The struggle for gender equality has been the pioneer for all the other aspects of diversity and inclusion we now recognise in the developed world. The way diverse groups increasingly find a voice, the policies governments and corporations adopt to accommodate the needs of diverse groups and the rhetoric of diversity owe a massive debt (more…)
A frequent comment from coaches on our team coaching workshops is that the two most commonly quoted models of team development don’t seem to work well in a coaching environment. There are several reasons for this. One is that the teams coaches are asked to work with are typically already well-established, rather than in the (more…)
While it’s not essential always essential to have a co-coach, the benefits of doing so are substantial, especially if the team you are working with is more than four people. So, what should you look for in a co-coach? Here are some useful questions to consider: It’s also helpful to consider having a panel of (more…)
Whether working with an individual or a team, coaches frequently become aware of the existence of pain. Sometimes we feel that pain for and with them. Instinctively, we try to locate the pain, so that we can ease their suffering. And often that leads us to focus on the wrong thing. Much of the time,...
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When I reflect on what I am grateful for, high on the list is having a son with Down Syndrome. Today (21st March, 2024) is World Down Syndrome Day – an annual event to celebrate the benefits that people with learning difficulties can bring to the world. A few weeks ago, my son Jonathan competed (more…)
When I first heard of coaching sessions, where both coach and client talk as they knit, my first thought was someone was trying to pull the wool over my eyes. There’s enough clack clack going on in many coaching conversations as it is. However, a recent paper from the Serbian Institute of Applied Coaching Psychology (more…)
Dialogue in mentoring, and in related disciplines such as coaching, can be regarded as having seven layers of increasing depth and impact. This short paper provides some guidelines on how to develop the skills of dialogue at each level. Transactional conversations are not really dialogue at all. They are, for example, the kind of conversation (more…)
Somewhere in my files is a note on a piece of research a few years ago, which explored how people’s response to the world evolved as they became more senior in the corporate world. It suggested that decreasing direct involvement with stakeholders and increasing exposure to numbers reduced people’s humanity. It’s another take on “all (more…)
Creating a personal balance between the work-related and non-work-related parts of our lives is becoming increasingly difficult. There are fewer and fewer places I can go, where no-one one can reach me by text, email or telephone. And while I enjoy some solitude, I want to stay connected to my family, so I’m reluctant to (more…)
One of the first things I often ask when getting to know a team is: “What’s the point of this team?” followed by “So, how does it add value and who to?” Almost without exception, this conversation leads the team to question its priorities and how they work together. It’s a shift from thinking about (more…)