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Part one: People actively making good things happen

It was summer in Madrid, and the 2011 International Coach Federation (ICF) European conference was discussing the economic, social and environmental crises facing us. Things obviously needed to change.

One question shared by many as they left was:
“OK, I get it. But what can I do?”

So this article explores just that question, both as professionals and as a profession.

In part one, we hear from people who are actively making good things happen in the world. We define this as people whose actions were benefiting at least two out of three of sustainability expert John Elkington’s “triple bottom line” of people, planet, profit. Future features will share the perspectives of coaches and mentors working with these people, and the role the professional bodies see themselves as having.

In bringing this series together, in the past year we have listened to more than 100 such people who are making good things happen. Much of what we heard has reinforced what we know to be true about coaching and mentoring and their positive impacts. But we’ve also heard tough, gritty stories and experiences. Some of these challenge us if we are to truly help the people at the cutting edge.

THE LIGHT SIDE: CASE STUDIES REINFORCING WHAT WE KNOW TO BE TRUE

Finding the right thing

Lizzie (surname provided) is head of education planning in part of the NHS. She wants to help make a difference to the quality of nursing.

“Getting coaching was one of the best things I ever did. It made me realise my meaningful journey. I know I’m doing the right thing and I have the confidence to do it.”

Someone to listen and ask the right questions

Hermione Taylor set up TheDoNation.org.uk for people to pledge actions, not money.

She has had mixed experience with mentors: “The first talked at me and gave solutions. By contrast, my current mentor even proofread our business plan and gave us feedback, so she got us from the outset. What helps is to have someone to listen and ask questions. I mainly come up with the answers – or at least I feel I do – she’s probably very skilfully asked me the right questions!”

Creating another world

Phil Stebbing is a film producer, director and cameraman. From his teens he has been asking himself “What other world can we create?” After making films about gay rights, racism and pirate fishing, he set up an organisation on the theme of Lifeline.

Three film groups would spend a year recording examples of good things people are up to. He got huge support.

“The coaching really grounded me,” he recalls. “Every time I put the phone down I felt I’d grown up. I was clearer about the project and what I needed to do. It’s not about getting advice – it’s a chance to sound out.”

Getting good advice, but not too much

Sometimes advice is exactly what people are seeking.

Jane Burston is founder of award-winning Carbon Retirement. It would be easy to say she ‘knows it all’, but she has two mentors.

One is a ‘wise friend’. They meet and talk strategy every two months. “It helps me see the wider perspective. And they are very good at challenging, at asking tough questions.”

She also has a pro-bono mentor from a large corporation. They were matched by Business in the Community, and they focus on marketing and communications.

“When you’re running something on your own you’re unlikely to be expert in all things,” she comments sagely.

But care is required: “Know what works. You can get too much advice and have too many people to keep on board.”

Clients learning coaching techniques

Georgie Burr is a Bike It officer for Sustrans, helping to increase cycling at 12 schools. Her mission is “to remove the barriers that prevent people from cycling”. Apparently, 49 per cent of children want to cycle to school but only 2 per cent do. The main challenge is dealing with people’s fears, such as traffic, bike theft, flat tyres and finding a route.

Experiencing coaching has had an effect: “I’ve found the best way is to ask lots of questions. And listen.”

THE SHADOW SIDE: WHAT AREN’T WE ADDRESSING?

Do we bring our agenda to the conversation?

Julie Hill is a board member of a large regulatory agency and of the Eden Project, author of The Secret Life of Stuff and adviser to the 
Green Alliance.

Should we bring clients’ attention to what we care about?

She has no doubt: “Responsible coaching includes asking where you sit as an individual in relation to the bigger social and environmental picture. The time for wilfully ignoring this has passed.”

Should we bring the (our?) wider agenda into the conversation?
If so, how might we do this?

Changing the world can seem overwhelming

Julie sees a great role for coaching by helping individuals and organisations work out how to tackle the big issues.

“Many people feel responsibility towards the common good, but the problems are complex. It can feel isolating, frustrating, crushing. Coaching can help – discerning where I can best play my part, and how to cope with the rest.”

Amid this complexity, do we prefer our clients to deal with bite-sized problems that can be solved in a session?
Can we act with integrity? What are we doing ourselves to embrace and experience the challenges and play our part?

Bigger inner conflicts

One theme emerging in all our interviews was the inner journey that is matching the outer journey.

For people at the cutting edge, changing thinking and demonstrating new ways of thinking, doing and being the challenges can be very pronounced.

Jon Alexander works for the UK National Trust. His projects include a feature length film about human beings’ separation from nature and MyFarm, where people make decisions about managing a farm.

Jon sees a deep conflict between the desire to increase the pace of change and realising that the important change is slowing down.

How comfortable are we with paradoxes and ambiguity?
Do we have an agenda we’re blind to? For example, does ‘better’ means achieve more, go faster, gather more, higher performance and continuous growth – given the truth of a finite world?

