Sydney Rice, M.Ed.
Coaching Background:
By 1989 I had learned from personal experience that, as an entrepreneur it is difficult to go it alone. I began the Boston Coaching Company to support others in the development of their emerging businesses. I came to realize that to truly support them, I needed to be able to see the world from their perspective so that we could work more collaboratively. In 1996 I created The PaperRoom System™ to do just that. I asked questions and captured the answers on my office wall on butcher paper. As each person’s history, goals, and experiences were drawn out and captured on the wall, we could see significant patterns and connections between elements that led them to profound personal and professional discoveries. By looking at the “paper room” as a whole, a clear picture of their internal system emerged. This led to dramatic, and often unexpected, shifts in the results that were possible in their lives from our coaching experience.
I created The PaperRoom System by combining coaching theory, systems thinking, adult learning principles, life stage principals, personal and professional development concepts, research on the human mind, and a healthy dose of intuition and common sense. Over time some of my coaching colleagues and I refined The PaperRoom System into a clear, direct coaching process that pinpoints the source of the problems and answers for the participants. It is deceptively simple and fun to experience. As time went on and friends sent friends, the purpose of taking the PaperRoom became less only about business and more about creating a balanced and fulfilling life.
In 2003 Davies-Black published my book, Choice Point: Navigating your Career using the Unique PaperRoom Process, and in 2010, The PaperRoom System became part of the PaperRoom Institute, a firm dedicated to the sustainable extension and expansion of The PaperRoom System worldwide. I continue as a member of the faculty and adviser to the PaperRoom Institute. www.thepaperroom.com
Prior to my coaching career I worked in the retail clothing business as a sales person, Department Manager and Store Manager. I also started several businesses including designing and manufacturing a new kind of bicycle back pack that was sold nationally, and starting a corporate catering company.
In 1987 I earned a Masters of Education from Cambridge College in Cambridge Massachusetts, with a concentration in Systems Thinking and Adult Learning. this enriched and supported my emerging coaching career which became my lasting life focus and purpose.
I am currently focusing my coaching on people like me who are no longer young and not yet old, who wish to explore and create fulfilling lives with new direction and purpose.
I do what I do for three reasons: it energizes me to see people truly excited about their future; I find it rewarding to know that they will leave with the tools to continue to make good choices; and I think if we can all make the choices that are fulfilling and right for us, we will have a better and more peaceful world.
Age to me means nothing. I can’t get old, I’m working. –George Burns (at 92), performer