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"Ignorance is like a shadow. It has no real substance of its own, it is simply a lack of light. You cannot cause a shadow to disappear by trying to fight it, stamp on it, by railing against it, or any other form of emotional or physical resistance. In order to cause a shadow to disappear, you must shine light on it." - Shakti Gawain
Articles & Interviews
Leaders understand
that the key to meeting challenges lies in the development and
empowerment of themselves and their staff in order to achieve results
and meet the objectives of their department or organization.
Shadow Coaching
can be an essential element in growing effective leadership. Shadow
Coaching is a key tool in creating and renewing leadership and
supporting cultural change within organizations.
While there is no
single definition of Shadow Coaching, it can be described as a process
designed to assist executives in improving their competence to attain
results and contribute to the organization's success.
It is a process undertaken with compassion and appreciation for
the unique contribution that each executive has to offer in their
respective context.
Professional and
personal development is seen to be intimately linked, and fulfilling
both, is seen to be what most powerfully contributes to organizational
vitality. Shadow Coaching is thus a relationship of mutual commitment,
dedicated to the improved sustained competence of the coachee.
Shadow Coaching is
one-on-one situational, observational coaching between a coach and an
executive with mutually agreed upon objectives. Shadow Coaching can also
take place in a group format where the coachee is observed within group
dynamics to further strengthen organizational and team cohesiveness.
This
type of coaching is ideally suited to organizational leaders who must
make decisions and act adaptively in intense work environments.
Shadow Coaching is a particular advanced application
of reflective and observational coaching that provides one way for
clients to go below the surface into the core dynamics of a situation,
illuminating the truth of the moment and making decisions that move
people forward. It is a real
time learning approach in developing
a refined self-awareness
and capabilities in the workplace as a result of reflection on practice.
It enables people, not only to benefit from the continuous presence of
an observing coach over an extended period of time in a typical set of
workdays, but also develops their own role as self-observer for the long
term. It teaches clients to become reflective practitioners.
Within Shadow Coaching™ is the competency of
Laser
Coaching™ which involves being able to provoke the
leader’s awareness of these problematic features in ways that they can
be addressed immediately.
Effective
leadership, management, coaching and team behaviour depend heavily on
how people use language: what is done, and how well it is done, is
shaped by how people do and do not use language.
Shadow Coaching involves observing and intervening in the ways people act and intervening to assist them to take full advantage of their talent and competencies in a given field. The Shadow Coach observes how individuals construct interpretations about their ways of being which are then reflected through their language and actions. It also works with emerging shadow personalities and helps the client embrace and accept their ‘shadow’ personalities as a vital and valid part of their character. Through the Shadow Coaching approach, the coach assists the coachee to become aware of these interpretations and how they can be changed. Personal performance feedback comes from real-time first-hand observation with focus on the difference between stated objectives and actual behavior. With that information, coachees identify choices between what they want and what they are currently doing and implement change accordingly.
Shadow Coaching
empowers people to accomplish more than they think possible and to take
responsibility for their own actions.
It is a self-generating and self-sustaining learning method that
promotes and supports cultural change within the organization.
Like other
disciplines, Shadow Coaching has a rigorous ethical framework. The
essence of this framework is that while Shadow Coaches are able to
generate powerful interpretations from which coachees can benefit, the
coach does not hold the truth about what is best, and always works
within the emotional and physical space of the coachee.
Within a larger
context or group setting, the Shadow Coaching model is used to maximize
the success and efficacy of organizations at the group level. This
encompasses individual excellence within the global perspective of
building a cohesive, effective team to meet organizational
responsibilities, and become ‘centres of excellence’.
Using this methodology,
solutions and strategies are created to help participants learn how to
attract, develop, support and sustain organizational leaders, thereby
building leadership capacity overall within the organization.
