What does heart have to do with coaching?
Maria Illife-Wood, Author of Coaching Presence, Building Consciousness and Awareness into Coaching Interventions.
When I look from ‘heart’ my experience changes. I see life in a different way. I see the situation in a different way. I see others in a different way. When I come from heart, I have more kindness, compassion and love. I have more strength, resilience and confidence. When I drop out of my thinking and into my heart, my head clears and I have more clarity and perspective.
I work as a coach because it’s what my heart wants me to do. I want to make a difference in the world. When I’m in my head, it’s hard to see the wood for the trees to be in service. When I’m in my head, I have to navigate my way through the expectations I have of myself, my ego, my judgement and criticism, my negative thinking, my thoughts of whether I’m doing a good enough job, whether I’m achieving the outcomes, whether I’m doing what I’m being paid to do.
From my heart I have a clear path
When I come from my heart there is nothing to get in the way. The odd thought might drop into my consciousness but by staying in my heart, they are quick to disappear.
Coming from heart, I don’t look through the dirty lens of my clouded thinking. I can see my client. I am with them, in the moment, with no worries or concerns about the past, or imagined futures – they reside in my head.
Not only do I see my client with more clarity, my feelings towards them are fuelled by kindness, compassion and love – that unconditional positive regard that Carl Rogers talked about, if you don’t like the word love in a coaching context.
This is the source of our wisdom
This warmth fuels my coaching interventions. I listen with my whole being, with nothing on my mind, and I can hear beyond the words that are being spoken. The connection is heart to heart, soul to soul, one human … being … with another human … being, and in the ‘being’ transformation can happen.
This place of ‘heart’ is the source of our wisdom, both client and coach. When we come from heart, our clients fall out of their head, into their heart, and are much more likely to find the answers they need.
What does heart have to do with coaching? Everything.
Next steps
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Book Coaching Presence, Building Consciousness and Awareness into Coaching Interventions Maria Iliffe-Wood
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