Dr Camilla C Ferebee Of Ferebee Scholastics On An Inside Look at the Benefits and Impact Of Working With an Executive Coach
An Interview With Chad Silverstein
Self-awareness: I have always been aware of my strengths and weaknesses. During this process, I gained greater insight into my strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, and values, leading to more informed decision-making. I was able to see how my beliefs and values impacted what I did and how I did it. I found that it is important to have a team that has the same or similar beliefs and values to reach your goals. Having a diverse team, and one in which everyone wants the same things has been paramount to my success as a leader.
The competitive edge in business often comes down to a combination of strategy, foresight, and professional development. For executives looking to level up their skills, an executive coach can be their biggest asset. In this feature, we talk to business leaders who heavily invest in personal and professional development opportunities, coaching, and leadership programs. They’ll share why they invest so much and the impact it has on their life. Today, I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Camilla C. Ferebee.
Dr. Ferebee has over 20 years of experience in urban education. Fifteen of those years have been in leadership. She has taught science, mathematics, and special education. She has served as department chair, assistant principal, principal, coordinator of data analysis and support, and coordinator of school and teacher quality. During her tenure as principal, she has successfully increased student achievement and turned around low-performing schools. Dr. Ferebee currently provides leadership support and coaching to aspiring and experienced leaders. In 2020 she started her company Ferebee Scholastics. She is an experienced educator, author, speaker, coach, and leader. https://drmimi.org/
Thanks for being part of this series. Let’s jump in and focus on your early years. First off, can you give us a snapshot of your life before you started your career?
Before finishing college, I worked a few summer jobs, trying to decide what I wanted to do. As I reflect now, I realize that the majority of those positions had something to do with analyzing and problem-solving. I attended Norfolk State University (NSU) and received a BS in Biology. At the time, I had planned to attend medical school. Delaying that route, a former co-worker talked me into seeking a teaching position. She convinced me to speak with her principal, who introduced me to another principal and that principal offered me my first teaching position. Not having the credentials, after a year of teaching, I decided to return to NSU and seek an MS degree in Administration Supervision K-12. Twenty-plus years later, I am still in education. I want to do more and give back to those who are on this educational journey, which is why I started my business. To help build the leadership capacity of others to improve student outcomes.
What was it about personal and professional development that attracted you to start investing in yourself? Also, can you share when you started and what your first investment was?
I would say I started investing in myself, in my second year of teaching. That was 2001. At the time, I didn’t look at it as professional development; I was dedicated to taking the courses I needed to become a licensed teacher. After completing my coursework and obtaining my license, I began to seek more professional development opportunities, because I wanted to be the best in my field. I knew that to be the best, there were some areas I needed to enhance and grow.
Personal development was important because I knew that to be successful professionally, I had to work on some things personally. In my first year as a principal, I sought the support of a coach to help me navigate this new role. The good thing about this coach was their experience as a principal. The coach could provide real-life examples to help guide me and my decision-making. It was important to me to ensure that my leadership skills were sharp and effective. One of the main areas we focused on was leadership. I am thankful for the guidance provided and can directly correlate that experience to my success.
Can you think back and share one of the biggest blind spots you had that someone helped you see and something specific about what you learned and how it showed up in your life?
The biggest blind spot I had, that someone helped me see was that I expected people to do things and have the same ethics as myself. I was continuously told, “Stop expecting you in everyone else.” As the leader, I had high expectations of team members. When they did not meet those expectations, I would become frustrated and stressed. This led to me doing the work and not growing them by teaching them how to perform certain tasks.
From this experience, I learned that we all did not have the same values and work ethics. Some people believe that once you reach a certain level, the workload is limited. I believed that with every promotion, the responsibility and accountability was greater. I found that I was extremely committed to improving student outcomes. The passion that I had was not always viewed positively by others. They took my passion as aggressiveness. This is when I realized that the passion I had for success was not that of others. This trait was also exhibited in my personal life. It put a lot of stress on my family, trying to live up to my expectations.
How long have you had an executive coach and how would you describe your relationship?
I have had an executive coach for 6 years. There have been gaps in the services provided; however, when I am seeking new experiences, I enroll in a coaching new cycle. I think that over time, the relationship has become more of a friendship and less formal. The relationship evolved as the trust grew. Because I trust my coach, I can be open and honest.
If I was sitting down with your coach, and asked “what’s the one thing your client needs to work on more than anything else in the world” what would I hear them say about you?
I think this is a great question. After six years of working with me on and off. I think the one thing my executive coach would say now is that I need to be my authentic self, with a softer approach. My assertiveness and passion was sometimes perceived as me being mean. When we first began our journey, we were working on my approach to people. As previously mentioned, not expecting me in them. While working on that, I have accepted people giving whatever they have and not addressing their shortcomings. Sometimes resulting in the organization not obtaining the outcomes we desire. This is because I have worked hard to avoid conflict.