Bruising experiences

As Lizzie identifies: “Big changes create big difficulties.”

Jon confides: “Coaching can help deal with some of the ‘internal bruising’ that happens when individuals take on these complex and controversial challenges.”

Julie adds: “A coach can develop a subtle understanding of how you are made up, and then help you work out how to play your role in complex situations and organisations while staying true 
to yourself.”

Do our beliefs around ‘bruising experiences’ best serve the client? For example, are such experiences to be avoided or an inescapable part of a meaningful life?

It can be risky

Phil’s project had three teams who were ready to travel the world. Then the financial crisis really hit. The funding dried up and the project collapsed, leaving debt – and a sobering experience to reflect on.

But these things can happen. Many of those we interviewed had gone through periods of great anxiety, exhaustion, scarcity, fear.

How well are we inviting people to explore: ‘What could go wrong?’

The ego in doing good

Phil highlights another potentially dangerous side of doing good. “People support you, pat you on the back, say good things. It feels good. The ambition to do good can give us meaning. But the ‘It’ can become us. As it raises our self-esteem we can find this is more about the ego.”

How do we keep our egos out of the way, and help clients recognise when theirs may be leading them to problems?

Are we afraid of the dark?

As a profession, positivity can become almost obsessive. Was Phil’s period in the dark something to fear? It left him with many enlightening realisations. Perhaps being in the media has honed his ability for quotable quotes. In the interview they spilled out:

“You have to meet failure in the face. It’s a great teacher.”

“You don’t need to achieve great things. But you do need to have good intentions.”

“Sometimes you have to let go of something you care about before it drags you down.”

For Phil, this journey through darkness became an awakening.

“It was a rediscovery of Who am I? What’s it all about? An awareness of being able to judge when ‘meaning’ is not inflating the ego. Of being sustainable myself.”

And at no point giving energy he does not have. “Your first responsibility is to yourself. Only then can you look after others.”

What is our role when our client is in a dark part of their journey?
How well are you looking after yourself?

Final words

For people doing good in the world, coaching and mentoring have a hugely supportive role – in the activity of getting things done, and in the personal resilience and growth from the journey.

Lizzie believes that “corporate training is ineffective compared to coaching. Coaching cuts through to what really matters.”

As Burr says: “Coaching and mentoring clearly maximise change in business. We should be using them to maximise social change.”

It’s clear that this is about more than just ‘doing good’. For the people making good things happen, this journey often involves exploring the deepest questions of life itself. As coaches and mentors we have a powerful, poignant and privileged place of service. n

Neil Scotton and Alister Scott are co-founders of the One Leadership Project, dedicated to enabling catalysts and catalytic leadership

www.enablingcatalysts.com
Twitter: OneLeadership

Next issue: We talk to coaches and mentors working with the people making good things happen.

What do you think?

Join the discussion at www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2274910
Or Tweet under #whatcanwedo

See ICF conference report: WWW.COACHING-AT-WORK.COM/2011/07/08/CONFERENCE-ROUNDUP-ICF-EUROPEAN-CONFERENCE-MADRID-16-18-JUNE-2011/

Core themes

THE LIGHT SIDE

We know coaching and mentoring helps people:

• Connect with what’s really important to them – a big help for meaning, purpose, direction, attracting support and resilience
• Find advice and answers as they step into their unknown
• Deal with the loneliness at the edge – listening itself is transformative
• Learn coaching and mentoring tools they can use themselves
• Address the whole of their life and work and legacy – and the world around them and future generations – as one system

THE DARK SIDE

Coaching and mentoring has to learn to help people:

• Recognise that the outer journey is matched by the inner journey – the bigger the dream, the bigger the inner challenges that will arise
• Realise that existing systems and paradigms are strong – tackling them can be very bruising
• Learn that part of the shift they are helping to make happen is from over-simplicity 
to embracing complexity – it can be overwhelming, frustrating and may give a sense of inadequacy
• Understand that it can be genuinely risky, and the desire to do good (and the encouragement received while doing it) can twist the ego and blind them to what’s required to look after themselves

Getting coaching was one of the best things I ever did. It made me realise my meaningful journey

Coaching and mentoring clearly maximise change in business. We should be using them to maximise social change

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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In tough times, coaching buyers expect fast results. But how can we get them to appreciate the long-term benefits?

Coaching has established itself as a growing industry worldwide. The 2007 International Coach Federation coaching survey estimated that the industry generated US$1.5bn in revenue and Carr (2005) estimated the number of coaches to be approaching 30,000.

Coaching has become a significant part of leadership development activities (Corporate Leadership Council, 2003). Zenger and Stinnett (2006) estimated that 70 per cent of organisations with formal leadership development initiatives were using coaching as a key ingredient.

Yet, in today’s tough economic environment, organisations employing coaches are increasingly asking about their return on investment. It’s an important question, but foremost I often ask chief executives and HR directors: “How does your organisation learn from the thousands of coaching conversations that take place in it?”

