Coaching to grow, relate and lead in a complex world.
"We don’t so much solve our problems as we outgrow them. We add capacities and experiences that eventually make us bigger than the problems."- C.G. Jung
My work in developmental coaching is to partner with clients to explore what is desired in terms of goals and outcomes while exploring deeper underlying assumptions, beliefs, values and mindsets that shape their experience of themselves, how they engage with the world, and with others. We create learning from the coaching exploration itself, from practice, experimentation and reflection and by getting to the heart of a presenting challenge or aspiration.
We focus on your ‘doing’ and ‘being’, the what and the how, and help you to make sense of your challenges and experiences to alchemise them as catalysts for growth. Developmental coaching is focused on a client’s growth, well-being and personal and professional development. Clients are challenged and supported through deep reflection, exploration, feedback and experimentation.
The theory of adult (or vertical) development underpins my coaching approach and is supported by my training in systemic coaching and constellations, embodiment and emotional intelligence, to support clients through their unique development journey.
A systemic lens means that your growth and development are explored in context; looking at the systems in which you belong, and have belonged to throughout your life and career, understanding how these systems influence you and you them, and exploring the hidden dynamics that may be present and impacting the current relational systems you are navigating.
“I am interested in every tangle of thread and rope and every possibility of transformation.” - Magdalena Abakanowicz
Having spent two years in a dedicated immersive program diving deep into my own emotional education and embodied exploration in relationship to self and others, I also support clients to make sense of the ‘edge emotions’ that are a part of the ‘disorientating dilemmas’ (Mezirow, 1991) and ‘heat experiences’ (Petrie, 2015) that form the catalysts for transformational growth and adult development.
With both private and organisational leadership clients I often use the Leadership Development Framework and Leadership Development Profile (LDP) to open up their development inquiry, expand and deepen their self-awareness, and understand their current stage of meaning-making and thinking capacity. The LDP creates a rich and expansive conversation that continues to move and evolve as a client’s coaching and development journey continues. Having taken the LDP myself for the first time back in 2017, it has been a key part of my own development as a coach and a person.
There can be debate about adult development stage theory. From my experience, I don’t see it as a linear process, I see our growth and development as concentric circles expanding and contracting throughout our lives. I think this Anaïs Nin quote speaks to that quite beautifully.
Emotions, the LDF & Non-Linear Growth
“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”- Anaïs Nin
I have embodied practices that support me in my capacity, my presence and my development as a coach and I incorporate embodiment in my coaching when it’s useful and appropriate. I also offer embodiment classes both online and in-person to fellow coaches and individuals, you can read more about my embodiment practice and offerings here.
*Listen to my conversation with Alis Anagnostaskis, PhD and Dr Hayley Linthwaite on Embodiment and Vertical Development on The Developmental podcast.
Safety and containment are important to me as a coach, that means holding clear contracting, boundaries and schedules for the coaching work. I have regular coaching supervision, and I am a member of the ICF and adhere to the ICF code of ethics.
Having a human-centred approach means I hold my coaching tools and training lightly, using what is appropriate and in context for each team and unique human being.
Read more about the experience of working with me on a development journey here.
Embodiment & my Coaching Principles
“Listening is about being present, not just about being quiet.” - Krista Tippett
What we can see, we can change.
A fundamental element of adult development and developmental coaching is, Developmental Psychologist, Dr Robert Kegan’s Subject/Object theory. First introduced in his book The Evolving Self (1982), based on the work of Piaget (1954) and Kohlberg (1969) and the stages of development from infant to adult, Kegan’s work defines ‘Subject’ as what we identify with, what is embedded in us and therefore we cannot see objectively. This includes personality traits, assumptions about the way the world works, behaviours and emotions. ‘Object’ refers to self-concepts that we can look at, reflect on, and be responsible for.
When something moves from Subject to Object, we can look at it, when previously we were looking through it.
We know that we are experiencing growth when we can see something about ourselves or our way of viewing the world and look at it with curiosity, whereas before it was so a part of who we were that it was hidden from us (like a fish unaware of the water it’s swimming in).
Developmental coaching supports you to look at yourself, your beliefs, your behaviours and your experiences and make sense of them. To create space between you and ‘it’ (an emotional trigger, mental barrier, unproductive habit or outdated worldview) that is informing and driving your behaviour in a way that is no longer useful, generative or impactful, and see it more clearly.
It supports you to look at what you were previously looking through, and what you can see, you can change. Therefore not just changing your behaviour or your thinking but also transforming how you perceive and make meaning of the world around you.
"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom." - Viktor Frankl
Step into your developmental journey. Work with me in the following ways.
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Coaching for Leaders & Teams in Organisations
Today’s leaders and teams face unique, complex challenges, and, expansive possibilities. There is a need to be more flexible and adaptable in our thinking, have greater self-awareness, emotional agility, think systemically and be able to meaningful connect and collaborate to effectively meet our complex problems and the constantly changing business and global landscape.
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Private Coaching for Individuals
Focused on your growth, your well-being and your personal & professional development, this journey of deep coaching sessions support you to connect to your emergent future self, who you are, what you value as important for your life and your future highest possibility.
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Embodiment & Movement Sessions
Guided movement and embodiment sessions that support your body-mind to navigate the complexity of life and work, and your growth and development. Non-Linear Movement Method® smooths out the nervous system, releases tension, processes emotional patterns and generates fresh perspectives.