Appreciating your Spiritual Nature

Exploring your spiritual nature can be a transformational experience. Leaders from all walks of life are increasingly interested in spirituality. It prompts questions of purpose, meaning, community and consciousness, that drive leadership from the inside-out and social networking from the outside-in.

A change leader with 'spiritual awareness' will encourage conversations about:

• MEANING - making sense of life's purpose and relationships
• VALUE - ethics, standards and beliefs about what's important
• TRANSCENDENCE - awareness and appreciation of life beyond self
• CONNECTEDNESS - links between self, others, the environment and the divine
• BECOMING - reflecting on life to discover who we are and why we are here

There is a growing awareness locally and globally of our interconnectedness and the benefits that can flow from a more holistic understanding of diverse human cultures, experiences and challenges.

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Being the best we can be

If we want to do the best we can with what we have - and who doesn't - then finding out how we can access the resources we need to develop our competence, reliability and sincerity will be vitally important. Real change leaders must consider:

• ALIGNMENT - linking personal and organisational values and priorities
• CONVERSATION - using offers and requests to achieve purposeful action
• RESPONSIBILITY - responding to the needs of others in ways that respect diversity
• MOTIVATION - focusing on solutions, positive attitudes and our best behaviour
  

Coaching for performance is most effective when it's goal driven.  Having a 'solutions focus' helps clarify priorities, overcome barriers and align words with actions. We mustn't limit ourselves to targets, but think how we can be the best we can be at what we do.

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Releasing our inner wisdom

A real sense of well-being and self-confidence comes from a deep inner wisdom. When we experience peace of mind we find joy in everyday activities. We can free ourselves of debilitating stress, self-destructive ways of thinking and habits that no longer work for us. What's behind our moment-to-moment experience of life is:

• THOUGHT - the ability to create images, see possibilities and give meaning to action
• CONSCIOUSNESS - the ability to be aware of reality and experience our thoughts
• MIND - the energy and intelligence that lies behind our thinking and precedes our actions
• PERSONALITY - our unique character traits, qualities, values, beliefs and temperament

When all four combine they enable us to create our own reality in every moment. Learning to accept the facts, explore possibilities and embrace uncertainty helps us choose wisely. Living with resentment, anxiety and stress can have dire consequences for our quality of life.

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Sharing our drive and determination

The power of a real change leader lies in their ability to observe people's ontology and pursue outcomes in a balanced and holistic way. Transformational leaders do this through:

• IMPROVISATION - setting the tone, lifting spirits, fostering talent and stimulating creativity 
• PRESENCE - visible, trusting and supportive, sending signals that help others shine
• ENTHUSIASM - exuding a mood of positivity, energy and a belief that anything is possible
• IMAGINATION - creating stories and myths to envision a desired future
• PRAGMATISM - valuing relationships, free thinking and a can do attitude

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You will find tools and techniques for change leadership in the CHANGE TOOLS menu.

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Creating new ways of seeing

An Ontological Coach creates the conditions that help clients achieve higher levels of awareness or consciousness. This way they gain a variety of perspectives on what's important to them and what they want to do having found a new way of seeing the world. These insights help people on their change journey, as they learn to trust, rethink their worldview and shape their dreams. As real change leaders they:

• OBSERVE - how they observe themselves and others to create the 'right action'
• REFLECT - on how how they use self-talk and affirmations to get a commitment to act
• ASSESS - how they use words, emotional reactions and body posture to influence others
• CONNECT - by changing posture, pace, voice, mood and language to get rapport
• CLARIFY - to get at real goals, motivators, beliefs, next steps and will to change
• FOCUS - on the actions, thoughts, resources and vision needed to get the desired result

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Opening up spaces of possibility

To really change we need to know how we learn and understand what makes it effective. Change learning focuses on the 'how' of learning. This is "double-loop" learning, where we become the observers of our own approach to learning and how to improve it. Learning is:

• the way we create reality from our experience 
• how we make distinctions and create meaning with others
• engaging with the unknown to discover new ideas
• using our multiple intelligences to enhance our knowing
• considering multiple perspectives and options
• knowing how we collect, process and intepret information
• shifting our thinking and behaviour patterns to get better results

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." Alvin Toffler

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Pursuing systemic and holistic change

• ECOLOGY - of hidden connections that impact on our identity, relationships and needs
• COMPLEXITY - of interactions that create change and make us who we are in the moment
• HARMONY - to be found in intelligent minds, thoughts, consciousness and spirit 
• PRINCIPLES - codes and laws that shape human nature and sustain whole system change

"An inner process stands in need of outward criteria"  Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Breakthrough or breakdown

To realise our full potential as human beings we must open up to alternative ways of looking at things, even questioning our own beliefs and values. This happens when we are searching for a breakthrough or dealing with a breakdown.  As real change leaders we live at the edge of what we are capable of in order to achieve the seemingly impossible.

Are you ready to transform your life, identity, beliefs, habits ? Are you willing to learn about:

• TENSION - feel the fear and do it anyway?
• CREATIVITY - uncover and develop your inner resources?
• VISUALISATION - access the power of intention?
• OBSERVATION - develop the art of conscious living?

Being able to observe our own 'way of being' enables us to use our mind to channel our thoughts, emotions and body into positive action.

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Learning from complex adaptive systems

The process of dynamic change takes place within a 'complex adaptive system' - such as in people's minds, organisations, local groups and ecosystems. We cannot control dynamic change because it is inherently unpredictable, but we can influence the conditions that generate it. We have to start looking at living systems holistically for they have profound implications for the way we promote, support and integarte change in an increasingly complex world. The key messages are that living systems are:

• TRANSFORMATIVE - can generate order from chaos
• AUTOPOIETIC - are self-organising and self-learning
• EMERGENT - have emergent growth and organising properties
• COEVOLUTIONARY - are sensitive to initial conditions and relationships

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