Most struggle to find an answer, but it leads to a fruitful dialogue on how to develop a better strategy and create links between coaching and organisational learning and performance.

When training individuals, team coaches and supervisors, I will often ask the question the Knight Parsifal failed to ask on his arrival at the Grail Castle: “Whom and what does your coaching serve?” Many will talk about the need to serve both the individual or team client and the organisation. I will then ask how it creates value for the organisation. Many coaches struggle to articulate the links.

In my forthcoming coaching book, Creating a Coaching Culture (OUP/McGraw Hill, April 2012), I look at what more than 30 organisations have done to develop an integrated coaching strategy that links their coaching inputs to the organisational learning and development outputs, to the outcome of increased ‘shared value’ for the organisation and its stakeholders (see Porter and Kramer, Harvard Business Review, January 2011). I show how an organisation can review its coaching activities and build a more successful strategy, linked to the mission, vision and strategy of the organisation, and offer a roadmap of seven important steps in creating a coaching culture:

• 1. Developing an effective panel of external coaches.
• 2. Developing the internal coaching and mentoring capacity.
• 3. The organisation’s leaders actively support coaching endeavours and align them with the organisational culture change.
• 4. Coaching moves beyond individual formal sessions to team coaching and organisational learning.
• 5. Coaching becomes embedded in the HR and performance management processes of the organisation.
• 6. Coaching becomes the predominant style for managing throughout the organisation.
• 7. Coaching becomes how an organisation does business with all its stakeholders.

Nevertheless, a good business-linked coaching strategy, plus these seven steps, are not sufficient in themselves: good quality review processes, including supervision, evaluation and research, also underpin a high-performing organisation supported by a coaching culture.

In these straitened economic times, there is increasing pressure for coaching to demonstrate its return on investment and increase its capacity not only to develop leaders in a cost-effective manner, but to play its part in effectively developing the organisation to better succeed in a volatile and fast-changing world.

Coaching must create a stronger and clearer link to organisational benefit if it is to weather economic recessions.

Professor Peter Hawkins is emeritus chairman of the Bath Consultancy Group and professor of leadership, Henley Business School.
peter.hawkins@bathconsultancygroup.com

How does your organisation learn from the thousands of coaching conversations that take place?

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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James is responsible for coaching in his organisation. The business has built up its coaching offer over the past eight years. At first, it ‘tested the water’, employing a couple of external coaches who worked with a few executives. Over time this grew to include the majority of the top 5 per cent in the company as well as individuals identified as top talent in the succession plan.

About three years ago, the organisation introduced internal coaching to make coaching available to a greater number of managers and professionals. The coaches were trained with a leading coach training company and, after a few teething problems with ‘supply and demand’, the internal coaching began to do well.

However, it doesn’t look as if it will be all roses in the garden in the future. Like many organisations recently, the learning and development budget has been under constant scrutiny and threat. It seems as if this will be even more the case during the next year.

James is concerned that all the hard work to date could be undone. How can he increase the impact and reputation of coaching to reduce the chances of significant cuts to the coaching budget, and to capitalise on successes thus far?

Gil Schwenk

Executive coach, supervisor and team coach, Bath Consultancy Group

James’ situation is very common. So what actions can he take to increase the value of coaching?

Does the organisation have a coaching strategy? How is it related to business strategy and recession survival tactics? What are the ‘big issues’ the organisation is facing? Who are the owners of these issues? How could coaching add real value?

James could consider three-way contracting with the client, manager and coach, to increase the accountability of coaching. It will stop all coaching that does not detail its purpose, number of sessions, cost and clear outcomes. This will certainly get the attention of the coaches.

Organisations that have a clear focus on who has coaching achieve the greatest value. Criteria could include: a) individuals who are working on system-wide change, b) individuals recently promoted to a new level, and c) developmental challenges identified in performance management or personal development planning.

Ensure supervision. We find that consistent one-to-one or fixed group supervision works best to develop the capability and impact of coaches.

One of the best ways to show value 
is to ‘publish’ coaching case studies. A few sentence stems will make it easier:

• I decided to have coaching because…
• With the help of my manager and coach, we agreed on coaching outcomes…
• As a result of the coaching, I realised… I now [behaviour or action]…
• The benefit to [person/group/organisation] is …

Ensure supervision. We find that consistent one-to-one or fixed group supervision works best to develop the capability and impact of coaches

Bob Garvey

Professor of business education, York St John University Business School

People who experience coaching know it ‘works’, but not in predictable ways. The challenge of Change is that managers lose confidence and revert to type. They slip into ‘cutting’ and ‘prove it’ mode. And ‘cutting’ has a negative effect on people.

This business, after three years, is surely over the ‘prove’ it stage. If not, coaching remains optional.

