- Association for Coaching

Transcription

The Bulletin of the
Association for Coaching
New Year 2007
Issue 10
CONTENTS
Welcome
- Peter Jackson
Working On The Boundary: When psychological and
mental health issues impact on coaching
- Andrew Buckley
1
2
Mid-Life Alchemy
- Edna Murdoch
6
Beyond Results: When clients seek deeper understanding
- Diana Coldman
9
Book Review: The Leader on the Couch
by Manfred Kets de Vries
- Paul Curran
12
Book Review: Excellence in Coaching: The Industry Guide
edited by Jonathan Passmore
- Philip Donnison
14
Published by the Association for Coaching
www.associationforcoaching.com
Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily of the Association for Coaching.
Welcome
Welcome
Welcome members and friends to Issue 10 of
the Bulletin of the Association for Coaching.
Welcome to the New Year issue of the AC
Bulletin. I am delighted to see in what is the
beginning of my third year with the Bulletin.
Looking back over that time it is clear to me
that the quality of submissions and reviews is
testament to the growing vibrancy of the
coaching field in general and the AC in particular. My job as editor seems to be getting
easier!
Features
The issue of referral has become a recurring
theme in discussions about the professional
practice of coaching. In our first feature article, Andrew Buckley provides a clear and
practical perspective on managing the boundary between coaching and other services.
As the bookshelves start to groan with the
weight of advice on how to coach, we can easily underestimate the importance of the question of when to coach. Edna Murdoch
reminds us of the unique opportunities for
change that are presented by life-stage transitions, exploring in particular the questions of
mid-life.
Continuing on the theme of openings in our
final article, Diana Coldman describes the
opportunities for extending our practice
through an appreciation of human energies
and the development of an explicitly holistic/spiritual practice.
Reviews
In the Reviews section, Paul Curran reviews
Manfred Kets de Vries’ The Leader on the
Couch, and Phil Donnison gives us an outside
view of the AC book, Excellence in Coaching
edited by Jonathan Passmore.
issue, who have done a
great job of sharing
their ideas. I hope
there is truly something for everyone in
this issue.
Best wishes to all.
Peter Jackson
Head of Communications
[email protected]
With thanks to:
Kasia Szymanska – Reviews
Angela Dunbar – Editorial
maurergraphics.com – Layout
Hackney Press – Printing
Submissions
The editor welcomes submissions from
members for inclusion in all sections of
the Bulletin. Articles may deal with the
whole range of practice, theory, wider professional and business issues, or topics of
general interest to coaches. They may be
presented in any appropriate format,
including case studies, research reports,
interviews and discussion articles. Articles
for submission should be sent to [email protected] Reviews
should be sent to [email protected] The submission deadline
for Issue 11 (Spring) is March 15, 2007;
the deadline for Issue 12 (Summer) is June
15, 2007.
I am grateful to all the contributors to this
1
The Bulletin of the Association for Coaching • New Year 2007 • Issue 10 • www.associationforcoaching.com
Feature
Working On The Boundary: When
psychological and mental health
issues impact on coaching
- Andrew Buckley
Whenever a coach meets a client there is a
question that needs answering; ‘Is coaching
appropriate?’ This appropriateness can take a
variety of forms and include times when formal training would be best, times when the
goals may be outside the control of the client
and the system needs help with change and
also occasions when the client cannot or
should not be coached for psychological reasons.
Occasionally someone will ask for coaching or
have coaching suggested when questions arise
as to their mental wellbeing. It is important
for the coach and coaching scheme organiser
to be able to handle this type of client appropriately. There will also be those clients who
start to show puzzling behaviours during the
course of the coaching where a decision will
be needed as to the efficacy and ethics of continuing.
Change is an important goal in any coaching
conversation. As coaches we are asking the
client to look for change, to evaluate the
options and to choose a course of action,
then do it. It is an explicit goal that through
the action of coaching the client will be asked
to change.
Change, either forced or chosen, is one of the
main factors that result in a mental health
problem. This can be seen across a wide range
of problems from the “normal”, though
painful, reaction to bereavement or loss,
through changes in life that take a social
drinker on to alcoholism for example, or
changes in circumstances that bring to the
surface an underlying problem.
