Transforming HR Through Coaching
Welcome back again to the Coaching York podcast. Most of the coaches in Coaching York are freelancers. They're self employed, and you can hire them for specific coaching assignments. But coaching isn't limited to full time professionals. Many people make extensive use of coaching as part of their wider work.
Geoff:My guest today is Debbie Connors. And rather than exploring how you could bring a coach into an organization, we reflect on how Debbie brings coaching into her organization. She does this through her work as an HR professional. But let's start with a quick introduction. Debbie, if we were in one of those delightful creeping death scenarios where I'm asked to introduce you to a wider group, how would you like to be introduced?
Debbie:Hi Geoff, good afternoon and yeah thank you for having me on this podcast. It's great to be on the Coaching York, podcast today. So I'm Debbie Connors, I'm a senior HR professional and I'm also a qualified coach. I've been in HR now for over twenty five years, so I guess you could say that HR does run through me like a stick of rock. In 02/2005, that was when I was introduced to the world of coaching, which was, you know, at the time absolutely life changing.
Debbie:I trained with Peter Blocker Coaching and I got my first qualification then in business coaching. And then since then I've gone on to train with, a company called Mountain Associates in Transaction Analysis. Then in 2016 I trained with Saxton Partners, more close to home in Harrogate where I got a diploma in coaching and influencing using NLP. And then that finally culminated in 2018 with a licence to practise what was then a cutting edge way of coaching called generative coaching with Robert Dilts and Stephen Gilligan. I've also assisted on their coaching, on their training courses.
Debbie:So yeah, I've been very fortunate to have had the experiences I've had in my profession as a coach and a HR professional. And I guess, you know, the output of all of that is that I've got a lot of tools, strategies, and methodologies for dealing with people, dealing with life in general, and when I'm coaching people.
Geoff:Okay. So that's, a lot about a lot of coach training and experience. What about yourself, Debbie? Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Debbie:Yeah, so I live in York. I love York. I think it's one of the best places in the world to live. We've got a huge, you know, York Minster. I feel very fortunate fortunate to live in this beautiful city.
Debbie:I've got two, near grown up children, a Jack Russell dog called Moomin and who's got lots of character and personality. I love the outdoors. I love travelling, got a background in mountaineering on a sort of more regular basis. I swim, I play tennis, do yoga and I'm also a bit of a foodie, so I love food. And we're lucky in York to have lots of great places to eat.
Debbie:So yeah, that's me in a nutshell.
Geoff:Yeah, you could eat your way around York for the rest of your life.
Debbie:Absolutely, and drink as well, Geoff.
Geoff:So
Debbie:many great places to eat and drink in York. Absolutely.
Geoff:Okay, you described yourself as an HR professional. So for the uninitiated, what is an HR professional?
Debbie:Yeah, so HR, human resources, we're responsible for, you know, at a very basic level for managing all aspects of the employee life cycle and that includes anything from recruitment and development, compensation, employee engagement. These days it's very technologically driven as well, you know, just to name a few of the areas that we deal with. And obviously HR operates at an operational and strategic level, so really depending on the size of business you're in. I guess if you're a small business it's often very operational with small levels of strategy to think about. And if you're working, you know, in a much bigger global entity, then you might be dealing with, you know, higher level responsibilities and strategic priorities, you know, which could be mergers and acquisitions, P, all of those sorts of things.
Debbie:It covers a quite a broad remit. And then often if there's anything that nobody knows what to do with, they'll just give it to HR.
Geoff:And where does coaching fit into all that?
Debbie:I guess in order to answer that question, I probably need to take a little step back. So when I first started out in HR, which was a long time ago, and you know, my practice right up until around 2016, I'd say I was, you know, a solid, good professional, HR person. I knew my stuff but really if I'm being absolutely honest I'd say I was quite process driven. You know it was more about ticking boxes, following procedures, making sure we followed the law, which we still have to do by the way, but it was a lot more head than heart. There is a term that used to be bandaged around which was that HR needs to put human, the human back into HR.
