Welcome to the May issue of the newsletter
Should we as coaches be leveraging our coaching assignments to save the world? Should we be holding our clients accountable for their actions in terms of how they impact their team, their organisation, the planet, the universe? Some would argue that there is no greater calling than that (see Sir John Whitmore’s blog at http://www.coaching-at-work.com/2010/01/16/coaches-need-to-says-john-whitmore/ ) while others are adamant that we have no place or right whatsoever other than to serve the agenda of the client paying the bill. I sat in on a fascinating and lively debate a few weeks back at the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC) UK’s annual conference. The issue of whose and which agenda we should attend to in coaching caused quite a stir. The panel consisted of the School of Coaching’s Myles Downey, Sheffield Hallam University’s David Megginson and John Blakey, co-author of Where were all the coaches when the banks went down? For Blakey, it was about having the “bravery to confront” and putting “the system’s interests above the individual’s”. Myles Downey, on the other hand, said “I think this is really dangerous. Who the X do we think we are? We’re not here to save the banking system, to save the planet, to bring humanity into the workplace. We’re not contracted to do that” (for a full write-up of the debate and the rest of the EMCC conference, see the July/August issue).
Are you in the Sir John Whitmore camp or the Myles Downey camp, or somewhere in between?
Thank you to all of you who responded to the Poor Practice 2010 Survey — some very interesting results coming in (Stop Press).
Liz Hall,
Editor, Coaching at Work
Highlights of the current issue of the magazine
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The Centre for Coaching The Centre for Coaching runs a range of Middlesex University Accredited and Association for Coaching recognised modular coaching courses.
If you want to advertise your organisation here, please contact Kate Thomas — kate@coaching-at-work.com — for more details.
You tell us
Have you used Clean Language in your coaching? See “Speech therapy”
Click here to share your thoughts
Outplacement
Working it out
If most people are still coping with the fall out of recession, then outplacement (OP) services providers are some of the lucky few. For them redundancies mean more clients Read more
Inner Game
Inside out
More than 30 years after they first launched modern coaching and Inner Game thinking, Tim Gallwey and John Whitmore believe the approach has more to offer now than ever before. The duo will join forces in October to roll out a programme through Performance Consultants International Read more
Related article: Strokes of Genius
Stop Press
Call for professional body collaboration to boost best practice
The majority of coaches believe incompetent, poor and unethical practice can be prevented or reduced by the professional bodies developing a joint code of ethics and complaints procedure, suggests Coaching at Work’s Poor Practice 2010 survey with professional coaching bodies. Government regulation was the least popular approach to address incompetent practice and poor and unethical practice. The results of the survey with the Association for Coaching; the British Psychological Society’s Special Group in Coaching Psychology; the EMCC; the International Coach Federation, and the Society for Coaching Psychology, will be published in the next issue (July/August).
The myth of the non-directive coach
Only 2% of coaches adopt a pure non-directive stance in all their coaching interventions, according to a survey by leadership consultancy 121partners. More than 40 per cent of coaches believe that “big picture” issues such as the “credit crunch” crisis, leadership ethics and sustainability are irrelevant to the coaching assignment unless specifically raised by the client, the survey also finds (full write-up in Coaching at Work, Vol 5, Issue 4).
Ei World working with Heartmath tools for resilience
Ei World has been awarded a contract to deliver the HeartMath One-to-One provider programme to train coaches to use the HeartMath Institute’s tools and methodologies. “This offers coaches a real-time technology and a system of structured tools for helping clients to become more resilient, healthier and more effective, taking coaching beyond a conversation to include practical, measurable tools for success. What’s exciting about this is that up until now, it has not been possible for independent coaches to be licensed in this system,” said Geetu Bharwaney, founder and managing director of Ei World. The HeartMath Institute has a track record of understanding the connection between head and heart and has established a set of tools which has been used by organisations including the Mayo Clinic, BP, Unilever, Shell and Nasa, said Bharwaney. The first three-day programme will run on 28-30 June.
David Clutterbuck joins Institute for Employment Studies
David Clutterbuck has joined the Institute for Employment Studies’ team of associate coaches. Clutterbuck will focus on coaching leaders and teams. He is visiting professor of coaching and mentoring at both Sheffield Hallam and Oxford Brookes Universities, special ambassador to the EMCC, which he co-founded in 1992, and advisor to the UK National School of Government on development planning for directors and boards.
News Online
Top teams neglect their development thus damaging their businesses
Boards are neglecting their own learning and development and damaging their organisations as a result, finds a survey by Clutterbuck Associates, the Talent Foundation, Career Innovation and Ashridge Business School and Career Innovation. Read more
Sticky business
The relationship is the core component of coaching and attachment theory has resonance for both coach and client, said Ashridge’s Bill Critchley at the European Mentoring & Coaching Council UK’s annual conference. See also “Stuck on you”: Read more
Diary dates
June 2010
7-11 June: London
Centre for Coaching Certificate in Coaching www.centreforcoaching.com
9 June: London
British Psychological Society’s Special Group in Coaching Psychology workshop with Sue Congram: “Coaching Psychology Practicum: the living field in coaching supervision” www.sgcp.org.uk
9 June: Bristol
Coaching in Partnerships Hot Coaching Topics 2010 event. www.coachingforstars.com
17-19 June: Paris
International Coach Federation conference www.eccparis2010.com
July 2010
1 July: London
Association for Coaching “Can you coach a narcissist?” with Adrienne Rosen, head of talent identification and assessment at Cedar Talent Management
1 July: Oxford
OCM Group CPD/Supervision Day www.theocm.co.uk
8 July:
Association for Coaching and University of East London conference: Leadership: developing elite performance www.associationforcoaching.com
26-30 July:
Centre for Coaching Certificate in Coaching www.centreforcoaching.com
Question of the month
What is the ratio of non-directive to directive in your coaching practice?
Click here to share your answer
The Centre for Coaching The Centre for Coaching runs a range of Middlesex University Accredited and Association for Coaching recognised modular coaching courses.
If you want to advertise your organisation here, please contact Kate Thomas — kate@coaching-at-work.com — for more details.