I spent this week in a brick factory! With a leadership group keen to build a coaching culture. At the start, one of the managers said: “I don’t do emotions.”
He said emotions made him “uncomfortable”.
“That sounds like an emotion,” another replied.
And that was the first of many lightbulb moments.
In a directive culture where ‘telling’ is the norm, bringing in a coaching style might feel like a mountain to climb.
But as we went through the week, practicing person-centred skills and reflecting on what was happening, things were beginning to shift. People began to open up – and discovered that this encouraged others to do the same. And so the real work could begin.
By the end of the week, words like “inspired” and “elated” were bouncing around the room. A loose group of leaders had become a close-knit team of coaches. And they are now rearing to go out into the business to build a new culture, leading by example.
I’m typing this as I’m driving home with my co-facilitator. The client team has been on a hell of a journey, and so have we.
As person-centred practitioners we don’t teach anything. People can only learn this stuff for real if they see us learning too, and this means being real about our own journeys.
Learning is endless – just like that traffic jam ahead on the M5… But don’t ask how I feel about that. Actually, please do… $#%€^#%*
True Horizon Coaching 