Debbie:So I guess that's probably what happened to me in 2016 when I did an advanced coach training programme. It kind of shifted everything for me in terms of how I now operate. The work that we did, that I did in this coaching programme, it was very much quite deep reflective work. We explored people's beliefs, the belief patterns, the assumptions we make about people, the way we communicate, you know, that we all have different maps of the world. And I guess out of all of that learning, some of the key takeaways is that there's no such thing as right or wrong.
Debbie:There's no such thing as bad people. We are all worthwhile individuals and we're just different and we have different aspects to who we are, but it doesn't, you know, it doesn't define us. Nothing, no one thing defines us. But I think we all carry the ability to judge others for what they do, and for me now it's about being curious about what people do and why they do it. And that really does change the way I relate to people.
Debbie:And I think when anyone does that, it changes the way we relate to people in a very positive sense.
Geoff:So you're talking there about how you train as a coach and how through coaching you see your profession differently. Can you give an example of that? Maybe something from fairly early on from after you finished your coach training. You're going back to work. You're seeing work in a different way.
Geoff:What did you see or do differently as a result?
Debbie:So after that training, some of the feedback I had was that I didn't have a really commercial head on me. I was a little bit too airy fairy to be honest, Maybe too vague, not detailed, didn't, didn't use the right language. So I wasn't really adapting my style to different audiences, particularly in the commercial world. And I really did want to be taken more seriously at that time in the commercial world, and I needed to be able to talk more about outcomes and results because you know, when you're freelance that's what people want, you know, when you're a contractor people want to talk about outcomes and results. It wasn't long after that that I got a job where there was a real need for that business to become itself more commercially focused because it was quite a family sort of orientated business and it was too compassionate if you like and too soft and it needed to shift the other way.
Debbie:So incidentally, when I joined that business, that was what I was able to do. And I had much more behaviour flexibility as a result of being coached and taking those skills. But there was a sort of flip side to that because probably maybe six or twelve months into that job, I was told that I was too commercially focused and too aloof and too cold. And I really took that on board because the business I was working in was dealing with younger people and did need levels of compassion because of the sort of situations we had to deal with. If you look at different ends of the spectrum there's very aloof, there's maybe compassionate and then there's somewhere in the middle.
Debbie:So I kind of really had to shift a little bit to the middle. So I went from being vague to being very commercially focused to then also having to learn the skills of being compassionate. And that's worked, know, that was the training and that's stayed with me ever since.
Geoff:Debbie, can you tell us a bit more about your experience of generative coaching working with Robert Dilts and Stephen Gilligan? What was it about their work and input that's added to your experience of coaching?
Debbie:Yeah, I think a shift really, occurred in twenty eighteen-twenty nineteen, which was when I did that training. That course wasn't just about becoming a better coach, it was really about doing the deep inner work first. And I'll be honest, it was intense. I do feel that I had to face and heal parts of myself that I kept neatly tucked away for years. So I guess it kind of brings things to the surface that we've hidden away for whatever reason.
Debbie:You know there's a saying that I love which is 'When you heal your inner world, your outer world starts to change' and you know that was absolutely true for me. Through the processes that I learned and the experiences that I had with other coaches as well, I developed a much healthier, kinder relationship with myself. You know, I let go of old patterns, old stories that I, I, you know, what I thought of who I was. And that changed how I showed up in, in every part of my life and especially at work. And so since then, I think I do HR very differently.
Debbie:You know, that shifted radically. People often say to me, you don't do HR like other folk. And, you know, and I take that as the highest compliment because for me, HR isn't just about policies and procedures. It is about people and meeting people where they are at. And when you've done that inner work, you can show up with more empathy, more clarity, more presence.
