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I’ve been really lucky to be in some amazing global coaching and learning circles over the past number of months. What it has really brought home to me is the power of being coached by someone who knows little to nothing about either my culture or my past work or life experience. They just sit with me as I am now and listen to what I put on the table. I actually find it somewhat liberating not to be stuck in my cultural certainties and just to focus on where I am now in life. It certainly feels like there are fewer masks and defences at play and that I am more open to possibility.
It got me thinking about how much we need in common with our coaches. You’ll often see people coaching their tribe (former high executives coaching high executives, former athletes working with athletes) and instinctively this seems to make sense. But does it really? Coaching is ultimately about allowing us to see ourselves and our situations from slightly different perspectives. Might a coach from a completely different background / culture not have a head start on this journey? Perhaps or perhaps not but certainly worth exploring.
On this exact point, I recently started reading a wonderful book about the power of Indigenous thinking. It offers a journey outside the standard Western framework and shows us the world through different eyes.
Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World. Get a copy on Amazon!!
