This post is an extract from my Autumn release book about Coachability (title still TBD). It will give you a hint of what awaits you!
I’m here to make (organisational) life more human, one thinker or team at a time. I want to contribute to a world that fights less and loves more. You may also be in the business of making life more human, one thinker or team at a time. In that endeavour, I’m committed to your uniqueness as a coach. You are like no other coach out there. And the thinkers with whom you work are like no other thinker out there. They too are unique.
I’m committed to high-quality coaching and have an eye for detail when it comes to the language you use – language that enables the thinker to become an independent, critical decision maker. Taking the lead from Formula 1 and world-class cycling, where every second counts, I’m constantly on the lookout for marginal gains in coaching. Not to shave off time (although in some instances, it could be to give maximum time to the thinker to think); instead, to create the best thinking environment for them so they can do their best thinking. Everything that coaches do or say can have an impact on the thinker’s coaching readiness and therefore their capacity to think.
I also notice how much my coaching is informed by agency. This has been a theme for me over the years, but only now am I joining the dots in relation to agency. There’s my own agency: my desire to be independent, self-sufficient, driven and successful in my own way. I hate the thought of giving away my agency. And because I hate that thought, I want to be sure that others don’t give away their agency either.
I’m starting to realise how intertwined coachability/coaching readiness and agency are and why it really matters to me to get this book into others’ hands.
My ‘why’ is for everyone to find their voice, to articulate their needs, to stand up for themselves.
I don’t always do that for myself, and I know how hard it can be, but it’s so important to express what we feel and what needs are associated with those feelings. In his book, Nonviolent Communication (2003), Marshall Rosenberg explains how he has seen this lead to better negotiations, reducing the propensity to resort to violence. That’s why agency and expressing oneself are so important to me, for a more peaceful world.
And couldn’t we do with a good dose of that at the moment?!
Thanks Clare – I was particular struck by your notion of agency and ‘….My ‘why’ is for everyone to find their voice, to articulate their needs, to stand up for themselves….’
Exactly what I am doing right now facilitating/coaching/leading a group of local neighbours in a space where they have need to use their voices to influence a situation over which they have no power!
I imagine that is super helpful to them Mike. I’m glad they have your expertise
I come back to Marshalls work in NVC time and time again, a simple framework for managing many a situation. It supports us to come from an observer perspective, taking emotion out of it. The part I find particularly useful is differentiating between the need and the want, because it encourages collaboration from a how do WE solve this together.
Also eagerly awaiting your new book! 🙂
it’s one of the few books I want to reread – I don’t give many books that compliment!!