This similarity between
the goals of coaching
and one of the precipitating factors for mental illness may lead to a
client, who has previously showed no signs of
problems, to start to behave unusually and in
ways that suggest a psychological problem.
The coach needs to be aware of this possibility and to have a plan of what to do when it
happens.
Thankfully neither the coach nor the purchaser/provider of coaching services needs to
make an accurate and medically sound diagnosis, this is best left to the medical specialist.
The question “Is coaching appropriate?” is a
combination of an evaluation of whether the
client can, psychologically, engage in and
What the coach needs is:
• An understanding that some people
will have temporary or more permanent mental health issues that will
prove to be barriers to effective coaching.
• An ability to recognise the signs.
• The opportunity to reflect on the
ethics, legalities, practicalities and circumstances before,
• The capacity to answer; “Is coaching
appropriate?” and if not signposting the
client to more appropriate help.
Continued on page 3
2
Feature
Mental illness is not something that someone
“catches” and there are no straightforward
tests available to diagnose problems. It is a
sliding scale of signs and behaviours. At the
extreme end they are clear and obvious but
otherwise are more a collection of unusual
responses and behaviours that lead to warning bells ringing. This is the case in the
majority of clients the coach will meet. In isolation many of the signs commonly looked
for can have a rational explanation, it is the
accumulation of signs and the depth of
impact these have on the individual that will
lead to the decision to stop coaching due to a
psychological issue. When a client behaves
unusually it is of equal importance to discount mental ill health as a reason for the
behaviours as to show mental illness as the
cause. The important point is to evaluate the
issue, not to ignore it.
Watch out for:
Appearance
• Unkempt?
• Unusual?
• Body language, movement?
Behaviour
• Agitated?
• Uninterested?
• Evasive?
• Incongruent behaviour?
Mood
• Apathetic?
• Sad or hopeless?
• Inappropriately optimistic?
• Overly pessimistic?
Thoughts
• Preoccupations?
• Fixated?
• Irrational?
• Delusional?
Perception
• Hallucinations?
• Unreal experiences?
• An abnormal viewpoint?
The term “comfort zone” is often used as
somewhere that people live and work, with a
Intellect
suggestion that an inability to expand this or
• Not as expected?
move away from this is a limiting factor in
• Changes?
reaching goals. The hope is that inviting a
• Not ‘present’?
client to move out of their comfort zone will
result in a wider range of choices, new ways
of behaving and, ultimately a more rewarding this or the testing out process may lead the
life. Whilst this change could be challenging client into an insecure place, where problems
occur.
it may also be exciting and fulfilling.
But, there are many people who live, work
and behave in their comfort zone because it is
just too dangerous to move beyond these safe
boundaries. A coach who attempts, quite reasonably, to encourage a client to try something different may find that the thought of
3
Dr Mike Nowers FRCPsych says, in A Guide to
Coaching and Mental Health; “Mental illness
affects all of us at some time either directly or
through friends, family or work colleagues
and is no respecter of gender, wealth or posiContinued on page 4
(© Buckley and Buckley, 2006)
Continued from page 2
benefit from the coaching and a judgement
to decide if a more medically orientated type
of help is needed. Specialist knowledge of
medical terminology and an ability to complete “a mental state examination” are not
necessary.
Feature
© Andrew Buckley
tion!” (Buckley and Buckley 2006: x) and
many people either with the early stages of a
severe problem or with a less obvious “grumbling” issue will be active in the workplace.
may not be happy that a coach has been
working for several sessions with a client who
has monopolized the sessions with mental
health issues or “home” related problems. It is
important to consider any code of ethics and
good practice
subscribed to as
The PPP system of questioning
part of professional memberPast
What is the history of this behaviour or feeling?
ship. These all
How long has the client had similar feelings?
include items of
Has this happened before?
referring on and
not working
Pervasive
How much of the client’s life is involved?
beyond compeIs this a home issue that has crossed over to work today?
tences, and,
Is it a work issue that is impacting on home life?
should the
Or are all parts of the client’s life affected?
