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Episode 151: Liberating Latine Leaders in Coaching with guest, Annmarie Caño
Cultural representation in coaching matters deeply, yet the stark reality shows an alarming gap – only 2% of coaches identify as Latino/Latina while they represent 19% of the US population. This eye-opening conversation with Dr. Annmarie Caño explores how we can transform the coaching landscape to become truly inclusive for Latin leaders and coaches.
Drawing from her 25 years of experience in higher education and as the author of "Leading Toward Liberation," Dr. Caño shares profound insights about creating authentic coaching relationships across cultural differences. She reveals touching success stories where Latine clients feel safe enough to express themselves fully, sometimes shifting between languages to articulate concepts uniquely expressed in Spanish – moments that represent true cultural connection and trust.
For coaches seeking to become more culturally sensitive without overstepping boundaries, Dr. Caño offers practical guidance that goes beyond superficial approaches. She recommends incorporating thoughtful questions about cultural identity in coaching intake forms, embracing genuine curiosity about clients' cultural backgrounds, and committing to ongoing education through diverse literature, films, and community engagement. These approaches help coaches recognize and honor the strengths Latin clients bring to sessions rather than focusing on perceived deficits.
The conversation courageously addresses systemic barriers preventing greater diversity in coaching – from the high cost of coach training to the tendency for coaching opportunities to flow primarily to those in leadership positions, who are predominantly white in many hierarchical structures. This creates cycles that limit exposure to coaching for underrepresented groups.
Most powerfully, Dr. Caño emphasizes that creating genuine diversity isn't about "checking boxes" but building authentic relationships based on trust. "It's about showing up, not trying to prove anything, but inviting people in because you truly value what they have experienced or what they have to say." This perspective transforms how we think about inclusivity, making it about genuine connection rather than performative actions.
Whether you're a coach seeking to expand your cultural competence, a Latine professional considering coaching, or an organization looking to create more inclusive development opportunities, this conversation provides invaluable wisdom for creating coaching spaces where everyone can bring their whole selves to the transformative work of coaching.
Watch the full interview by clicking here.
Find the full article here.
Learn more about Annmarie Caño here.
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Welcome to Beyond the Page, the official podcast of choice, the magazine of professional coaching, where we bring you amazing insights and in-depth features you just won't find anywhere else. I'm your host, Garry Schleifer, and I'm excited and expanded to expand your learning as we dive into the latest articles, have a chat with this brilliant author behind one of them and uncover the learnings that are transforming the coaching world. When you have a moment, take the time to join our vibrant community of coaching professionals as we explore groundbreaking ideas, share expert tips and techniques and make a real difference in our clients' lives. This is your go-to resource for all things coaching. But for now, let's dive in.
Garry Schleifer:In today's episode, I'm speaking with Certified Coach Annmarie Cano , who is the author of an article in our latest issue Coaching, anti-racism and the Backlash Against DEI. I can't say that without getting a little too serious but important topic. Her article is entitled Liberating Latin Leaders ~ What the Higher Education Coaching Community Can Do to Welcome Latin Coaches in an Age of DEI and Backlash. A little bit about Annm arie. She's a licensed clinical psychologist and a certified coach whose coaching is informed by 25 years of experience in higher education, including as an award-winning teacher and mentor, a principal investigator on National Institutes of Health grants, a two-time fellow of the American Psychological Association and an academic leader in public and private institutions, including as a Dean and Associate Provost.
Garry Schleifer:Her book with Johns Hopkins University Press, Leading Toward Liberation ~ How to Build Cultures of Thriving in Higher Education, kind of like this article, applies liberation practices as a framework for leaders who strive to create healthier working environments for everyone. A bit of a mouthful, but an important piece of work. Thank you so much for joining me today, Annmarie.
Annmarie Caño:Thank you so much, Garry.
Garry Schleifer:I guess the title is kind of obvious and your background is obvious, but I always like asking so why did you decide to write for us at this point?
Annmarie Caño:Yeah, well, I'm incredibly thankful to Julia Chinyere-Opara who really curated this group of articles.
Annmarie Caño:She saw the need for us to address in the coaching world what is happening in the wider world and when I saw the call for articles I thought, based on my own experience as a coach, there's not that many coaches like me and I talk about in the article how about 2% of coaches who responded to a poll from the ICF identified as Latino, Latina, Latine, Latinx and that has always been my issue, or my experience in higher education as well, being a professor, being a leader and looking around and saying where's everybody else like me.
