Depth Leadership Coaching is a process of attending and responding to what emerges once we have agreed to work together on your chosen goal. Your goal may involve an internal block or an external obstacle. My job is to respond to those aspects that have been preventing you from having already achieved your desired outcome and to enable you to transform the blockage/obstacle into value. It doesn’t really matter what the block or obstacle looks like or your particular area of focus - the outcome of you achieving your desired goal will also have transformed an old pattern within you and you will feel freer and more authentically you. The more authentic we are the more Self we will have in our inner system. Self is the higher consciousness that flows through all of us - we have blocked the flow with our adapted inner system. To become Self-led we need a critical mass of Self in the system. I will work with you so that you are able to access and align to your Self and become the true leader that you are.

I will work with you transparently, non-judgementally and with great care. Facing internal blocks or external obstacles can be challenging - if it wasn’t we would have already overcome them. I will work with you within the gap of where you are and where you want to be. Before embarking on this monumental journey you may have some questions. I hope to have answered some of the questions here: -

How will me attending to my own internal system contribute to the emergence of healthy and stable organisations?

You are a living-system within the larger Universal-system - the microcosm in the macrocosm.  You are also the macrocosm in the microcosm as the Consciousness or Self within your own internal system.   Your system is an interconnected part of the the whole or collective system of humanity. When you attend to and transform the automatic patterns running within your own system it changes the pattern in the collective.  The outer is a reflection of the inner - this is transformation.

As you bring in more Self (Consciousness/Awareness) into your own internal system the inherent qualities of Self emerge naturally within you and your sense-of-identity or personality becomes more authentically you and truly human.  You will naturally experience more fulfilling relationships both personally and professionally.  You will access your inner wisdom and a sense of knowing which will infuse all aspects of your daily life.

You will be in-touch with your innate values and be your own ethical and moral authority.  You will experience the innate courage needed to stand-up and do the right thing. You will be a leader that brings out the best in those around you. You will enable others to become Self-led leaders too.

How is Depth Leadership Coaching different to other Leadership Coaching?

Depth Leadership Coaching is working with your inner system. The Depth Leadership Coach needs to have done enough of their own inner-work in order to guide you safely and effectively through your inner-terrain. It is the natural evolution of Leadership Coaching. Depth Leadership Coaching is a dynamic process that focuses inwards not outwards - although focusing on external goals is usually involved. Whereas Leadership Coaching has focused in the past on strategies it has developed over the years and helped Coachees to address what they are responsible for in the relationship dynamics they experience at work. With Depth Leadership Coaching we going deeper and are transforming the external environment by transforming the inner environment within us. Depth Leadership Coaching enables the Leader within you to emerge with all the innate qualities of Self such as compassion, creativity, clarity of perception and more. A bit like the emergence of Michelangelo’s David of Florence from the block of stone.

What is the problem with the rational thinking of the left-brain hemisphere?

Nothing at all as long as it is balanced and contained by fundamental aspects of the right-brain hemisphere. According to Dr Iain MacGilchrist in his enlightening book ‘the matter with things - the unmaking of the world’ we have been operating-in and creating a fake world conjured-up by the rogue left-brain hemisphere.  By rogue I mean it is unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable.  It is rogue because it has been operating as a lone operator.  It has not been contained and in connection with the right-brain hemisphere.  McGilchrist gives an example of how a person with a right-sided Stroke categorically denies the arm on the left-side (the side of the body affected) is his.  He says categorically that it isn’t.  He isn’t aware that he is lying.  He totally believes his arm belongs to the man further along the ward. 

Most of what you have experienced is probably as a lone-operator because of the culture you have been formed by.  We have been conditioned to believe we are separate and independent entities – living in a random and meaningless world.  The only meaning is to survive in the ‘dog-eat-dog’ world that we have dreamt up.   This requires us winning and them loosing.  Competition has become associated with survival so it becomes a life-threatening experience for our body. This is why we are suffering from chronic stress and it’s related symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, digestive disorders to name just a few.

