 ‘Earth is crammed with heaven and every bush aflame with God – but only those who see take off their shoes.’ (Elizabeth Battett Browning) School of Life, a cliffhanger – how did I find Jesus? God was preparing the ground long before I recognised him. At aged 11, a boy I admired at school gave me a copy of a gospel. It was a small booklet and, as I read it, it somehow felt meaningful. At 12, I bought my first single, a song called Heaven on their Minds from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. As I listened to it, I remember gazing up into the clouds through my parents’ living room window and feeling a strong sense of what C.S. Lewis calls the numinous, a mysterious something, Someone, beyond-ness. At around that same time, I bought a small prayer poster on holiday in Devon. Again, something in it resonated with me and I stuck it on the wall beside my bed. I can’t remember giving God much thought after that, although I do remember, at 17, arguing vociferously in defence of the Christian faith as a new apprentice in an industrial workplace. Yet, my own vision of a true life of faith was still obscured. It was as if I had felt and caught a glimpse of something, Someone, that mattered to me, yet my everyday life and preoccupations continued to go on as normal. Little did I know what lay ahead of me. At 21, whilst learning karate, a fellow apprentice at work taunted me irritatingly and challenged me to a fight in the locker room. He loved boxing and wanted to demonstrate its superiority. By strange and, in hindsight, providential coincidence, I had been practising a particular Bruce Lee technique with friends the night before. As this strange ‘fight’ started, surrounded by our cheering workmates, I used that one technique and it was all over in 3 seconds. My opponent looked shocked, then grinned, then walked over and shook hands. We became good friends and, some weeks later, I noticed him reading a Bible in the mess room. That was a big surprise so I asked him what he was doing. Something had completely changed in his persona – a peace, presence and maturity that felt intensely compelling. He urged me to read the Bible too. I was reluctant at first and yet, after a while, I found a Bible, poured over the gospels and the book of James, then I read David Wilkerson’s The Cross and the Switchblade. Then it happened. Suddenly, an inexplicable, blazing light dazzled and burned within and around me. I had found Jesus…and that changed everything.
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 'Speak to people in a way that if they died the next day, you'd be satisfied with the last thing you said to them. I can’t emphasise this enough.’ (Bohdi Sanders) It was a lot of fun working with a group of teenage students in Germany today. They were curious to hear a bit about my life and work in different parts of the world so I decided to create a simple wordsearch puzzle to see if they could find all 16 countries I’ve worked in, then invited them to see if they could find those countries on a large world map projected on screen. Their knowledge of geography was definitely better than mine. Next, I introduced them to 5 different-but-related types of work that I do (coaching, mentoring, facilitation, training and consultancy). To ground the idea in practice, I gave them opportunity to try coaching me and was impressed by how quickly they grasped the principles and were able to apply them. They were curious to hear how I got involved in this type of work, so I shared a potted history of my life, calling, work and career. Moving on, I invited the group to consider their own job and vocational hopes and aspirations for the future. I posed a list of potential ‘What matters most to me?’ values statements for them to choose from, adapt or add to (e.g. autonomy, salary, status, security, meaning, achievement, relationships) and noticed in their feedback that everyone had included ‘security’ on their list. It felt like a sign of insecure times for these young people. In closing, I shared a simple career guidance tool (‘When do I feel most alive?’; ‘What am I naturally brilliant at?’; ‘What do I find very easy to learn?’ vs ‘When do I feel most drained of energy?’; ‘What am I absolutely terrible at?’; and ‘What do I find almost impossible to learn?’). 2 students stopped me in the corridor afterwards to ask, ‘How did you find Jesus?’ That was, for me, a personal highlight – and the most important question.  ‘When seeing is not believing.’ (Rob Toews) While Hurricane Melissa was wreaking real and devastating havoc in the Caribbean yesterday, reports of an incoming super-typhoon wreaked havoc of a different kind in the Asia Pacific. Deep fake news reports triggered disaster risk reduction measures, people raced out to panic buy emergency supplies and the prices of essential goods soared, hitting the poorest the hardest. The government’s meteorological authorities sent out urgent counter-messages to reassure a very nervous public – but who could know which messages were real and which were fake? This felt like a dark glimpse into an AI-generated future. Let’s be honest. Media news reports have always contained subtle (and some not-so-subtle) blends of information, drama and propaganda, but global politicians, social media and deep fake technologies in malicious hands have created a whole new era of confusion. How can we know what’s real and true when fake masquerades as truth and truth is framed as lies? Aspiring dictators create and seize on mass bewilderment and anxiety to offer simplistic solutions with claimed-clarity and security. As I reflect on this critically and reflexively, I can’t help but do some personal soul-searching too. How far is the persona I present, for example as a follower of Jesus, genuine and true? Jesus himself called out spiritual leaders of the time as hypocrites (literally, those who wear a mask), of hiding their true selves behind a façade to win approval. They had fallen into an elaborate form of deception, a self-destructive self-deception, akin to imposter syndrome in reverse. If we believe our own lies, what hope is left for us? God, help me be an authentic agent of truth.  ‘What if I'm stuck. Here. Forever?’ (Kathryn Stockett) What to do if we feel stuck, trapped, out of options or can’t see a way forward? Here’s a random sample of ideation techniques, often used in coaching and innovation: *Opposite day: ‘What could I do if I wanted to make this situation a lot worse?’ ‘What would the complete opposite of that be?’ *Borrowed brain: ‘What would X person do?’ (Insert various names for X, e.g. Elon Musk, my CEO, a 5-year-old child). *Magic wand: ‘If there were no limits (time, money, fear or consequences), what would I try?’ ‘What parts of that could I actually do now?’ *Future me: Imagine it’s one year from now and I’ve successfully overcome the challenge. ‘Looking back, what did I do that made the biggest difference?’ *Constraint twist: Instead of removing limits, add a new one: e.g. ‘What if I had to solve this with only £50? or ‘What if I could only use digital tools?’ *Thought-stopping: Distract myself from over-thinking by focusing my attention on something else. Take note of what intuitive ideas rise to the surface. *Option explosion: For 3 minutes (use a timer), generate as many options as possible. No censoring, no evaluation. After 3 minutes, review and refine. *What else? Write down the first idea that comes to mind, without over-thinking. ‘What else could I do?’ and keep asking ‘What else?’ at least 7 times. *Random spark: Pick a random word, object or image (e.g. bicycle, pencil, mirror). ‘How is this like my situation?’ or ‘What could this teach me about the challenge I’m facing?’ *Option flip: If stuck between two options (A or B): ‘What’s option C – the one I haven’t thought of yet?’ ‘What if I did both?’ or ‘What if I did neither of these?’ *Tiny steps: Instead of committing to a full decision, ‘What’s one small experiment I could try to test an idea safely?’ Do you feel stuck? Curious to discover how I can help? Get in touch!  ‘These are not snowflakes but whispers from the sky.’ (anonymous) The glass on my bedroom window felt especially cold last night. This afternoon, it started to snow. Seeing the gentle falling of snowflakes always evokes a deeply magical feeling within me. Even at this stage of life, it’s an experience, a feeling, that never leaves me. A childlike sense of wonder at something so tender and so beautiful.  ‘Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.’ (Ambrose Redmoon) I don’t know if I’d be brave enough. Heading out into the mountains to reach the poorest and most vulnerable is a noble task, not least to demonstrate to those who feel vulnerable and abandoned that they’re not alone, not forgotten, and that someone sees them. One little girl galvanised Jasmin’s determination. She had messaged her Dad, pleading for him to find a way to get to her. She felt scared. He was some distance away in a city, working in a school in a low-paid job, trying to earn enough money to send her and her family emergency supplies. Yet she wanted him there beside her, to feel safer. The recent earthquakes in the Philippines, along with on-going aftershocks some 3 weeks later, have left their family home in ruins. Now living under a tarpaulin in the pouring rain, this girl has, thankfully, salvaged a solar charger which has given her enough power to charge up her cell phone. Her Mum is doing what she can to share their dwindling supplies of rice with others trapped in similar circumstances in their remote vicinity. Mudslides and sink holes make reaching them treacherous. Mountain tracks swept away or blocked by fallen trees and debris make a difficult journey almost impossible. Jasmin can’t read a map and a wise friend cautions her about the risks. I ask her, ‘How will you find your way through the jungle, across such impassable terrain, to reach them?’ I know that, in Jasmin’s mind, I’m asking the wrong question. ‘Wouldn’t it be better to go with someone who knows those mountains?’ I sense my questions are falling on deaf ears. I’m talking about logistics, safety and other rational considerations. Jasmin ‘s first priorities are love, faith and a yearning to be-with. She wants to make real the presence of Jesus, to be alongside them in situ, to see and hear first hand what they need.  ‘Bad things do happen in the world like war, natural disasters and disease. But out of those situations always arise stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.’ (Daryn Kagan) A recent qualitative research study in Peru in the aftermath of El Niño (2025) could have equally applied to life and communities in places like the Philippines. In terms of psychosocial impacts of ‘natural’ disasters and their intersecting contributory causes, the pattern is all too painfully familiar. People and communities in various parts of the Philippines this week are living with the physical, psychological and emotional aftershocks of shattering earthquakes, compounded by the damaging effects of devastating typhoons. I hesitate to use the word natural. Although we wouldn’t attribute the underlying causes of earthquakes to human activity, we couldn’t say the same of violent tropical storms where human-impacted climate change is an increasingly significant factor. A disaster occurs when hazard meets vulnerability. The poor are often the most vulnerable to the causes and impacts of hazards, including the ability to avoid, mitigate or recover from them – and poverty, albeit a complex phenomenon itself, is far