Debbie:And that's where the real transformation happens. It's not just about me but it's about, it's for everyone you work with. And relationship, you know, is everything. And I think the more we can relate to each other, the better outcomes we have. And that's certainly been the case for me.
Debbie:I think, you know, in all
Geoff:of
Debbie:the contentious work I've done, you know, since twenty eighteen-twenty nineteen, I don't think I've had any, you know, negative results. But they all work out. It's always a kind of win win, even in the most difficult circumstances. It's always a win win for most people.
Geoff:So you're looking at some very positive outcomes in your work flowing out of improved relationships with other people that's flowing out of an improved relationship with yourself.
Debbie:Yeah, absolutely.
Geoff:Can I just go back to a particular quote that you just gave there? And you said when you heal your inner world, your outer world starts to change. Can you tell us a bit more about what happened? What changed? So,
Debbie:yeah, can give you a really good example actually because it's still with me now. I remember, my coach, again back in '16, I remember one time I was making, I was joking about myself saying I'm not good at this and I can't do that. And my coach said to me, you shouldn't talk about yourself like that. You should be kind to yourself. And I was like, oh.
Debbie:So you know, I was a bit taken aback because you know, it was kind of a fun thing. Was saying, you know, gosh, you know, I can't do X, Y and Z in a fun way. And she said, you know, don't talk about yourself like that. And I, and I took that really to heart. And when I really reflected on that afterwards what she really meant is that you know this is about your own inner dialogue, you know how you speak to yourself, and we all run an inner dialogue.
Debbie:And what do we say to ourselves in that inner dialogue? Are we kind to ourselves? Do we talk to ourselves kindly all of the time, most of the time? Or are we sometimes berating ourselves looking at all the things we're not good at or all the things we, you know, we want to be better at or what is that negative dialogue that's going on inside of you. And actually what happens is when you start having a kinder dialogue with yourself, so for example being less critical of yourself, you then become less critical of others.
Debbie:So when you see the goodness in yourself you automatically see the goodness in others and that's what shows up. You know it's a bit like you can look out the window and you can notice the rain or you can notice the beautiful tree. What are you noticing? So when you notice the goodness within you, you know the good stuff, you'll notice that in other people. And there's multiple things you can notice in other people.
Debbie:You know you might notice the awful trousers they're wearing or you might notice their beautiful blue eyes. Well that's what you notice more of, their beautiful blue eyes. So it's that inner transformation makes you then have a different relationship with how you contact your outer experience.
Geoff:You're talking about being kinder to yourself, expressing kindness towards other people, And then a little bit earlier on, you were talking about how your own change in attitude had affected the way you were working with other people and the outcomes that that then produced. Can you give us a concrete outcome, a practical story, if you like, about how this approach you're taking with people affected the way they responded to, I don't know, a challenging HR situation.
Debbie:So some time ago I was working with a young person and they had a very high absence rate, the point that we had to bring them in for an exploratory discussion to try and get to the bottom of it. And I guess the old me from, you know, the old HR me from years ago would have approached it sort of more in a process fashion. Here's the policy, here's the meeting, ask these questions, let's get through it, end of. But the new version of me does things very differently. So when this individual came into the office I could tell straight away that something wasn't quite right.
Debbie:Their energy was low, they looked quite angry, quite closed off. So you know instead of diving into the issue I met them where they were, so I noticed their state, their mind state. And so before that I made some small talk and I really helped to shift their mood from low to high. So let's say their mood was a four, I didn't really get into the absence discussion until I knew they were at least a six or a seven because otherwise they probably wouldn't have been receptive, you know, would have just been headbutting. The conversation would have been a bit like that.
Debbie:So in coaching, we talk about mind states. So that's what I was measuring at the time. Where was her mind state before we start the conversation? And then, you know, just that little shift, just that being present, warm, human bit helped to open that person up. And what came out was a lot deeper than the absence itself, know, it actually became a very cathartic moment for them because they totally opened up what was happening for them, which went much deeper.
