“We now know”: Neuroscience and Coaching
Myles Downey
Helping Leaders Succeed | Leader Performance | The Coach's Coach | Speaker
“We now know…”. Whenever you hear a presenter introduce some material with those dread words be on you guard. I think it means “I made this up last night but I really want you to believe me”. Sometimes it is ‘evidence’ to prop up a personal belief or fantasy. There is a crop of people in the world of coaching who belong to this category of presenter and their playground is the neurosciences.
I have been an interested observer of the links made between the neurosciences and coaching over the past decade – but have always remained a skeptic. Not so much about the science but about how it can help me become a better coach. And that which is relevant seems only to tell me stuff that I already knew: the importance of a certain kind of relationship for instance, or mental state, for another.
So when I heard that the very wise and wonderful Prof. Paul Brown was due to talk at the APECS (Association of Professional Executive Coaches and Supervisors) Christmas session I had to be there.
The format was a conversation with the audience so I declared my skepticism and related a family story to make my point. My grandfather taught my mother to drive. According to my mother when they got into the car my grandfather’s first words were “so what do you know about the internal combustion engine?”
I followed with a statement of my belief that coaching is primarily a craft or set of skills that can be learned through practice – I can be effective when coaching without knowing how the brain works.
Paul’s response - and these are now my words, not his - was to say that if we don’t know about how the brain works then we can never really learn or get better at coaching; that we will always be stuck with our beliefs. And more then that; get stuck in the same trap as psychotherapy where the holders of the competing belief systems never talk to each other.
I think these are both fair and valid points.
I am however left with a number of things to think more about:
I have such a profound sense – and experience – of the extraordinary capacities that the human being is heir to, and, how we can, when in flow or ‘Self Two’ (Gallwey, Inner Game), operate in ways that surprise – we are capable of acting well beyond the boundaries of what is apparently, consciously known to us. That tells me that constant practice, constant ruthless self-appraisal and a wealth of experience are fundamental to the route to genius. Of course, the problem in this assertion is that few coaches take that route.
And what that leads to is this question – is science, in the formal sense, the only way to knowledge?
And then, when we know how the brain works, there is the danger of the person coaching operating as a mechanic does – tweek this and the result will be such. Part of my belief system is that the profound goal of coaching is to enable others to discover and stand in their own authority, so that would have me worried.
But I also cannot get away from Paul’s counter-point. If we don’t know, we cannot learn. If neuroscience can point me in a direction that will help me learn more quickly then I need to pay more attention to the science. But the scientists could do more – as more is known – to point me in the right direction.
Finally, better ‘we know now’ rather than ‘we now know’
myles
I am delighted that we are learning more and more about our brains and the impact our experiences have on neural pathways. I particularly like he confirmation that when there is trust interpersonally the brain is more plastic increasing the possibility of growth and learning. For me this is a confirmation of what coaches knew in their hearts! we should not be frightened of embracing new insights and knowlege with which we can enhance the practise of the art of coaching.
Transformational Coach, Facilitator, Speaker & Podcaster
10 年A really interesting post - thank you. I believe that new learning from neuroscience is valuable and relevant to enrich our knowledge of human behaviour and learning. I agree with with previous comments that this is not an either/or question but perhaps rather a gradual movement as our understanding grows in this field. I personally welcome new insight from neuroscience. However, I am wary of anything that introduces a 'process' and distracts us from being there 'in the moment' with a coachee and really noticing what is going on in the coaching relationship.
Creator/Licensor of Motivational Maps, helping develop unique motivational businesses for over 1400+ mappers in 16 countries. Routledge author, feature writer The Epoch Times, and producer free monthly poetry newsletter
10 年Knowing how the brain 'works' does not make one a better coach anymore than, if you think about it, it would make you a better writer or plumber. Why would it? The trouble with science, so often, is that it is so at variance with common sense, and yet still wishes to steamroller its limited and constipated views on areas where it has no authority or expertise. Indeed it has become a religion with loads of fanatical believers who never exam their own assumptions which precede proof. The central issue in this case seems to me to be the fact that science knows very little about consciousness for the obvious reason that it is subjective; I'd be more interested in a yogi or mystics' view.
Communicator, educator, speaker, and YouTuber focusing on Project Management
10 年Science is a route to uncovering more knowledge. Unlike many routes, science adopts the need for falsifiability as a central component of its methodology. Therefore, in science, all knowledge is provisional: 'for now'. This does not invalidate the process, and what we learn from it can be valuable too. In my coaching training, I learned to put a big emphasis on choice. More knowledge and ideas offer us more choices - especially as a coach. That has to be a good thing. How we choose to use those choices is where we hand ourselves over to wisdom.
I sat through a presentation by an eminent American neoroscientist in October (note the attempt at giving credibility in my use of language!) After the usual stuff of optical illusions and talk about marshmallow experiments with kids, purple cows and brain pictures all nicely coloured in, my ears pricked up to hear that apparently the brain lights up when mentoring! Just think of how much you could save on your heating and lighting bills if you mentored or coached 24/7! Thanks neuroscience for the insight!