Coaching is a Gift to the World

My professional mission is making coaching a way of life for our planet. Here’s why that matters to me, and why I believe it matters to you too.

For all of the communications going on in the world, we still have difficulty addressing the things that matter most. It’s the things we care most deeply about that get us stuck, and often, keep us from moving forward, together, in more productive ways.

As individuals, we dance around the conversations that are closest to our hearts, or engage them as if they’re battles we need to win at all cost. We freely invoke blaming, shaming and condemning to win our way, knowing full well there are no winners in such demeaning exchanges.

Teams and organizations often fall into the same patterns. When it comes to forging a shared path through uncertain territory, leaders too often give into fear and subterfuge, rather than engaging each other in honest dialogues that build trust and shared understanding.

The global situation is even more frightening as we helplessly watch the stakes relentlessly ratchet up on any number of complex issues, while we struggle to build shared commitment to take meaningful actions.

There’s a very high cost to our engrained habit of duking it out with each other whenever we feel challenged or uncertain. When we default to doing battle with whatever prompts our fears a lot of people get hurt, and so many opportunities to create a different outcome are lost.

We are collectively swimming in a sea of uncertainty. If we consistently choose to give over to our fears, we will most certainly drown in the ensuing conflict. We need to change how we look at “problems” and how we engage with each other if we are to envision and build solid shared ground we can stand on together.

Coaching, as a way of looking at the world and approaching challenges, lays the framework for a very different kind of dialogue. When coaching is a way of life people:

• Look at problems and see leverage points for meaningful change
• Focus on underlying assumptions and beliefs that hold dysfunctional patterns in place
• Appreciate what’s at stake for others, as well as themselves
• Build momentum through shared insights
• Value experimentation, and learning with and from each other
• Take a holistic view of situations
• Hold the intention of realizing a greater good

Image the conversations we could have, the ideas we could conceive, the innovation we could realize, and the difference we could collectively make if we took a coaching approach to any challenge. I can imagine this, and I like what I see.

A coaching worldview provides an appreciative, non-violent process for engaging in meaningful conversations that focus on finding shared paths forward. It’s apolitical, non-denominational, accessible, and provides a solid platform for a productive outcome to any conversation.

That’s the gift I devote my professional life to giving to the world. I hope you’ll join me. I believe the world will be a better place if you do.

Dianna Anderson, MCC
CEO, Cylient