A coaching partnership for growth

“Experience is the mother of all things.”

John Florio, 16th century writer

Practitioners and clients alike consistently point to “the value of the relationship” as a primary factor in the success or otherwise of developmental partnerships.

While the nature and chemistry of the relationship is indeed an essential ingredient, I think there is more to it.

The primary factor in success, I believe, is the larger context of working in partnership with a collaborator whose entire attention is dedicated to your interests. Relationship rapport is only one factor in this experience.

The way I picture the developmental process is as follows:

  • The client starts with an awareness of their own potential which is possibly limited and may be distorted;
  • The coach has a view of human potential which is consistent, generous and, ideally, undistorted;
  • In the working partnership, the client ‘takes on’ or ‘lives in’ the coach’s view until it becomes their own and they live authentically and more fully.

In other words, the client is experiencing the coach’s world of nurture and possibility for themselves. As they test the reality of this world the client feels increasingly safe in abandoning old ways and developing new and more productive ones.

The experience of life coaching with this level of depth and intensity can be both exciting and daunting. It is not an academic exercise but a real life challenge that the client finds themselves in.

The objective is change. Change is unsettling not only to the client but to all those who are affected by the client. The ripple effect of deep change in an individual is extensive.

Out of fairness to all, this change must be managed with skill and thoughtfulness: our need to change is not a licence to impose change on others. We need to bring them with us if at all possible.

This is part of the experience of Dynamic Life Coaching. A client sees themselves not as a victim who ‘needs’ some kind of ‘treatment’, but as an active agent who is stepping up their game and triggering a sequence of events which will result in the betterment of life for a significant number of people.

The client, in other words, is a responsible human being with the strength to face up to their personal and social responsibilities. That is also part of the discovery and experience of Dynamic Life Coaching.

Whose path is it?

One of the ways in which I demonstrate my faith in the client is by staying with them wherever they go. I truly believe that, deep down, the client knows best. I help my clients separate their authentic motivation from external pressures then follow and support them on that path.

The key to maintaining consistent support is to remember that none of us knows, in an absolute sense, what is right for another. After all, none of us knows:

  • what we are here for;
  • what our actual operating mechanism is in a subatomic, quantum world;
  • how long our bodies will survive;
  • what our emotions actually are;
  • what consciousness is;
  • pretty much anything of significance!

These issues set the context of existence and they are all beyond our understanding. On some level we are confronted with them every day, aware that we know nothing but  continuing with our lives anyway.

We humans are indeed wonderful creatures.

All of this awareness informs Dynamic Life Coaching. It is truly about life. It is truly about change. It is about reconciling your unanswerable questions on the nature of the universe with your pragmatic choice of which bananas to buy in the supermarket.

It is not about the life coach telling you how things are but about accompanying you on an invigorating voyage while you find out for yourself.

With a Dynamic Life Coach you are never alone unless you want to be. That is the uniqueness of this experience. And within it you will grow and extend your living ‘space’ until one day you decide you’ve gone far enough. And then you’ll stop.

The decision to stop coaching is one which will trigger discussion but which your coach will accept. This is because it is in everyone’s best interest for you to grow and develop your own life.

Putting it selfishly, as a human being I need your uniqueness to open up new paths for myself and others. By being the most effective coach for you, I thus improve life for myself and others.

We all need to build our own personal philosophy of beliefs and values to form meaningful frameworks for our lives. Then, our choices become mere forks in the road of life, each of which can lead us to our own sense of fulfillment and accomplishment

The whole purpose of life coaching as I practice it is to uncover and release potential. On the way, you will also learn how to deal with fear of failure, boredom, oversensitivity, and how to accept your gifts and talents.

Although my life experience has not been the same as yours, we will typically have enough in common to create a sympathetic resonance. That is the experience within which you can find yourself.

I hope this information has been helpful to you. If you would like to find out more about Dynamic Life Coaching or myself, please use the form below to schedule a free 50-minute in-person, Skype, Facetime or ‘phone discussion.

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