When you hear her name in the professional environment of coaches or psychologists, then nothing else needs a further introduction. Because Olga Rybina is a brand. It is a unique set of professional and personal qualities, combined in one word – master.
And this brand is also closely related to the word “First”:
• The first MCC level coach after a ten-year break since Svetlana Chumakova has conquered that peak,
• co-author of the first international coaching program in the Russian-speaking environment,
• one of the first supervisors and mentors for coaches in Russia,
• mentor of the top MCC level coaches in Ukraine.
She has trained more than a thousand specialists. A good half of the current Russian MCC coaches have passed through Olga Rybina’s school. It is not enough for her to be successful herself, she does everything so that the students achieve no less success.
Coaching for Olga is more than a profession. It is a lifestyle, manner of thinking and the quality of relationships. She masterfully uses all facets of coaching for the development of those who are lucky enough to train with her.
For some she is:
• a master coach who helps to solve tasks that are significant for a person and business,
• for some, she is the one who passes on her skills, that is, a teacher and mentor,
• expert and “supervisionary”.
There are a lot of materials on the Internet where Olga acts as a coach, teacher, trainer, expert. These materials are in great demand among those who are improving in the coaching profession. But to become a unique coach, it is important first of all to be a unique person. And the formation of a personality is not so much about training as about life experience, which Olga is also ready to share.
We are preparing a series of articles in which you can get to know Olga better and, if necessary, apply her experience as your own resource.
Olga Rybina: it is easy to reach the top if…
When a person reaches significant professional heights, the question arises about the secret of his success. What helped more: a combination of circumstances, talent, diligence? And will others be able to repeat the result?
The recipe for success from Olga Rybina is at the end of the article. But in order to use it, it is important to understand where it came from.
Childhood: low start
Olga had never told this story in public before. The realities of her childhood were too far from the pink-happy stereotype. In truth, her starting positions gave very little chance of conquering at least some Olympus. A wooden barrack with tiny rooms and no amenities in a working–class area of Perm is not at all the place where people think about self-realization and talent development. And that’s not the worst thing: when Olga was six years old, her mother died.
— I will never forget that day. Mom’s friend came over. Suddenly mom started to feel ill, I rushed to her, and her friend told me to immediately run to the Ambulance (there were problems with phones then). I remember running, how scared I was, but I got there, and then I came home. I came faster than the Ambulance arrived. I never saw my mom alive again.
Olya and her two-year-old brother were left in the care of their father. And he, of course, had no time to sit with the children, he had to feed his family. He was at work all day long. The worries about her brother fell on Olga’s shoulders. Soon the father brought a new wife, then her stepsister was born.
With this childhood ended completely.
When she was nine she had to not only study and help around the house but also accompany her brother to kindergarten and take care of her sister. The stepmother didn’t offend Olga and her brother but her attention was focused on her own baby.
— My stepmother is a good woman and she gave a lot to my brother and me, but she is completely different from my late mother. She had a purely rational approach to life and relationships, “without sentiment,” and my mother was attentive, sensitive, empathetic. Apparently, her qualities were passed on to me. Losing my mom made me look deeper at many things. From early childhood, it was interesting how people build relationships, how valuable is a person to another and what a heartache is. And I often asked questions that baffled adults. My family supported my curiosity and this quality has in fact been preserved to this day.
Difficult starting conditions break some people but harden others. After all, it is not for nothing that athletes run faster from a low start! It’s just important to make your own choice in time.
Youth: a logical run-up
Studying was easy for Olga. After graduating from high school, she entered the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Perm State University. It would seem that mathematics is quite far from coaching! However, studying at this faculty has become a good basis for subsequent coaching successes.
— Mathematics helps to systematize, analyze, sort out information on shelves, it teaches accuracy. This is a great way to train thinking to discipline, to develop logic. I am glad that I have the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics behind my shoulders. Thanks to it, my strengths in coaching are manifested.