Annmarie Caño:So I thought here's my opportunity to maybe write about what this looks like in the coaching world and to provide some advice or guidance for coaches who are not Latine, to be able to bring more into the fold in a culturally sensitive way, but also to reach people like me who might be considering coaching, to enter the field and bring their cultural strengths to the fore and to help other people in that respect. So it seemed like the timing, given what's happening in the world and particularly the United States, and my own experience. The stars aligned, I suppose, in terms of being able to write this and hopefully contribute something useful.
Garry Schleifer:Oh well, thank you, and yes, it did and yes you did. So very informative article. One of the points you made about the ICF survey where only 2% referred to themselves as Hispanic or Latino. What that's in comparison to is what you said, is the US census, which says that 19% of the population. So there's a disparity there. What's a success story of inclusivity for you and generating more awareness for the Latin community in coaching or higher education?
Annmarie Caño:That's a good question. I think I have two varieties of success stories, I guess. So one is when I'm working with a coaching client and we talk about culture, and so the Latino culture is so broad, I mean, so it's including all New World peoples who have experienced colonization from Spain or Portugal, and so it ends up being such a diverse group, so I want to be careful too. As I talk, I don't want to paint too broad a picture of like uniformity I suppose. But when I do work with Latina, specifically Latina clients, and we're able to share a connection based on culture, and sometimes that means shifting into Spanish to describe something that can be uniquely described in the language, and then they shift back to English, to me that's a success of like this person feels comfortable not hiding a part of themselves that they're used to having to hide in, especially in higher education spaces sometimes. So that that sense of comfort and being able to bring the cultural and the language into the sessions, to me, that's a sign of success that we have a relationship where this person can explore all parts of themselves, not just one part or not just in one language.
Annmarie Caño:And I have had some clients who've done that then reflect back to me like I can't do this anywhere else, or I feel like you see me or you appreciate me, and that's such a big part of coaching is that the coach is in it with their clients in a healthy way, but being able to accompany their clients and appreciating the strengths and all the things that they bring. So that to me, that's a success and it builds confidence for the client to be able to go out into the world as their whole self. Maybe I'll just stay with that one, because that to me is very meaningful for me as a coach also.
Garry Schleifer:Yeah, no, that's great work, but brings up something for me as a non-Latine coach. How do I become A- culturally sensitive and B- how do I even bring up the subject of culture without seeming unaware, insensitive or overstepping boundaries, like it's? You know, in a way it's easy for you. Your last name gives a hint as to your background. Right, so you can start there. Speaking the language helps, but I don't speak Spanish. Like okay, I know words, but I don't speak it. So how would someone like me handle that?
Annmarie Caño:I should say, you know, growing up, when I grew up, so my mom's Puerto Rican, my dad is from Spain. Their first languages were not English and their Spanish were very different from each other.
Garry Schleifer:Right.
Annmarie Caño:So when they raised us, we were raised to speak English in the household for a lot of reasons. That was also the message that they received about being good American parents. So even like it's interesting to hear you talk about, like you don't speak the language enough to be able to bring it in. I feel like my Spanish is not as fluent as I would like it to be because of my upbringing. So even I have those feelings of I don't want-.
Garry Schleifer:What right do I have?
Annmarie Caño:Yeah, yeah, and I don't want people to assume that I can speak fluently and I am working on it because that's something, a learning place where I would like to grow. But there is that feeling of like oh, I don't want people to assume that I can conduct all my coaching sessions completely in Spanish. So, this tug of war of like, I want to be culturally sensitive and I want to be there for my clients and also I don't want to give wrong impressions. It's something that I also feel. And also, if I'm working with someone who's, let's say, Mexican American, that's under the broad Hispanic Latino culture, but also that's not mine, that's not my culture. So I'm still learning about other people's culture in that way. So, to answer your question, one of the things that I do as a practice is, and I think most coaches are like this too, lifelong learning.
Annmarie Caño:So, having the lifelong learning perspective and really being careful about the media that I consume and also choosing novels and movies that are focused on different cultural backgrounds that you might encounter in your practice. So there's some fantastic fiction novels, poetry written by Latina authors and movies, and being able to just kind of that's one way to, outside of the coaching session, learn more about cultural strengths in particular, because we don't want to always. Sometimes we go down the cultural deficits pathway where people are like oh, I need to help my Latino clients because...