Coaching has the potential for real and relatively painless continuous change. But it requires a major change in the discourse of managers. The dominant management discourse is quasi-scientific, derived from Socrates. It is mainly about power, and cause and effect decision-making; a ‘technical’ discourse that translates into organisational policies based on ‘good practice’ thinking. It creates ‘objective’ standards, competency and ethical frameworks; objectives and ‘objective’ measurement. Given that objectivity in human affairs is “a figment of our minds; it does not exist in nature” (Skolimowski, p42), management has been barking up the wrong tree for years.

Coaching comes from a different discourse – a humanistic one that values learning and cedes power with notions such as the ‘coachee’s agenda’.

Sadly, coaches often subscribe to two discourses – the technical and the discourse of coaching. While practitioners ape the dominant management discourse and live in another discourse when coaching, there will be no change.

H Skolimowski, Living Philosophy, Arkana, London, 1992

Coaching has the potential for real and relatively painless continuous change. But it requires a major change in the discourse of managers

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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1 The tool

What is it?

The HeartMath system is a combination of tools and technology that helps people tune in to their “heart’s intelligence” to maximise health, balance and performance.

These highly practical tools help clients access clearer thinking and experience the heart of who they are.

When the signal from the heart to the brain is “coherent”, a smooth heart rhythm sends a clear, ordered signal to the brain. According to HeathMath’s providers, we are then able to access the intelligence that resides in the brain, so the heart and brain become synchronised.

To do this we focus our breathing around our heart and recall, then relive, heartfelt emotions, such as appreciation, courage and compassion. The wisdom of the heart becomes more engaged in what we are doing and our outcomes are more productive, efficient and fulfilling.

When we are out of coherence – hampered by negative emotions – our heart rhythms become more jagged, and we experience energy drain. Our effectiveness will then be diluted.

The HeartMath technology includes a desktop or handheld wave monitor, which allows clients to look at their level of coherence and heart–wave rhythms in real time (the technology does not measure feelings, rather, the autonomic nervous system’s synchronisation).

Once they have correlated their coherence with how they are feeling, using the HeartMath exercises, they are able to “access an emotional landscape that is healthy, resilient and balanced”.

For more on the tools, techniques, technologies and coaching methodology available on the one-to-one HeartMath provider programme offered through licensed provider Ei World, contact: www.eiworld.org

How does it work?

The HeartMath one-to-one programme aims to increase the ratio of time spent in coherence. There are a number of HeartMath tools, such as the Neutral tool, and the Quick Coherence, Heart Lock-In and Freeze-Frame techniques.

The emWave Desktop technology can help the client immediately notice their baseline coherence, and by applying these exercises shift it upwards.

A HeartMath provider chooses from a series of six workbooks that enable a client to focus on a specific aspect of everyday life, eg, work performance, stress and health and vitality. This gives the client a comprehensive programme for working on their challenges during and between coaching sessions.

The Quick Coherence technique allows clients to connect with their “energetic heart zone” to release stress and balance emotions. The technique only takes a minute to do. Thus, focus, intuition and decision-making can be improved almost immediately. Here’s how it works:

Quick Coherence technique

• Heart Focus
  The client is invited to focus their attention in the area of the heart. Sometimes it helps clients to put their hand over their heart. I tell my clients that if their mind wanders, to gently guide it back to the heart, writes Jill Savage.
• Heart Breathing
  I then invite my clients to focus on their heart and imagine their breath flowing in and out of that area. This helps clients to focus mind and energy in the heart area. I invite them to breathe slowly and gently to a count of five or six, through the heart, until their breathing feels smooth and balanced.
• Heart Feeling
  I invite clients to recall, then relive, a positive feeling as they are breathing through the heart. I invite them to allow this feeling gently to manifest itself, and then sustain it through Heart Focus, Heart Breathing and Heart Feeling. The goal is to ‘feel’, not just ‘think’ about, a positive feeling.

2 The administrator

Using the tool

In supervision, the HeartMath tools can be used with clients in a number of ways. They can develop the resilient coach, allowing clients to practise HeartMath techniques for self-care and well-being. They are also useful when we experience stuckness.

In supervision, if my client is triggered by their coaching client into using stressful patterns, the HeartMath tools can help see the situation with our authentic selves by taking charge of our emotional reactions. With the emWave2 technology, clients are 
able to store, retrieve and print out their results so they can track their levels of coherence.

Jill Savage is a performance development coach and a coach supervisor working as an associate with The Beech Consultancy. She is a licensed 1:1 HeartMath practitioner through Ei World

3 The client

The experience

I work as a senior performance development coach with The Beech Consultancy and regularly have peer supervision with Jill. I wanted to develop how I show up for my clients.

The application

Jill invited me to reflect on my own unique emotional landscape and to consider where I wanted to be as a coach for my clients. My intention is always to be available for my clients in a way that provides both connection and learning.

She asked me to see my level of coherence in real time. By using the emWave2 technology on the desktop I could see where my baseline was. Then Jill talked me through the steps for the Quick Coherence technique. I noticed my heart wave rhythms were smooth and I felt more at ease and expansive. The desktop indicated I was operating mainly in the green zone – a measure of high coherence. Jill said I looked softer and had visibly relaxed.