Debbie:And yes, we eventually did come back to the HR bit. But it wasn't just about absence, it was about more, and this is what I mean about engaging with the whole person rather than the issue, because we're dealing with whole people. And the individual went away feeling very supported. It wasn't a punitive process. And in fact, you know, they thanked me at the end of it and their absence improved.
Debbie:You know part of a bigger issue was around feeling lonely and they actually then went on to set up a club in the workplace where they were leading it and they started to go out more with their work colleagues and connect with their work colleagues outside of work. And so that was a great result, know, so it was more than a HR process. It was a HR process that had a great life and work outcome, you know, that was supportive of their well-being and their life in general.
Geoff:Good example. Just to change the line of thought for a moment, coaches sometimes like to describe their work using metaphors. So for example, I've heard working with a coach being like working with someone with a compass or a sextant. The coach doesn't have a map to tell you where to go, but they have some navigation aids to help you find the way. When you're thinking in metaphorical terms about coaching, what metaphor do you like to use to describe what it's like to be a coach, but particularly what it's like to be a coach in an organisation?
Debbie:Yeah, so I suppose what immediately comes to mind is the Shakespeare saying all the world's a stage. A workplace is like a stage. You know every single day there are different dramas, you know high drama, low drama being played out. It's very easy to be pulled into other people's dramas, that their narratives and map of the world can be very strong. You know the coach training is really helpful because it teaches you to be an observer looking in, you know, bystander in the stalls of a theatre, and so you can stay out of the drama and watch from a distance.
Debbie:You know, you can see the wood from the trees because if you're in the drama on the stage, you can't really see how to get out of it. And so you just kind of get drawn into it and you become part of it and you might even join someone else's drama. And, you know, so we get those strong pulls every day, which at the end of the day takes up a lot of our energy. It can cause us to become negative, to worry about stuff that isn't actually ours. It belongs to other people, it's just that it's triggered something in us and we've been drawn into it.
Debbie:Then before you know it, we're sounding off to somebody about something that happened at work that's been really frustrating and it's kind of a waste of time really, because it's not ours.
Geoff:So you can see what's going on on the stage if you like, but how do you ensure that you are playing your own part, I don't know, becoming a prop in someone else's drama?
Debbie:So again, that, you know, that comes back to presence and awareness. So, you know the difference I guess between being present or aware is that you're unaware or unconscious. For example if I had an argument with somebody and we carry on arguing, we kind of go into a state of unconsciousness and until somebody does something different or realises actually we're not going anywhere in this argument and actually might do something else, what we call a pattern interrupt, so we'll just say, should we just call it a day and move on? That then, you know, is a pattern interrupt and it stops the argument. Then you become present again because you might realise actually I don't want to have this argument with this person, I really like you.
Debbie:And so you become present, you're back into the here and now. And so in the here and now you can make a choice, but if you're stuck in that loop, that mind loop, which is a bit like, you know, batting a tennis ball backwards and forth, you don't really have much choice because you're just in it, like you're in the drama. And so that will continue until somebody comes out of it. But the sooner you can come out of it, the sooner you're out of the drama and you're back in control of your words, actions, behaviours, and situation. So I would say awareness, presence.
Debbie:The more you notice these things, it's like a muscle, it grows and grows. So if you're used to having arguments with somebody, you know, I can talk about my children, you know, they're great, children are the best triggers in the world because they press multiple buttons. You know, I used to notice that we'd be arguing about the same thing over and over again. But each time I would notice that, I mean this argument is going nowhere, it never goes anywhere, and so the next time we go in I'll pull back or I'll switch it up or something or not argue at all. The more aware you become, you then are in control of whether you want to continue arguing just for the fun of it, or actually I really just want to go there, let's do something else or let's talk about something else.
Debbie:So I think that's the difference between, you know, again, on the stage in the drama and being able to pull yourself back out into the audience where you can be an observer, an objective observer, and then you're in control. You can make decisions about do I want to continue with this or do I want to do something else?' So we have a choice.
