A new remit for coaching a new generation of leaders.

What you need to know

• The majority of the work taking place in the executive coaching world can be described as transactional coaching - a transaction in the service of reaching a specific goal.
• For the most part, the goals tend to be in the outer world of those pursuing them and share in common the same desired outcome: For someone to become incrementally better at DOING something.
• The focus is on cognitive solutions and actionable tactics, often overlooking the emotional and intuitive aspects crucial to the unfolding of any outcome.
• The transactional approach stops being effective when focusing on doing better and achieving more no longer meets the needs of those seeking to BE more and achieve better.
• Transformational coaching is predicated on the idea that a fuller expression of someone’s being, not an adjustment of their doing, is what is needed to deliver on ambitious goals and achieve extraordinary outcomes.
• The result is a complete overhaul and radical restructuring of one’s psyche and an expansion into a higher form of existence, achieving, and impacting, more than ever believed possible.
• A transformative approach to solving the challenges, and exploring the opportunities, of the 21st century, can only come from a new breed of transformed, and transformational leaders.
  

The limits of DOING

The vast majority of the incredible work taking place in the executive coaching world, including in the entrepreneur coaching space, can be described as transactional coaching. 

What is meant by transactional is exactly that: A transaction between a coach and a coachee.

The transaction exists because of the existence of a specific goal being pursued.

Through the transaction, the coach commits to providing the coachee with a list of services that enable them to attain the goal faster, so that they can move on to tackling other goals.

For the most part, the goals being pursued tend to be in the outer world of those pursuing them and share in common the same desired outcome: To become incrementally better at DOING something.

Better at leading, better at managing, better at communicating, better at influencing, better at selling, better at marketing, better at executing, better at delivering. Better at winning. Better at achieving…

Better at…, because assumed deficient and lacking at...

At the heart of transactional coaching is the implicit assumption made by both coach and coachee that the challenge faced lies solely in the doing, not so much in the being. The core belief is that the coachee’s current approach to doing, though effective to a point, requires fine-tuning to reach the next level. What to do, what else to do, or what more to do, when confronting a situation, are the foundational questions at the core of the approach. 

Both coach and coachee work in tandem to explore the situation, clarify the goal, explore ideas, test solutions, and define strategies to accelerate attainment. The journey is systematized and process-driven, with clear milestones, accountability, feedback loops, and adjustments made along the way. As typical of any transaction, the focus here is on speed. The quicker we get to better, the better off we are. 

It’s not an ask of the coachee, or the remit of the coach to question the coachee’s way of being and how they show up in the world, to do what they do. The tacit intent of both is to facilitate an evolution within the existing framework of one’s current identity, not to secretly foment a revolution that shakes the edifice.

It is not within the scope of the purely transactional nature of the relationship to delve into the murky depths of a coachee’s 'internal operating system' – the deeper psychological underpinnings behind their motivations and fears, and the core of the psyche that shapes and explains why they do what they do. 

The focus is on cognitive solutions and actionable tactics, often overlooking the emotional and intuitive aspects crucial to the unfolding of any outcome.

Indeed, the tendency is to steer away from the emotional and raw aspects of the events that shape us on a deeper, more fundamental level. By concentrating the focus solely on the observable and actionable, the transactional conversation conveniently skirts around the essence of the human experience as it treads on its surface.

For generations, transactional coaching has been, and continues to be, a powerful tool of tremendous benefit to millions of performance-driven individuals aiming to climb up to and dominate the esteem layer of Maslow’s hierarchy. The esteem of self, through hard-won battles, trophies, and achievements, and esteem of the world, through the outer image we project of the commonly accepted signs of success and happiness. 

When the highest levels of esteem are achieved, when the pursuit of Esteam is violently disrupted, or when it loses its relevance, no amount of Doing can restore its shine.

For those to whom Esteam is no longer, or was never, the primary pursuit, self-actualization, the pinnacle of the pyramid, is what beckons. 

The transactional approach stops being effective when focusing on doing better and achieving more no longer feeds the appetite of those seeking to be more and achieve better.

When a different destination beckons, a different journey must be traveled.

Transformational coaching, a relative newbie on the coaching scene, offers a new path.