If you were questioned about your “ROI” (return on investment), is there anything you can point to that justifies how much you spend on being coached? If not, how do you justify it?
Since I have invested in coaching, I have improved relationships with my staff which resulted in increased student performance. I have been promoted to a district-level position, published a book, coaching, less stressed and more productive. The greatest ROI is an improved more relaxed approachable me.
Let’s dive into specifics. What are the top 5 things you’ve either gained or learned about yourself, where you specifically made changes, and have seen positive results. Be specific and feel free to give us either the background or story about each.
1. Resilience: I learned that I was resilient. As the leader not everyone is going to always agree with your decisions. I found this especially true when you hold people accountable or have high expectations. Because they either don’t want to do or do not have the capacity; they try to do things to hinder your progress as the leader. I would not let things like this bring me down. I believe that the truth always comes to light and doing what is right prevails in the end. I know things will get us down, but you must bounce back and bounce back quickly.
2. Self-awareness: I have always been aware of my strengths and weaknesses. During this process, I gained greater insight into my strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, and values, leading to more informed decision-making. I was able to see how my beliefs and values impacted what I did and how I did it. I found that it is important to have a team that has the same or similar beliefs and values to reach your goals. Having a diverse team, and one in which everyone wants the same things has been paramount to my success as a leader.
3. Team performance: As I continued to learn more about myself, I was also able to improve my team’s performance. Having a clear understanding of my weaknesses, it was important to have team members who could fill in the gaps. This was accomplished by continuing to enhance my leadership, skills not being afraid to delegate tasks, and accepting that everyone will not do things the way I would. By delegating, we were able to improve the organization’s overall performance.
4. Strategic planning: During the process, I learned that my greatest strength is strategic planning. Although I did use that exact terminology. I have always considered myself a structured detailed oriented, data-driven individual. I like to plan things out and be intentional about why I do things. I expressed to my team clear expectations and goals and the plan. I had always looked at this as me just being intentional about everything I do. During this process, I learned that the skill associated with these characteristics is strategic planning.
5. Enhanced leadership: Humbly speaking, I have always considered myself a pretty good leader. I am excellent at decision-making and strategic thinking. One of the areas coaching has supported me in my leadership, is in emotional intelligence. My passion for children and doing what is right for them sometimes led to me being emotional in my responses to individuals who were not performing. Coaching helped me develop techniques to manage my emotions effectively and become more empathetic. Becoming more empathetic required me to be an active listener. Once I mastered this skill, I could understand and relate to others. Resulting in more genuine relationships and improved performance.
What advice would you give other entrepreneurs who don’t think it’s worth investing in a coach or spending money to join a leadership program?
A great way to increase your success as an entrepreneur is to invest in yourself. Understanding who you are and how your leadership is perceived by others can climate and culture of your organization. Investing in a coach or joining a leadership program is an excellent way to learn from others and improve. Many times, we do not see ourselves as others do. Working with a coach allows you to reflect on yourself and the impact your approach is having on you, the organization, and others’ success. Coaching support should not be looked at negatively, it’s a way method to continuously improve. Resulting in a better more productive you. As well as a positive culture and climate.
Do you have any examples of how being coached had an impact on others who work around you? How has it spilled over to your team or your family?
What I found, was that as I was being coached; I had also learned to coach those around me. As I gained clarity about the impact I was having on others, my approach changed and there was more transparency. The practices I learned during my sessions were also practiced by family and staff. We were on this journey together. Resulting in better performance, happiness, and less anxiety.
There are so many executive coaches out there. How did you go about selecting the right one for you?
I conducted research. I read reviews and scheduled discovery calls. During the conversation, I came prepared with questions and was interested in their approach. It was important to me that they understood my goals and were willing to help me develop a plan to reach those goals; as well as hold me accountable. I wanted someone who was going to require me to do the work and not just provide solutions to my problems. I needed to develop the solutions, that way they would mean more to me. I wanted someone who had experience working with others in the education field although that was not necessary. I do believe leadership is leadership, and regardless of the profession, we all utilize the same skills to turn around organizations. I listened to ensure they were aware of strategies to transfer theory into practice as well as aware of the latest trends in the field.
Lastly, where can our audience go to follow your journey and perhaps get inspired to make their own investment in coaching?
They can follow me on instagram: @drmimi12, X: @DrMi_Mi, facebook: Dr. Mi-Mi
Thank you so much for joining us! We wish you only success.
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
Dr Camilla C Ferebee Of Ferebee Scholastics On An Inside Look at the Benefits and Impact Of Working… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.