Geoff:One of the things that helps people navigate podcasts is if they have a little bit of a list to work through. So I wondered if you could give us three top coaching skills that would really make a difference in a workplace, maybe even transform a workplace. What would those three top coaching skills be?
Debbie:So for me, I think presence is not just a skill for the workplace, think it's a life skill because when we are present we cannot be in any of those, we can't be caught in those mental loops replaying the past, worrying about the future. We can't get as pulled into other people's drama or into our own inner stories or our inner dialogue. It's actually very soothing for the mind and it's a healthy place to be in the present because everything is in the present. And even when we work in coaching, way I work is even something that's happened in the past, we bring it into the present. Everything is dealt with in the present.
Debbie:So when we're in the present, it's a training really that will support healthy relationships, healthy discussions, healthy connections, also helps to break that pattern of repetitive thinking. I mean, even if you think about stress, if you're present you cannot be stressed and present at the same time. It's very difficult to do both. And we can talk about how do you get into the present. If you just go outdoors and notice the trees, notice what's around you, you are in the present.
Debbie:One of the ways that I started practicing being present was when I was out walking my dog. So I would just walk the dog and I would notice that I was going back into my head and missing actually all the things around me, you know, the people I was walking past, the sunshine, the sunset, because I was just walking around almost in a daze in my head thinking about the day before or what happened earlier. And so what I used to do was to go out and quietly say to myself, tree, grass, dog, person, to bring me back every time I lost presence. That was a way to bring me back. And so I kept practicing that when I was at home, I would be washing up and I would notice the feeling of the cups, the water.
Debbie:And I just say feeling cups, water to bring me back into the present because we are so programmed if you like, or so used to habitually being pulled back into the prism of the mind. And there is only the presence, why would you want to be anywhere else?
Geoff:You've got presence as a way of fully experiencing what's happening in a particular moment, maybe decluttering your head a bit from all kinds of other stuff that could be going around in it, really helping you to focus. I can really see the value of this when you're working with other people to be really focused on them. So if presence is your top coaching skill, we're going to have a number two or a number three, what would number two and number three be?
Debbie:So yeah, I just want to say, I love that term you use, Jeff, of decluttering your head and focusing on people, because I think you really hit the nail on the head there because it's about giving your attention to others. And I remember, a friend of mine I used to work with and when I used to go into his office, you know, in the day where you sort of sit in an office and they'd be on their typewriter, not the typewriter, on their computer, And when I came in he would always shift his focus from his computer to looking at me and talking to me. And the reverse was when he would come into my office I would be typing and talking at the same time. And he always used to say to me, you just like stop typing and focus your attention on me when I'm talking to you? And he was like, oh yeah, yeah, okay I will.
Debbie:And since then, you know, that's what I do. I give my attention. I'm not saying I do it all the time by the way, yes I do give, it's about giving attention to people at work. So number two would be be listening. So Stephen Covey has a lovely phrase in his book which says, you know, we tend to listen but we don't really hear.
Debbie:And that's often the case, we're listening but we're not always hearing what's being said, and again I think that comes back to, I think they're all connected, it comes back to presence and giving attention to somebody so that you're really listening to them versus being distracted. Because often when we listen to people we're just waiting to give a response, waiting to advise, we're thinking about what we want to say, so it's distracting from giving somebody attention cause we're actually giving ourselves more attention rather than listening. So that would be number two.
Geoff:I love this whole idea of thinking about listening. Founder Peter Lumley introduced me to an idea Ting. Ting is a Chinese character which denotes listening. And for people who are aware of this, Chinese characters are made up of different shapes to convey different ideas, different concepts in a shape. So Ting is a character made up of various symbols, which refer to one ear, 10 eyes, a heart, and a king.