It was fascinating to experience how the coherence could be disturbed. Simple things, such as a change in the style of music we were listening to, actually shifted the patterns.

The verdict

The HeartMath tools and techniques are a way to access deeper self-awareness and self-management, which are both essential for being an effective coach.

They are powerful and yet simple exercises that I can use before and during a session to allow me to tap into my heart’s wisdom and gently clear any interference.

Peter Blackeby is a senior performance development coach with The Beech Consultancy



The pros and cons of the HeartMath system

UPSIDE

• Supports health, well-being and performance
• Real-time visual technology/data
• Widely researched
• Highly practical
• Enhances cognitive thinking
• Discusses the client not the tool
• Good for stress management coaching, supervision and personal development
• Techniques are used beyond the session
• Quick and easy

DOWNSIDE

• Accreditation needed
• Daily practice of techniques required
• Some jargon and scientific language
• Technology can be seen as gimmicky
• Needs time for maximum impact
• Some clients might resist working with feelings

 HeartMath, Heart Lock-in and Freeze-Frame are registered trademarks of the Institute of HeartMath.Quick Coherence is a registered trademark of Doc Childre.  emWave and Heart Intelligence are registered trademarks of Quantum Intech, Inc.

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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This issue: Adopting coaching as a management style – how to introduce your new approach to your team

Managers who develop workplace coaching skills learn that they can’t simply provide answers. It implies that they need to ask the right questions at the right time, and to trust in the team to find their own answers. For many managers, used to providing the solution, this is a real challenge.

There is also an impact on the team. The change in the manager’s behaviour and the new management style will create a new team culture. Team members may struggle with their more active role. They may be puzzled or even feel threatened.

To ensure a successful transition, managers must take charge of the process. They need to involve team members from the start, as you would in any change situation.

We propose a five-step plan that managers can follow with their team:

1. Prepare to talk about the change

Before explaining a change in management style make sure you understand it yourself. Be clear about what you will be doing differently, and why. Consider the impact if you were to take the team by surprise.

Prepare to share your intentions with your team. This openness will encourage trust between you.

2. Share the change

Create the occasion to talk to the team, both as a group and one to one. Explain what the change entails and emphasise the benefits for both the team and individuals. Bringing the team up to speed and managing expectations, enables them to be more at ease with the process.

3. Make the team part of it

No matter how certain you are, you still can’t do it on your own. Make your team members aware that this is new territory for you as well – you are in it together. By making them part of a common learning process, you give yourself permission to experiment, openly use support material and even make mistakes, especially at the start.

4. Validate the change

Set up a review system to ensure continuity and validation. This will facilitate regular, mutual feedback, both formally and informally, about the new way of doing things.

Reinforce positive experiences and talk about what could be done differently. Show you are open to discussion and can learn from your co-workers. It strengthens ownership of the culture you are creating together.

5. Sustain the change

Create a support network around you. Reach out to like-minded managers both within and outside your company. Share your experiences and explore with them the benefits of adopting coaching as a management style. This will not only accelerate your learning process, but also avoid isolation.

Introducing coaching as a new management style implies a major change in behaviour, attitude and expectations in managers and team members. It cannot be improvised. While applying the five-step plan, managers must demonstrate they are committed and that their new behaviour is authentic.

Maureen Steele, based in Geneva, is an associate with The Training Box maureen@thetrainingbox.eu.com

Cristina Bianchi is managing director of Enhance Training and Development in Bassins, Switzerland www.enhance-td.com

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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Coaching ethics focuses on the principles and values that affect how we conduct ourselves and make decisions in our coaching.

Ethical dilemmas are an everyday occurrence in coaching. They often happen because of a misalignment between the client’s and the organisation’s agendas, particularly when it comes to showing evidence of return on investment.

For instance, the client wants to be coached into another organisation, however the sponsor wants the individual to stay. Maybe the client wants to explore his development needs, but the organisation wants the coach to report on their suitability for future positions. Perhaps the coach/manager wants to delegate greater responsibility to his report so he can develop new skills, but he needs to meet demanding targets and this means relying on team members (Hawkins & Smith, 2006).

Issues for the coach include: who is the client, what to disclose, conflicts of loyalties and interests, how to maintain trust and confidentiality while managing the boundaries and respecting the client’s privacy.

Coaches aim to resolve these dilemmas in advance, but they often have to establish working arrangements as they go along, leading to tension.

Peltier (2001) advises a two-pronged approach: direct and explicit discussions with all stakeholders, and the coach’s involvement in establishing consensus norms/codes of conduct through discussions in industry journals and the various coaching bodies and associations.

Developing standards

To handle the complexity of the ethical dilemmas in the coaching process, the coach can adhere to a recognised code of conduct. Although there is still no agreed single code (Lane, 2011), standards are in development. For example, the statement of shared professional values agreed by professional bodies in the UK in 2008, with the overarching principle that “every coach needs to abide by a code of governing ethics and apply acknowledged standards to the performance of their coaching work” (UK ICF, 2008).

