As courageous, spiritual beings, we have the capacity to reflect on our own experiences and to place these experiences in space and time. This is the human challenge, the human opportunity and the human curse of transcendence. Our sense of a constantly reconstructed universe, based in our interactions with other people, leads us inevitably to a sense of bewilderment. At a more immediate level, we are confronted as leaders and coaches with the complexity, unpredictability and turbulence of contemporary life. How does one find the courage to stand in the face of this “awe-full-ness”? And more to the point, what is the role to be played by coaches in assisting their clients (as well as facing their own personal challenges)? There is much work for us to do in this regard — as stewards of this profession we call coaching.

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References

Bergquist W., & Brock, V. (2008). Coaching and leadership in the six cultures of contemporary organizations. In D. Drake, D. Brennan, &K. Gørtz (Eds.), The philosophy and practice of coaching (277-298). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bergquist, W. & Weiss, B. (1994) Freedom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Berger, P., & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality. New York: Doubleday.

Drake, D.,  Brennan, D. & Gørtz, K. (2008) The philosophy and practice of coaching . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fromm, E. (1941) Escape from freedom. Troy, MO. Holt, Reinhart and Winston.

Olalla, J and Bergquist, W. (2008) Interview with Julio Olalla. International Journal of Coaching in Organizations. No. 3.

Tillich, P. (2000). The courage to be (2nd Ed.). New Haven, CN: Yale University Press.