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October 22, 2008
Some e-cleaning
On a more practical note, while I'm making life changing decisions about my research programme, I'm also in the process of changing my email address and as part of this I'm cleaning my email database. With a lot of help from Julie (my virtual assistant), and after several weeks of sorting names, inputting addresses and numbers, de-duplicating, categorising contacts into various contact folders, we are now ready to send out a change of address email to more than 1,000 people. Phew!
It's actually been a mammoth task and while the attention to detail is slightly exhausting, at the same time, I know it will be worth it in the end.
When a filing cabinet it getting too full, I really enjoy clearing out old records and files, so this is similar. The only problem has been that the computer seems to have had limitless capability to keep storing more and more information, and so I'm not aware that the e-filing cabinets are pretty clogged up with out of date information. I wonder what impact this may have had at an unconscious level. Maybe there's a connection between deciding to do the research programme and cleaning my database. Time will tell.
Posted by Alison at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2008
A decision...
In the past couple of weeks, I've decided to enrol on the professional doctorate programme in the Institute for Work Based Learning at Middlesex University. After several months of vacillating about this or another programme (which I blogged about in August), when it came to choosing, for me this programme really seems to acknowledge and celebrate my existing knowledge and experience, and at the same time provide the platform to develop and refine my research inquiry into coaching supervision.
At this stage, I'm still enjoying the fact that I've been offered and accepted a place on the programme, whilst feeling slightly anxious about what I'm taking on. I guess it's a bit like trekking. Take one step at a time. I certainly need to remember this each time I pick up the handbook and try to understand the language of academia – assignments and research projects and dissertations – and how this translates into my terms. I guess it will be come clearer as I take each step.
I also remember when I was trekking in the Himalayas some years ago that it took me quite some days before I could ask for or accept an offer of help from others to carry my day-pack. I hope I learned from that experience, that help will be available, and I just have to ask!
I'm sharing these reflections as part of my own process in accepting a new sense of my personal identity as a doctoral student. This is taking time and I want to notice the impact and my reactions. I'm aware that it gives me further appreciation of how clients (be they coachees or supervisees) integrate the learning and changes that they set out to achieve. So, coming into a new job or being promoted isn't just a question of the job title and surface artefacts like business cards, or names on doors. Once we have the label or mantle, we may take time to live it and so believe or accept it. It's a fascinating process and one I continue to enjoy exploring.
Posted by Alison at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)
Getting out of the way of the client's process
At a recent AC Co-Coaching Forum here in West London (see the What's on page for future dates),we explored again the notion of "goals" or "no goals" taking a particular approach in our coaching practice. During a short coaching session, the coach actually said very little, but tuned in to the coachee with all their presence to allow them to find their own path and solution.
When I was the coach in the exercise, I concentrated primarily on listening and then feeding back the client's words that had the most impact on me as her listener. This seemed to help her to acknowledge what was really happening for her, rather than just telling me her story.
It was fascinating to notice how the coachee wended their way to resolve their issue with little "interference" or noticeable spoken intervention from the coach. This silence from the coach was very powerful and indeed prompted me to question how I might sometimes get in the way of my client through asking a question rather than just listening and waiting.
I personally find that "telling my story" can be extremely potent in my own change process, but there is sometimes an element of wanting to entertain the listener, so to have my own words fed back to me, means that I can't just skate on past the issue and its impact on my mood, my stuckness, my effectiveness.
In the corporate world, I realise too that sometimes there may be a tension when taking this more non-interventionist approach when working in a corporate context, where performance goals are often specified and agreed up front and the work is evaluated on this basis.
Nancy Kline's book, Time to Think, is really helpful in exploring this further. She also runs workshops here in the UK – find out more here.
Posted by Alison at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)
