A WHOLE PERSON APPROACH TO COACHING

Organisations are recognising the power of coaching as means of enabling change. Yet focusing on performance alone is unlikely to enable and sustain the level of transformation required for the pace and complexity of today’s world.

Meaningful and lasting change for both individual and organisation is, in my experience, only brought about by engaging with the whole person – head, heart and soul.

It requires courage to work at a deeper level as a coach – and as a client. It makes us vulnerable in ways that may be unfamiliar.

And it also takes great courage in the commissioning organisation, for it empowers clients to influence new cultures benefiting people as well as bottom line results, rather than simply enabling individuals to fit into an unhealthy culture, or in some cases perpetuating it.

In both my research and in my experience as an organisational coach, I have come to believe that coaching is most effective when the organisational context allows freedom to work with the whole person. coaching the ‘leader in life’ is more powerful and sustainable than just the ‘leader in work’. I say this because you can’t separate people from their contexts, their history, their personal as well as their work lives.  Such a separation, whilst commonplace is unhelpful. It is denying a whole set of personal resources that could be the very thing that helps a leader within an organisational context take the step they are longing to take.

Going beyond the issues being presented by the client to what might be the root causes of those issues is only made possible by the strength, depth and trust of the relationship. If there is a strong enough relationship between the coach and the client then so much more is possible. More trust, more support, more challenge if needed.

One of the distinguishing elements of working with courage and depth as a whole person coach is being willing to make explicit the ‘not knowing’ of the coach in the coaching relationship. An intentional move away from the expert model to a developmental relationship between peers, where one person holds a specific and mutually understood role. In this paradigm the power is shared, we work it out together and we make the coaching process work together. As a coach in this approach, I am released from having to work miracles as we are both responsible. In my research, I noticed that when this happened, it created a levelling of the relationship, which opened the door for more challenging discussions. This provided a development opportunity for the client to work within a more peer-based relationship mirroring the culture that the organisation wanted to develop.

I mentioned vulnerability earlier. I make no apologies when I say that preparedness to show some level of vulnerability as a coach allows for the coach to ‘be with’ as well as ‘be for’ the client. The openness of approach and degree to which vulnerability is allowed and welcomed by both parties is a dynamic process and requires care and attention. The benefits are clear. We know that vulnerability builds trust, a sense of allowing and being with. It is the antithesis of some organisational cultures; it can indeed feel counter-culture or ‘not professional’. However, those who are coached in this way report a sense of genuine safety and licence to be their authentic selves. The outcome is often experienced as a tangible uplift in personal confidence and a strength to try new things; to take new steps. These benefits are personal and are inevitably positive for the commissioning organisation.

To coach in this way requires a coach’s commitment to on-going development of themselves. In fact, it’s crucial to the practice. The deep understanding of one’s own inner self, and acceptance of one’s own vulnerabilities could be argued is a necessity for a successful whole person approach. It is also the gateway to deep personal enjoyment and satisfaction in your coaching contribution.

This holistic, relational and transformative approach has a significant impact on individuals and helps facilitate the move towards a more distributed leadership approach in organisations.

At its heart, working with the whole person rather than relying on a well-trodden framework or approach represents a new paradigm and is what makes it so exciting. It’s not so much a model as an approach that calls for people to be more fully human, both as a coach and as the client. This enables the development of a deep relationship and creates an environment for transformational change and development.

Carole Ann Jones

How Oasis can provide whole-person focused coaching training

Take a look at our Coaching with Head Heart and Soul programme for more information on the coaching programmes we offer at Oasis. For more information, please contact us or email info@oasishumanrelations.org.uk.