According to Stephen Porges’s Polyvagal theory this survival mind-set is reptilian and primitive in nature.  We become cold-blooded instead of the empathic warm-blooded mammals that we are.  We are also not just mammals though.  Human Beings have a large front brain called the neo-cortex.  It is from our human brain that higher order responses stem.  We need the right-side of our brain to be connecting and guiding the left-side of our brain to be truly human.  

So, Depth Leadership Coaching is the process in which you become more whole as a person and as a leader. Your ability to become autonomous will develop more deeply. Becoming an autonomous human being requires having independent thought yet also the strength of character to withstand external forces.  Being autonomous or authentically you requires and includes awareness, spontaneity and intimacy. These qualities are not of any significance to the left-brain hemisphere that is programmed to grab and control with no thought to the consequences.

How can my personality or ego influence anyone else?

We are relational beings.  We actually only know who we are by being in relationship with other people.  Solitary confinement can send people mad.  Maybe that is why we are suffering from a form of collective psychosis.   Our sense-of-self or personality seems fixed yet isn’t.  The people we spend time with influence who we become. As you flourish those around you will flourish.

I am not sure I want to dive deep into my own psyche or internal system - do I need to?

The successful outcome of engaging in Depth Leadership Coaching relies on your willingness to explore and investigate your internal system or inner world.  This would be carried out within the context of your chosen goal and maybe an external goal - something you want to change outside of yourself. Going inwards can be done gently and with care and respect. I will work at the speed that your system needs. You just have to be clear about what it is that you want to be different about how you experience yourself and others in your leadership role - or about where you want the organisation to be going forward. It is such a joy to live an authentic life and to express our full potential - all that is in the shadow can be brought to the light and healed.

Thomas Yoemans in his book, Holy Fire, suggests that the human Soul (Self) is made up of both Light and Dark.  The dark tends to hide the painful feelings and experiences that we (and our ancestors) have experienced yet were not able to process at the time.  This darkness he refers to has ‘holy darkness’.  It is this type of darkness that is non-rational in nature and when combined with the light creates beauty. 

Yoemans also refers to ‘unholy darkness’ which he says we are all subject to. Unholy darkness is diametrically opposed to our soul will (our innate goodness).  The types of character traits include cruelty and enmity.  This unholy dark energy seeks to destroy beauty and all that is good which includes life.  It is the unholy darkness within us that projects the evil onto the other – then justifies inflicting pain in various forms – culminating, if allowed to run rampant, with the death of the other.  We have many historical and current examples of this unholy darkness taking hold. 

As with all kinds of darkness we first need to see it and acknowledge that it is a part of us.  It is part of the human condition -it stems from the left-brain hemisphere.  Awareness is the key followed by acceptance and then the appropriate action to contain and minimise its impact by removing our energy from it.  Taking an anti-stance will only feed it as it is projecting it outwards onto an ‘other’ which will lead to the same outcome.  If you are aware of the Drama Triangle you may find it helpful to apply that dynamic here.

“Then there was Light” infers there was darkness first.  The darkness is what makes light possible.  When we shed light in the darkness though it is illuminated.  There is no shame in what lurks in the depths of the human psyche.  The holy darkness contains treasures and the unholy darkness needs to be acknowledged for what it is – no light/no awareness/no higher-order consciousness – the opposite of life, beauty and good.

The aspects of both holy and unholy darkness within our psyche can all be attended to.  Our True Nature is Light.  Our True Nature is eternal and is the Life that animates us and all of Nature.  This Life energy cannot be created and it cannot be destroyed - it lives through us. Yet patterns of cultural and personal trauma and corresponding beliefs direct this life energy into manifesting corresponding outcomes of creation.  As we unburden our system from these what we create will be life-enhancing and correspond and resonate with beauty, good and value.

Why is my Strong will not enough?