coaching lead to
future problems
Plan
Does the client have a plan?
the indemnity
Is the plan positive?
insurance
Is the plan realistic, will it work?
providers have
Will the plan be carried out, is there commitment?
an expectation
that the coach
will have abided by the code of ethics and
Behaviours that are in the list to be aware of
good practice of coaching.
will be seen, particularly if looked for, in
many people and occur in many conversaThe goal of PPP questioning is to gather infortions. Once a sign is seen and the coach’s
mation. Care needs to be taken not to dig too
warning bells are ringing the best course of
action is to check out for any substance to the deeply into the issues and not to take any
steps at this stage that could suggest treatproblems and to see if there is any rational
explanation. The PPP questioning system covers the important points of history, the extent
“Mental illness is not something
of the problems and any plans that may help
that someone “catches” and there
the client return to a more normal function.
Knowing the answers to the three “P” questions will help the coach, with the clients’
views taken into account, choose how to continue. This will range from continuing, with
some care and caution, to continuing alongside other support, the clients’ GP or a therapist for example, to stopping coaching or
even, in very rare cases, calling for emergency
help. The views of the coach, client and any
sponsoring organisation (who may be paying
the fee) need to be considered. A business
are no straightforward tests available to diagnose problems. It is a
sliding scale of signs and behaviours.”
ment. The first question to try to find an
answer to, “Is coaching appropriate?”, does
not necessarily need an understanding of all
the clients past and issues they are facing. The
Continued on page 5
4
Feature
goal is not to open the “can of worms”, just
to find out if there is one, how long it has
been a problem and what parts of the client’s
life are impacted.
meet these needs.
©Buckley and Buckley 2006
Andrew Buckley is a coach, accredited by the
BACP as a counsellor and psychotherapist
and co-author of “A Guide to Coaching and
Mental Health – the recognition and manageThe ability to make a distinction between the ment of psychological issues” published by
person who is able to engage in coaching and Routledge. He delivers a one day coach specific training course on the recognition and
those who may have psychological issues or
management of psychological issues.
mental health problems is vital to all parties
involved. The needs and goals of the client
Telephone: +44 (0) 1263 862286
are central to good quality coaching and
E-mail: [email protected]
sometimes a different type of help will best
Website: www.kipepeo.co.uk
Remember
References:
• Signs of mental illness are all around.
• They can be found, if looked for, in
many conversations.
• A balanced approach is needed before
deciding if action needs be taken.
• View the client holistically, before forming a view.
• Explore what is being said from the
client’s viewpoint before making a judgment.
• The unusual, even the bizarre, may
have a rational explanation.
• An idiosyncratic personality is not mental illness.
Buckley, A. and Buckley, C. (2006) ‘A
guide to coaching and mental health, the
recognition and management of psychological issues’, London, Routledge.
ADVERTISEMENT
But
• Mental illness kills.
• If undetected and untreated, years of
hardship can follow.
• Signs can be subtle and difficult to
identify.
• When in doubt:
• be cautious; seek expert advice.
• be cautious; do not add to the
client’s difficulties.
• be cautious; avoid future problems and blame.
5
Reflections on Practice
Mid-Life Alchemy - Edna Murdoch
“Midlife is when you reach the top of the
ladder and find that it was against the
wrong wall.” — Joseph Campbell
A personal story
In this article, I
hope to offer readers
important insights
into key features of
the midlife journey,
pointers regarding
the sometimes paradoxical nature of the
transition, the courage to go deeper with a
client and the confidence to stay with the
coaching process through the narrow gateways which are part of midlife experience.
I was 38, happy, professionally very successful, fit as a fiddle - life was good. I
remember being at a weekend training in
Transpersonal Psychology and overhearing
people in their forties and fifties talking
about the difficulties in their lives. In my
innocence, I was appalled and decided
that I would never let my life get like this.
