF CCEUs, and 100% free to attend.

We're proud to share that four Co-Active Professional Coaches (CPCCs) from the Co-Active community are among this year's speakers:
✦ Neha Sangwan, M.D. — Burnout root causes
✦ Elaine Taylor-Klaus — Neuro-informed coaching
✦ Michael Bungay Stanier — Accountability for coaches
✦ Ann Betz — Neuroscience of transformation

It's always something to see coaches from our community on a global stage like this. Proud of them, and glad to share this event with you.

Free to attend. 5 ICF CCEUs included. 40,000+ coaches worldwide.

Register: https://bit.ly/4wHkBwy

He traveled the world as an executive. He made great money. He had the life others envied.

But deep down, Mark Leruste felt empty.

"I woke up one day and realized that my life had no direction," he said. Behind the corporate media job, the meetings with “movers and shakers,” and countless Instagram-worthy moments looking over a picture-perfect beach, all Mark really had was the slow erosion of self.

But as the fabrications of self receded from Mark’s identity, it revealed a small, forgotten gem, a glimmer of self-awareness that hinted at something better for him. Something within himself that was of more value than his title, his role, or the revenue he made “selling overpriced advertising to people who didn’t actually need it.” He just needed help excavating his true self to connect with it.

So, he quit. All of it.

He left the job.
He ended a relationship.
He moved back to France.

And he found a landing pad in France with his parents, six years after having moved out. For Mark, connecting with his true self required an all-hands-on-deck, no-looking-back approach.

At home, his mother introduced him to a family friend, Roya Ferdows, who was a Co-Active coach.

And it was in that space of self-exploration, transition, and imagination that Mark encountered Co-Active coaching in real time. He learned firsthand that coaching had little to do with pep talks and pats on the back. He saw what a Co-Active coach was capable of: helping him confidently connect with who he was, and the future he wanted.

"Through coaching, I was able to explore my own values and what actually really mattered to me," he said. "That enabled me to figure out actually what the hell I want to do with my life."

Everyone Mark met through Co-Active brought the same genuine passion for the work. It didn't take long to see that what enables real connection is belief, not performance.

On Co-Active’s pathway, he learned how he could be honest with himself in a way he hadn't been in years. He wasn’t broken. He didn’t need to be fixed. He could be himself, his full self, now. And he wanted to be a part of helping others encounter that, too.

Today, Mark lives outside of Paris, running his own leadership communication coaching consultancy, wrote an award-winning book, Glow in the Dark, is a guest lecturer at INSEAD and previously served as a Co-Active Training Institute faculty member. He’s exchanged the picture-perfect beach with real conversations with others, carrying forward a clearer sense of who he is and how he wants to show up, not only as a coach, but as a dad, a husband, and a human.

"My advice to anybody thinking about Co-Active is to speak to an adviser," he said. "Have a conversation, and then ask to speak to a graduate. Really see what others think."

You might just find what Mark found: your true self.

Speak to an advisor today to learn more: https://bit.ly/4wlqHCC

(Photo: Phil Askew)