The Co-Active Cornerstones Series – 1 of 4
This article series, authored by CTI faculty members, is a review of four major themes of the Co-active Model.
The Client Is Naturally Creative, Resourceful and Whole
By Tony Barton
As human beings, we truly are amazing, and have a limitless capacity for creativity, resourcefulness, and we have everything we need to live the life we choose.
I often ask Core Curriculum course participants how many of their clients they think are naturally, creative, resourceful and whole? Often they will think about it for a while before they realize it's a trick question. The answer of course is: everyone is - aren't they? (Check out the answer to this question to see where you stand on this in relation to your clients.)
The reason they hesitate, is because as coaches, or people using Coactive coaching skills, it's easy to forget that the key word in this phrase, is 'naturally'. The word naturally implies that our ability to be creative, resourceful and whole is intrinsic to who we are, and nothing has to be manufactured. It's an absolute and can't be diminished. There are no if's or but's.
If you are just beginning to use co-active coaching skills, a great way to experience this idea is by writing a short paragraph about how the words 'naturally creative, resourceful, and whole' apply to you and what evidence you have for that to be true. Then think about your clients - in what way can you see their natural creativity, resourcefulness and wholeness - write about that as well.
For people already actively training as a Co-active coach, or just recently accredited, it's important to remember to let the client be where they are, even if your powerful coaching saboteur is telling you something different!
For example, this can happen when we leave a client at the end of a session with strong emotions, and then begin to worry about how they will cope. Is that holding our clients naturally creative, resourceful and whole? It's not our job to rescue our clients; our job is to enable them to trust themselves. What you can do instead is to set your client a powerful question to reflect on until the next session. This will help your client to continue to explore what is causing such strong emotions. Trust them, they will amaze you!
Another way that a trained Co-active coach may stumble with the idea of everyone being naturally creative, resourceful, and whole, is when they confuse it with the idea that 'nobody gets to be wrong' and end up not challenging their clients on areas of their lives where they may be compromising. Check in with yourself right now and see if there are any clients you may be doing this with.
For everyone, regardless of their experience, it's important to remember that while this idea is an absolute, there's no limit to how deeply we can come to know it. And there's no better way of doing this, than simply stopping for five minutes a day, closing your eyes, taking a deep breath, then saying the words 'I am naturally, creative, resourceful and whole' to yourself. Then notice your reaction to that.
About Tony Barton, CPCC, PCC
Tony is Mr. Red Kite - or at least that's how many people know him through his coaching business 'Red Kite World'. After a successful 20 year career in marketing, Tony left his 'velvet rut' and discovered some really interesting products to market through coaching - like aliveness, joy and courage. Tony brings many 'red kite' qualities to his work as a coach and CTI faculty member. Married with 3 grown children, Tony lives in the UK.
Co-active Cornerstones, Part 4: The Agenda Comes from the Client
Co-active Cornerstones, Part 3: The Coach Dances in the Moment with the Client
Co-active Cornerstones, Part 2: Co-Active Coaching Addresses the Client's Whole Life
