The 3 Levels of Awareness in Transformational Coaching
Coaching is about questioning our current perspective and integrating new ones for the sake of advancing ourselves and all of humanity. We are creators and when we touch our moments of decision with clarity and purpose, we can manifest a different world. Accessing this clarity and purpose takes courage and self-compassion. Transformational coaching makes that clarity possible because it shifts us from self-condemnation to empowerment.
Our practice and research points to three levels of awareness that clients experience on their journey from self-condemnation to empowerment. This article describes these three levels and illustrates them through the experience of a composite client case study. We hope our framework of leadership empowerment offers insight for coaches and clients alike in our current moment of global transformation.
Giorgio, Global Financial Specialist
Giorgio has effectively turned around a portfolio in record time. His company wanted to scale his success by supporting him to grow from a star specialist to a star leader. Giorgio and his manager agreed that the promotion would require significant growth. Therefore, leadership coaching was recommended.
Level 1
The coach creates the space for the client to tell their stories and holds the space for the client to see their dilemma outside of themselves. This supports the client to notice the starting point of their learning journey.
The client begins from their current level of consciousness. This is the first step in exploring the connection between their inner narratives and their behaviors.
Giorgio shares, “…people frustrate me, they don’t work hard enough, nobody wants to make the same effort I am making, and the stakes are too high for me to delegate.” At this level of coaching, Giorgio becomes aware that he is stuck as a leader.
Level 2
The coach deepens and holds the space for the client to shift their attention to themselves. The coach’s connection with the client creates a mirror that allows them to consider how their emotions and beliefs serve them or get in their way.
The client explores their self-limiting stories. These are the stories of self-judgement and fears of inadequacy. At this point, the client experiences their epiphany about what’s really getting in their way.
In this part of the process, Giorgio moves from frustration about others to sadness and fear about himself: “I should be inspiring people, but I’m not the kind of leader who has deep emotional conversations. I’m afraid to fail as a leader.”
In this phase, Giorgio starts to realize that his own self-condemnation, and not others, is his true obstacle. For the first time he sees these stories as separate from himself and that he can choose to believe or not, which leads to an immediate feeling of lightness.
Level 3
The coach trusts that this level can happen at any moment. We are emotional instruments, and we can sense the shift in energy. In this space, we are witnessing the experience of transformative awareness. Our job is to use our intuition and support the client to trust and embrace what comes.
The client, in this moment sees those stories melting away to reveal a deeper truth that is their essence. This is a moment where thinking stops, feeling takes over and transformation happens. The client is empowered to experiment with new ways of being. This supports the development of new behaviors that, over time, will become new habits.
At the beginning of one session, Giorgio says with a smile, “I realized it is OK not to be an extrovert inspirational leader. I can develop skills in this area while I embrace the strengths of being a quiet, caring leader.” Later in the session, he says, “As I accept and evolve myself, I also accept others.”
Giorgio’s growth accelerates, and he is promoted. Eventually, he triples the size of his team and doubles the value of their portfolio.
A Journey from Self-condemnation to Empowerment
Carl Jung wrote that “We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate; it oppresses.” Evolving as human beings is about traveling through challenging realities and inner narratives and finding new perspectives to feel empowered again.
The transformational coaching journey is a circuitous path driven by the energy and emotions of the coach and client. The outcome we seek for our clients is the growth of new neural pathways that replace self-limiting habits with productive ones. Self-awareness is both the catalyst of the journey and the foundation to which the client returns again and again for motivation and direction. These three levels of awareness are our attempt to articulate a process for reaching that outcome, which can often feel to client and coach alike to be a magical one.
Matthew Taylor, PCC (USA) & Analia Yacot, PCC
Matthew Taylor, PCC, earned his master’s degree in administration, policy, and planning from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He studies executive coaching with the Teleos Leadership Institute and Goleman EI. A former teacher and school principal, Matt is a lifelong educator. As the founder of the Noble Story Group, Matt coaches and facilitates training in the education and nonprofit sectors using his framework grounded in emotional intelligence theory. Matt is also program faculty, meta-coach, and content contributor for Goleman EI’s coaching certification program. He lives in Washington, D.C., USA. Analia Yacot is the founder of CICRE®, a system thinking approach that enables leadership evolution through cooperation. A former Finance and HR International Director for Silicon Valley companies, she is a pioneer in executive coaching with +20 years working with global companies, the UN, NGOs, foundations and universities in English, Spanish and French. Analia holds an Argentinean CPA and executive trainings at Stanford and Wharton. She has studied Social Psychology and Coaching with Newfield Network, Corporate CoachU, Strozzi Institute and Goleman Emotional Intelligence. Analia contributes with the UN System Staff College on Neuroscience and Purpose at Work. She resides in Switzerland.
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I like that in level one you said that the coach creates an area where a client can see their problems from outside themselves. My sister is one of the best advice-givers you could ever meet but she is always lost with what to do for herself. I think that transformational coaching could definitely help her with understanding herself and her own needs better.