The Change Coach Role

It might be helpful at this point to make a clear distinction between training and coaching. They are in fact complete opposites. Learning in a training context is about changes that someone else wants. The direction is coming from the outside-in, reinforced by an authority imposing itself from the top-down. This is often the case when when you are being asked to learn from your customers. Hardly surprising then that so few customer service courses secure the changes required.

On the other hand, learning in a coaching context is about the changes the learner wants to make for themselves, so the direction is coming from the inside-out and the authority from the bottom-up. This seems to be more energising and enables people to link their personal motivations to those of the organisation they work for.

This is an important distinction because it explains why training fails to get the changes it's after. Effective learning requires a personal commitment to make the change happen, and coaching is an effective way of enabling inside-out learning to take place. It's even more effective when the learning is linked to personal, earnings and yearnings. But this is seldom sustainable, so a Change Coach links the learning to someone's personal interests, preferences, enjoyment, satiasfaction and the challenge of achieving real change.

The first task of a Change Coach therefore, is to assess attitudes and approaches to learning, establish that there is a real need to learn from the inside-out, and that a suffient level of self-leadership capability exists to make the change happen. However, unless there is a commitment to practice new habits, the old ones will dominate people's attitudes and behaviour. The key skill of a Change Coach is help clients understand the nature of change, thereby making learning easier, more fun and more effective.

Find out more about
CHANGE COACHING

Where does the thinking come from ?
My perspective on change dynamics comes from the new sciences, where change is viewed as a self-organising phenomenon that occurs easily and naturally when the conditions are right. These insights are drawn from metaphors found in the new sciences of memetics and ecology, and by viewing reality, change and leadership as complex adaptive systems.

More and more people are comfortable questioning their very way of being - especially how they are required to think and act as agents of change. I believe we are witnessing a shift in thinking, one that is affecting the way we view leadership and how organisations deal with change.

Experience of Dynamics and Complexity

I have been a student of complex adaptive systems for nearly ten years and have applied its ideas and metaphors in my work. See my article on Succeeding through Self-Organisation published in 1996 by the Local Government Management Board.

My take on the dynamics of change hit me when reflecting on my varied experiences. I was brought up in an age when service to your community was a much stronger ethic than it is today. I experienced what it's like to be a Head Chorister, a VSO in the Solomon Islands, a conductor of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, musically directing a production of The Mikado, hosting a visit by the Queen to Livingston in Scotland. All these opportunities came unexpetedly through people who I considered to be 'dynamic'. They were people who excited and encouraged me to break out of my 'comfort zone' and enter the 'change zone' with confidence. The ultimate prize was discovering my real self through service to others.

I would therefore like to acknowledge the contribution of my parents who encouraged and supported me to see life beyond a council estate. David Hall my art teacher, Sam Jones my choir master and lifelong friends Brian and Sheila Hazelhurst who believed I had talent. Mike Foster my maths teacher who gave me a love of learning. Walter Johnston and Brian Fisher for introducing me to the spiritual dimensions of life, and Mervyn Hudson for a rational and more scientific perspective. John Cheshire and Hugh Carey for their inspiration that anything is possible and Betty Naismith for keeping my feet firmly on the ground. But there are four people who deserve a special mention because they developed my understanding of dynamic change.

In the 1970's I had the privilege of working with Leslie Higgs OBE, a leading light in the New Towns movement. He was a Housing Manager of the 'old school', a servant leader. His constant cry was to "find out what the tenants want - your only concern should be to serve them". Leslie gave me insights into the importance of outside-in change. Unfortunately he is no longer with us.

In the 1980's I met Barry Cooper who was my mentor for nearly twenty years. He encouraged me to question the way things really are and how they could be changed by thinking like an innovator. He helped me to find my own personal door into the "secret garden". His background was transport planning and he introduced me to the work of cyberneticist Stafford Beer. He helped me get a handle on the bottom-up dimension of change and a great thinker community sustainability. He is now retired.

In the early 1990's I worked with Arthur Battram to produce a guide to complex adaptive systems, called Navigating Complexity subsequently published by The Industrial Society in 1996 - ISBN 1-85835-899-X. I owe a great debt to Arthur who was my coach and mentor for many years and helped me grapple with the inside-out dimensions of change. He is now a international consultant.

In the late 1990's I joined Birmingham City Council and discovered the dominance and power of top-down change processes as well as their limitations. It was an invaluable learning opportunity. Paradoxically, it helped me understand the importance of balancing the four dimensions of dynamic change outlined above by transforing the way people think about and how they reswpond to it. This website is the result.

Why have a website ?
What I have set out to do with this website is to link my personal experience with the massive changes taking place around me. I believe a new world view is emerging. Like many others, I am trying to make sense of, and adapt to, increasing complexity in all aspects of my ife and work.

It traces the hours of study that have helped me to simplify the complex nature of the human mind (in individuals), relationships (in teams), structures (in organsations) and ecosystems (in communities) - all the places that I believe Real Change Leaders need to go to navigate the actions and decisions they face when they enter the 'zone of change'.

PREV | NEXT
1x2 3 4 5