There is still concern among buyers of coaching services about standards of practice (Lane, 2011). Also, Berglas (2002), Peltier (2001) and Sherman and Freas (2004), outline the risks to the client and the profession of unethical, unprofessional and unregulated coaching practice.

The main coaching associations and bodies met in Dublin in 2008 to produce common principles (Reputation, Continuous Competence Enhancement, Client-centred, Confidentiality and Standards) to guide the coach in his search for ethical competence and maturity.

Ethical maturity requires courage and self-awareness and involves the coach “having the reflective, rational and emotional capacity to decide what is right and/or wrong, having the courage to do it, and being accountable ethically for the decision”, (Carroll, 2009). It can be achieved proactively by identifying the beliefs, values and norms of our interactions with our clients and applying these in principle as well as in the spirit of our coaching practice.

“The search for excellence, whatever it may be, begins with ethics,” (Robert Solomon, 1997, p222, cited Peltier, 2001).

References

• S Berglas, “The very real dangers of executive coaching”, in Harvard Business Review, June 2002
• M Carroll, Ethical maturity presentation to CSTD and Bath Consultancy Graduate group, Bath, 2009 (www.bathconsultancygroup.com)
• B Peltier, The Psychology of Executive Coaching, New York, Routledge, 2001
• P Hawkins and N Smith, Coaching, Mentoring and Organizational Consultancy, Berkshire, McGraw-Hill (OUP), 2006
• D Lane, chapter 7: “Ethics and professional standards in supervision”, in Coaching & Mentoring Supervision: Theory and Practice, 
T Bachkirova, P Jackson and D Clutterbuck (Eds), Berkshire, McGraw-Hill (OUP), 2011
• J Passmore (Ed), Supervision in Coaching – Supervision, Ethics and Continuous Professional Development, Association for Coaching, 2011
• S Sherman and A Freas, “The Wild West of executive coaching”, in Harvard Business Review, November 2004

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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Zulfi Hussain is a man who makes the impossible possible. When someone says, “It can’t be done,” he replies, “There must be a way.”

Take his response to news of the Asian tsunami on Boxing Day, 2004. While most of us dabbed at our tears and gave donations, Hussain spent the Christmas period developing and setting up a non-profit web-based initiative to “get the stuff that was needed to the right place”.

He came up with the concept the day the tsunami happened. By New Year’s Day, the site had been designed, tested and launched, despite Hussain being told it would take three months. By day four of the campaign, a million pound donation had been received, prompting Hussain to launch not-for-profit organisation Global Promise, to handle such large donations. In six and a half years, it has helped to distribute £5 million worth of “stuff”.

Hussain, who is a co-founder of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC) UK and a past chair, recently stepped into a full-time role heading up leadership/management development and volunteering programmes for BT’s Global Banking & Finance Markets. However, he still manages to own and run nine businesses, act as a non-executive on 12 boards, coach and mentor individuals, and to work tirelessly for charity.

In 2008 he was awarded an MBE for Services to Business and Services to Charity, one of a number of accolades under his belt.

Major challenges

Throughout his life he has faced challenges most of us could not imagine, and emerged with lessons learnt, head held high, a sense of humility and a desire to make a big difference.

There was the time he arrived in Bradford in the north of England from a small village in Pakistan aged 11, with no knowledge of English, the local culture and no formal learning. “This was a massive life-changing experience, a massive step which set in motion my magical journey of life.”

He had to deal with racial discrimination and endure a “rough and tough environment” at school. “It taught me a lesson about survival, and bloody-mindedness about doing well.”

His teachers told him his English wasn’t good enough for further education. It didn’t stop him.

He had plenty of family support. “My father said, ‘You’re not stupid, you’re not thick. Learn the language – education is the way out’. He inspired me to do the things I do. It would have been so easy for him to say ‘get yourself a job’. This happened a lot when you came from a working-class background.”

When he was 15 – not the easiest of ages when it comes to personal appearance – half his face became paralysed through Bell’s palsy. He took a long time to recover.

“I had lots of barriers to overcome, which has made me the person I am today. People ask me if I am bitter about the racism. Not really, because if I hadn’t had those life experiences, I wouldn’t be who I am. I have no regrets.”

Work inspiration

So what kind of person is Hussain? The word ‘positivity’ came up a lot when personal branding coach Jennifer Holloway asked 20 people who knew him (including those he’d only just met) to describe him. Other words and themes included ‘entrepreneur’, ‘philanthropist’, ‘making the impossible possible’ and ‘making a big difference’.

He spent two years designing and developing a programme for BT called Work Inspiration. It offers young people insight into the world of work and includes an element of mentoring. Hussain worked closely with education and business partners across the UK – a recurring theme in his work.

Hussain values education highly, “hence the coaching, mentoring and leadership development, which I think is vital for young people – they are the future”.

