Socrates in conversation with Aspasia and Alcibiades
‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ Socrates as reported by Plato
My whole person, 'professional + personal' approach for executive coaching and leadership development comes from combining traditional executive coaching and Psychosynthesis leadership coaching.
Through work, I was privileged to experience both approaches with different coaches. At the time, I didn’t know the self-development work I was doing was based on Psychosynthesis – I just knew it helped me understand myself – and I was better able to help others as a result.
Psychosynthesis leadership coaching uses a psychological approach, which draws upon a holistic model of the psyche. It serves to integrate recent developments in fields such as systemic coaching and constellations, somatic coaching, mindfulness and the developmental perspective.
When I became a coach, I knew I wanted to combine both approaches and took two very different courses to achieve this – including training with Aubyn Howard of PCL.
At work, and in life, I was concerned with my professional rather than my personal development. I relied on my natural emotional intelligence - until I was in a leadership position at work and knew I needed to learn more about myself to be the best leader I could be – and then delve deeper still when I knew I wanted to support others’ personal and professional development as a coach.
Personal development for professional people
Most coaching approaches will put some attention on personal development. Sometimes this can be little more than lip service and in other cases it represents a more serious commitment. My approach involves consideration for clients’ inner lives of thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears, dreams and anxieties as well as their professional goals and aspirations.
In this way, personal development isn’t an add-on or optional extra to professional development, it is what enables clients to understand themselves more fully – if they wish.
Read Aubyn's full blog piece on personal development and more about the coaching courses PCL provide here.
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