After successfully graduating from university, Olga Rybina went to work at school: she always wanted to teach children. But, it turned out, teaching children and working at school are different things. The rigid vertical system, where students tend to fit under a single standard, and teachers are required to strictly follow circulars, seemed stuffy and cramped to her. For a long time in such an atmosphere, she could not stand it and went on to get her psychologist degree, she graduated from Moscow Pedagogical University.
The “romance with psychology” turned out to be quite long and very fruitful. Olga opened her own practice, taught at Perm University, received a specialization in clinical psychology in St. Petersburg, defended her PhD thesis.
The time for coaching came later.
— I first heard the word “coaching” in 2002. A new term was uttered by one of the participants of the training which I also attended. I bought a book, read it and didn’t understand anything: the way it was written was too complicated. I decided that coaching was not for me and quit it.
The second time I came across the word “coaching” was five years later, already in Moscow. Then there were a lot of introductory coaching meetings, and I came to one of them. The first thing that happened there: the presenter was significantly late. And when she did come to the meeting, she did not apologize and did not explain herself. Therefore, I viewed her demo session through the prism of disrespectful attitude to time. And the question that the client came to her with could be worked out with the help of psychological methods known to me. In general, I had a bad time with coaching again.
Mathematical education and extensive psychological practice – what could be the best basis for training the thinking of a future coach? Even if a person does not yet suspect that this particular profession is waiting for him.
Becoming: Olga Rybina – meeting with the master
In 2007, Olga was invited to work at a well-known sports club, and she needed new methods.
— As a practicing psychologist, I realized that the knowledge I have does not quite meet the needs of athletes. In particular, they wanted to improve performance. What could I offer them besides psychology?
With an effort of will, I forced myself to go to a coaching meeting again in 2009. The presenter was Svetlana Yuryevna Chumakova, the legendary No. 1 MCC Coach in the Russian-speaking environment. And I understood what coaching is. Moreover, it made a strong impression on me. In the same year, I completed a four-module program and received a certificate. So I became an internal coach at an international professional sports club. I had an insane number of coaching sessions in the early years, both team and individual.
Then I realized that I needed to improve my professional skills and got a PCC level. Moreover, I passed the PCC exam only after the second time. It was after that that I completely immersed myself in coaching.
So, a meeting with a real master determined Olga’s further path. Today Olga Rybina herself has become the same master and teacher for many coaches in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and 23 other countries in the world.
Experience: the dynamics of victories
Conducting an extensive coaching practice, Olga Rybina also thought about her own training programs. Although at first it seemed that all the programs come down from the top, from the International Coaching Federation. But she tried – and she succeeded.
— Larisa Buzalo gave me the idea to create my own program in the fall of 2013. In 2014, on February 14, my daughter’s birthday and Valentine’s Day, I received a letter stating that our program had received ACTP status. It was the first Russian coaching training program and the first one in the world in Russian, created by two Russian coaches.
It was the first victory. And a real breakthrough for the Russian coaching market. A year later, another Olga program was certified internationally, this time completely by its author. A year later, Olga confirmed her highest international qualification of coaching skills.
— In 2015, “Coaching: Opportunities without Borders” appeared — a program that still gives very good results.
In 2016, I received the MCC status. Interestingly, for 10 years there was only one MCC in Russia – Svetlana Yuryevna Chumakova. There are legends that coaches applied up to six times, but did not pass certification. I passed the first time I took it. And I decided that I would help others get this status. Because I know from experience: it is possible and it is easy if there is support.
It is fundamentally important for me that there are as many good coaches as possible on the Russian market. Now my partner is Yuri Muradyan, ICF MCC. Our main topic is “Coaching and Psychology”. There is something to talk about here. There is a huge resource of psychological knowledge for coaches. I am sure that there are a lot of deep, interesting projects ahead and another breakthrough in the Russian market.
And now – the promised recipe for success from Olga Rybina
— It’s easy to achieve your personal Olympus in coaching! And it doesn’t even really matter what events filled your life before. The experience that can be extracted and applied from these events is important. And in order to extract and apply it, you need to meet your teacher. Someone who will share not only knowledge, but also his energy, support, and faith. I learned to believe in my students the way I believed in myself ten years ago. Long story short, go for it and everything will work out!