from a ‘natural’ state. The research report I alluded to above identifies a number of interrelated issues that impact on psychosocial health: personal memories and lived experience of previous disasters; chronic and acute effects of the disaster (‘It’s not a now problem; it’s an always problem’); attributing blame and responsibilities; coping and resilience (including faith and relational dimensions); psychosocial distress (including personal and vicarious trauma); perceived (un)fairness in aid distribution; systemic corruption and distrust. Against this complex and, in some ways, overwhelming backdrop, I’m still inspired and find hope in the faith and actions of those people who transcend self-interest to stand alongside those in need. Jasmin lacks the material and political resources to address the macro issues, yet persistently steps out of her comfort zone directly into disaster zones equipped only with a spiritual presence (a ‘sacred encounter’) – Divine love – that, in its own unique way, offers deep psychosocial healing and hope – and the strength to go on.  ‘Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you.’ (Wayne Dyer) I love spending time under German motorway bridges. I know that may sound a bit dodgy or weird, yet there’s something about the majestic hidden architecture that I find completely awe- inspiring. The tall pillars supporting the structure above have, for me, an evocative, ancient, temple-like appearance. Standing in those places, allowing myself to feel mysteriously lifted outside of myself, has a kind of spiritual quality to it that I struggle to express easily in words. Finding expansive places like this, whether in awesome mountain ranges or standing on a beach gazing out across open skies and sea, is a stark contrast to feeling hemmed in or pressed down by the day-to-day pressures of everyday life. It creates a moment to breathe in deeply, to feel the freedom and joy of space. I find that expansive, interior space in prayer, in God, too. Contemplation is, for me, presence to the awe-striking Presence who is already present with us.  ‘Learn your theories as well as you can, but put them aside when you touch the miracle of the living soul.’ (Carl Jung) It’s not every day that one has opportunity to lead a coach training workshop for participants from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe all in the same online room at the same time. I’m greatly indebted to insightful contributions from group members as we looked at how to navigate cross-cultural dynamics in coaching conversations. We spent some time exploring, critiquing and adapting a conventional Western coaching model, with all its embedded cultural assumptions, to people and relationships in very different global contexts. I noticed that finding a way to navigate a group conversation about such complex issues was, in itself, a cross-cultural experience in real time. I was particularly interested, for my own development too, in how to offer challenge in collectivistic cultures where group harmony, cohesion and interdependence are valued highly and indirect communication is the norm. A direct challenge could be perceived as disruptive to relationship and, therefore, experienced as blunt, threatening or rude. The wisdom that emerged from today’s participants began to take shape in something like the following form (below) – although I’m aware that I’m imposing a structure on a conversation and ideas that felt more fluid and emergent at the time. It offers a window of insight, shared by people with far greater cultural-lived experience than my own:
 ‘Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakes.’ (Carl Jung) I’m running a foundation-level coaching programme for participants from Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda and the UK this week. I find the diverse cultural insights and approaches fascinating. The programme is based on John Whitmore’s GROW model because that’s client organisation’s model of choice. At a previous workshop, we looked at how we might adapt GROW to different cultural contexts, particularly those with a more collectivist than individualist orientation. This week we will be looking at how to go deeper at each stage of GROW by asking 2nd level (follow-up) questions. 2nd level questions are challenging and call for trust. Here are some examples of what we might think of as 1st level (often surface-level, or transactional) and 2nd level (often deeper level, or transformational) questions at each stage of the GROW process. The 2nd level questions invite the coachee to build on or delve deeper into their own responses to the 1st level questions – if they want to: Goal. 1st level: ‘What do you want to achieve?’ 2nd level: ‘Why’s that outcome so important to you?’ or ‘What goal might really stretch or scare you?’ Realities. 1st level: ‘What’s holding you back?’ 2nd level: ‘What's your own contribution to what you're experiencing?’ or ‘What truth might another see that you don’t see?’ Options. 1st level: ‘What are your options?’ 2nd level: ‘What (limiting) assumptions are you making?’ or ‘What options have you ruled out because they feel too risky?’ Will. 1st level: ‘What will you do?’ 2nd level: ‘What action will prove you’re serious about doing this?’ ‘If you don’t do it, what will you be telling yourself a month from now?’ I had a valuable conversation with a close friend in Germany this week about how to work with 2nd level questions in such a variety of cultural contexts. He proposed writing a question down; inviting participants to reflect on, ‘How would you pose this question in your culture?’ and, if they wouldn't ask this question, ‘What might you ask instead?’ |
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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