it doesn’t come nicely wrapped
up in sentences and action plans.
The language of the right
hemisphere is images, music,
colors, emotions and metaphor.
It’s vague, unfocused, imprecise
and broad. Thus, it’s up to
us to take these amorphous
feelings, images and “gut
reactions” and find a way to talk
about and understand them.
When we say, “I have a sense
of something, but I don’t know
how to describe it,” we are
actually saying, “I have knowing
in my right hemisphere, but
I have not yet brought it into
my left hemisphere through
language so that it can be
looked at specifically.” Accessing
the right hemisphere and all of
its intuitive information requires
a relaxed, calm and open mind.
When we focus and drive too
hard, this softer connection
gets lost.
Intuition and Coaching
Many experienced coaches say
their intuition has strengthened
over the years. There are a
couple of reasons for this. One
is that practice gives us “expert”
information, allowing powerful
pattern recognition. Another is
that the more we check in with
our own bodily reactions and
practice assigning language to
right-hemisphere responses,
the better we get at it. Through
practice and repetition, we are
building and strengthening
neural pathways within our
intuition system.
ICF Business Partners
knowledge in multiple ways.
Know that these can all be
developed with practice and
coaching experience. Be aware
that your intuition is telling
you something and trust that
information, while also knowing
that your interpretation
might be skewed by your own
experiences and biases. Know
that intuition is not strange at
all, but a rational, explicable
part of how our brain and body
work. And everyone—and I
mean everyone—has it!
ICF partners with various groups
through the ICF Media Partner
and ICF Business Solutions
Partner programs to offer
discounts or special pricing to ICF
members on goods and services.
Learn more at icf.to/partners.
Ann Betz, CPCC, is
the cofou nder of BEabove
Leadership, and an
international speaker and
trainer on the intersection
of neuroscience, coaching
and human transformation. Ann serves as the
neuroscience consultant to the Coaches Training
Institute and is chair of the task force on
neuroscience and coaching for the Association
of Coach Training Organizations (ACTO). She is a
popular author on coaching and the brain as a
contributor to “Choice” magazine, “Coaching at
Work” and other coaching and HR publications.
She is a frequent contributor to the ICF Blog
and has her own blog at yourcoachingbrain.
wordpress.com. Through BEabove
Leadership, Ann developed and co-leads
the popular training program for advanced
coaches, “Neuroscience, Consciousness and
Transformational Coaching,” currently offered in
the U.S, Canada and the United Kingdom. Ann
is committed to making the complexities of the
brain and consciousness accessible to coaches
and leaders, and is known for both her depth
and humor. She lives in Minneapolis with her
teenage son and two very enlightened cats.
So, my advice to coaches?
Know that you’re accessing
below-conscious-processing
Coaching World |
August 2013
27