Coaching Foundations

Coaching Foundations is designed for new coaches; external coaches, internal coaches or leaders. Working within organisations we tailor the format to your needs. Our public program starts begins with a four-day intensive workshop followed by six months of virtual group supervision.

In the first four days you will be introduced to:

principles of dialogue
systemic approaches to working in organisations
coaching models such as GROW and CLEAR
models for managing resistance to change
approaches to achieve a state of optimal functioning.

Over the subsequent six months you will practice putting new skills into action, supported by your cohort group and facilitators. You will emerge from the program as a confident and capable organisational coach. Coaching Foundations blends theory and practice to create the best possible learning experience for participants. We limit numbers to 12 coaches/group to ensure great outcomes.

The program facilitators are Gordon Spence and Paul Lawrence. Listen to them talking about the program here.

Narrative Approaches to Coaching Multiple Selves

This program is intended for coaches wishing to add a new dimension to their coaching. It combines insights from narrative coaching and multiplicity; the idea we have multiple selves.

There exist various approaches to narrative coaching, many of which evolved from work done by Michael White and colleagues at the Dulwich Centre in Adelaide, in the 1980s and 1990s. One aspect of narrative involves externalising unwelcome thoughts and feelings. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by feelings of anger or confusion, the narrative approach invites us to make friends with these inner voices, framing what they say as well intended and potentially useful.

These narrative ideas take on a whole new light when considered alongside ideas emanating from the world of brain science, positing the existence of multiple selves. What if we have no one single self, but multiple selves, all clamouring to be heard at the same time? What if you, as coach, trying to coach one person, are in fact attempting to coach a small army of selves all at the same time?

This practical and fun workshop introduces you to basic principles of narrative and multiplicity, and creates space for you to put these new techniques into practice. The workshop is facilitated by Paul Lawrence.

If you are interested in multiplicity theory, feel free to download our related journal article or white papers.

Multiplicity and Play

This one-day interactive workshop is designed for new and experienced coaches who are looking to learn more about applying multiplicity theory and play techniques into their coaching practice. Participants will spend time immersing themselves between evidence-based theory and practice. By the end of the workshop you will learn to apply various play techniques to integrate how you apply multiplicity theory into your coaching work with clients.

You will take away:

An understanding of the theory of multiplicity and how it can be used in coaching
An introduction into ‘play’ and how various play modalities can be used in both team and individual coaching sessions
An opportunity to explore and integrate ‘in action’ how you apply these concepts when working with your clients.

The program facilitators are Cat Dunne and Paul Lawrence.

Five approaches to working systematically

As the world becomes more complex, old ways of tackling issues stop working. Big issues such as climate change and COVID-19 impact on everyone, but leaders are being asked to address smaller type issues every day, issues that are just as complex and challenging. The traditional way of managing such issues is to try and quickly discern the rot cause of the problem, form a goal, and take action. But such approaches often make the situation worse. Coaches help make the situation worse when they move too quickly to encouraging leaders to come up with goals and actions.

To be effective in today’s world means leaders have to think differently. Which means coaches must think differently too. As Ralph Stacey put it: “I think it is a central aspect of the role of the coach to explore how coach and client are together thinking about how they are thinking.”

The coaching community is beginning to come to terms with this role. We hear more and more the call to think ‘systemically’. But what does that mean? For most of us it means simply to take a broader view, to think more holistically. But there is more to it. We need to consider not only the scope of our vision, but the lens through which we see what lies before us. Already there are people defining ‘systemic’ in their own terms, in service of marketing specific tools and techniques. This plethora of offerings is confusing. Which definition should I subscribe to? Which tools and techniques should I buy?

In this practical workshop you will be introduced to five different ways of thinking about systems, in service of helping you define for yourself what ‘systemic’ means. You will experiment with various techniques, emerging confident and capable, able to articulate clearly what coaching systemically means to you.

This workshop is facilitated by Paul Lawrence. If you are interested in systems thinking and coaching feel free to download our series of White Papers on the subject.