Organisations are increasingly aware of the extent to which their efficacy and success depends upon their teamwork. In this conversation with executive and team coach Kimberley Parsons we explore the scope and process of team coaching, decoding norms in the ecosystem, key issues that teams struggle with, and harnessing collective intelligence. Kimberley Lewis Parsons is an executive and team coach, master facilitator and speaker who partners with teams and leaders to help them reach higher levels of performance and results. With over nineteen years serving in Fortune 500 and not-for-profit companies, her experiences position her to bring pragmatism and a results focus, as well as an emphasis on the heart and humanity to her clients. Kimberley is the founder of Created For Greatness, llc - a leadership effectiveness company dedicated to helping leaders and teams achieve more meaningful outcomes and increased effectiveness in their workplace, communities, and relationships.

In this conversation with executive coach Amiel Handelsman we dive into the diversity within the anti-racism movement, how coaches can help, the Omni-American vision, working with white shame and embodied racism. Amiel Handelsman is an executive coach and change consultant, helping leaders and teams rise to the challenge of complexity. He is passionate about navigating cultural waters as an anti-race anti-racist. Amiel has been developing leaders since 1993 and previously directed business development for New Ventures West. He’s the author of Practice Greatness: Escape Small Thinking, Listen Like A Master, And Lead With Your Best.

We live in times where information is rife but wisdom is in short supply, where ideologies abound but meaning is scarce, and the time for taking mediating actions on the abundant crises we face is limited. In this conversation with cognitive psychologist John Vervaeke we explore the symptomology of the meaning crisis, how we create meaning and lie to ourselves, the “religion of me”, the potential of wisdom practices and solving the meaning crisis. John Vervaeke, PhD is an award-winning lecturer at the University of Toronto in the departments of psychology, cognitive science and Buddhist psychology. He teaches courses in the Psychology department on thinking and reasoning, cognitive development, and higher cognitive processes. He also teaches a course in the Buddhism, Psychology and Mental Health program on Buddhism and Cognitive Science. He has a popular YouTube channel where he shares his insights and research on these topics. His abiding passion is to address the meaning crisis that besets western culture.

The responsibility we have as people working in a helping profession means it’s important for us to know when we’ve reached the limits of our expertise, but working out where that line is can be tricky. In this conversation with Executive Coach and Mental Health Researcher Verity Symcox we explore the distinctions between coaching and therapy, how to know when to refer, and methods of safeguarding ourselves as coaches as well as our clients. Verity Symcox is an Executive Coach, Behavioural Change Specialist, Mental Health Researcher and Head Coach at fifty50 Coaching. She has an MSc in Coaching and Behavioural Change from Henley Business School, certificates in Positive Psychiatry for Mental Health and Awareness of Mental Health Problems and BACP therapeutic foundation training. Verity has been working, training and researching in the field of mental health for over 7 years and brings to the table a wealth of expertise in coaching clients during periods of poor mental health, stress and burnout.

What becomes possible when we include a much wider context? And what can the relationships between things and people teach us about what is occurring? In this conversation with coach and CEO Marita Fridjhon we dive into systemic coaching, the three phases of emergence, how systems speak and how to engage with them and the current challenges for coaches. Marita Fridjhon is the co-owner and CEO of CRR Global and mentor to an ever-growing community of practitioners in the field of Relationship Systems work. She designs curriculum and operates training programs in Relationship Systems Work for coaches, executives and teams. Her primary focus in coaching is on systemic change, leveraging diversity, creative communication, deep democracy in conflict management and the development of Learning Organizations.

How does the work we do in the world relate to the times we’re living in? And what can soul tell us about the role we have to play? In this conversation with purpose guide and psychotherapist Jonathan Gustin we explore a deep-time perspective on this moment in time, the three types of purpose, the golden shadow and how to help clients access soul-level purpose. Jonathan is a purpose guide, psychotherapist, meditation teacher, and integral mentor in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 25 years. He is the founder and lead teacher of the Purpose Guides Institute and Green Sangha. He also serves as adjunct faculty at John F. Kennedy University in the Consciousness and Transformation Studies program.

The importance of including the spiritual dimension in coaching is increasingly acknowledged, but weaving it into the world of coaching can feel clunky. In this conversation with coach and founder Saniel Bonder we explore the spirit/matter split, the language of awakening, the dynamics of spiritual hierarchies and the integration of coaching and spiritual growth. Saniel Bonder is the founder of the Waking Down in Mutuality teachings and recently launched Human Sun Institute and The White-Hot Yoga of the Heart with his wife and teaching partner Linda Groves-Bonder. He has helped hundreds achieve unshakable spiritual awakeness amid the stresses of everyday living. His books include Healing the Spirit/Matter Split and Waking Down.

Coaching is changing, the methodology expanding. How do we balance goal-oriented techniques with space-holding for emergence? In this conversation with Dr. David Drake, coach and founder of The Moment Institute, we explore working with narrative, structured emergence, nonverbal coaching, and the importance of post-coaching integration. David B Drake, PhD, is the founder and CEO of the Moment Institute in the San Francisco Bay Area, whose mission is to reinvent learning & development for practitioners and clients to better meet the challenges of our time. He pioneered the field of Narrative Coaching, and he has taught coaching skills to over 10,000 leaders, managers, and professionals. He is the author of over fifty publications on narratives and coaching, including his book “Narrative Coaching; The definitive guide to bringing new stories to life”, co-editor of the SAGE Handbook of Coaching (2016) and a thought leader for the Institute of Coaching at Harvard.

The world today is suddenly a very different landscape than three short years ago. It used to be enough for a coach to have coaching mastery but is that still the case? In this conversation with executive coach and CEO Kari Granger we explore the new demands being made of coaches and the range of skills required to meet them, understanding stakeholders and systems, the shifting ground of the coaching industry and what lies beyond coaching mastery. Kari Granger is an executive coach and CEO of The Granger Network with 20 years of experience catalyzing transformation at the individual and organizational level. Prior to founding her company, she served as a decorated combat veteran, where she learned the imperative of transformative leadership in high-intensity situations. Kari and her team specialize in helping companies thrive in high-pressure situations, such as restructurings, mergers and acquisitions and strategic pivots.

The term “systemic” is bandied about quite liberally nowadays, but is there actually any consensus on what it means in the context of coaching? In this conversation with Dr. Paul Lawrence we dive into how systemic thinking can be applied in coaching, differences between adult development and systems thinking and the evolution of the coaching industry. Paul Lawrence is a consultant, executive coach, facilitator, writer and researcher. His primary interest lies in helping organisations effect change, building holistic solutions, integrating change efforts with other OD interventions such as coaching and leadership development. Paul is Regional Chair for the Association for Coaching (AC) in South-East Asia, Australian Ambassador for the Association of Coaching Supervisors (AoCS) and co-editor in chief for the Philosophy of Coaching: An International Journal. His new book, Coaching Systemically, is out now.