5  top  tips  to   Systems  Psychodynamic  Coaching

A  systems  psychodynamic  approach…

…allows  coaches  to  work  at  depth,  to  tackle  the  hard  to  reach  issues  that  are  limiting  the  performance  of  organisations,  teams  and  leaders.      

This  method  of  executive  coaching  is  often  necessary  to  uncover  ‘what’s  really  going  on’  and  here  we  share  our  five  top  tips  to  working  successfully  with  this  approach.

Emotion  is  Data

• People  are  often  encouraged  to  leave  emotions  to  one  side  and  trained  to  work  with  purely  logic.    But  work  can  evoke  irrational  feelings.    

• Emotions  are  the  undertow  at  work  and  if  left  unattended,  can  trip  us  up  in  the  most  unexpected  ways.

• Our  Advice:  Use  the  ‘emotions’  you  experience  in  the  room  with  a  client  to  inform  your  work  -­‐  they  are  a  communication  that  needs  attention.

Remember  the  Person,  Role  and  Organisation  Triangle

• As  systems  psychodynamic  coaches  the  PRO  Model  is  a  crucial  part  of  of  our  coaching  work  with  clients.    

• ‘Small  talk’  or  other  forms  of  personal  material  might  shed  light  on  the  current  situation  that  a  client  has  sought  coaching  to  address.

• Our  Advice:  Always  link  the  ‘personal’  back  to  the  role,  organisation  and  even  the  context  of  the  referral.  

Pay  attention  to  ‘small  talk’:  holiday  plans,  difficulties  at  home,  

historical  autobiographical  information…

Working  Below  the  Surface

• Whilst  concrete,  visible  and  factual  information  is  important.    What  is  also  vital  is  the  more  difficult  to  access  material.

• As  systems  psychodynamic  coaches  we  work  with  the  metaphor  of  the  iceberg  to  draw  our  attention  to  a  client’s  blind  spots.

• Our  Advice:  Through  your  coaching  journey  work  to  uncover  the  area  that  is  unknown  to  the  client  and  unknown  to  others.

Johari  window

Known  to  self  

Not  known  to  self  

Known  to  others   Open Blind

Not  known  to  others   Hidden Unknown

Have  courageous  conversations

• It’s  often  the  conversations  that  seem  to  be  the  hardest  to  have  that  are  the  most  important  to  have  with  clients.    

• Clients  often  come  to  coaching  because  of  a  systematic  turning  away  from  the  difficult  to  grasp  conversations.

• Our  Advice:  Handle  courageous  conversations  sensitively  and  carefully  consider  their  timing  and  pace.  If  handled  well,  they  can  lead  to  creative  outcomes.  

Coach  as  accompanist

• The  coach  serves  the  client.    The  coachee  is  the  expert  in  terms  of  the  organisation  and  culture  –  our  job  is  to  help  them  harness  their  expertise  in  a  way  that  works  for  them.

• Our  Advice:  Work  at  your  client’s  pace  and  hold  onto  the  idea  that  if  there  was  a  simple  solution,  the  client  would  have  found  it.    

Executive  Coaching  programme  starts  May  2016

• Tavistock  Consulting  is  running  a  systems  psychodynamic  Executive  Coaching  programme  that  is  accredited  by  the  European  Mentoring  and  Coaching  Council  (EMCC)  at  senior  practitioner  level.

• Click  here  for  further  details  on  the  programme  and  course  open  evenings.