The Future of Coaching
In a world that’s increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, what is my role as a coach and does it need a rethink? How might my coaching practice be no longer fit for purpose? What might be needed of me, as a coach, that is beyond my current model? These and other questions have been occupying me since the start of 2023.
You might call it a mid-coaching-life crisis; I prefer to think of it as some much needed, and probably overdue, personal and professional reflection. It was inspired by recent conversations I had with a community of executive coaches I belong to, who are working with leaders looking to move the sustainability dial in their organisation. I realised that my humanistic/psycho-dynamic neutrality was feeling a little feeble and outdated in the face of a global climate crisis that is starting to have real and present implications for pretty much everyone on the planet.
One of my colleagues pointed me to a book by Hetty Einzig called, helpfully, The Future of Coaching. The subtitle; Vision, Leadership and Responsibility in a Transforming World, immediately offered clues for the direction of travel I would be taking. The simplest way I can find for describing the central proposition is to consider our role as coaches as moving from professional practice to active leadership. Or to move from accompanying leaders as they grapple with the work, to being collaborating partners in a joint endeavour.
“Values are our compass….we meet the needs of leaders to move from surviving to thriving to changing the rules of the game. The coaches role is a critical and creative one, similar to that of the poet and the artist”.
An exciting idea, but more than a little scary, and one requiring a pretty radical overhaul of my approach to the work. Enzig follows up her challenge with some pretty grounded and practical advice on how to proceed. First up there are some guiding principals for ‘new generation coaching’
• Partnership – commitment and collaboration
• Systemic mindset – complexity and interdependence
• Spirituality – values and meaning
• Purpose – contribution to global challenges
These are pretty self-explanatory and are followed up with ten principles for coaches to be engaged in (all starting with C, which is tidy):
1. Care
2. Challenge
3. Compassion
4. Collaboration
5. Connection
6. Communication
7. Creativity
8. Courage
9. Complexity
10. Consciousness
As I look at the list I would say my existing coaching practice covers a lot of the territory. So it’s probably helpful to read pages 53-57 of Enzig’s book to get more context. Each principal gets a paragraph of explanation that had the effect of really stretching the boundaries of my coaching practice toward a more co-activist partner role.
For me, books like this can offer an important doorway to learning and change. They paint pictures of what is on the other side of the door and help me imagine how I might be there. But it’s still only a doorway; one that requires me to go through it. What encourages me to take that step? Enzig helps with that too, identifying love and will:
“Love’s highest, deepest or most refined expression is in service to others and in wisdom. Will’s highest, deepest or most refined expression is in our striving for excellence and in using power for good.”
My work is ongoing, answers continue to elude me. I’m currently on a second book that I hope might help and next month am taking part in a coaching community retreat in nature. What is my future in coaching? And what is coaching’s future in me?