These times they are a changin – has coaching just become even more valuable and relevant?

24 Jul These times they are a changin – has coaching just become even more valuable and relevant?

I first came across the term “VUCA” about 5 years ago when it wasn’t a well-known phrase like it is today, but a phrase I remember thinking was one that was going to become common place in our everyday language. How I have observed over the past 5 years, just how relevant it has become and how it perfectly describes the current climate we find ourselves in following Brexit.

The outcome of the EU referendum has confirmed that we are most definitely in a period of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). This is new territory, unchartered waters, where no one can say exactly what will happen, what the consequences will be, what things will look like in 1, 2 or even 5 years’ time and most importantly what it means for us individually. Benjamin Franklin famously quoted that there were two certainties in life: death and taxes. Now I think we can add a third: change – as change is the new certainty.

In my work, I am constantly reminded just how difficult human beings find change. No one really likes change, we are creatures of habit. We like what we know and know what we like. Why? Because we are wired this way. The growth in neuroscience has unveiled so many insights into how our brains work which has finally provided many answers and explanations into how we tick. Changing requires practice. Just like if you want to change a habit, you need to keep at it, so that the change sticks, otherwise you find yourself back in old habit traps or doing things the way you’ve always done them.

One of the biggest impacts I have experienced when things are uncertain is that we can forget that we have choice. Choice in how we deal with change or uncertainty, or more often that we as individuals have choice in what we do next. We undervalue the power of choice and go into survival mode when unexpected change lands, it limits our ability to think, make decisions and above all our ability to realise that we do have choices.

There is also a sense that when times are uncertain that we can’t grow, we can’t learn, we can’t develop. That we should batten down the hatches and prepare for the worst. But actually in times of VUCA, there are always opportunities to grow, learn and develop – the world doesn’t stop because of VUCA, it can’t and won’t, therefore growth is an imperative and as individuals it’s imperative that we continue to grow, learn and develop ourselves. As Margaret Drabble, the English novelist once said “when nothing is sure, everything is possible” – what a positive approach and viewpoint and one I think we could apply to the current climate within organisations but within ourselves.

I recently co-facilitated a workshop with fellow coaches and L&D professionals on how to become more resilient and adaptable. There wasn’t one single person in the room who didn’t want to know how to become more resilient and adaptable. It’s interesting to reflect on how we are using phrases such as “resilience” and “adaptability” as coping mechanisms nowadays to help us and help others deal with uncertainty and change, because people have realised that it’s not going away – this is the new constant. We do need to become more resilient and adaptable as otherwise, applying a Darwinian approach, we just won’t survive.

This is why I think coaching has just become even more relevant and valuable, one of the key elements of coaching that I find so rewarding is helping people deal with change and uncertainty and going from surviving to thriving in whatever they are dealing with.

So how can coaching help and what are the key benefits of coaching when dealing with change:

• Space and time to think – sounds so obvious but a crucial element to coaching, offering the ability to take time out, to think and reflect. Often overlooked and undervalued but hugely beneficial.
• Getting perspective and considering different perspectives – “we don’t know what we don’t know” otherwise known as unconscious incompetence. Having a coach can help us not only get perspective, but also help us to realise other perspectives that challenge our viewpoint or our way of thinking and responding.
• Reflect on choices available – realising we all have a choice is step one, but identifying what our choices are is invaluable and empowering.
• Identifying options and opportunities that you hadn’t been aware of/thought of– having someone help you to identify your options and opportunities creates positivity. If people have options they have choice.
• Unpicking complexity – our lives are complex, we operate in complexity and are surrounded by it, so breaking things down into manageable chunks can be a huge benefit and motivator and enables us to move from procrastination to action.
• Explore ways to focus on becoming more resilient – what we are not aware of controls us, therefore exploring areas where we lack resilience or identifying situations where we would like to be more resilient helps us respond to change and uncertainty more positively.
• Reconnect with your vision, purpose and values – we often forget our vision, purpose and values in times of change and uncertainty, reconnecting with them can help provide focus and clarity over what we do next.

Thought leaders have been looking at leadership in relation to VUCA and a new concept VUCA Prime was developed by Bob Johansen in 2011, which proposes that the best leaders are characterised by vision, understanding, clarity and agility – the “flips” to the VUCA model.

In the VUCA Prime model, volatility can be countered with vision because vision is even more vital in turbulent times. Uncertainty can be countered with understanding, the ability of a leader to stop, look and listen, to try and create certainty. Complexity can be countered with clarity, the deliberate process to make sense of the chaos. Finally, ambiguity can be countered with agility, the ability to communicate and to move quickly to apply solutions to the endless challenges.

Whilst I believe having vision, understanding, clarity and agility are all helpful characteristics and a starting point for dealing with VUCA, these characteristics alone don’t provide a solution to the vast personal and organisational challenges that volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity brings.

Given the times we find ourselves in now and for the foreseeable future, coaching most certainly has a greater value and relevance to help us deal with and make sense of VUCA. Whilst we can’t change what’s going on around us, we can change how we respond and react to it, to create choices for a better way forwards.

Katherine is an experienced management and leadership coach who has worked with clients at all levels from future leaders to senior leaders helping them deal with change and uncertainty. If you are interested in learning more about how coaching can help you, please get in touch.