Garry Schleifer:I see what you're saying,
Annmarie Caño:You know I need to, I need to rescue them or I need to teach them something, teach them to fit in or teach them to assimilate, when in fact, especially in coaching, I think that's antithetical to the coaching.
Garry Schleifer:Right. Because we consider them naturally creative, resourceful and whole.
Annmarie Caño:Yes, yeah. So what is it that your client is bringing to the session that makes them a whole person with strengths and you know. So part of that is just learning about culture, maybe attending cultural events in your community, if you have a lot of in-person clients, being able to see, like, what's happening in my community and just being curious like a coach is. But other ways might be on the coaching, if you have a coaching intake form, which I think we all should have.
Annmarie Caño:Having questions about culture, and not just a checkbox type of question, but even a question like what do you appreciate about your culture, how does your culture inform your leadership? And those could be questions that people reflect on or that you actually bring into the coaching session and to be prepared that some people are going to say, oh, no one's ever asked me that question before. I need to think about that. Or sometimes there is the answer like, well, culture doesn't inform my work, and I would say, well, it's always in the background, it's like in the air culture.
Annmarie Caño:So, figuring out, you know, I think it just comes down to the curiosity, like be curious and if there are cultural differences, to just say like, oh, you know, I noticed that you are talking a lot about these cultural festivals or a holiday. Can you tell me more about that? What do you like about that? How does that sustain you or why is that meaningful to you? Those kinds of questions will help you understand what's driving your client and help you understand where your client's coming from.
Garry Schleifer:Yeah, great advice. Thank you very much. Yeah, it is like you know, a cis white male like myself, I don't want to appear like I'm not aware of any differences, and yet to the point is like I don't want to, also don't want to overstep or insult anyone, right, so let them come to the table and, to your point, create an opening.
Garry Schleifer:You know, if they choose not to go through it, that's fine but always be aware and you know that's what we're doing being very present with our clients and watch for when things come up and ask those questions. It's not the I love the old way we used to say the big A agenda. We're not there to trip them on the culture we're looking to how does culture and sexuality and, you know, age and all the things come into it? It's just, it's another piece of the puzzle we haven't put a spotlight on for very long. So it's time, and to your point in the article and in this conversation, to do that. So thank you for the work here in the ways and things like that.
Annmarie Caño:I'd like to add one more thing too. Spirituality is another one of those bucket. For some people that's their cornerstone, it's the thing that really drives them, and for others they're like yeah, that's not my thing.
Garry Schleifer:Right.
Annmarie Caño:And in the Latino, Hispanic, Latinx community, spirituality, that to me, is a companion question.
Annmarie Caño:Because for many, maybe they have Catholic roots or experience in Catholic sorts of experiences that they may have transformed or they may have rejected. But again, not making assumptions like all Latina people are Christian. That's a generalization that's incorrect. But spirituality of like where do they find the sacred? Where do the your coaching clients find the sacred? Where do they experience awe and wonder? Those are additional questions that could be asked.
Garry Schleifer:Excellent. You have me thinking more about, not just about the coaching now but how do we engage and let Latina, Latine, I know we have different, there's so many ways that can go, but Latin, Latinx, how do I bring forward those people and let them know they're welcome without, I like to say, checking a box? Like years ago when I was at the ACTO, Association of Coach Training Organizations conference, Robin Angelo spoke about white fragility, that's her book, and I was at the back of the room and one of the few guys and I felt like, when she brought up the white man of privilege, I was like, oh, that's me. And that's the moment when my life changed as far as being more aware of how I walk in the world and how I am perceived in the world, possibly. I don't know, because I can't read minds, but at least you know from cultural backgrounds like, for example um, my neighborhood is predominantly Indian, from India, and culturally they were ruled by the British. So I always found it humorous when they always kept calling me sir, until those kind of moments when I turn around and said, oh, I wonder, I wonder, don't know, I wonder if it's residual from their upbringing to say yes, sir to white people, especially me. I'm six foot two.
Garry Schleifer:So like an imposing, you know, or South Africans, or people like that. So I just wonder how do we get from 2% to 18% in, let's say, the coaching community and coaching education.
Annmarie Caño:Yeah, that's a million dollar question, right? So I do think that there's individual actions that coaches can take and coaching associations and organizations can take, and then I also think there's some systemic and structural barriers that make it hard to enter the profession. So maybe I'll start there, just mention a couple and then go into individual actions. Coach training is expensive and I think that that's a barrier for a lot of people to be able to enter, to maintain another job that can then pay for the coaching training. I think if there were scholarships or, you know, if there are other mechanisms to address the economic barrier, that may be one broader systemic or structural barrier for folks. The other would be at the workplace, who gets offered coaching paid by the employer? I think that is another potential barrier.