Geoff:And loosely translated, the concept gets across is that you should listen with your ear, but with 10 eyes, your whole heart, as if you were listening to your king. I use this to remind myself when I'm speaking to someone that that's what I'm giving them, fullness of my attention, that's how seriously I'm taking them. But what about you? Do you have a quick way of getting yourself into a deep listening zone?
Debbie:So I think I've been doing it so much now that it comes naturally to me. But guess, you know, if I was giving anyone any tips for, you know, getting into the zone, I would be saying, you know, notice your state, you know, if you look at that spectrum of one to 10, where are you? If you're in a four, you're probably not going to be in a great listening zone. So what are some of the small things you can do to bring you back up? Because we can change your state in any moment.
Debbie:So what would bring you up to a seven or an eight? And some of the things I would do is I will check my breathing. So I will do box breathing and you can find, there's lots of information about box breathing if you Google it. Another really simple thing I do is I will smile to myself, so I might do a little smile in my tummy or in my heart, just a little smiley face. And also I will kind of turn my eyes into a smile and I will soften my expression.
Debbie:And so as tiny little exercises as they are, they can really make a difference to deep listening, but also bringing you back into the present.
Geoff:Okay. That's really helpful. Thank you. So we've talked about two skills that you think are really important. So you're talking about presence, you're talking about deep listening and the third one.
Debbie:So, yeah, the third one I'd like to highlight is curiosity. So that's curiosity over judgment. Because so often in the workplace we make snap assumptions. I'm sure we can all relate to, you know, meeting or seeing people and we make snap judgments about them, or we jump to conclusions or fill in the blanks. But you know, as coaches, we are trained to just pause a little bit before jumping in making those assessments and curiosity enables you to do that.
Debbie:So for example, if somebody is maybe you're in a meeting and somebody says something that maybe would normally be upsetting or might cause a reaction. One of the things I do is go, oh, that's interesting. I wonder what's going on for that person. Rather than internalizing what they've said, I will keep it outside of me. So again, it kind of goes back to that whole metaphor I gave of all the world stage.
Debbie:There's a stage being played out. I join it or I can just be that observer. So yeah, so I think really simple, easy technique is, is, you know, if you, 're triggered by anything somebody says, it's just, you know, be compassionate and say I wonder what's happening for that person today? I wonder what made them say that? And I guarantee you, I kind of bet you some dollars that you will get a different reaction from them.
Debbie:And it keeps you also in a good place, so rather than getting angry and upset it just keeps you in that neutral space of observing. That's interesting, I wonder what that's about? And that's all you have to say. So if you practise that, I would pretty much guarantee that you will start to have very different reactions from people and you will also start to manage your own state in a much healthier way.
Geoff:There's an invitation for all our listeners to try that one out. Debbie, whilst I have you here, our listeners include people who are interested in coaching or who want to hear about practical skills they can apply wherever they are. Thank you for the ones you've shared. We also have other coaches who tune in. So can I ask you what's been your most significant learning as a coach?
Debbie:So when I first started coaching, was genuinely excited. You know, it felt amazing to know that I had the tools to help people shift, to grow, and to, you know, make really meaningful changes in their lives. But you know, with that also comes a sense of responsibility, sometimes a heavy one. So early on, you know, I thought that being a good coach meant getting clear results, good results, perfect results every time. Solving the client's problem, fixing something, and then if it didn't happen that way then I took that really hard.
Debbie:It was my fault. I didn't do good enough coaching. And so I would walk away from the sessions second guessing myself, wondering if I'd done enough, questioning my own capability. And that was even to say when clients gave me positive feedback, just didn't believe them. I just thought they're lying.
Debbie:And I think, I think that's the shadow side of coaching or perhaps learning when you start out in coaching. And actually though, I think even as an experienced coach, you can still have those moments when you doubt the value that you gave in a session. You know, I think it's that inner critic, the belief that you're supposed to do something spectacular every time. But part of that deeper journey of becoming a coach is, we've talked about it before, it's about doing your own work, so that your own baggage doesn't interfere with the client's process. And I think, you know, that's a lifelong journey.
