Here’s two things that I believe…
1 – Everyone can benefit from having a person to bounce things off, a person to hold a mirror up to you and a slightly removed but trusted person to help walk you through challenges.
2 – It is amazing what a change of scenery can do for unlocking new ways of looking at situations and tackling an adventure side-by-side with someone fast-tracks you to a position of trust and openness.
Combining these two firmly held beliefs was the birth of adventure coaching for me. Though I had never heard of the concept, I’m not the first to put these two things together and so I may not be able to claim the trademark!
The more I have looked into it, the more research there is that supports the benefits of tackling our career and life challenges, outside our normal environment. (Lots of references and resources on my website).
It has also become clear to me that I’ve been doing this for the last 10 if not 20 years and that this environment and setting has been pivotal at times for me and for friends and colleagues.
Some of my clearest thinking has come during an adventure. I already knew I wanted to spend my life with Karlie but it was whilst navigating sand dunes in the Sahara Desert that I realised timing would never be more “perfect” to get married and start a family. We are now happily married with two kids, 10 and 6, for those who don’t know me that well!
Reflecting on more recent adventures and a few stand out:
- A day out on the bikes discussing whether an ex-colleague should take an external role or continue to look for internal promotion – She stayed and finally got that promotion.
- An afternoon up hills and round lakes in the lake district assessing the best ways of building team dynamics in a hybrid working world – Ongoing but much improved team dynamics.
- Spending a weekend long mountain event helping a friend work through the pros and cons of moving abroad – He moved and is thriving and enjoying his new life.
In each case, the environment we are in opens us up to thinking outside and beyond our normal thought processes. Then add the almost instant camaraderie from taking on our adventure challenge together. Finally, the structure, tools and processes from traditional coaching map nicely with the natural ebb and flow of emotions that accompany these challenges.
This gives us a recipe for a hugely rewarding experience in itself and ideal conditions to work through the work and / or life questions and challenges that we are facing.
And so, launching these new services is my latest adventure. If you’d like to share an adventure together then I look forward to hearing from you…