 ‘Let nothing frighten you.’ (Teresa of Ávila) A powerful earthquake struck the Philippines this evening, breaking roads and causing chaos. Traffic stopped abruptly to avoid falling down deep cracks and buildings creaked under the stress and strain. People raced from their homes in case of collapse and ran into the streets. Jasmin was falling to sleep at the time, was shaken awake when she felt the house move, and quickly grabbed her daughter from the shower to get outside. It was when the earth stood still again that she noticed she was wearing only a nightdress and her daughter only a towel. Venturing cautiously back inside, they peered carefully to see if there was any damage to the walls or to the ceiling. It means sleeping downstairs tonight in case of shuddering aftershocks. I was struck again by Jasmin’s calmness, her trust in God in the face of danger. She inspires me.
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 ‘We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God shaking them.’ (Charles West) The taxi arrived late to take me to the railway station. The train was on time but arrived late at the station I was heading to to switch to the metro light rail. The metro too was late yet I still arrived in time to check-in at the airport. My flight from the UK to the Netherlands was delayed, leaving me concerned about missing my connecting flight. Then the connecting flight to Germany was also delayed. I felt immensely relieved when I did finally arrive. That was my day yesterday. I hope things will run more smoothly when I travel by train to the nearest German city next Saturday, then fly out to Turkey and onwards to Georgia as my next destination. What struck me this time was my anxiety at each stage about the potential impacts that the lateness at one stage would have on my arrival at the next stages. It felt like a timely metaphor and reminder to me: to relax and trust God that things will work out.  ‘A garden’s beauty never lies in one flower.’ (Matshona Dhliwayo) I had a fascinating experience yesterday, leading a foundational coach training workshop for insightful and enthusiastic participants from countries as diverse as Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda and the UK. I was struck by the great range and depth of awareness and wisdom in the group, particularly when it came to exploring and understanding dynamics that can and do influence coaching practice in very different cultures, contexts and relationships. It left me feeling humbled, inspired and motivated to continue learning from the very different lived experiences, insights and ideas of others. What a privilege to spend time with such amazing people. Thank you, God – and to all who help me learn.  ‘A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.’ (Mahatma Gandhi) I’m designing a coaching workshop for a group of 12 participants from 8 countries this week including people from South East Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. The participants all work for a Christian international non-governmental organisation (INGO) and are keen to develop coaching insights and skills they can use with their own colleagues and more widely. I’m aware that coaching generally is grounded implicitly in Western cultural assumptions, such as the value and desirability of independence and a nurturing of individual autonomy and agency. The organisation is familiar with John Whitmore’s GROW model so I’ve had a go at adapting that model to reflect people and cultures with a more collectivistic orientation. Here are sample questions associated with GROW, framed as individual-oriented questions then reframed as collective-oriented: Goal (Individual): What do you want to achieve? How does your goal align with your values? If you achieve your goal, how will it help fulfil your wider aspirations? (Collective): What outcome would most benefit your team, family or community? How does the goal align with the values and expectations of your group? If this goal is achieved, how will it strengthen relationships? Realities (Individual): How is the current situation affecting you? What barriers or obstacles are you facing? What personal strengths and resources can you draw on? (Collective): How is the current situation affecting your group? Who or what is affecting your group’s ability to resolve this? What group strengths and relational networks can you draw on to address this together? Options (Individual): What different strategies could you try? Which options excite or motivate you the most? What else could you do if your first idea doesn’t work? (Collective): How can you involve others in shaping a solution? How might the people who matter most to you view these options? What possible ways forward would be most acceptable or beneficial to the group? Will (Individual): What are your practical next steps? On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you that you will do it? How will you keep yourself accountable as you move forward? (Collective): Who will you talk this through with to reach a decision? How will you gain agreement from those who are important to you? Who will you involve to ensure accountability and follow-through? What do you think?  ‘It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.’ (Despair.com) It sometimes takes a shock to wake us up, or the impact of shock waves to shake us enough to make a radical course-correction. I had one of those shocks this time last year when a routine blood test revealed I was prediabetic. I’d had a nagging feeling, an intuition, that I was eating too much sweet stuff but it hadn’t been enough to make any difference to my eating habits. The test result was the stark news that I needed, without having known before that I had needed it. I signed up immediately to a prediabetes training course, provided as a public health initiative by the local health authority. The next few days, weeks and months felt like a long hard gaze in the mirror, examining and evaluating critically my diet, exercise and sleep routines, as if through a magnifying glass. I discovered that sweet stuff was just the tip of a sinking iceberg. I decided to make a number of tangible changes in many different aspects of my lifestyle. I’m glad I did. Good friends have encouraged and supported me along the way and, today, I received the great news that my blood sugar results are now back in the optimal/ideal range. The challenge or opportunity lays in how to sustain the changes. Will I risk drifting back to old, familiar patterns? Will the positive result somehow dissolve my resolve to keep pressing forward? Will I still be able to resist that German raspberry and cream cake that’s so temptingly calling my name?  ‘Modern toleration is really a tyranny. It is a tyranny because it is a silence.’ (G.K. Chesterton) At the end of this week’s Christian leadership retreat which drew on Action Learning at its core, I was struck by one participant’s feedback that, ‘This was the first time I’ve experienced authentic community.’ We had opened the event with trust-building activities, getting to know and understand one another as different people before introducing and practising Action Learning techniques. We also chose our own ground rules from the outset. The retreat was interspersed with times of prayer, biblical reflection and sharing of meals together. This reflection on community struck me as significant because it says something profound about what happened within the group, and is also a comment on outside-of the group. The participants were from very diverse personal and professional backgrounds, thrashed through some pretty tough issues together with honesty and care – and found this experience unique. It contrasted starkly with superficial conversations elsewhere, or with experiences of diversity that have resulted in avoiding, ‘othering’, polarisation, tension or conflict. I arrived home last night to hear the news on TV of a public activist’s murder, apparently by someone who didn’t agree with his views and influence. Then, today, I watched a huge protest crowd in London clash with a smaller group of counter-protestors, with embattled police holding the sides apart. It felt symptomatic of people, groups and societies that have lost their willingness and ability to tolerate difference, to tolerate truth, and to hold rigorous debates without feeling the need to silence with a bullet or with an arrest for free speech.  'Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.' (Carl Jung) It’s a privilege to lead a residential this week on Leadership in Action. It’s an Action Learning-based event for Christians who want to deepen their leadership insights and enhance their leadership practice. We have integrated prayer and pastoral care along with critical and biblical reflective practice to help ensure a rich and meaningful spiritual experience throughout. One of the participants shared something this morning of his experience of leading groups on outdoor adventures, including walks across the countryside. He has noticed that, at times, participants are so trusting of his leadership that they switch off their normal critical faculties and may follow him, for instance, across a busy road whilst paying no attention to the traffic. Running on auto-pilot like this is one way of avoiding becoming overwhelmed by awareness. It enables us to focus on what matters most to us in the moment (for instance, chatting with friends as we walk) by filtering other things out, yet can also become a bit like sleep-walking. Action Learning is an opportunity to re-awaken ourselves and revitalise our sense of agency. Interested to hear more about Action learning and how it could help you? Get in touch! |
Nick WrightI'm a psychological coach, trainer and OD consultant. Curious to discover how can I help you? Get in touch! 
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