He was set an “impossibly high” target: that 3,000 people should complete Work Inspiration in two years. Yet, within the first financial year alone, some 3,653 young people had gone through it.

“It was a great way to get young people engaged in large blue-chip organisations. They came from backgrounds ranging from Eton public school to excluded pupils from Liverpool.”

It’s easy to feel sorry for those who have taken over the course from Hussain (their target is 4,000), until you discover that 1,800 had gone through the programme before he left last July.

Hussain’s commitment to charity has come about partly because of the values and principles he was exposed to at home. He was given pocket money and encouraged to spend a third, save a third and give a third to charity. “I always had that charitable thing installed in me. Being a Muslim, charity is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.”

Today, he tries to give away at least 20 per cent of his earnings.

Shine on

Hussain helps young people from socially excluded backgrounds who “don’t have the opportunities to shine through” compared to those who have tutors and good contacts. “I act as a role model. I say, ‘ I’m no brighter than you. I started out with disadvantages’.”

Hussain says BT has been “absolutely brilliant” about what some might see as distractions. “They give me flexibility as long as I meet my targets.”

In his new role at BT, Hussain has been given a “blank piece of paper”. He plans to include plenty of mentoring.

First, he wants to find out what is already taking place. He also expects to look at how people manage change, at values, at how to help create and sustain high-performing teams. Some of the people are high-flying, highly successful sales people striking deals worth “hundreds of thousands of pounds”.

Cultural literacy

Cross-cultural working is one of Hussain’s specialities and he sometimes does work with David Clutterbuck. “We’re very Euro-centric in the UK. It’s important to be culturally sensitive and literate.”

He is excited about the role technology can play in helping people gain access to coaching and mentoring, who would otherwise find costs prohibitive. Such technology might include Skype, MSN and audio-conferencing.

“Technology is bringing a whole new multifaceted way of doing coaching and mentoring,” he says.

“Nobody seems to be capitalising on it. But people are often cash-rich and time-poor and technology can make coaching and mentoring very time-efficient.”

Hussain co-authored Virtual Coach, Virtual Mentor with Clutterbuck and has also co-authored other books.

The future

His vision for the future of coaching and mentoring?

“Making the profession more professional. It’s still a bit Wild West. Looking at standards, accreditation, qualifications, embracing new technologies and becoming more culturally literate as we become a global village is the way forward.”

And for himself?

“What’s important to me is making a big difference and getting people to dream big and to follow their dreams. I get lots of satisfaction from helping others. The more you give, the more you receive.”

Hussain writes poetry and takes inspiration from Rumi and Omar Khayyam. He is also inspired by the teachings of the Dalai Lama and Gandhi. Richard Branson inspires him because of his flair and ability to spot opportunities.

He recently returned from Nepal where he took on the Everest Base Challenge, partly to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care, Help for Heroes and the National Autistic Society.

“It was a huge personal challenge for me, physically and mentally. It goes back to my personal ethos of setting difficult challenges and helping to make a difference.”

Time out

The challenge was about “taking time out to reflect, to slow down and be still”, setting him further along a voyage of discovery into how spirituality and coaching complement each other.

“John Whitmore started me on the route of looking at coaching and spirituality…Having just come back from Nepal, having seen close links between Hinduism and Buddhism – ancient wisdom for modern times – I am now trying to pull these strands together.

“I am hoping to introduce some of this [spirituality] into my new role. There are lots of people in high-powered jobs… How do we achieve more by doing less?

“I truly believe true peace comes from within and you have to get your ego out of the way.”

For Hussain, it is about a mix of Eastern and Western philosophies and teachings. In some ways, Hussain himself is an example of the best of the East meeting the best of the West.

Am I bitter about the racism? Not really, because if I hadn’t had those life experiences, I wouldn’t be who I am

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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What do you do when you hit a wall? Cut through your perceptions and coach yourself past it


I’ve been competing in ultramarathons for the past three years. Recently, I started making the connection between these endurance events and my role as a coach. As soon as you start contemplating distances beyond 26.2 miles the mental aspect of the race becomes crucial. This is where my coaching skills come to the fore.

Three years ago I signed up for the Oxfam Trailwalker 100km (62 miles and a 2,000 metre ascent). I envisaged it being a landmark in my running career, eclipsing my previous marathons. When I coach I believe that working with your client’s perception is a vital component of the relationship.

Prior to the race, I wondered: “When will I hit the infamous ‘wall’?” A quick search on Google gave me the following definition: “After running about 20 miles, wracked with total body fatigue, unsteadiness and possible light-headedness, a marathon runner hits an invisible 
wall, an apparently insurmountable physiological barrier which stops them in their tracks.”

Who could blame me for expecting to hit the wall? But I didn’t. Instead, after about 10 miles I noticed pain and fatigue – like reaching the top of a plateau.It was all about how long I was prepared to put up with the discomfort (13 hours to be precise, crossing the finish line in 14th place).