Annmarie Caño:There's a really great article by a sociologist named Victor Ray and it's called the Theory of Racialized Organizations. He published this a few years back and he talked about hierarchical organizations and one of the feature of a racialized organization is, as you go up the ranks, do the percentage of leaders who are white, does that go up as you go up the ranks? And if you think about who's getting coaching and often it's the leaders then it's more white people getting coaching, and some of those people are going to go into the profession too, so then only certain people are getting access or know what coaching is, and so that's another barrier.
Garry Schleifer:Yeah.
Annmarie Caño:So there's those big questions. We'll put them aside for a second. For us, for coaches, I think there's some simple things to do. So when we think about like mentoring people that we think you know you'd make a great coach, like being able to be mindful of who we're saying that to, and if we do a little inventory and we see like, oh, I'm actually only reaching certain people with that comment, how can I tell some other people from minoritized backgrounds, oh, you'd make a great coach and I'd be happy to tell you about what coaching is like and maybe make some connections? And so just that outreach, and for us to be more mindful of who we're reaching out to, whether it's in person or on LinkedIn or you know these different mechanisms I think that would be an individual action that coaches could take. And then when it comes to inviting people for podcasts, let's say, or
Garry Schleifer:Or writing for choice.
Annmarie Caño:Or writing for choice, or speaking at a coaching conference or doing these kinds of things, that that mindfulness of okay, who are my automatic people that I'm thinking about? And then what are the demographics of these people? What's the lived experiences of these people? Do I have representation across the different groups that I might want? And also, this is where you could tokenize somebody and say I'm going to take this person and plunk them into my white panel, let's say. The better option is to take a step back and say what do I want people to learn from this panel and do I have the breadth of lived experience and professional experience that I need to really make a great panel? And then, if you still are coming up with a panel that maybe lacks the kind of diversity that you're looking for, to then reach out to your network and try to build relationships. That's the other thing. Like, coaches are great at building relationships with their clients and they can extend that to building relationships with other coaches.
Garry Schleifer:True, true.
Garry Schleifer:I went through the same thing and the struggle I went through when I, after that again 2019 Robin Angelo, thank you, seriously and looking at my editorial board, and it was all white women and I didn't want to feel like I was checking a box, but my editorial board was not representative of the coaching community and so how we did it is we did it based on fit, like just think of somebody else who represents another culture, another race, another section of humanity. Let's invite them in. This drives me crazy and I notice it is I think my world has been, social media has formed my world. So that's predominantly white.
Garry Schleifer:Talk about a systemic issue. I will look in the number of friends hey, people you might know make friends with, and it's like white, white, white, white, white, and I don't blame them. I then think, well, I'm training this device to bring forward the people that I have most associated with in the past. So it's to your point, it's about associating with. Like, there's tons of people, sorry my fellow white folks, but I've been skipping you so I can have a more representative community and I look at them and they're all equal so why doesn't it, you know? What do I need to do to get my world more representative of the community I live and work in.
Annmarie Caño:I appreciate your intentionality with that. The first step is the awareness, like Oh, I did not notice this and then the second step is like, well, what do I do about it? And I don't want to underestimate like, that takes work, and one of my academic jobs, one of my tasks was to create these panels of expertise to share with the rest of the campus community. And that would happen to me. I would create, like who's my list of people that are just available at the top of my head, and it was mostly white women that I had associated with in my career. And also, I want to acknowledge I'm often read as a white person because of my light skin tone sometimes people don't know. They don't know my cultural background, so I move in these different places differently because of how people read me. So I looked at the list and I was like, well, how can I put this panel in front of this campus community that is much more diverse than this panel? And so I did.
Annmarie Caño:I put myself out like I went to more different kinds of meetings that I normally would not have gone to. I would just strike up conversations with people just to get to know people and so that is where that curiosity and putting yourself out there, going to events that you would not normally go to, celebrating other people's cultures. Then people saw me as a trusted person. They're like, oh, she's using her precious time to show up at our event. And I notice that now when I see people who don't share my culture showing up at cultural events and I'm like wow, that person decided to use their Saturday night to come to this. Like that's good, that person gets a gold star for me.
