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My article ‘Coaching qualifications and accreditations: what are they built on and what do they mean?’ has been published in the ImaginativeHR e-bulletin of July 2016.

It explores the fact that fundamental questions need to be addressed concerning what qualifications and accreditations are actually measuring and assessing. What, therefore, do they mean and what are they based on? Qualifications and accreditations are recognised as badges of quality – but how do they help us recognise a good or excellent coach?

James Lawley and Susie Linder Pelz (2016) note that competency-based assessments rest on the principle (and indeed the assumption) that the evaluation of observed behaviour predicts future performance.

Tatiana Bachkirova and Carmelina Lawton-Smith (2015), of Oxford Brookes University, bring another perspective: they argue that a coach’s true capability may not show up in observed behaviour, and that the complexity and unpredictability of coaching may therefore need a new model. They propose a capabilities approach rather than a competencies approach. This, they say, implies an approach to coach training and education that allows the development of the coach in congruence with the individual’s characteristics and values, who they are as a person and not only as an opportunity to assimilate a repertoire of competencies.

In my view, this makes a lot of sense. It seems to me that a collaborative approach by purchasers, training organisations and coaching bodies may be the way forward from here.

If you’d like to see the full article, please e-mail lw@lindsaywittenberg.co.uk for a pdf.

Photo by Dennis Callahan via Compfight

Coaching qualifications and accreditations: a new angle

Knowledge and experience alone may have little or nothing to do with what makes for an excellent coach – and yet until now many of the principles underlying coach assessment have been about competencies. Tatiana Bachkirova and Carmelina Lawton-Smith (2015), of Oxford Brookes University, argue that the complexity and unpredictability of coaching may need a new model, and they propose a capabilities approach rather than a competencies approach.

#hellomynameis: Courage, passion and pioneering

Consultant geriatrician Kate Granger, who set up, and became the force behind, the campaign #hellomynameis, has died of terminal cancer aged 34. Passionate about person-centred, compassionate care, she was a leader by virtue of her passion, commitment, courage and determination to reach as many people as she could in service of a message which she believed would create a better quality of medical professional by releasing more of their inherent humanity.

'Compass or straitjacket': my new article in Coaching at Work

My latest article to be published in Coaching at Work magazine looks at how a coaching client's lack of clarity in the contracting process may be problematic at the beginning of a coaching programme. However measurables often surface during the coaching relationship.

REPEAT Workshop on Neuroscience, Gender and Performance: 24 Nov 2016

Following a sell-out we are repeating our workshop on ‘Neuroscience, Gender and Performance’ in London on Thursday 24 November 2016 14.00 to 17.00. If you would like further details or to attend, please watch this space for information on how to sign up, or e-mail to lw@lindsaywittenberg.co.uk to be added to the mailing list.

Leadership and the EU referendum

Leaders need not only to fully understand the issue they’re dealing with, especially if it challenges groupthink, but they also need to be able to communicate it in a way that is accessible and compelling to their audiences. The leader who connects with their followers will hold them in the palm of their hands. This is truly where the power is.

Culture and culture change

Organisational culture shows up in literally hundreds of different ways in which people behave and live out attitudes and beliefs. Changing a culture needs to be addressed both at the level of the leader and at the level of the whole system - and by exploring how these two interact. A culture in which the past is honoured is a culture in which change towards a new future can be embedded most effectively and sustainably.

Mental health and wellbeing at work

My article 'Ruptures in rapport' has been published in Coaching at Work. It explores where the responsibility lies for wellbeing at work, particularly since in some organisations the mention of wellbeing, stress and mental health can be associated with shame, and even limits on career progression

Cross-cultural coaching: complexities and pitfalls

In cross-cultural environments the coach needs be cautious about challenging the assumptions that they might otherwise challenge: if the client's attitude or belief comes from their culture of origin, it may be close to their sense of self. Equally, issues such as self-promotion in the context of career development and the client's relationship to their family need to be handled sensitively.

Identity, transition and transformation

What a caterpillar calls death a wise man calls a butterfly. The coaching client travels from their current identity, via transition, to their new identity, and the coach travels with them from their current meaning, via meaninglessness, to their new meaning, equipping them to move through uncertainty to a new identity. This is a journey of transformation. The client makes the change. The coach does not remove any part of them, but works with them so that they release more of their capabilities. As they add to their current identity, they enrich who they are.

The Neuroscience of Gender

The next workshop in our series is entitled ‘The Neuroscience of Gender’. It will cover: the difference in structure between female and male brains; male and female brains might function differently; vidence for different skills and abilities in females and males; what works when you want to increase diversity. Book on the link at the end of this blog.

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