Coaching and Mid-life
Duh! A few years later, my sporting life
was over because of physical injury and I
This experience of not knowing, of having
was in deep grief because several friends
lost one’s way, is typical at this time and
had died suddenly. In fact, I was in a
coaches who work with clients in mid-life
mess, and remained so for
– say 35 -55 – need to
a while. Outwardly, not
know about this transimuch changed, but I was
tion; it is like no other. As
in a classic mid-life
a coach supervisor, I work
process which had
with executive and per“Finding the path beyond
thrown out all my
sonal coaches whose
the ‘dark wood’ is one of
assumptions and at the
coaching becomes richer,
the most valuable journeys deeper and much more
same time, had gifted me
the opportunity to review
efficient when they begin
we will ever take.”
everything about myself
to understand the full
and about what I imagimplications and promise
ined was important in my
of this pivotal time.
life. The poet, Dante,
Knowing the territory
described the experience
gives coaches both insight and courage
of Mid-life like this:
and it ensures that they do not collude
with clients who are still scrambling up
‘Midway this way of life we’re bound
the old ladder/old wall - hiring the coach
upon,
to give them a shove towards a final proI woke to find myself in a dark wood,
motion, a new relationship, a new chalWhere the right road was wholly lost and
lenge. The truth is that in mid-life, what
gone.’
worked before is unlikely to work now;
life requires that we grow and change.
Finding the path beyond the ‘dark wood’
Senior professionals, business men and
is one of the most valuable journeys we
Continued on page 7
will ever take.
6
women, parents, stressed CEO’s, public
servants, coaches – we all undergo the
challenge to renew ourselves. Mid-life is
sometimes referred to as the second adolescence – a time to complete our development, to re-connect with our dreams, a
time for transformation. The coach needs
to keep aware of this process and ensure
that coaching is serving the client’s
becoming (the right wall), not his/her old
self. And the coach needs to be able to
support new insights, awakenings as they
occur – even if they seem contrary to the
client’s original goals.
Typical features of mid-life
include:
Experiencing healthy dissatisfaction ...
yearning for more ... is this it??
What worked before no longer rocks your
boat.
The body changes.
You get used to uncertainty
You want to give back
You become much more than you
thought you were.
Your values change significantly
You are getting a hefty whiff of you own
mortality.
The emergence of wisdom
Mid-life challenges
And so, in the midst of the everyday stuff
which clients bring to coaching, there will
undoubtedly be challenges such as:
Learning from loss, change and death
Moving one’s life onto a much broader,
richer foundation
Making a radical shift toward much
greater self-expression
Reconnecting with joy and pleasure.
Moving from head to heart/soul living.
Creating sustaining vision for the rest of
7
your life.
Allowing wisdom to guide you.
Taking time to discern the ‘right wall’.
What is Alchemy?
Classically, it describes the process of turning lead into gold; so coaching becomes
the crucible or container for transforming
our sometimes difficult experiences into
‘gold’ – finding the right wall, greater purpose, a much fuller sense of self. Joseph
Campbell called it, ‘following your bliss’.
The unuseful behaviours, out-of-date aspirations, negative perceptions of self and
life may be burnt up at this time. The
alchemy at work here, offers us the possibility of becoming fully functioning people, perhaps for the first time. We may
now begin to experience life from the
heart and soul as well from as our heads –
work/life balance finally makes sense!
Jung called the process, ‘individuation’.
Through successfully negotiating the narrow mid-life gateways of loss, change and
death, we have the chance to look up
from our busy lives and begin a conversation with life which bestows meaning,
connection and a surer sense of our presence here. A coach who is unafraid of the
paradox that suffering can shift us to
grace, choice and action, brings huge benefits to their client at this time. The coach
who has the courage to challenge the
executive who wants the old/wrong wall,
because that’s all she knows, and open the
coaching conversation to include what
might well be nudging a client’s hinterland, is serving the client well. To miss the
transformative potential of these difficult
but defining moments can, at best, take
our clients down an expensive cul-de-sac.
Supporting clients to learn form their
‘dark wood’ experiences is a huge gift to
Continued on page 8
them. So too, is enabling them to find
rites of passage which will ease them into
the next phase of their lives. How do
we/they co-operate with the process of
aging so that we can welcome change and
move into the fullness and wisdom which
are the gifts of maturity? What is really
trying to emerge in a clients’ life as midlife chaos shakes the old foundations? It’s
a great privilege to accompany clients
whose individual journeys welcome this
level of transformation. The whole process
often follows the classic break-down-tobreak-through pattern.
