Transformational Coaching

What is meant by Transformational Coaching?

Let’s discuss  transformation at three levels: at the human level, in the process of coaching, and within the Coach.

Even while a child is in the womb, a sense of self begins to form – call it an ego.  Within moments of birth, a baby realizes that it is different in body, thought than the ‘other’ outside. It senses a notion of this is my body, my thoughts, etc. Transformation is Change. (read Eric Ericson, Seven stages of Man).

This self forms an identity over time, a process that comes from human interaction, through socialization and re-calibration. The movement is two fold: socially at one level, for deeper engagement, both to relate and express. At another level, the journey is inwards at the same time: a deeper self awareness of the Self. The connect between the two, is crucial for social and personal maturation. It is a process of seeking simultaneity, both for validation and confirmation from outside and self affirmation from within. Even as one exists socially at the circumference, one is in touch with the inner center of one’s being. 

The continuum of Identity and Self, exists on another horizontal level: the continuum of location that creates Role Taking, and that allows for evocation for role taking, meaning making, choice making, action taking. 

Let me show this visually below:

	Identity	King Rama
Location		Role Taking
Lord Krishna	Self

As we journey from the Known to the Unknown, to each of us a Journey of a 1000 faces (Joseph Campbell), we embark on a great adventure. At one level, the goal is to seek financial success, achievement at work, etc, but soon with time a sense of inner purpose gets discovered. Let’s call this Personal Purpose.

The true aim of Transformational Coaching is to move the Client to this path: towards discovering one’s Personal Purpose. Most Coaches wonder what powerful questions to ask. Let’s pause here: There are No Questions, one should ask, from a ‘tool kit’ – all exploration must come from the emergent coaching process anchored in the ‘here and now’. It must come from where the client is in the process and not drawn from outside. It is about presence: meeting the client where he/she is at.  The transformation process is a healing process that allows the client to work with himself.  To use the energy that exists and acts as a mirror. Deep Coaching at this level creates disturbance in client, and the coach must be the calming force while the tempest rages around. One has to enter the doorways that are opened by the client, not creating one’s own purpose doorways. Being where client is, staying with client, and going where client wishes to go. Staying with heart rather than head. Attuning to the clients deeper self, and going within, with one’s own vulnerability and with authenticity.

Its like two dancers, soon the dance is what emerges, the dancers disappear. 

Just practice by itself will not do: Practice with bad habits is ineffective. It goes against the notion of practiced knowledge, of being a skilled technician. 

For the coach too, it’s a very personal journey. On a practical basis, one thinks, that clients come for solutions to issues, so its important to help meet this expectation. However, its critical that the Coach should be on a journey to support life providing ‘Choice and Opportunity’ rather than ‘drama and situation’. Clients come to Coaches because they feel disempowered. Clients tend to explain the phenomenon, describes it as a ‘problem’ and searches for the ‘solution’.  To help explore the sub stratum of interpersonal, intrapersonal and intra psychic dynamics surface for insights with client.

At a Vedantic level, there is the experience, the experiencer, and the experiencer being aware of the experience itself. There is no need for ‘seeking’ for something; we just have to remember who we are. We are Lovable, Competent, and Compassionate and we are Unique beings.