It is the unconscious material within our psyche that is manifesting in the world.  Having strong will is not enough to transform the inner or outer world.  Einstein stated that “we cannot solve our problems at the same level [of thinking] that they were created”.  It just leads to bigger problems.  We are currently facing this fact of life.  It is the strong will of our egoic or left-brain thinking that has got us collectively to this crisis point.   If you see the crisis and the trajectory we are on you are part way to attending to it. 

Why is this all happening now?

We are already in a new paradigm yet not everyone is aware of it.  If we were not, we wouldn’t be aware of the mess we are in.  It is the higher level of consciousness that is enabling us to see it.  It is this flow of consciousness that we need to align to and allow to flow unimpeded.  There is literally no point in attempting to change our current external systems/organisations/institutions/society if we do not act from this higher level of awareness. The more we try to solve the problems the worse a problem we will create. 

The emergence of what are called teal organisations are the manifestation of this new paradigm or higher level of consciousness. Frederic Laloux describes the evolution or developmental stages of human organisations. He describes some of the processes and how humanistic and value-based they are. He also reports they are dynamic, agile and successful. Let’s align to the new paradigm and build the new foundations for our systems/organisations/institutions/society. We have to do this within our own internal system first.  

How bad is the Crisis?

The crisis is exponential and its potential McGilchrist suggests is the extinction of humanity and life on earth.  It is, however, the nature of evolution that we would need to be at risk of extinction for it to occur.  Not everyone believes in the ‘hundredth monkey effect’ yet it does provide a context for doing our inner-work and the subsequent evolution of our consciousness contributing to the awakening of enough (a critical mass) of humanity. We need to alter the current course of humanity.

More about the Left and Right Brain Hemispheres

Dr Iain MacGilchrist explains that we have been operating from our left-brain hemisphere without the context and containment of the Right-Brain hemisphere. The left-side is the servant or emissary as in the title of his first book ‘the master and his emissary’.  The right-side is the Master. 

The left-side is meant to ‘get and control’, ‘apprehend and manipulate’ so that we can function and survive in the world.  It is mechanistic in nature and more akin to the primitive and reptilian part of us. It is self-focused.  The right-brain as the master is humanistic in nature and ensures that what we do in the world is of value and will not lead to harm to any part of the connected environment in which we are embedded. 

The left-side is more masculine in nature – its is ambitious, goal orientated and seeks success (of course or why bother doing anything).  The right-side is more feminine in nature with its qualities of intuition, structure and stillness.  The right-side ensures we operate within a life-affirming context.  The right-side of the brain recognises the natural world that we are embedded in and when allowed to do its job constrains the left-side’s automatic/mechanistic and apparent insatiable desire for getting and controlling and bolstering its own importance.

Of course, the left-side of our brain is fundamental to our survival and to our ingenuity.  It is, however, a tyrant when left unchecked by the right-side.  We can track back to see how the period of enlightenment did for a brief period bring religion (the mystical aspect of life) with the healthy exploration of natural phenomenon (science) together.  Since then, we have embraced the secular and scientific explanations of a meaningless life and lost interest in the emergent and mystical aspects of real life.  Hence the left-brain hemisphere has gained more and more influence on us and what is valued. 

The problem with this imbalance is that we have not had the wisdom of context – of the bigger picture.  We have been acting with disregard for our impact on other living-beings and the natural environment.   The left-side of our brain does not feel empathy or concern itself with its impact.  It is a closed self-focused system and is hubristic in nature when given free-reign.  It does not have the Sovereign qualities of leadership in it – it was not meant to be acting on its own volition.

How do we become someone that offers back to the world?

To start with we have to stop saying “I can’t” and “I have to” as excuses for being swayed by external forces.  For not making a stand or speaking out when we know something is wrong (because we do – even if it is only a faint whisper that gets through from the right-brain hemisphere).  If we hide behind either of these statements we are not leading – we are following.  We are a puppet for whatever authority we are handing over our life to.  When we do this - it will always end badly.  The bigger our sphere of influence the more devasting the disaster. 

On the other hand, when we attend to our own internal system and lead from Self our thoughts, words and deeds will be value creating.