ADVERTISEMENT
A healthy response to mid-life challenges
leads to greater energy, clarity, ‘bliss’ – or
as the poet Mary Oliver, joyfully expresses
it:
‘When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world
into my arms ...
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.’
ADVERTISEMENT
Bliss indeed!
Edna Murdoch is a Coach Supervisor
(www.coachingsupervisionacademy.com)
and Personal Coach who specialises in
Transpersonal Coaching for people in the
Mid-life to Retirement bracket. She works
with coaches at all levels, offering training
in Coach Supervision and in Meta Skills
for Coaches. Edna is co-founder of Mentor
Coaches International (www.mentorcoaches.com) and she is Senior Coach and
Coach Supervisor for Full potential Group.
Contact:
[email protected]
01323 897 344
8
Coaching Approaches
Beyond results: when clients seek
deeper understanding - Diana Coldman
demonstrated how the
energy of thoughts can
inhibit or activate the
functioning of the
human body at cellular
level (Lipton, 2005).
Interestingly, results
from these evidencebased studies are being
paralleled in work from writers, teachers and
leading-edge thinkers such as Esther and Jerry
Hicks. Their work focuses on using focused
intention (thoughts) via the process of affirmations and emotional outcome-driven sentences to improve the individual’s feeling (or
emotional guidance system) in relation to a
given situation or issue. These powerful intentions activate the process of further positive
energy flow into the energy field, as opposed
to resistance, thereby enabling the manifestation of desired goals. This ability to affect
material outcomes through using the energy
of thought and intention is the starting point
for a spiritual or holistic practice. The Human
Energy Field (HEF) is of course not limited to
intention/thought. Interventions such as
Reiki, T’ai Chi, Acupuncture, Reflexology,
A first clue to the nature of this work is in
understanding that whether you prefer to use Shiatsu and Yoga are all based on activating
the free flow of energy through the body, but
the term holistic, spiritual or quantum, all
thought/intention is one that coaches are
three embrace the concept that an energy
most familiar with and is the focus for this
field flows through all matter. Try sitting
article.
opposite a friend with palms facing each
other and slowly move the hands toward
Impacting personal lives
each other as you relax and this energy can
often be detected as a mild tingling sensation
My practice developed to meet the needs of
or heat. William Tiller has demonstrated
through rigorous experimental protocol how clients who began seeking answers to queshuman intentions, via the process of medita- tions that had very little to do with pure
tion, can influence the material and chemical physical results. These questions were, and
properties of substances such as water (Tiller, still are, often wrapped in vague terms such as
‘I want to know who I am’, ‘I just feel lost’, ‘I
2001).
want to be happy’ and are ones that are comContinued on page 10
Leading cell biologist Bruce Lipton has also
At the recent Leading the Way AC Conference
I was delighted to find several workshops
highlighting the growth of spiritual and/or
quantum coaching, and the two I attended
were very powerful and exciting. The science
of quantum physics is, I believe, leading the
way in terms of demonstrating the nature of
the human energy field and how thought and
intention impacts on this field. To this extent
there is now a blending of science and spirituality that supports a holistic approach within
the personal coaching arena and has opened
the way for increased credibility among the
coaching fraternity in using this modality. As
coaches we have the opportunity to experience and work at a deeper level with our
clients, thereby enabling a way forward in discovering what it means to have a meaningful
human experience. In this article I hope to
broaden understanding of the nature of this
type of coaching, demonstrate how this
approach is meeting a growing demand (both
within the world of coaching and beyond),
and provide some first steps in developing a
holistic practice.
9
Coaching Approaches
monly asked when a person is seeking a deeper meaning to life. In an article in The
Independent, Laurance (2005) quotes a senior
government minister who claims that unhappiness is “Britain’s biggest social problem”.
