The way I approach coaching comes from a distinct
perspective and so in many ways the impact is different too.
The basis of what I do is creating awareness and looking at
the gap between reality and goals, but the fundamental shift
is that I first help clients establish how they are the problem,
preventing progress.
Gillian Campbell
United Kingdom
How this impacts the community is that each client stops
looking to blame and justify mistakes and comes from a
place of responsibility about how they are contributing to
every problem. Why would anyone do that? I believe that all
individuals are capable of being self-deceived.
If we don’t see these self-deceptions, we can never see the full
picture. A coaching intervention therefore only fits the view of
reality that we start with. In a community, the effect of client
after client taking responsibility for the contribution they make
to a problem is creating waves of accountable change. If one
person starts by saying, “How I have made this worse is … .
How can I help make it better?” then change will follow.
The other difference is I don’t ask clients what they want to
achieve from their coaching. I ask them to work out what
their community, customers, peers and those they are in key
relationships with would want. Then we work from there to
create goals.
Using a coach approach envelops most aspects of my life.
As a talent management professional, I focus on expanding
coaching skills throughout the organization I work for; whether
it’s developing coaching skills in leaders, supporting leadership
development through one-on-one coaching or increasing team
capability as a team coach. As a member of ICF Washington
State’s Board of Directors, I work with other coaches to
promote coaching through allied professional networking
events and to businesses via our Chapter-level Prism Award.
In addition, I provide pro bono coaching for nonprofit
organizations as a way of giving back. In my spare time, I’m
working on a book with a friend that focuses on the best coach
approach to help women leaders overcome derailment and
increase resiliency. And occasionally I’ll find myself asking my
pups, “What’s the worst thing that will happen if you don’t get
a walk right now?” (But not really …)
“...each client stops looking
to blame and justify mistakes
and comes from a place of
responsibility about how
they are contributing
to every problem.”
Lynn Schmidt,
Ph.D., ACC
USA
“... I provide pro bono
coaching for nonprofit
organizations as a way
of giving back.”
Coaching World 35