Coaching in Organisations

Day after day, I see a plethora of articles, blogs and podcasts sharing ideas and suggestions for how to navigate the pandemic and its multiple consequences. In fact, I have also offered a few of my own. However, the question I am sitting with is: how could we possibly know what to do? We have never in living memory experienced anything of the scale, magnitude and impact of this pandemic. So how could we simply know? In the absence of knowing, what do we do? In my ongoing quest to answer my own question, I have found myself exploring and ...

Well, this has certainly been a year to remember... so many challenges, so many changes... and so fast. In many ways, our world is almost unrecognisable compared to this time last year. We have new norms around how we work, where we work and what work we do – or not do, as the case may be. Organisations and professions are dying, and others are being born, almost overnight. We are getting used to patterns and habits that we would never have imagined just a few months ago. I heard on the news the other day that there is concern ...

6 Key Skills “Organizations have embraced the practice of coaching to grow their human capital and advance their goals and mission. Managers and leaders who use the coach approach to management and leadership are better equipped to develop their team members’ value to their organizations, as well as influence their career paths” This quote from recent research conducted by the International Coaching Federation (ICF)* confirms the ongoing development and application of coaching skills and a coach approach within organisations. This important “muscle” within the leadership skillset is gradually becoming more mainstream as organisations increasingly realise and experience the benefits of ...

One of my favourite aspects of coaching psychology is the area of beliefs. I am fascinated by the concept of how several beliefs can cluster together around a core belief that seems to sit at the top of a hierarchy and yet is often hidden, nestled amongst those other supporting beliefs that seem almost to be seeking to hide and protect the central stem of that particular belief system. So often, the work can focus on changing some of those peripheral, supporting beliefs and yet this invariably leads only to short term change, because the core belief stays intact and ...

Back at the beginning of 2020, one could have been forgiven for thinking that COVID-19 was a worrying and yet soon-to-pass experience. With multiple efforts, adjustments and changes to more or less every aspect of our lives, it started to appear as though we were turning a corner and getting control of the pandemic… As of today, various parts of the world are now preparing for or engaging with the ‘second wave’, another potentially tidal avalanche of cases, deaths and all of the associated social, physical, psychological and economic implications that it brings. Some say it may even worse that ...

Many organisations have adopted the practice of coaching to support the engagement, development and performance of their employees. According to research by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), 83% of organisations surveyed plan to extend the scope of their managers and leaders using coaching skills during the next five years (see references). With the use of coaching skills by managers and leaders now forming a significant sector of the field of coaching, this marks an interesting trend pointing toward a more sustained and mainstream shift in the focus of leadership development and the range of skills expected from leaders today and ...

For the last few months, I've offered an invitation for individuals and organisations to carefully consider how they engage with and respond to the effects and implications of COVID-19 on their own lives and their organisations. Much of what I have read on this topic references terms such as: “post trauma” and “disaster recovery” and it doesn’t take much to see that this is a monumental experience for the whole of society and the human race across the globe. The approach that I’d like to share in this blog is that of “Build Back Better” (BBB). The concept of BBB ...

In last month’s post, I talked about leading towards the new normal and how the most effective leaders that I have been coaching all have one eye on dealing with getting through the current situation and the other eye firmly focused on the future. A key question they are contemplating is: How can I create the new normal and proactively design it rather than just wait for it to unfold and potentially be thrust upon me? Today, I'm further exploring the leadership philosophy of duality and the simultaneous focus on two equally challenging goals. My interest was triggered by a ...