It’s Not (Just) About the "Aha!" Moment

Watching the coaching profession mature is a bit like watching a child grow up and head off to college. Twenty-some years ago we were all just playing in the sandbox, creating and trying and failing and discovering, but we’ve become a fully established field, one that is now “going to school” by linking coaching to outcomes, productivity and neuroscience. It’s been a fun ride (one that I’ve been on myself since 2001) that’s brought us to this point.

And just as different things are expected from a child than a young adult, different things are now expected of us as coaches. In the early days and even through our adolescence as a profession, it was often enough to say to a client, “Oh, just trust me, coaching works.” Not anymore. And the good news is, we don’t have to.

My own background and studies in neuroscience and consciousness have given me deep respect for the true power of coaching. It’s so much more than a moment of insight, or even the resolution of an ongoing issue . It’s a way of integrating different aspects of the brain and being, and this integration invariably leads to higher states of awareness and increased effectiveness in life. Coaching, in my opinion, is a workout for the brain.

Three Ways Coaching Helps to Integrate the Brain (And Why This Matters)

Coaching helps clients connect their reactive tendencies to their higher, more creative and productive brains.

We’ve probably all heard the term (coined by Daniel Goleman, of Emotional Intelligence fame) “amygdala hijack,” where the lower, more reactive limbic system over-responds to a perceived threat and causes us to act in decidedly unproductive ways. When this happens, our higher brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex (seat of executive function), is flooded with adrenaline and other chemicals, which make it unresponsive in the moment. (This is actually a very helpful state if you need to run from a predator, but it’s less productive when you’re in a meeting.)

One of the most helpful integrations in the brain is the connection of the amygdala and limbic system to the prefrontal cortex. The stronger the connection, the quicker the recovery and the less likely the person is to act in a reactive manner. When our clients are angry, hurt, upset, sad, etc., and we ask them about their values or help them to take a new perspective, we very likely are also helping them to activate more of these key connections, thus creating integration between their reactive and creative brains.

Coaching helps clients connect what they are doing with what it means.

When we are connected with the deeper meaning of something, motivation increases and stress decreases, and yet, in today’s fast-paced society, we tend to push questions of purpose and meaning to later on (if at all) when we have had, so to speak, a chance to catch our breath. And of course, all too often, tomorrow never comes.

The process of coaching tends to slow life down a bit. Coaches know that meaning matters, and they help their clients find it through the process of asking open-ended, powerful questions and focusing on values and purpose, among other tools. Coaches then help clients take this awareness into action in their lives, encouraging them to make choices according to what is meaningful.

This creates integration between what the person is doing as she focuses on a task with what she cares about, and in a way, who she is being or becoming. Interestingly, it literally connects two different networks in the brain—one that helps us focus and move things forward (known as the Task Positive Network), and another (known as the Default Mode Network) that gives us the power to dream. And by the way, this sort of integration in the brain also helps clients connect what needs to get done (Task Network) with empathy for the people who are doing it (also part of the Default Mode Network).

Coaching helps connect the forest and the trees.

One side of our brains, the right hemisphere, tends to see the forest. That is, it takes in the whole picture, the holistic view— everything at once, but nothing in particular. The other side, the left hemisphere, sees individual trees but not the whole forest. Both are valuable and important. Coaches create integration by helping clients get a sense of the big picture of an issue, or a compelling broad vision, and then work with them to break it down into bite-sized pieces.

Many clients have key strengths on one side, and sometimes even an aversion to the other side. On the left, it can look like a resistance to vision as something fluffy or pointless, while on the right, it can look like avoiding the details that move a project forward. Coaches know how to help their clients with both sides in order to both create and implement the projects—or lives—they desire. This creates integration between the hemispheres, another key workout for the brain. And by the way, research shows that the most effective leaders are those who are more integrated between the hemispheres of their brains.

Only the Beginning

There are many other ways coaching helps create more integration in the brain. Even just the process of reflection integrates the back of the brain with the front, helping us to make more well-informed decisions in the future and learn from our mistakes. And the present, focused nature of a coaching conversation may well mimic certain aspects of mindfulness, which is also shown to build integrative structures in the brain.

And why do we care? Because coaching is all about building capacity in the client. I don’t want to be “on call” for every problem a client has—and that’s not the ethic of this profession. No, I want my clients to have calmer, more stable, less reactive, more creative, more productive and more reflective brains. And when they take these more integrated brains into their homes and workplaces, they invariably create more positive results for themselves and everyone around them. Thus, coaching really does have the power to help create a more aware, and perhaps even more enlightened, world.