The expansiveness of BEING

“to become everything one is capable of becoming”.

This is the shortest definition I could find of Maslow for what he termed Self-actualization.

To add one more clarifying word would be the tip of arrogance, but if I may, I would add the word “already”.

“To become everything one is ALREADY capable of becoming”

In the word “already” lies the faultlines between the transactional and transformational approaches. 

Whereby the transactional approach starts with the tacit admission by both coach and coachee that the work involves fixing a deficiency or a lack of some kind, the declared remit of transformational coaching is to restore what is already complete and to embody more of what already exists. 

At its core, transformational coaching is predicated on the idea that a fuller expression of someone’s being, not an adjustment of their doing, is what is needed to deliver on ambitious goals and achieve extraordinary outcomes. The belief is that to DO better than incremental, one must BE more.

More present. More settled. More creative. More authentic. More objective. More accepting. More resilient. More inspiring. More faithful. More peaceful. More loving. More secure. More in control. More powerful. More impactful. 

It’s an ontological approach, focusing predominantly on 'being' rather than 'doing.' 

The foundational questions the approach poses are not “What do I need to do in this situation for my desire to become a reality?”. It’s: "Who do I need to be in this situation?”. It’s not “Why is this happening to me and what can I do about it?”. It’s “What wants to happen through me, and what is asked of me to become?”.

Becoming more of what someone already is; is an inner goal, not an outer one. The declared aim of the coach and coachee is to allow a metamorphosis in the coachee’s character and how they show up in the world. The desired outcome is nothing short of expanding and reintegrating into a higher form of existence, achieving, and impacting, more than ever believed possible.

More than a mental exercise; it’s an emotional and spiritual journey, facilitating a fundamental shift in the core programming of a coachee’s internal operating system. It invites coachees to examine and restructure the very foundations of their sense of self – who they believe they are – and then, through a profound exploration of their being, evolve into who they desire to be more of.

Beyond mere self-awareness; the process leads them to question and challenge deeply ingrained beliefs, false assumptions, misguided, perceptions, and accepted mental constructs of what is possible. As shifts are embodied, thought patterns and emotional responses reconfigure, leading to change at the deepest level of the mind. A corresponding shift in behaviors, choices, and actions inevitably follows. 

This is not just an improvement or upgrade; it's a complete overhaul and radical restructuring of one’s psyche. A determined intent to define and redefine, deconstruct, and reconstruct the coachee’s identity, their understanding, and their embrace of an expanded form of existence.

A new world order

More and more leaders, and coaches, are awakening to the limits of transactional coaching, and doubting the real merit of pursuing incremental improvements, when the aim is to disrupt a market, create a new industry, deliver extraordinary results never before achieved, and leave an impact never imagined possible. 

Global warming. Global equity. Global peace. From where we stand today, these challenges, and fields of opportunity, are beyond the point of incremental improvements, and half solutions. What is needed is a system overhaul. No longer a task for future generations, it is rapidly becoming an imperative for this generation.

A transformative approach to global problems can only come from a new breed of transformed and transformational leaders.

More leaders are alerted to, and convinced of the virtues, of leading with mind and heart, transcending traditional paradigms, and blending intellectual prowess with emotional and spiritual intelligence to navigate with more wisdom and foresight. 

For the first time in modern history, more leaders are discovering and experiencing the rapid and gradual obsolescence of the need to DO much, if anything at all. The maturing and scaling of generative technology is heightening a frantic need for humans to explore other dimensions of their existence, besides doing. 

Finding answers to the collective question of what is being without doing, and how can leaders, executives, managers, and individual contributors, be more, has never been a more pressing task.

The world is calling out for leaders who know who to be, before knowing what to do. Leaders who think, feel, and sense, as they architect a world that values sustainability, equity, and holistic well-being.  Leaders who are more connected, more conscious, and more prepared to handle the challenges, and mine the opportunities, of the 21st century.

The shift from transactional to transformational coaching is a way to answer the call. It’s not just a change in methodology; it's a paradigm shift in the way we approach personal and professional development. 

It’s about embracing a holistic, reflective, and expansive approach to personal growth, one that aligns with the needs and challenges of a new generation of leaders out to create a transformed world.