Back to the basics: Knowledge, Logic and Moderation by Maria Biquet
The reason I am writing this article is to offer some ideas that will improve the quality of the work we do as Coaches and add value to the process.
In the past I had created and presented here in the good coach my model on Coaching Quality in which, Ethics is the top component of high quality.
Today I am going to focus on the value of the Basics: Knowledge, Logic, and Moderation that can be cultivated and developed with consistency and possibly lead to more refined and deeper results in the process of people development.
Knowledge is vital and doesn’t come from inside.
In the last two years I have dedicated a lot of time to read history. World history has always been fascinating for me; full of mysteries, surprises and impressive answers. In the last two years that I spent time reading and understanding history, the science that examines what has happened in different parts of the world since the appearance of humans on this planet, how different cultures were created and evolved and how the lives of people have changed over time.
“The study of History reveals valid answers that replaced my doubtful assumptions about human behaviour.”
At the same time, I was reading about the creation and evolution of cultures, languages and religions in different societies. [The value of reading?] In the end I have built a better understanding of people coming from different cultures and of the process of forming behaviours in a real context at a specific point of time.
History can make obvious how change happens in people’s lives, how random events in their country can form a new direction in life and how the lives of people are parts of a whole in constant flow. It also makes obvious how random events at that point in history shape a way of perceiving the world, and how religion and education form thinking and drive behaviour and eventually lead to shaping individual goals.
For example, How does a Christian Protestant perceive the world and themselves in it and how is this different to a Christian Orthodox? You may compare and you will realize the distance in their beliefs and behaviours and the way they form their goals.
Anthropology and neuroscience provide a wealth of useful knowledge about human thinking and behaviour.
For example, understanding the basics in neuroscience can help a coach ask the right questions to a client; not every emotion comes from a thought or a belief but very often it is created by a chemical reaction that is triggered by food or a change in the environment; for example, a client’s amygdala can be very sensitive by nature and they are quick tempered. In this case, there is no much use in exploring their beliefs or their emotions; we should focus on special techniques to help them regulate their instinctive reactions instead.
Knowledge of the business sector of the client is very important for executive coaches. Knowledge of the economy and political situation in a country and the world is necessary in order to be able to support an executive and have a serious conversation with them about the issues that may affect their position and progress.
For example, how can we coach effectively an unemployed person to find work if we have no idea about the current situation in their field of interest? How could we ask those key questions to an executive who is stressed because of the market situation unless we can understand the market and the potential consequences in their business field?
A very successful international executive coach that I know, who coaches CEO’s, studies every new Management model and methodology that is published and knows in detail what happens in every market. He maintains the same level of business knowledge with the executives he coaches because he dedicates time to read and learn about their field of activity. As a result, he can ask the right questions not by instinct but by knowledge of the markets and the situation.
Logic. Get the emotions out of the way and face reality.
We all have our own perception of events, situations, ourselves and the world. Sometimes clients’ goals, expectations and perception of what is happening do not match reality. It often happens that they are dreaming of something that will not happen because the external factors are not favourable for that. Let me share some case examples:
Recently I had a client who is a lawyer and came to me with the goal to improve her work-life balance by decreasing her working hours to eight from eleven and have more time for herself. In this market this is impossible to happen because lawyers like her who work at corporations exceed eleven hours work per day; her goal was impossible to reach in the way she meant it. Long discussions about what she really wanted led to the conclusion that she wasn’t willing to change job or take any action; in fact, all she wanted was a person to listen to her. She never made any progress and never admitted the obvious contradictions of her desires with reality.
Another “potential” client who is 60 years old thought that he could get a job in a hotel as a Room Service Manager although he has no experience in this job; he thought that he could be a good candidate because he had received a degree in hotel management 38 years ago.
Another person was presenting herself as an Economist and thought she really knows the subject because she got a degree in economics 30 years ago; since then, she has never worked in anything similar and has never read not even the news or newspaper articles about economics.
In all of the above cases, the people have self-deceptions which may be pleasant and comfortable. Reality is hard and requires effort. The “think positive” movement and theories like “the secret” have boosted an optimistic view in life often together with a high level of self-deception. Maybe there are some extremely rare exceptions where poor people have become billionaires and famous movie stars but this cannot be a goal or expectation for every person.
Hurting our client’s feelings by presenting the ugly and hard truth of real life may be tough but the reality check is necessary. Facts and figures are the golden tools for achievement. Test the “dreams” and “goals” with logic and if they pass the test then fuel them with emotions.
Applying pure logic to reveal their self-deceptions, knock down their happy dream and cause deep disappointment is the hard way to be of service and the only way to offer them the opportunity to achieve something less impressive and much smaller than their dream but real and tangible.
Moderation. The result of preparation, logic and emotional maturity.
“Moderation is the process of eliminating or lessening extremes” definition in Wikipedia as described in ancient philosophers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moderation)
Big dreams and life transformations are very exciting and have been the key advertising message for most self-help books and methodologies for many years. Some clients also expect a huge transformation that will happen if they engage in a life coaching programme.
In the last years I have organized and participated in numerous Group Supervisions and I have noticed that a large number of coaches talk about “transformation”. It has become a very popular topic amongst coaches who boast that they achieve “transformation” of their clients in 6 – 10 sessions; it is also very common that mainly novice coaches believe that they can transform a person’s life and that coaching is the unique way for a person to discover their purpose in life, find their real self and other magnificent achievements.
We also know that for more than 4.000 years there have been religious and spiritual movements, illuminated thinkers, philosophers, religions and in the last two centuries psychoanalysts who have developed methodologies and theories that aim at improving people’s lives and enlighten their path to finding their inner self. Human beings are complex and live in an environment that becomes even more complex with globalization and today’s amazing technology.
Yet people practice religions like Buddhism or Hinduism or study Existential Philosophy or engage in everyday psychoanalysis sessions for some years and transformation still doesn’t happen.
Then how can a coach boast that they achieve transformation in a client’s life in 6-10 sessions? Or even in 20 or 30?
If we go back to the basics, and study how the human race has achieved all its marvelous deeds until today, how they have thought about themselves and the world and formed their religions, and then understand the new discoveries of physics and neuroscience, then we may revisit reality and see it more clearly in a new light.
We may be able to better understand what we can do and what we cannot;
What is possible and what isn’t;
Test it with logic and scientific evidence;
Keep it to the ground and do the best in our ability.
This is moderation.
Big dreams are good for Hollywood movies. However, it is Knowledge, logic and moderation that will lead to lasting results and continuous learning and progress, coaches and clients alike.
Read other blog-articles by Maria Biquet here, and connect with her via Linkedin
Maria Biquet is an experienced multilingual Business Consultant and Executive Coach with vast experience from diverse business fields, such as Banking & Financing, Automotive, Telecommunications and Education.
Maria has long experience in Strategic Marketing and in establishing companies in new markets. For more than 20 years she has studied and practiced various methodologies for People Development and Organisational Change including Neuroscience in Coaching, Systemic approach, Appreciative Inquiry Approach.
She holds a Bachelors in Language & Linguistics, an MBA-International Marketing from Sunderland University UK and is a Neurocoach certified by the NBG – Harvard School and a Master Coach certified by the CAC.
Vice President of Marketing & Communications of HCA (Hellenic Coaching Association) EMCC Greece, Senior Researcher on Ethics at EMCC (European Mentoring & Coaching Council) - “the actual Ethical Dilemmas in Coaching today”.
EMCC Accredited Senior Practitioner Coach
Works in Greek, English and French.
