In this two-part climate action special, we explore two sets of research. Part 1: Is climate action our business? Part 2: What are coaches’ concerns, what are they doing already, and what is getting in the way of them doing more
Part 1: Climate action: Is it our business? Rita Symons and Roger Maitland report
Coaching, mentoring and supervision as a trio of professional practice have the potential to play a major part in raising awareness and challenging the status quo and beliefs about development and growth. We have an almost unique window into organisations and the opportunity to be in reflective dialogue with senior leaders in a range of sectors.
The background
The role of the coaching professions was raised in a helpful provocation by a group of leading systemic coaches, and the professional bodies were challenged to consider our role in the climate emergency. This invitation to reflect and act was published in Coaching at Work in 2019
(https://bit.ly/3oNECjT).
A few coaching, mentoring and supervision bodies started to coalesce, and we began to meet to consider our response. This led to the publication of a Joint Statement by five organisations in the first instance in 2020. This was originally signed by EMCC Global, APAC, APECS, AC and ICF. The statement of commitment has now been signed by 11 professional bodies, and the number of signatories is likely to grow further. We and our partners have attempted to model the collaboration we wish to encourage in others, and our commitment in EMCC Global to this is firm.
The statement can be found on a dedicated website, www.jgsg.one
Alongside this, the Global Code of Ethics, which is recognised by 12 professional bodies, was updated to consider social and environmental impacts. Climate-related interest groups, such as the Climate Coaching Alliance, have also grown rapidly to become global communities of practice.
One could argue that many of the interrelated challenges facing humanity are directly related to the fact we have taken an egocentric approach in how we view the world’s resources. We see ourselves as above, rather than part of the Earth’s complex system. An alternative approach may be to consider ourselves eco-centric, part of the living fabric of the world.
In 2021, EMCC Global established a Centre for Excellence or working group to turn our words into action. We became increasingly aware of the differing views of members through our engagement events, and there was a lack of clarity in terms of where our members were and what we could most usefully do as a professional body.
The research
The Centre for Excellence for Climate Action and Sustainability worked with the Research Group of EMCC Global to design a research project to try and get a clearer picture. An exploratory mixed-methods study was used to explore how coaches perceive their responsibilities, roles and expectations in addressing climate action in coaching practice. A survey was designed using the eco-awareness cycle as the basis (Climate Coaching Alliance, 2023; Whybrow, Turner, McLean, & Hawkins, 2023) and an adaptation of Heron’s intervention categories framework (Heron, 2007) applied to climate action, to explore how coaches approach climate action in their coaching practice. A robust methodology was applied and with support from other members, the process of analysis was jointly managed by the co-author, Dr Roger Maitland from Stellenbosch University and
Prof Sezer Bozkus Kahyaoglu from Izmir Bakırçay University.
There were 219 respondents in total (see Figure 1 for the age profile).
Figure 1: Age profile of respondents
Participants were asked to indicate where they were on an adapted version of the eco-phase cycle (Whybrow et al, 2023 ) using a five-point Likert scale, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree. Figure 2 sets out the range of responses observed.
We can see that while many respondents described themselves as ‘informed’, ‘aware’ or ‘engaged’, the largest category was ‘curious’. This has implications for what we do as professional bodies to support our members: respondents who described that they were interested, wanted support on tools and strategies for how to bring a more systemic view to their work with clients.
We also asked whether coaches, mentors and supervisors had a role in bringing climate action into their work(see Figure 3).
As we can see in Figure 3, a substantial minority do not feel we have any part to play. Some of the comments were strongly worded in terms of a view that we should follow the client’s agenda and not bring in our agenda. Can we ever truly take ourselves out of any interaction, however? By our presence, our choice of questions and our responses, it could be argued we’re inevitably affecting our client’s system. One of the roles of a coach is to raise awareness, so encouraging the client to think more broadly about wider systems is not necessarily us bringing in an agenda.
When we looked at intervention style, using Heron’s framework, we found the majority of coaches were at the facilitative rather than the directive end of the spectrum. This feels appropriate in that we’re holding a reflective space, rather than imposing a position.
An important part of ethical practice when considering our work in this area is contracting and the importance of clear communication and agreement about scope of our dialogue with clients.
When asked about contracting with clients, using a five-point Likert scale, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree, again, a range of responses were obtained (see Figure 4).
This shows there may be a useful dialogue to be had with members about ethics and contracting around sustainability. We found through free text comments, several respondents shared insights that the very process of completing the survey helped them consider how they might position their practice differently and more systemically. An important consideration at a personal level is how we think about our activism and our position as coaches, mentors and supervisors as connected but separate roles.
When asked what resources members would find useful, the most common response was webinars. It appears our members wish us to continue to hold a space for complex professional dialogue on this subject. We have already published a Reflective Guide which supports practitioners through a process of guided self-reflection, and we continue to work with novel approaches, including the use of storytelling.
Figure 2: Position on eco-phase cycle
Figure 3: View of role in climate action
Figure 4: Climate action in contracting
Conclusion
Navigating all this requires a difficult balancing act for EMCC Global as for other professional bodies. Our commitment is to continue to hold a container for dialogue, develop resources and collaborate with other professional bodies. We may also wish to consider how we can support our members to become more skilled at working systemically, while doing the self-work to know and resource ourselves.
We may not all agree about the how but it certainly feels like the skills we have as coaches, mentors and supervisors could be put to good use in helping humanity navigate our current polycrisis. This is not about us imposing a personal view, but about us using our professional expertise to allow individuals and organisations to see another way of being which shifts us from ego-centric to eco-centric.
- The full report can be found at: https://www.emccglobal.org/news/exploring-the-role-and-boundaries-of-coaching-for-climate-action/
About the authors
- Rita Symons is the former EMCC UK president and runs a coaching, supervision and leadership development practice. She currently chairs the EMCC Global Centre for Excellence for Climate Action and Sustainability.
Rita.symons@emccglobal.org - Dr Roger Maitland is a transition coach, a director of LifeLab, a coaching company specialising in futures coaching. He is a research fellow at Stellenbosch Business School and a member of the EMCC Global Centre for Excellence for Climate Action and Sustainability.
roger.maitland@emccglobal.org
References and further info
- Climate Coaching Alliance. (2023). The Eco Phase Cycle. Retrieved 23 November 2023, from: https://www.climatecoachingalliance.org/events
- Heron, J. (2007). Helping the Client: A Creative Practical Guide (5th ed.). London: Sage.
- Whybrow, A, Turner, E., McLean, J., & Hawkins, P. (2023). Ecological and Climate Conscious Coaching: A Companion Guide to Evolving Practice. (A. Whybrow, E. Turner, J. McLean, & P. Hawkins, Eds.). London: Routledge.