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Working with the systemic factors of a client’s environment can bring them a fresh perspective when they don’t know how to move ahead, and can give them a fresh angle on their place in their systems – and the place of their challenges in those systems. They typically find that simply acknowledging ‘what is’ brings a new kind of calm which often makes a new solution possible – and also that they have a more meaningful question than the one they brought to the coaching session. Their experience is that simply standing in the truth of ‘what is’ can be liberating.

To learn more, see Lindsay’s latest article in ‘Coaching at Work’: ‘Stepping back to go forward’.

If you’re a subscriber to the journal, access it here or e-mail lw@lindsaywittenberg.co.uk for a pdf.

Photo by Royce Bair via Compfight

Step back to go forward

Coaching clients who can't see the bigger picture of their challenge can look their problem in the eye by externalising the issue: working with the systemic factors of their environment can bring a fresh perspective and acknowledging ‘what is’ often makes a new solution possible.

Your personal brand: a marketable identity

Your personal brand conveys what makes you compelling, memorable and interesting, and becomes increasingly important the more senior the roles you take on. Expressing your personal brand relates to your passions and the sources of your personal fulfilment, your values and your achievement, your strengths and your reputation, your personal vision and your thought leadership.

Leadership coaching

Leaders who embrace the process of learning and raising their levels of self-awareness, self-understanding, understanding of others and understanding of the systems and contexts they operate within stand to gain the most from leadership coaching. On their coaching journeys they learn to listen to themselves and see themselves as others see them. They become more authentic, they see more clearly what kind of leaders they want to be, and they discover how to make that happen. They learn how to respond rather than react, in a fuller awareness of the choices they make.

You're unbelievable!

'You're uneblievable' - the latest article in my regular reflection column - has been published in 'Coaching at Work'. I'm inspired by Dr Kate Granger, a 32-year-old doctor who’s a terminally ill cancer patient and who's launched #hellomynameis. Change that lasts is internally motivated rather than externally motivated.

Managing yourself to lead others

The leader who builds on, and develops, their self-awareness in such a way that they can step back emotionally from situations to put their own thinking on hold, and empathise with the players in those situations, will find that they are more connected with their people, and that higher levels of trust, performance, engagement and discretionary effort – rather than obedience or compliance (and the corresponding ‘jobsworth’ mentality) – are the order of the day.

Diversity: making more of difference

In order to work effectively with difference, the first two steps for the leader are, first, to understand and be aware of their own thinking, emotional processes and place in their systems, and, second, to adopt a stance of acceptance, humility and celebration of diversity. If the prevailing culture in their team, division or organisation doesn’t acknowledge or value diversity, then the leader needs to change their relationship to that culture (and the relationships within it) rather than try to change it from the outside.

The real message

My latest article in my reflection column has been published in 'Coaching at Work'. It explores the opportunities and traps inherent in the first coaching session with a new client.

Leadership development

Leadership development means embracing the challenges and being courageous enough to be open to learning, whether that learning is unpalatable or affirming. It means being curious, vulnerable and invested in understanding the systemic factors that shape beliefs, behaviours and relationships. It means learning that can’t simply be learnt from a textbook. It means the leader raising their self-awareness to gain insight into their drivers, strengths, and purpose – and into what inhibits them from achieving the outcomes they really want.

The global village

In contexts ranging from multinational corporations to social networking, leaders and their teams interact, communicate and influence others in multiple different cultural settings simultaneously. Culture encompasses literally anything which characterises a particular group, and the leader’s task is to release his or her workforce’s capability in this complex and dynamic environment.

We're all part of the systems

Although we’re all independent human beings, we’re also interdependent, functioning within several systems simultaneously that provide the framework for our relationships to people and organisations, decisions and achievements, beliefs and attitudes. Awareness of those systems and their impact can release blockages in teams, strategy and the implementation of change.

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