Debbie:And just to say, I don't think I'm there. I don't know if I'll ever be there, but it is a continuous learning moment. So I remember one session early in my coaching journey where I was left thinking, well, gosh, that was a bit of a flop. The client was really quiet, they didn't give much away, and I felt like I just hadn't done a good job. And I really did beat myself up for days.
Debbie:So you know when I talked about energy, a waste of energy before, this was a really good example of just wasting energy for days. I was telling myself I should have asked better questions and so on and so forth. And then, you know, a week later the client emailed me and said that actually the session gave me more clarity than anything else I'd done in months. And it turns out the silence wasn't disengagement, it was them processing, you know, what we discussed. From that moment onwards it really, it was a kind of a coaching life lesson to stop judging the impact in real time and to trust the process.
Debbie:And really what happens is what happens, and you just have to go with that because there is absolutely nothing to be gained from beating yourself up. And again, you know, if I can make some connections to what I said earlier, is that it's about being kind to yourself. Because if you're not being kind to yourself, you're probably hitting yourself over our head. And there's nothing to be gained from that. So yeah, so just everything is learning and that's what I do.
Debbie:I just put it into learning and move on. Take the learning and move on.
Geoff:So just one final question for me, if I may. So I'm always fascinated how over time coaches not just change the way they see coaching, but also the way they talk about it. So if today somebody asked you the question, so tell me, Debbie, what's this coaching stuff all about? How would you answer that now?
Debbie:You know, historically, when I started out as a coach, I would have said, you know, coaching was about fixing people or solving people's problems and or issues, you know. I think that's changed now. I think, you know, coaching has gone through lots of different stages and been upgraded and, you know, it's moving, you know, there are so many different types of coaching that you can now engage with. But for me, coaching now is about co creating. It's not about me delivering something to the client.
Debbie:It's not scripted. I don't walk into sessions with lots of questions. The only prep I do is to prep my own state so that I'm in a good state for meeting with the client. You know, show up, you know, present and I'm curious because from that space, what I notice is that something new can emerge, something that we couldn't have planned. That's really what we want when we're coaching somebody it's because often they're maybe stuck in a situation and however which way they've been working on it, they're still coming up against brick wall.
Debbie:So we want something different and we want to co create, you know, the next step in their life. So that would be what coaching is for me now. I'm not doing the work for the client. Coaching is co creation, it's a kind of one plus one equals three. There's me, there's the client, and then there's the magic that happens in the space between us.
Debbie:And in generative coaching actually we call that the field of possibility, infinite possibility, which is that deeper intelligence that we can both tap into when we're fully present. In my experience that is when the real transformation happens.
Geoff:And if any of our listeners want to explore some co creation through coaching with you, how best can they contact you?
Debbie:My website is www.hrschool.co.uk so you can find my details on there. I will have some coaching slots available from September. So if anyone is interested in talking to me about coaching, then please do feel free to email me at debbiehrschool dot co dot uk and we can chat some more about what you may want some more of in your life.
Geoff:Okay, brilliant. And we'll put that in the show notes along with links to some of the other things that we've talked about on the way. Debbie, thank you very much for your time. Thank you for the different perspective on coaching from within a workplace and every success to yourself in the future.
Debbie:Thank you, Jeff, for having me. It's been a real pleasure.
Geoff:Thank you for listening to the Coaching York podcast. I'm Jeff Ashton, and I edit and produce the show. Coaching York is a social enterprise, a community of coaches serving the communities of York, the counties of Yorkshire, and beyond. We provide coaching, mentoring, training, and coaching supervision on a commercial and time gifted basis. If you want to know more about our offers and services, or if you want to join our expert, generous, and creative community, find out more about us at coachingyork.co.uk.
Geoff:That's coachingyork.co.
