Re-think the way you are coaching

Professional coaching is a service in which a trained coach helps people to clarify their goals and intentions, work towards them, and overcome obstacles to their realization. To enable sustainable change requires awareness and a thorough thinking process - it is not something we get at the click of a mouse. A Professional Coach guides individuals on this learning journey where they deepen their understanding and walk away with greater clarity. Watch the 90 seconds video explaining how our transformative coaching enables deep and sustainable change.

The concept of transformation is often considered the most complete or radical form of change. “Trans” means to go across or to move from one stage to another, suggesting a change in form. It involves a dynamic change in nature, not just a surface-level change. 

Impactful coaching that results in a sustainable change requires people first to gain awareness of how they perceive their reality. They need to bring this awareness to the forefront of their minds, allowing them to make considered decisions that truly align with their priorities. It is not enough for people to walk away from the coaching session with only a short-term “solution”. 

Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out. Sometimes they just need a little nudge, a little direction, a little support, and the greatest things can happen. Pete Carroll.

The coaching conversation needs to encourage deep reflection, which empowers people to jettison thoughts, perspectives, and emotions that are no longer relevant, and learn new ones. As such, the ACC Conversation provides people with an expansive space in which to examine how they respond to their situation through reflective inquiry. 

Moving from Tactical to Adaptive to Generative Change

The ACC Conversation is transformational because it questions the integrity of deeply held assumptions based on prior experiences. It gives people a fresh lens on how they construct and perceive their situation and through the transformative process, guide them to assess their value system and worldview. It also offers people an expanded space for self-discovery and uses the emerging understanding that unfolds in the conversation to support them to make empowering choices in moving forward.

It is interesting to note that people rarely take time to consider how they are thinking. Instead, they focus their attention on the “what” aspects, such as “what do I need to do” and “what are the barriers to my goals”. Consequently, the vast majority of their actions and decisions are merely a reactive response to the situation that either attempts to fix or resolve something.

Here is an important question that we need to ask ourselves:

when the goal is to advance human potential, will a tactical approach offer sufficient guidance to people working to generate higher levels of well-being and development?
 

Delivering impactful results requires us to be deliberate in choosing approaches that best match the context.

Tactical change is of course ideal when both the problem and the expected outcome are clearly defined. Current ways of thinking are generally adequate for the task, and needed skillsets can be learned. Engaging people at this level of change supports them in creating adaptive change to manage the situation. 
But this is where understanding the distinct difference between tactical and generative change makes a difference.

Being able to solve a problem or putting something in place is not the same as moving forward. And that’s where generative change comes in. 

Generative change means creating something beyond what already exists. It is not merely a cosmetic change, but a shift that allows new levels of mastery, which enable you to achieve entirely new outcomes. This is an important process that connects learning agility and sustainability. 

The process of experiencing generative change deepens our learning and increases our capacity to apply the new understanding in a new context. When we can adapt faster and navigate complex situations more easily, we become more resilient and vigilant; and, subsequently, we can engage in sustainable change.

This is the testimony by Karen, HR Director sharing her personal coaching experience as a client.

What I appreciated most about this conversation is the coach's safe, open, and expansive space. It expanded my mind to uncover my inner felt need - a need for certainty - that is hidden behind my concern. This shift in my understanding is so refreshing and empowering, and most importantly, it enabled me to move forward boldly to deal with the situation. 

What is so unique about this coaching approach? I noticed that the coach helped me get out of my logical thought process loop and actually right to the matter's heart. The questions asked caused me to be very reflective instead of answering "reason". I was able to realize new insights and also recognize connections between my own thoughts and my feelings. The process is so organic and powerful.

How is this coaching different from your past coaching experiences? I have had a few coaching sessions in the past, and when comparing them to this session, I would now say that they are more of consulting types of coaching.  In those sessions, the coaching focuses more on the details and facts about my topic to create strategies to resolve the situation. I walked away with an "action plan", but not experiencing a true "transformation". This session has enabled me with insights that I could not have realized on my own and are far more impactful as they have changed the way I viewed my situation.

A reflective inquiry process that heightens the self-awareness

Reflective learning is our ability to pause and examine our thought process, construct meaning, look for connection, and unpack our thoughts.

A generative change is a systemic concept of a whole that consists of interconnected parts; it is based in part on the premise that a small change can create or facilitate considerable change. This is where transformative learning occurs, and the nature of the change people experience is often a deep, fundamental revision to their beliefs, principles and feelings. This allows them to modify their understanding of themselves and others, as well as their sense of what’s possible.

The theory of transformative learning is the core principle of the ACC Conversation.

Transformative learning occurs when learning results in a change in an individual’s frame of reference. These reference frames are the cognitive building blocks that we use to understand our world and influence our values, attitudes, and associated behaviours. When people apply critical self-reflection to consider their interpretations, beliefs, and experiences, they become able to transform their reference frames. This process is known as perspective transformation, and it involves experiencing a profound, structural shift in basic premises of thought, feelings, and action.