Last week I joined several hours of the fabulous 24 hour conversation hosted by the Climate Coaching Alliance In this, and in other coaching forums I participate in, I notice that coaches passionately care about making a difference and contributing to tackling 21st century social and ecological challenges but so many feel STUCK in the “directive vs
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For many years I have worked in the field of developing leaders. I’ve prided myself on my ability to help clients find solutions to tricky leadership problems, develop skills for navigating stakeholder relationships and embed practices for thriving in demanding roles. Increasingly though, I have come to question whether most leadership development, training and coaching
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My children are at school. For 6 long months this has been the beacon on my horizon. The day when…. The sign that….. The moment of…… errrrr…… WHAT? What exactly is it that I have been so longingly anticipating, holding out for, even grasping after? A Release? A Return? Something new? I notice that something
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I volunteer for a global movement called Sidewalk Talk. We set up chairs in the streets and offer to listen to passers by. We don’t solve problems. We don’t give advice. We simply offer non-judgemental, empathic listening; the opportunity to sit with a stranger and be heard. Newcastle is at 55°N latitude. We had one
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Life is a roller coaster: An endlessly undulating, twisting journey of highs and lows, joy and sadness, aspiration and despair. As the Buddhists so neatly put it; suffering and happiness are part of the human condition and both are transitory: No mud, no lotus flower. Part of the journey, then, is to more fully embrace and
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The coaching marketplace has grown significantly over the past 15 or so years that I’ve been in it. Not least in the diversity of the coaching offerings out there. Perhaps one defining principle that all have in common, though, is that coaching is about change. Yet despite this, could coaching professionals themselves have a tendency
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There is no doubt that the world we live in is one of complex, ever-changing uncertainty. Nothing new about that – it’s the nature of the universe! Yet we are told that disruptive change in business, the pace of technological development and the change in our global ecosystem is accelerating like never before. Our world
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My colleague and I recently ran a little coaching experiment. We offered 60-minute coaching sessions to 10 leaders from different industries, countries and age groups without cost. Why? So we could find out more about the challenges leaders are facing and whether our coaching style could help. So what did most leaders want to
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Sometimes my work involves a lot of travel. The work itself is inspiring. I meet amazing people, striving to make a difference in their workplaces and I visit some wonderful parts of the world. The travel, on the other hand, is not always as inspiring. Take my most recent business trip. I was one of
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Last summer I was invited to work with the GB World Orienteering Championships team as a ‘guest’ coach. Excited by memories of my youthful sporting days and the thrill of international competition I packed my bags full of anticipation and set off for the forests of Sweden. Arriving at camp GB, I felt like I’d
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