The information was taken from a lecture
delivered to the Centre for Mental Health and
suggested that more psychological therapy
centres were needed to tackle this growing
need. Many individuals are now discovering
the value of spiritual/holistic coaching as part
of their personal life path experience and as a
way of connecting with what I term ‘soul
consciousness’.
“Enabling or facilitating positive
change is still important, but working with the human energy field in
its various forms, including deliberate intention, creates a deeper connection. It is a much more shared
experience that can lead to insightful and meaningful answers, sometimes even without the need for
words.”
So if there’s a growing need out there, what
does it take to be a Holistic or Spiritual
Coach? Well, it can be both incredibly
rewarding and at the same time very demanding. This is because the focus of the work is
not always about finding solutions, but rather
being in that space with the client. It is knowing when to be still and quiet and connect
with the energy field, when to introduce techniques such as meditation and relaxation,
when to challenge limiting beliefs and behaviour, and when to demonstrate the power of
affirmations and focused intent. More than
this, one has to understand that, as with all
personal coaching, it is the client’s decision
what they gain from the process rather than
what the coach would wish for that person.
Having clear outcomes at the outset is one
thing, but this type of work is much more
organic and can often meander, diverge and
reconnect as the client gains understanding of
the next step on their change journey.
Developing a holistic or spiritual
practice
Developing a spiritual or holistic practice is
not for the faint-hearted and I believe a necessary prerequisite is to gain an understanding
of the Human Energy Field. This is a theory
held by many alternative therapists and some
leading scientists, and in my opinion is key to
working at a spiritual level as a coach. At an
extremely basic level this includes, but is not
limited to, acknowledging and understanding
the following premises:
• An energy field flows through all matter,
including humans (Brennan, 1988)
• The human body has seven major spinning
energy centres, or Chakras. These centres
are aligned to the human endocrine glands
and their corresponding functions, and
each one resonates with a certain colour
frequency (see http://www.theenergycentre.org/chefr/ and Judith, 1999)
• Thoughts/intention are also a form of energy (Brennan, 1988)
Skills and training
Certain skills (or gifts) are also important for
those interested in developing this work.
Typically these gifts are ones already present
and simply need to be highlighted and developed further. My own examples include:
• Sensitivity. This refers to the ability to feel
energies more strongly than other people.
This means you may know what others are
Continued on page 11
10
Coaching Approaches
thinking or feeling or even what their true
intention is (which may not match with what
you are being told).
• Empathy. Aligned with being sensitive is
the ability to pick up the pain that others
experience to the extent you may experience the pain or emotion physically. This
helps in understanding the client’s experience and perspective, and can lead to an
opening up of options.
• Intuition. Someone who has heightened
intuition has the ability to gain a deep
‘knowing’ about some aspect of the other
person. This could be received in the form
of a physical sensation, voice or a flash of
mental image and is usually information
that is extremely relevant to that person.
Anyone can develop these abilities and once
you learn to trust the process, you will find
your ability increases. However, it is also
important that this is tempered with training
and there are a few holistic or spiritual training courses now available for coaches here in
the UK. Alternatively, you may wish to consider specific training in various aspects, e.g.
meditation or some other energy intervention, which you could add to your coaching
portfolio.
The future
Meeting the growing demand for the search
for personal fulfilment involves shifting perceptions about the role of coaches. Enabling
or facilitating positive change is still important, but working with the human energy
field in its various forms, including deliberate
intention, creates a deeper connection. It is a
much more shared experience that can lead
to insightful and meaningful answers, sometimes even without the need for words. This
holistic approach can result in enhanced wellbeing that goes beyond the physical to the
emotional and spiritual levels of personal
11
experience. Global activity seems to suggest
that human consciousness in these areas is
expanding, as evidenced by films such as
‘What the Bleep do we Know?’ and leading
authorities such as The Michael Newton
Institute and their evidence-based work relating to Life Between Lives. Spiritual or holistic
coaches are therefore in a unique position to
act as catalysts for this continuing unfolding
of human potential that is the path we all follow.
