41 EXECUTIVE COACHING Why do life and leadership coaching matter? The future of humanity depends on the largess and quality of the hearts and minds of our leaders in business and society. We are at a place where spiritual and social development is lagging in comparison to our technological development. We are effective and efficient at creating products and processes. But our evolution as greater conscious beings has fallen by the wayside. We are not paying enough attention to who we are being while we’re doing whatever it is we’re doing. This lack of attention to internal processes leaves us skimming across the surface of problems. We’re constantly looking for the next quick fix. We lack long-term thinking and solve mentality. To quote Einstein: “No problem was ever solved at the level of consciousness at which it was created”. Essentially, we need to raise our consciousness. As with any planetary movement or change, it is through our leaders in business, government, and society that we can achieve critical mass. in levelling up your career, growing your company, creating long-term meaningful relationships, and living in a healthy state of ease and comfort, while still performing at high levels. What is the most important benefit a leader can get from life coaching? By far, the most useful tool that comes from life coaching is emotional intelligence, of which very few CEOs and executive leaders demonstrate a high level. Travis Bradbury, in his Ted talk “The Power of Emotional Intelligence”, demonstrates how CEOs have the lowest EQ scores in the workplace. Systemically, as the executive rises in the workplace, their emotional intelligence will go down. We live in a system that prioritises left brain functions. Those individuals with strong left-brain thinking patterns rise to leadership roles. Those with high EQ. are eliminated from leadership candidacy because they are creatives centred in their right minds. Those who rise to CEO positions are either naturally left-brain dominant (possibly low EQ), or their emotional intelligence is squeezed out of them by the left-brain favoured environment. I teach emotional intelligence to my clients by using their real-world challenges as grist for the mill. This process creates a state of expanded awareness that allows a higher level of critical thinking, creative problem solving, better relationship building, empathetic human connection, and higher levels of consciousness and vision. It is essential to understand that emotional intelligence can only be developed through internal transformation on the path to selfactualisation. This cannot be learned in a book or seminar. It is a real-world everyday practice founded in humility and a deep desire to change oneself. We live in a period of massive change. Many paradigm shifts are happening in the way we live and do business. Changes like #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, shifting views on gender, and the acceptance of LGBTQ+ communities have led to huge initiatives in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Coping with COVID guidelines, working from home and big shifts in employee mindset around work and life are creating new work structures and procedures. These changes in the way we live and work are only going to escalate. We will continue to have more options to do more, faster, and better. There is no “going back”! It’s a new world. But humans are not machines. Life and leadership coaching can bring balance to the individual, but what we really need are more and more individuals capable of sustaining that balance. As a species, we don’t have a great scorecard when it comes to taking care of ourselves, each other, and the planet. Physical and mental health issues are on the rise. Until now, very little has been done to provide a space for people to learn about and grow their human(e) consciousness. Traditional education does not teach us how to live well and be better humans. I love the saying: “Starving people speak of bread.” We talk a lot about what we don’t have, or what’s missing in our lives. For me, this reflects what’s going on with the word “consciousness”. There’s a lot of talk about being conscious or raising the consciousness. What this really reflects is a yearning for higher awareness, a better understanding of who we are and what we’re here to do, both individually and as a species. Life and leadership coaching is so valuable because it fills the educational and human development gap inmany ways. It is essential for any leader who wants to have an impact or innovate. To create or embrace change requires the ability to tap into the skillsets that are developed in this self-actualisation and learning space. I often tell my clients: “Get out of your left brain into your right mind.” To be a part of the future, you must The future of humanity depends on the largess and quality of the hearts and minds of our leaders in business and society. “ “
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