Unarticulated assumptions about coaching in non-western contexts

1. Unarticulated assumptions about coaching in non-western contexts Dr Phil Smith Hong Kong University School for Professional and Continuing Education 16 January 2014

2. The coaching paradigm • A (typically) talk- or conversation-based form of form of one-to-one facilitated self-development… • for (typically) mentally healthy people who want to develop their potential & possibility… • facilitated (typically!) by someone with a relevant level of specialised coaching knowledge and skills.

3. Is cultural relativism a problem? • Cultural relativism – factors stemming from national or ethnic origin which may affect the depth and quality of connection, or ‘intersubjectivity’, between coach and coachee • All coaching relationships face the challenge of intersubjectivity; western – non-western relationships are just an extreme version of this • The relevant issues need to be surfaced, contracted for and managed, as in any other kind of coaching relationship • You can’t manage what you can’t name, so step 1 is to try to identify the most generic kinds of parameters and anticipate how they might come into play

4. 8 Themes for today • The purpose of being & the meaning of life • The capacity for self-reflection • The capacity for self-determination • Social comparison - benchmarking the self • Relationships – social maxims • Rationality & its variants • What leading means • The changing Gestalt of Learning & Development

5. 1. The ‘purpose of being’ varies within and between cultures • The ‘meaning of life’ • e.g. the place of the self in free market v communist societies • e.g. The impact of predominant religious & spiritual world-views • ‘Self-importance’ • e.g. individualism v collectivism • e.g. ‘positive psychology’ • So What? – it helps to be sensitive to the impact of ‘worldview’ on the coaching relationship

6. 2. The capacity for self-reflection… • In my terms, ‘windows & mirrors on the soul’ • The capacity for self-consciousness, self-reflection, self-awareness & self-understanding • The foundations of modern ontology, phenomenology & epistemology: Arendt, Buber, Heidegger, Husserl, Marcuse, Nietzsche, Sartre • The modern psychoanalytic project… • Cultural anthropology, social psychology - ‘The Generalised Other’ – Mauss (‘person’); Mead (‘I’ v ‘me’); Cooley (‘looking glass self’); Duval & Wicklund (‘Objective self-awareness’)… • Post-structuralism, critical theory, discourse analysis (Derida, Barthes, Foucault, Lacan, Eco)… • The Master & His Emissary (Iain McGilchrist, 2009) • Thinking Fast & Slow (Daniel Kahneman, 2011) • So What? – this factor limits & potentiates the scope for non-directive, self-directed learning

7. 3. The capacity for self-determination… • The freedom to aspire • Agency, self-potency & locus of control • Drive & self-determination • Social expectations & permissions • The possibility of self-creation & self-leadership • So What? – this factor limits & potentiates the value & impact of action planning & the intention to implement

8. 4. Social comparison - benchmarking the self… • The presence of frameworks & standards for self-comparison • The Gestalt of identity • e.g. varying primacy of work in the work-life equation • RBG thinking – the dialectic among here and now; then and there; everything else that matters • Normative and prescriptive comparisons & pressures • So What? – this factor limits & potentiates the richness of gap analysis in the GROW model

9. 5. Relationships… • Social maxims • e.g. self-disclosure to strangers • e.g. honesty • e.g. one self or many, consistency of self-representation • e.g. intention to implement v being polite • Authenticity; intimacy; candour; promises • Status & its impact • e.g. power-distance & what is expected of the coach • e.g. what should be covered in the ‘contracting’ conversation • So What? – this factor limits & potentiates the quality of intersubjectivity between coach & coachee

10. 6. Rationality & its variants… • Most basically, cultural variations in the criteria for legitimacy & the processes of legitimation • Most of us here today come from rational, secular, progressive, pragmatic and competitive societies • These features heavily colour our premises & values in helping relationships, the ‘definition of the project’ • We need to consider if & how we are able & willing to negotiate intersubjectivity on some fundamental implicit values: • The positive psychology project • The virtues of self-determination & self-improvement • The authority of the secular • The legitimacy of helping relationships • So What? – this factor limits & potentiates the impact of different kinds of problem solving discourse

11. 7. What leading means… • The leadership pipeline (Ram Charan) – is it universal? • Are western principles of organisational design (e.g. Mintzberg) viable in all contexts? • Do levels of authority & accountability have to be isomorphic with levels of work complexity (e.g. Elliot Jaques)? • So What? – this factor shapes practical planning for job and career progression

12. 8. The changing Gestalt of Learning & Development… • From supply-led to demand-led • From batch processing to bespoke • The culture of learning is changing very fast in the West (e.g. online-learning) • (The Information Age, Manuel Castells) • So what? – this consideration helps us to contextualise and ‘position’ coaching in relation to other learning & development options, for ourselves & for our clients