Diana Coldman is a personal Holistic Life
Coach, Intuitive Guide, Author of several
ebooks and a Reiki Level II Practitioner. She
also runs a twelve-month Holistic Living
ecourse and several retreat workshops. For further information, please contact Diana on
01342 328162 (www.thelifewhisperer.co.uk)
References:
Tiller, W.A. (2001) Conscious Acts of
Creation, Pavior Publishing, California
Lipton, B. (2005) The Biology of Belief,
Mountain of Love, California
Hicks, E & J. (2006) The Amazing Power of
Deliberate Intent, Hay House, London,
Laurance, J. (2005) ‘Unhappiness is
‘Britain’s worst social problem’ ’, The
Independent, 12th September
Brennan, Barbara Ann (1988) ‘Hands of
Light – A Guide to Healing Through the
Human Energy Field’, Bantam Books, New
York
Judith, A (1999), Wheels of Life: A User’s
Guide to the Chakra System, Llewellyn New
Age, Middx
www.newtoninstitute.org
Reviews
Title: The Leader on the Couch, by Manfred Kets de Vries
One squirms in uncomfortable self recognition through chapters 2 to 7 as he describes
the various personality prototypes at work
in our organisations. The work is generously
illustrated with case studies of executives
Without doubt this was my most interesting exhibiting maladaptive behaviours and their
underlying causes. I concluded part one
read in 2006. Kets de Vries had me
enthralled from the first page, lifting the lid, accepting myself as a personality patchwork,
from a therapist’s perspective, on the inner a beautifully blended combination of narcissism, control, dependency, self-defeat,
theatre of individuals and their impact on
depression, abrasion and paranoia. My selfthe organisations they lead.
perceived ‘percentage composition’ will of
course be quite different from that observed
Dividing his book into three parts, Kets de
Vries first leads us through an examination by those who know me.
of personality prototypes and their implications for leadership style. Next he addresses And so the stage is set for part two, the chalthe process of collectively awakening execu- lenge of reconciling reported observation
tives to self awareness and creating an envi- with self perception. Leaders that know
themselves can take responsibility for their
ronment for enhanced teamwork. In part
personal growth and choose the difficult
three he describes the self aware organisation where change is the norm and innova- path of building their aspirational identity.
Kets de Vries describes the challenges of this
tion and learning can thrive.
journey, recognising the ‘triangle of conflict’, the psychodynamic interrelationship
Kets de Vries has aimed this book at those
of anxiety, feelings and defensive strategies
wishing ‘to peel back the layers of selfwe employ at the heart of our personality.
deception to reveal how inner personality
affects the way we lead and manage others’ At this point some may sense a danger that
Kets de Vries nomenclature could entice the
unqualified to venture beyond their competence. He gives an overview of the INSEAD
Book reviewers
‘Challenge of Leadership’ course for executives where they become a mutually supWould you like to write a book or conportive learning community and where each
ference review for the AC Bulletin?
delegate in turn is coached by their peers to
examine their behaviours and transferences,
If the answer is yes, please e-mail a conhow significant others in their early develdensed CV, together with areas of interopment continue to influence their emoest and a copy of a previous book review
tions, thoughts and interactions.
(if possible) to the Reviews Editor at
[email protected]
The declared theme of this book is changing
Publisher
Published
Price
ISBN
Jossey Bass
2006
£19.99
0-470-03079-8
Guidelines will be sent to you and you
will get to keep the book you review.
people and organisations and in part three
Kets de Vries exposes the linkage. He begins
by considering the similarities between the
Continued on page 13
12
Reviews
individual and the organisational persona in
how both can adopt dysfunctional characteristics and defences. Chapter 12 develops
several organisational archetypes and discusses their prevailing styles. ‘Because
organisational neurosis is rooted in personal
neurosis, organisational change is predicated
on personal change.’ Any change can only
emerge from the exercise of real choice and
such choice is only possible through an
awareness of what’s going on in the organisation’s inner theatre. Chapter 13 shows
how leaders affect their organisations and
how discovering the organisation’s hidden
rationale is the key to overcoming unconscious resistance to change. Kets de Vries
concludes with a picture of a utopian
‘authentizotic’ organisation whose workers
know not only the how-to but also the why,
the underlying uniting vision that motivates
them to strive for excellence. The managers
in this organisation promote initiative, creativity, industry and entrepreneurship and
promote a sense of well-being, effectiveness
and autonomy in the workforce. Worthy
goals indeed for the leadership coach.
to balance logic and emotion thus becoming more grounded, more authentic and
more powerful.
