I was delivering a virtual class yesterday to our US supervision students on the topic of Psychological Mindedness – see Psychological Dimensions of Executive Coaching by P Bluckert.
We had a great time exploring what that makes our professional relationships work well. We went from looking at some classic psychology concepts, to the language of electro-magnetic energy (see HeartMath.org and neuroscience for much more on this) to the symbolic language of image and metaphor. All of these are lens through which we can explore ‘self and other’. The class was a rich review of all the ways we can think about what goes on in the space inside us as we work, the space between ourselves and our clients and the spaces between our clients and the stakeholders and companies that they work in.
These living ‘spaces’ are where the magic happens – or not! They are where we make connections that hold and fuel our coaching and give impact to the work we do. All the research points to this vital, foundational ingredient of successful coaching: relationship. Limbic resonance is key to our relationships and if you want to read a splendid little book on limbic resonance, try ‘A General Theory of Love’ by Lewis, Amini and Lannon.
Here are few quotations that highlight the importance of relationships in coaching:
‘The success of an intervention depends on the inner condition of the intervener’. Sharmer/Senge in ‘Presence’.
‘Mammals developed a capacity we call limbic resonance – a symphony of mutual exchange and internal adaptation whereby two mammal become attuned to each other’s internal states’ in ‘A General Theory of Love’ .
‘Change occurs in the crucible of relationship’ Prof B Critchley
How much are you noticing about your professional relationships??
How might you ‘be’, that would enhance them, make them live more??
Edna Murdoch. October 2013
Co-Editor: Full Spectrum Supervision – available now from Amazon.
