Coaching through the creative
I have recently returned from two weeks of ‘coaching leave’ while I construct a large scale illuminated sculpture for a light festival I co-organise.
Why am I writing about that here?
Because coaching is also - where the coach is equipped to host the discussion - a creative activity. A coaching conversation is an exploration beyond the words that have found space outside of the body - it is also about the hidden, quiet, subdued and unacknowledged beliefs and feelings behind the ‘focal point’ that come to light through well positioned and skilled questions, gentle examining and an organic and immersive / discursive experience.
To be very open with you, I find the word ‘creativity’ icky. I have the same issue with the word ‘artist’ - both have connotations that are dizzy, flouncy, messy, playful, unprofessional, and not in the slightest bit to be taken seriously. These connotations are culturally formed and they don’t sit well within an organised, professional ‘important’ context (‘important’, now there’s an interesting word…) such as, let’s say, a business or corporate environment. Yet aren’t all those descriptions sometimes the very thing that the corporate world might aspire to? The freedom, the flow, the lightness of touch, the ideas-forming, creative thinking juices and colourful imagery that make us tick and feel warm inside? The unspoken, emotional, messiness.
It’s at loggerheads, is it not?
I like to think that the space created with both the skills of coaching, combined with 30 years as a creative thinker makes for an invigorating fission of dialogue and visual imagining. A space where issues can be brought to the table and safely teased wider before broadening the perspective by which solutions are found through creative discussion - and often drawing too. For what can’t be found in language of words can often be found in visual sharing. And where words are a limited channel of discourse, a creative thinker with a multi-dimensional background is sometimes better equipped to find other ways to explore the conversation in much more depth.
I use both approaches in my coaching depending on the client’s needs and their current state of being. I support their growth using this open framework and through a structured road map, which is light and flexible. And we create a future vision that is closer to the form that emerges using all of these techniques. It’s a lovely journey to witness.
If you are interested in connecting and exploring coaching then do book a call, or drop me a line.
