I am are going on a journey, an expedition really. I know the general direction but there is no destination yet. Maybe there never will be. Perhaps I will know when I arrive. I am not sure how long this expedition will take. Maybe just a few months but it could equally be a year or even years. I will keep adding to, editing, renewing or perhaps better – refreshing.
It is an exploration of coaching and spirituality where thoughts, ideas, a bit of reading will be gathered around themes and written as if it were a journal. I have a hunch that spirituality is already very important in my work as a mentor and coach and I am sure it will become more so in the years ahead. But I want the pathways of understand to be clearer. On mountains piles of stones are built to show the way, I might set metaphorical stones so I can travel these routes again. Initially there will be a setting down of some basic ideas, a rough direction which in time may be expanded.
The more worn footpaths of this journey have been made by some notable academics and senior coaches who are well ahead on this exploration of spirituality of coaching. For these, coaching is reimagined in the context of the inner life, the soul, the transpersonal, the ecological crisis, mindfulness and ancient wisdom. I will follow some these footpaths but at other times I will head-off over rough ground and explore different ideas and approaches. I may arrive at a similar destination having taken a very different route.
Around these exciting discussions and emerging practices a wider change in the world of coaching is happening. There is the challenge of AI in the foreground and coaches now seem to be moving beyond the GROW model and narrow confines of ‘performance coaching’. We are no longer neutral and passive coaches to our client’s sharing, but rather very present, aware and engaged with the offerings of our client. We are rejoicing in the blossoming of diverse coaching practices and theories and together we try to discern the future. What is clear is the future will look very different and I feel sure spirituality will be front of centre of that future.
These pages will be the field notes of the journey, just a small contribution in the wider and exciting exploration of coaching and spirituality. I may take some paths which fade to nothing or leave me on a cliff edge. Sometimes I will need to retrace my steps but I shall not be afraid of mistakes nor be diminished by my naivety and inexperience in coaching. It will be a joyful, playful journey and I will try to draw in as many friends as possible. The hope is that by writing, sharing, listening and adapting we/I may arrive at a deeper and richer place where spirituality is even more at the service of coaching and coaching even more at the service of spirituality.
