Coaching is about two things: empathy and curiosity. These are the primary pivot points of my approach to capacious leadership coaching. At the root, clients are the experts for their pathway to personal and organizational growth and transformation in seasons of change. That said, when a coach holds space for and connects with a client's journey (empathy) and leverages incisive questions and thoughtful wonderings about what is and what could be (curiosity), new insights rise to the surface that would not have been uncovered in isolation. Empathy and curiosity enable the client to remain in the driver's seat as coach and coachee unlock their unique giftedness and generative capacity for shaping new, emerging, and existing ventures. In the end, desired and measurable goals are set and achieved, or at least explored, through a facilitated process of self-discovery that can be celebrated, sustained, and creatively improvised amidst the ebbs and flows of their vocational work, diverse contexts, and complex challenges.
As a leader, program developer, strategic thinker, and public communicator, I have learned a lot about how organizations and communities emerge, die, thrive, and work both to the flourishing and detriment of those they intend to serve. I have witnessed the same in individuals who seek to lead, sustain, and grow these organisms and achieve measurable goals. While my experiences shape much of how I lead in personal and professional spaces, I have also learned first-hand the value of empathetic and curious coaching relationships that hold the right amount of space for me to learn about myself and enhance who I am as an implementer, equipper, visionary, and contributor to my community. My hope is that my work with coaching clients will do the same, especially as we leverage who and how we are to move towards a more just, equitable, and dignified world.
Read about the hybridity of Consulting with a Coaching Mindset.
If interested in a thirty or sixty-minute coaching session or on-going coaching, please contact me here.
"In practice, coaching is an empowering process where the coach asks rigorous questions and provides sacred space so people can discover
their own creative solutions."
Martha Lasley, Virginia Kellog, Richard Michaels, Sharon Brown
Coaching for Transformation
"One reason empathy and compassion are so powerful is the fact that they say to someone, 'I can hear this. This is hard, but I can be in this space with you.'"
Brené Brown
"Empathy is the thread that connects us to other humans. When empathy is used in everyday life, it makes us feel more connected to one another. And when we feel connected to those around us, we into better,
more compassionate people."
Brené Brown
"Coaches are fiercely committed to each person's capability and magnificence...We believe that the people we are coaching already possess the deep inner wisdom needed to create options, make decisions, and devise outstanding plans, so our job becomes helping them excavate that gold by listening deeply, staying curious, exploring alternatives, and asking good questions."
Chris Holmes, The Art of Coaching Clergy
"Be curious not judgmental."
Ted Lasso (mistakenly) quoting Walt Whitman
Brene Brown on "What Is Empathy?"