With adequate physical fitness, a strong mental approach and self-management during the event, anything is possible. The wall? Rubbish. Just something probably created by early marathon runners to exclude others.

I do agree though, that 62 miles is an awfully long way. However, a lot of that is down to our perception. As coaches we have the opportunity to work with the perception of others. Our role is to help clients access different perceptions, illustrate the lack of ‘truth’, create new possibilities – or set them free from their current thinking if it no longer serves. Einstein talked of delusion and how we are trapped in our own prisons. He described how we might free ourselves by “widening our circle of compassion”.¹ Surely the process, and indeed meaning, of coaching is simply this? By encouraging individuals to suspend current performance and commit to physical action, we shift perception, thoughts and feelings.

One of the great ways to cut through someone’s perception is to ask: “How do you know what you know?” In my case, how do you know there is a wall at 20 miles? This is often enough to create a shift. And our conversations are highly sustainable.

As Rinpoche observes, when the jailkeeper is gone “the jail would disappear and never be rebuilt again”.²

Wall? What wall? And I know what I know, having completed 62 miles of perception-changing running.

Here are some tips for challenging perceptions:

• Don’t believe the hype – those who create it may do so to keep you locked up
• Seek alternative possibilities and encourage yourself/your client to test these possibilities personally
• Ask the question – how do you know what you know?
• Enjoy creating this new landscape and boldly share it with your client. They will appreciate your view
• Be ready for surprises – and celebrate them
• Adopt a ‘start before you are ready’ approach.
• Don’t wait for your client’s perception to be changed by someone else.

Stuart Haden is a learning and development specialist with 22 years’ experience and particular expertise in developing authentic team, leadership and coaching cultures. He set up his own L&D consultancy, Storm Beach Ltd, in 2005

References

• 1 From Albert Einstein’s written response to a rabbi who had asked him how he could explain to his 19-year-old daughter the reason for the death of her 16-year-old sister
• 2 S Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, recounting the Vietnamese master Thich Nhat Hanh’s description of the Buddha’s
 enlightenment

Coaches help clients access different perceptions, illustrate 
the lack of ‘truth’, create new possibilities – or set them free

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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‘Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children’ 
Kahlil Gibran

I was at a party the other day, having a discussion with an old friend about what she might do next in her career. I suggested coaching could be one possible path.

“God, no!” she exclaimed, “I’m far too messed up for that!” It’s not an especially unusual reaction – the idea that one has to be sorted out, ‘coach-like’, to do this work. And yet, it’s an idea I react strongly against.

I think it does us and, more importantly, our clients, no favours to expect ourselves to be somehow any more sorted out than anyone else.

I remember when I lived with my ex-partner and her children, I was asked if we would be interested in taking part in a documentary about families working with one of Steven Covey’s books. We had a discussion over dinner one evening, and her teenage son, with whom I had a particularly challenging relationship, jumped in with, “Yeah! Then they can see what a jerk you really are! The jerk behind the coach. Let’s do it!” He had a point.

Whatever the public perceptions and ideas about coaches, I see myself as I see my clients – another human being trying to make sense of life in a rapidly changing world, facing the same concerns: trying to make ends meet in a downward market, turning 50 and regretting decisions made as a younger man, still finding out who I am, still messing up in certain areas.

Julio Olalla, founder of Newfield Network, and one of the elders of the coaching profession, often says that we don’t coach from our greatness, but from our wounds. It is our wounds, our challenges, and our attempts to heal and resolve them, that give us the gift to support others in their difficult places.

I have talked with hundreds of coaches, and it saddens me to hear many speak of their struggle to be perfect, and how they see themselves as less of a coach because of this. In fact, many students in the programmes I lead say that a big part of their learning has been to accept themselves as humans first, coaches second, and to see humanity itself as the gift to their clients.

I’ve seen coaches trying to work from that ‘sorted’ place, and I’ve noticed two things. First, that the coaching lacks authenticity and depth. Second, the client doesn’t fully relax into the coaching. They feel they might be judged for their flaws, rather than held as the whole human being they are. For example, a coach who is always trying to be positive can hold back a client from speaking honestly about how negative she feels.

When I came into coaching in the mid 90s, many worked with The Clean Sweep – a checklist of things to do and not do, such as never drink coffee or tea. At a presentation by Laura Berman Fortgang, one of America’s best-known coaches, one novice expressed relief that “you could be a top coach and still drink coffee”. It sounds trivial, but for me it points to something critical – that we can easily fall into the trap of thinking that being coachlike means being perfect rather than human. If we become gurus we cannot meet them authentically where they are.

We coaches are in the business of supporting people to be their highest selves, and we shouldn’t give that up, but we must not lose our roots to the ground and to the mud beneath.

Aboodi Shabi is head of coaching and training for Newfield Europe www.newfieldeurope.com. Read his (occasionally) provocative blogs at www.aboodishabi.com

It does us, and our clients, no favours to expect ourselves to be more sorted than anyone else

Coaching at Work, Volume 7, Issue 1

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