Annmarie Caño:Like we notice that. So when we notice that people are showing up for our things and then they invite us in not just to check a box but because they really value what we have to say or what we have experienced, that's when you become known as someone who is trusted. And so, to come back to your question, then I would be like, oh, this is a coach who maybe they don't know everything about my culture, but I am more than just my culture and I feel like I trust this person. That's the core. You have to feel like you trust this person.
Annmarie Caño:And so that's how you build trust is by showing up, not trying to prove anything, not trying to insert yourself into it, inviting people in because you truly value what they have experienced or what they have to say. So I think that's that's how you move from the oh no, I can't believe I've been doing this all this time. That's great. That's the first step.
Garry Schleifer:Yeah, awareness.
Annmarie Caño:And then you know, like getting through the shame and all the other like, oh my gosh, I can't believe. Like I, I thought I was aware, yeah. And then comes the action.
Garry Schleifer:Yeah, Thank you. You're really speaking to a lot of people when you say that, because wwe don't want to tokenize people. We don't want to check a box and we want people to see themselves in other people. We want what we do to be reflective of the community we serve. That's really all we're we're up to. So forgive me if I've done anything un towards that might be perceived that way and, for heaven's sake, call me on it. Like I can take it. You know, I said I'm six foot two, but I'm not immune to feedback, and I'm very open to it.
Annmarie Caño:Well, and that's. I think that's where the trust comes, because I mean, I have I've had supervisors who maybe said the right things but then undermind my experience. So that is why you have to be patient. As you are trying this different things and putting yourself out there and learning. It's not like automatically p eople are going to say, OK, I trust this person. It takes a while and sometimes people are like, well, how come this person doesn't trust me, or how come I'm still not getting minority clients. I would say well, people have had a lot of bad experiences and they don't want to put themselves in another place where they're going to have an experience like that. And coaching, it's a vulnerable place to be, so it may take a while, but that's all part of the process.
Garry Schleifer:Yeah, yeah, look at me.
Garry Schleifer:I mean, it's six years on and I'm still questioning. You know, I'm thinking now, as a result of this, I don't have any Latina, Latinos on my editorial board. Isn't that interesting, right? So that's something to consider. Oh my gosh, we could go on and on. Yeah, we're limited in time, Annmarie, thank you. What would you like our audience to do as a result of the article in this conversation?
Annmarie Caño:I think if the audience can think of one thing that they can do to increase the representation of Latino, Latina, Latinx, Latine coaches, whether it's something at their organizational level, whether it's reaching out to somebody and just saying, hey, I think you'd make a great coach, I think that would be fabulous. Also can I share about my book.
Garry Schleifer:Congratulations.
Annmarie Caño:Thank you. So I have a book called Leading Toward Liberation that's out from Johns Hopkins Press. It's not specifically for coaches, but the way I structured it, it's for leaders to lead from a place of liberation and freedom, which is so aligned with coaching and it is based on Latin American liberation praxis, which is a bit of what I talk about in the choice article. And each chapter ends with a set of coaching questions because I wanted to bring that coaching experience into the work. So that might be another step is to consider checking that book out.
Garry Schleifer:Yeah, thank you and good luck with that, and I hope our audience takes you up on looking that one up. I'm sure it's going to be available in the usual book places. On behalf of choice magazine, I invite other Latina, I apologize for the pronunciation because the E to me is Latine community, to write for choice magazine? Don't be a stranger. I welcome conversations with anybody about any topic. You can book a time with me. Just reach out by email, garry@ choice- online. com. I'm sure there's a place somewhere where you're podcasting or receiving things from me. So you know, everyone's welcome to write for choice Magazine. Annmarie, what's the best place for people to reach you if they want to know more?
Annmarie Caño:Sure, they can reach me on LinkedIn. That's probably the best place.
Garry Schleifer:Okay.
Annmarie Caño:Yeah.
Garry Schleifer:I have to remember to make sure I've connected with you online.
Annmarie Caño:Oh, yes, absolutely.
Garry Schleifer:That's great. Again, thank you so much for the article and for this conversation, Annmarie.
Annmarie Caño:Thank you, Garry, it was delightful.
Garry Schleifer:Thank you so much for joining us for this Beyond the Page episode. For more episodes, subscribe via the favorite podcast app, probably the one that got you here in the first place. If you're not a subscriber to choice Magazine, you can sign up for a free digital issue by scanning the QR code in the top right-hand corner if you're watching this podcast. If not, and you're listening, go to choice-online. com and click the sign up now button. I'm Garry Schleifer. Enjoy the journey of mastery.