" The Universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it " Marcus Aurelius
Kierkegaard said: "you can understand life backwards, but you'll have to live it forewards... "
Perspectives from Philosophy provide an excellent source of ideas for coaching.
Philosophy provides some helpful insights to provide inspiration for clients and to open up helpful discussions and improved understanding.
Socarates said that " the unexamined life is not worth living". By this he meant us to consider and become aware of our personal philosophy. This thinking can be helpful for coaching conversations.
From the coaching perspective we are considering whether an individuals philosophy of life is serving them well and its impact on others.
The thinking is underpinned by the belief that we behave as we do for a complicated set of reasons including:
- Genetic predisposition
- Imposed conditioning
- Personality traits
- Acquired habits
- Strong emotion
- Experience
- Belief
- Reason
- Principle
- Duty
- Personal life rules
“The person who alleges that they are not yet ready for philosophy or that time for it has passed them by ,is like the person who says that they are too young or old for happiness “
BOOK REVIEW
In his book The Consolations Of Philosophy Alain de Botton uses the thinking of six philosophers to consider the problems of everyday life.
With this in mind Alain uses the wisdom of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Montaigne, Seneca, Epicurus and Socrates to provide insights on some of things that can bother most of us in different mixes and at different stages of our lives:
1. The fear of failure
2. Pressure to conform
3. Anxiety and frustration
4. Inadequacy
5. The lack of money
6. The pain of love
For example here are some insights from the book :
On the lack of money
Proposition: Expensive objects can seem like plausible solutions to things we do not understand. Could it be that objects mimic in a material dimension what we require in a psychological dimension?.
Reflective thought * How do material objects compare to friendship, freedom and thought? * What is your current philosophy about this? * What does this philosophy enhance or limit in your life right now? About anxiety and frustration
Proposition At the heart of every frustration lies a basic structure: the collision of a wish with an unyielding structure.
When outcomes do not neatly align with expectations and perceived reality then the gap can be frustration. The sense of frustration can emerge in many ways such as anger, self pity, anxiety, bitterness, sense of injustice, self- righteousness and paranoia.
Reflective thought
“The interventions of Fortune, whether good or bad introduce a random element into human destinies”
How do you handle the gap between your perceived reality and what actually happens in life?
Who or what is responsible for what happened?
To what extent can you really control things?
From this perspective some people find it easier to deal with and accept the random and more chaotic aspects of life than others.
Why is this the case?
CLICK HERE FOR : BOOKS ON PHILOSOPHY
We asked Linked In group members-
How might philosophy inform and enlighten coaching :
David Carradini said :
Philosophy helps us think down to the roots of the issues we are considering: it gives us the tools to get to the heart of the matter, and it shows us that the route to the heart is not always apparent.
Good coaching helps the client see the roots of the issue/s s/he is trying to address. Like philosophy, it helps us get past the ephemeral, the passing, and the superficial right down into what really matters, and it offers shall we say a strategic rather than tactical approach, showing us not just how to maneuver around obstacles, but rather how those obstacles are important and may be there to point us in different and unexpected directions.
I think the attempt to link philosophy with personal decisions is incredibly useful and important; and it would be great if we could share with each other some bibliography that could help. I think Philippe's Retracing Reality is as good a place to start as any...
Scott Iseman said:
Nice question. Never thought about it, until just now.
Three things come to me.
1.) Philosophy can be many things to many people, and because it is such a huge subject, think one approach would be to identify the philosophers who built reputations as inspiring and personal growth personalities to use as a resource and reference point.
2.) For me, philosophy is about free thinking, letting the mind ask questions, discover possibilities, introduce new ideas, problem solve, and come to conclusions or no conclusion at all. Would think coaching could embrace a unique approach to free, analytical, or tactical thinking.
3.) One idea to consider is to embark on a philosophy research project, and write a nice 1 to 2 page overview for your clients revealing your findings.
David O'Berry said:
To me, Scott's second bullet is where I believe the greatest amount of benefit can be derived from philosophy in most any field of study including coaching. The ability to not only free your own mind to follow paths that possibly have no end but to allow those around you to do that is something that I truly believe is a rare state of existence for those in leadership in many organizations.
Tangentially..
