The Greek Philosophers Aristotle, Socrates and Plato taught and lived this very same thought. They exhorted people to become philosophers themselves, to train their minds, to find out more about themselves. For they firmly believed that the answer to all questions lay within oneself. That by finding out those answers, one reached a state of tranquility that transcended oneself and overflowed into the environment enriching the world we live in.
The word philosophy itself is derived from the Greek words “Philo” meaning love and “Sophia” meaning wisdom. Therefore philosophy is the love of wisdom and the seeking of knowledge.
As Socrates famously said,
The unexamined life is not worth living.
Socrates firmly believed that that the best way for people to live was to focus on self-development rather than the pursuit of material wealth
William Ralph Inge, professor of divinity at Cambridge, and Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral famously said:
The object of studying philosophy is to know one’s own mind, not other people’s
The rationalists and the spiritualists unite in their fundamental thinking about the broader outlook on human life.
How does Coaching tie in with these strains of thought?
Coaching addresses the individual, the primary unit of our society, the individual’s dreams, desires and challenges. When the individual is made robust and stable, it’s like a strong Oak tree, firmly rooted and giving shade to those around. But to be of service to others, it is necessary to be stable in oneself.
The word ‘self’ is key in individual growth. As gleaned from ancient wisdom and even modern day reality, we know that any change that has to be effective and sustainable needs to be self-initiated. It has to come from the self and not from the environment.
The principles of coaching are exactly in alignment with this thought. The principles being that the client is always in the driver’s seat. The Client brings the agenda and topic to the coaching space. The Client determines the goal and the outcome. The coach has no say in the goal, only in supporting the Client reach their self-designed goal.
Sometimes it may occur that a Coach for whatever reasons may not agree with the client’s philosophy and desired outcome. In which case, it is the moral and professional duty of the coach to withdraw from the contract. This is clearly stipulated in the ICF code of Ethics and trained by every good Coach Certification program. (ICF). In every coaching case, the Client and the Client’s agenda are honored. And all effort is taken to protect the integrity of the Clients and the integrity of their agenda. This is the very reason that the “coaching fit” is of tantamount importance in every coaching alliance. This ensures the best possible outcome and in many cases a much more enriching result than what the client originally envisioned.
It is always the client who needs to be catered to and any form of suggestion, advice, or leading is not present in good coaching. This is unique to coaching and this very same aspect makes coaching stand out from Therapy and Consultation.
A Coach only facilitates, provides a space and moderates the process for the client. The Coach motivates, enthuses, challenges, reflects, mirrors and acts as a sounding board in order to advance the Client’s agenda in a judgement-free and open space. The coach helps remove blinkers which might be impeding growth. This is an ideal medium for tremendous growth. Coaching brings out possibilities, open new options and leaves the client even with the responsibility of action. Even inaction is explored with pure curiosity and there will not be pressure from the coach to action if the inaction is found to be serving the client better in the given situation.
There are powerful techniques used in coaching which open up the space for the client. Powerful questions are used, which are judgement free inviting clients to look into themselves without pressure. When coaches employs Powerful listening, they honour their Clients and give the space for their Clients’ thoughts and silences which is held and respected by the coaches, adding that much more depth and significance to the space.
This then becomes a safe haven for the clients to voice out their innermost feelings which they never may have had an opportunity for ever in their lives. And a lot times that feels very foreign to the client simply it’s never been practiced or experienced in their lives. And that makes it all the more powerful and effective.
By encouraging and acknowledging, the coach encourages the Clients to be clam and accepting of their state in order to be able to explore the “being” and thus to come to a state of sustainability.
When is coaching sought out?
When an individual is seeking a resource to reach a dream or when s/he is stuck or is faced with problems.
The beauty of coaching is that the Coach acts as a resource and not an answer. The individual is empowered to think on his/her own, to draw upon tangible and intangible strengths. The coach helps the client to dig deep within themselves to find answers that best suit them. Every person is unique and so are their circumstances. The best possible solution is reached by organizing this data and making the best sense out of this. This is precisely what a coach helps us do.
A coach can help us become aware of strengths we never had, recognise patterns, challenge certain conditioning to help us understand ourselves better.
When we discover ourselves more fully, become more aware, we are able to leverage our own unique situation and find the right fit to our jigsaw puzzle.
The coach along with the client co-creates structures that empower the client to continue to sustain these new insights and to grow.
In my practice, I have co-created tools unique to my clients in the form of questionnaires to ponder about when they find themselves in a familiar “stuck’’ situation. This has proved to be immensely helpful for them to swim ashore. Another technique that promotes autonomy and sustainability is the NLP technique of having an object to hold to transport the client to safe and reassuring space when confronted or threatened. There are other exercises like Journaling, Yoga, meditation, visual motivation boards, organizers, centering exercises which have proven to be very effective in my practice as structures that help these insights become habits and support sustainability.
Another effective mechanism is the use of post session forms which enable the client to articulate and condense the session and engage in a self-reflective process in filling the form.
Co-designing actions that will be reflected upon in future is a wonderful way of laying foundations for new habits and letting that be slowly ingrained in Clients. Holding clients then accountable and supporting them wade through the challenges in the initial phases is a tremendous reinforcement. Once in the track, clients can easily fall back on these options and structures to continue to operate autonomously.
All these exercises and best practices promote autonomy and sustainability on the Client’s terms.
Evidence and Research
Is coaching really effective and do the results sustain even after the end of the engagement?
The answer is a resounding yes!
All these results show that coaching results are qualitatively and quantitatively assessable. Coaching has been found effective and the results are sustainable long after the engagements drew to an end as evidenced by collection of feedback.
Conclusion
Coaching is a process that is focused primarily on the individual, the individual’s dreams and aspirations.
Unlike consulting where there is a standard solution or a dictated solution, through coaching one finds one’s own unique solution and arrives at the destination faster and more painlessly simply because we’re taking the entirety of the individual and resources as opposed to just an external plan.
When individuals are fulfilled, they operate from a stable base and contribute to themselves and around them. Then a positive functioning of our society will be a natural by-product of this healthy state of being as opposed to struggling to arrive at this state by fighting what our primary instincts are.
As the primary unit of our society, the individual has tremendous influence. Time and time again we have seen how the sheer will of a single individual has determined the course of many. The satisfaction or dissatisfaction of one single individual affect the quality of life for many around him.
Individuals come together to form partnerships. Partnerships flourish into families, forming communities, neighbourhoods, townships and cities. Regional identities are developed, politically segregated as states and nations and finally the world comes together to coexist, dependent on each other.
When the individuals are fulfilled, they operate from a stable base and contribute to themselves and around them. Then a positive functioning of our society will be a natural by-product of this healthy state of being as opposed to struggling to arrive at this state by fighting what our primary instincts are.
For the millennial old concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam to exist and sustain, each and every member should be honoured and feel fulfilled.
The concept originates in the Vedic scripture Maha Upanishad
अयं बन्धुरयं नेति गणना लघुचेिसां उदारचररिानां िु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकं ayam bandhurayam neti ganana laghuchetasam udaracharitanam tu vasudhaiva kutumbakam
Only small men discriminate saying: One is a relative; the other is a stranger. For those who live magnanimously the entire world constitutes but a family. (Maha Upanishad chapter 6, Verse 72)
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