It was at the Planet Mark sustainability awards in London, in October 2019, that I first heard that the 2020s would be ‘the decade of action’. They weren’t wrong (so far anyway)
Neil Scotton
In line with the three themes regular readers will know I keep banging on about (1: more leaders’ voices in our profession need to come out and declare they care about the environmental and social issues; 2: we need more places to gather and share and be honest about what’s going on for us in these times, and 3: we need to revisit our codes of ethics – not just coaching actually, all professions – with a view to including the responsibility for the ripple out of our work for the wider world and into the future).
Lise Lewis and I were kindly offered a Coaching at Work Master class spot. It was structured on people connecting and supporting each other by sharing their wake-up ‘Earthquake moments’, the Chasms between where they are in their life and work having social and environmental impact, and finding their own ‘piece of the puzzle’ going forwards – the action they were going to take. Sales bombed. It was cancelled. But it felt wrong to leave it.
A new momentum
We carried on. We found a funder – 13 people gathered. Incredible people; leaders past and present in the coaching bodies, outspoken activists putting themselves on the line for this.
It was incredible: “Wow, wow, wow” was one feedback. One leader came in saying, “I’m not sure why I’m here” and left a fully fired up, passionate changemaker. One of the many outcomes is a high-level conversation between the coaching bodies around this.
Over the Christmas break I was contacted by SECA – the South East Climate Alliance. They wanted help facilitating their first annual gathering. Could I help? Of course. Turned out they needed some support getting there, too. When? Second week in January. Heavens. No worries.
It was amazing. More than 70 organisations coming together from a standing start in 12 months and getting nearly every council in the South East to declare a climate emergency or pass a motion in that direction. Truly inspiring.
Away from the podium, I found myself listening to a 5-year-old boy talking of the animals he wanted to see – it left me in tears. And a lesson – these people need our skills, to help them as teams, leaders, facilitators and more. Please, go and support someone or something that you care about.
The Greta effect
The New Year energy was entirely different. It could be the ‘Greta Effect’. I have to say I have a suspicion it was something darker. California and Australia were burning in unprecedented ways. The Western world was seeing ‘people like us’ having homes and communities devastated. It was suddenly real. Imaginable in their/our bubbles.
Actors refused to fly to awards ceremonies to pick up prizes. People were seeing others take action and make the hard decisions and think beyond themselves. The tilt of our collective consciousness shifted.
So when the Association for Coaching’s Big Conversations event came together in January (and thanks Hetty Einzig and Katherine Tulpa for picking up the baton) the world had changed. Sold out, with a long waiting list. Big questions were asked and discussed. It was a joy to share the ‘best of’ from eight years of writing this column – the wisdoms and passions and actions of the great coaches it’s been a delight to interview, and personal predictions that are becoming realities.
The energy was extraordinary. I shared Neil’s Wheel, a tool I’m developing that every coach can potentially use to open up a profound conversation with clients linking the wider world and future generations with what’s deep and personal and unique inside. The room buzzed. Fabulous feedback, and now I’ve got to sort a large-scale trail. Get in touch if you want to be a part of it, or better still, help!
Come together
For Alister and myself – it’s gone crazy. The world has suddenly got Oneness. It’s rejecting selfish individualism. Requests to help teams come together as one to serve beyond themselves; requests to help catalyse projects and actions that show others the way to a world that is not a charred ruin; catalysing communities (large and small) of professionals to face the fears and support the possibilities.
The years of work and research and proving tools and techniques is now in incredible demand.
The vision of coaching being integral to society is becoming true, because the world needs what we can bring. Sometimes it pays, sometimes we just need to give it. And we need to also allow ourselves to bring all of ourselves; what Alister and I bring is more than just coaching.
I see amazing initiatives and trainings coming out. And…and this is really key…do not hold back thinking you need to understand climate science or solar energy or circular economies or…Just like you don’t need to know any specialism apart from coaching to be able to coach someone. You don’t need to worry about ‘whose agenda’ because people now get ‘the world around me and the future is inescapably my agenda’.
People have woken up. The thing is, most don’t know what to do. Just like most of us coaches. You have all you need to make a difference to clients and your community right now – you truly have everything you need to get going and make a difference.
The only thing you need to potentially add is the courage to ask ‘Do you care about this too?’ Your existing coaching skills will do everything you need from there.
- Neil Scotton PCC is, together with Dr Alister Scott, cofounder of The One Leadership Project. Their book and e-book, The Little Book of Making Big Change Happen (Troubador Publishing), is available from Amazon and other booksellers.
- Neil Scotton: neil@enablingcatalysts.com
- Alister Scott: alister@enablingcatalysts.com
- www.enablingcatalysts.com