The concept of free thought and exploration is far more foreign in today's workplace than you can possibly imagine. The folks that not only can but actually enjoy getting out of their comfort zones are extremely hard to find.
There is a fine balance between thought for thinking's sake and the ability to operationalize an idea. Business often strays to the ops side far faster leaving the mind bound in ways that stifle the creativity and desires of today's generation.
I do believe we are changing as evidenced by the move from pure consumers of content to creators but remember that many in leadership at all levels are not of the newer patterns of thought regarding this type of freedom of expression and thought.
I do believe that if more folks can find a way to take a philosopher's eye towards the evolution of today's digital ecosystem then we may yet find ourselves leading the way to our destiny as versus being consistently herded.
Leon de Haas wrote:
I think, there are two things in answering your question. In the dialectic traditions there are aspects of coaching in philosophy herself, and philosophy brings a specific quality into the practice of coaching.
As to the aspects of coaching in philosophy, in the dialectic traditions the philosopher relates to himself/herself (i.e., is coaching himself/herself); and the philosopher coaches other persons' philosophizing ('Socrates').
Besides, philosophy can enrich regular coaching, by changing perspectives, investigating and criticizing 'opinions' and certainties, drawing the attention to one's own will, capacities, responsibility, etc.
Jill Rowlands Moffitt wrote :
Both Plato and Confuscius go straight to the heart of coaching or teaching. You can teach students to ask questions, you can give students a partial answer but if you give students the complete answer, they won't learn the subject and they won't know how to discover answers or solve problems in the future. I used to have a philosophy teacher with a mantra that philosophy is the only subject that teaches students to think. I don't really agree since I have seen some incredible thinkers from other fields as well but I do believe that philosophy does help people learn to think for themselves. Teaching and coaching is greatly enhanced when you can truly pass on complete understanding and relevant applications to students.
Gary Clarke wrote:
Through increased awareness, improved analytical skills... but perhaps it really relates back to the coach. A coach who is versed, or well-read will posses (hopefully) an expansive, open mind which allows him or her to further relate, understand, articulate and then guide the "player" through the change event
Soren Landkildehus wrote:
Presumably, philosophy would have a bitter thing to say about a lot of the "coaching"-industry prevailing right now. So philosophy could help the coach to an awareness of the limits of coaching.
It is rare that philosophy gets to the root of anything at all, rather philosophy dares to present what is "well-known" in ways that alerts us to the fact that often we have taken the "well-known" for granted and thus turned it into prejudice.
So, philosophy is a mode of provoking and questioning what has been taken for granted. In this way, philosophy can be a handmaid for the coach, namely, as a means of shaking clients out of their preconceptions.
Philosophy is in its function a strict technique: philosophy argues and evolves through argument. As such a technique, in using it and insisting on the client using the rules of argument the coach can effect a strategy of approaching the various problems which are in need of a coach. Philosophy as technique is like learning how to navigate: you are responsible for your own navigation, but you would stand in pretty dire straits were you without the tools of navigating.
THANK YOU TO ALL CONTRIBUTORS FOR THEIR INSIGHTS.....
2. Pressure to conform
3. Anxiety and frustration
4. Inadequacy
5. The lack of money
6. The pain of love
For example here are some insights from the book :
On the lack of money Proposition: Expensive objects can seem like plausible solutions to things we do not understand. Could it be that objects mimic in a material dimension what we require in a psychological dimension?.
Reflective thought * How do material objects compare to friendship, freedom and thought? * What is your current philosophy about this? * What does this philosophy enhance or limit in your life right now? About anxiety and frustration Proposition At the heart of every frustration lies a basic structure: the collision of a wish with an unyielding structure. When outcomes do not neatly align with expectations and perceived reality then the gap can be frustration. The sense of frustration can emerge in many ways such as anger, self pity, anxiety, bitterness, sense of injustice, self- righteousness and paranoia.
Reflective thought
“The interventions of Fortune, whether good or bad introduce a random element into human destinies”
How do you handle the gap between your perceived reality and what actually happens in life? Who or what is responsible for what happened?To what extent can you really control things?
From this perspective some people find it easier to deal with and accept the random and more chaotic aspects of life than others. Why is this the case?
Click here for : PHILOSOPHY BOOKS to inform Coaching