For me this book has been enormously
appealing because it considers the interactions of real individuals through whom collective learning and change programmes
succeed or fail. The book is less likely to
appeal to those who strongly prefer forward
pointing, solution focused techniques. By
being able to explore those issues that make
us who we are, the book reinforces the idea
of healing and personal acceptance as the
platform from which the leader’s future is
launched.
This is definitely a candidate for using up
your Christmas book tokens. — Paul
Curran
ADVERTISEMENT
This work is readily accessible to those new
to psychoanalytical thinking. It provides a
most useful introduction to the underlying
dynamics of individuals and organisations,
and does so in a way that explains how the
organisation’s human resources can truly
become more powerful than the sum of its
staff. Each chapter begins delightfully with a
Zen story with which Kets de Vries positions
the leadership theme that follows. He likens
the leader’s search for emotional intelligence
to the Zen disciple’s quest for greater self
awareness, one of slow and silent illumination punctuated by occasional leaps into
paradox. In coping with paradoxical situations the Zen disciple reaches new understanding. So too the would-be leader learns
13
Reviews
Title: Excellence in Coaching: The Industry Guide, edited by Jonathan
Passmore
Publisher
Published
Price
ISBN
Kogan Page
2006
£24.95
0749446374
As the editor, Jonathan Passmore introduces
the Association for Coaching’s first book,
Excellence in Coaching as a collection of thirteen chapters, written by top international
writers on coaching. The contributors include
well-known experts such as Sir John
Whitmore, Professor Cary Cooper, Ian
McDermott and Graham Alexander, and they
certainly live up to this introduction. The
experience of the authors certainly makes for
a collection demonstrating a great depth of
expertise on the field of coaching. The chapters are under the three main headings of
“The Business of Coaching”, “Coaching
Models and Approaches”, and “Professional
Issues”. The scope and coverage of the book
makes it a useful guide to anyone involved in
coaching at any level.
The book starts with a general introduction to
coaching, which would be helpful for both
readers who are coaching within organisations and those who are setting up a coaching
practice as a business. The second section goes
on to explore the different approaches that
can be taken towards coaching. In this section
I found the chapters on solution-focused
coaching, the GROW model, and NLP coaching particularly useful illustrations of specific
models which many people use to underpin
their coaching practice. In this section, many
of the chapters include a particularly practical
list of ten key questions to serve as a guide for
the reader who wants to explore and develop
a specific approach. The final section on professional issues includes a valuable chapter on
the supervision of coaches, a subject that is of
growing interest to many practitioners, clients
and sponsors of coaching.
The chapters in Excellence in Coaching are all
informative and very accessible, and go to
make a book which gives an overview of the
field of coaching with both depth and
breadth. Each chapter has a very good bibliography, although I would have liked to see a
shorter list of recommended reading at the
end of the book. For anyone who wants to
use the book for reference it is thoroughly
indexed. I believe this book will very quickly
find itself on a recommended reading list for
anyone getting started in the field of coaching. Many readers will find one quite noticeable omission in the book. The book makes
no explicit reference to coaching psychology,
and no listing of the British Psychology
Society amongst the list of professional bodies
that exist in the field. Nor is there any reference to the use of psychometric tests other
than a short comment on the use of personality tests in stress counselling. Readers may
want to refer to more specialist literature on
these particular topics.
Excellence in Coaching is a book which will be
of interest to anyone involved in the world of
executive coaching, including beginners and
experienced coaches, coaches working within
organisations or independently running their
own business, and anyone taking a specific
coaching approach who wants to be aware of
the range of coaching methods that are available to them. As such, the editor has achieved
his stated aim of bringing today’s current
issues in coaching together in one book. I
would recommend it to anyone who wants to
find the most comprehensive guide to the
coaching industry.
Philip Donnison is a Chartered Occupational
Psychologist.
14
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- Association for Coaching

Transcription

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