What is Coaching Outdoors?
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks”.
- John Muir
In its most accessible form, Coaching Outdoors is a coaching session in the grounds outside the office building. I used to work for Mars Inc in our Slough office and would often have coaching conversations sitting on a wall in the sunshine in the car park or on a bench in the roof garden.
If you are lucky enough to be working with someone who has an office near a park or in the countryside then coaching outdoors could be taking a stroll through the park, meandering through the local woodlands, walking a path along the side of a field or sitting on a log. The key is that you are outside and not in the 4 walls of the office or the local Hilton!
You might also be somewhere less urban, more rural, where we feel more connected to the natural world. An environment where nature can play a bigger role, either consciously or unconsciously, in the facilitation of the coaching conversation. I often use Rutland Water in the middle of England as a location, it’s rural open paths and woods, with a view over the largest man-made reservoir in Europe, lends itself to a safe and pleasurable coaching environment. The abundance of wildlife and the fact it is only 15 minutes from the A1 are an added bonus. When I am there, I can choose to let nature support the conversation without my mention of it, though often the clients bring it into the conversation; “oh wow, the view is stunning” or “it’s so nice to get out the office and get a bit of perspective”. We may have the same conversation that we would have had in the office but more noticeably at a slower pace and often with a very different client outlook. Or, you can invite nature in to the coaching conversation, expanding the process and opening the door to additional dimensions, unlocking things which would probably not have been reached without natures active presence. For example; offering a client a moment of reflection while looking at a beautiful view, you could even walk on a small way, leaving them with some space. Could you imagine doing that whilst sitting across a desk from someone? Even if you were to ‘pop out to get the drinks’ the coachee has not been left in an environment which positively supports their meaningful reflection.
Nature can also help us to deepen our coaching conversations; I was working with a team in Devon where I invited each team member to walk for 10 minutes and to pick up something they were drawn to and bring it back. We sat in a clearing in the woods while they shared; what they had collected, why they were drawn to it and in what way they felt it was relevant to them. The level of the conversation was far deeper than we could have achieved had I asked them to do the same in a meeting room.
Nature is a living, sensual place evoking work that involves all the senses and communication channels; physical, emotional, imaginative and spiritual (Abram, 1996; Roszak, 2001). Working with nature as a partner in coaching can be transformational for coach and client.
What coaching outdoors is not, in my opinion, although others may disagree, is crossing the Channel on a sailing yacht, climbing Ben Nevis or abseiling down the Empire State Building. I hold a belief that both coach and coachee need to be comfortable in the environment so that all of their available capacity for learning, reflection and awareness can be engaged in the coaching conversation not taken up with whether or not they are going to be seasick, have a painful blister or lose their fingers in some daunting equipment. There is a place for these ‘events’ but it would be part of a much bigger intervention, not solely as part of a coaching conversation.
If you would like to explore more about coaching outdoors with your clients or direct reports please get in touch or click the link below to attend one of our events.
Lesley
Lesley holds an MSc in Executive Coaching from Ashridge Business school and she has 16 years commercial experience with Mars. She is also and EMCC Senior practitioner. Read More >
She is the author of ‘Coaching Outdoors; the essential guide to partnering with nature in your coaching conversations’.
Contact by calling +44 (0) 7799 581792 or email info@coachingoutdoors.com.