Mindfulness for Coaches

Introduction

In a world in which VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) has become shorthand for ’it’s crazy out there’ and stress is overtaking musculoskeletal problems as the biggest cause of absenteeism, many organisations, teams and individuals are struggling to cope, let alone thrive. Against this backdrop, mindfulness is all the rage. Not only are mindfulness-based therapies the preferred treatment for recurrent depression, the UK Government has recommended mindfulness pilot programmes in settings including the workplace and in healthcare.

An impressive evidence base highlights many benefits from practicing mindfulness including heightened emotional intelligence, improved resilience and ability to manage stress, and closer alignment to values and increased ethical behaviour. Compassion development too is increasingly the subject of studies, with a range of benefits being highlighted. Mindfulness and compassion go in hand, and are the ideal bedfellows for transformational coaching, and leadership development.

About the Workshop

You will:

• Explore key benefits of developing mindfulness and compassion and their application in coaching
• Explore stress management/resilience & work/life balance through a Mindful Compassionate lens
• Experience a range of practices designed to develop mindfulness and self-compassion in coach and client
• Practice working with a Mindful Compassionate Coaching (MCC) approach, using models developed by the facilitator
• Explore potential obstacles to introducing mindfulness and compassion, and ways to introduce these explicitly and appropriately
• Explore what your own MCC-informed practice looks like

Learning Outcomes

• Learn/explore how and why working with mindfulness and compassion in coaching can boost resilience, emotional intelligence and cognitive performance, amongst others
• Learn simple practices and exercises to use with clients to explore work/life balance and resilience, build mindfulness skills and enhance compassion to self and others
• Learn the FELT (Hall, 2015) model and other frameworks, and underpinnings, for Mindful Compassionate Coaching
• Learn/explore how and when to introduce mindfulness and compassion to clients
• Explore what your signature MCC approach looks like

Liz Hall

Liz is editor and co-owner of Coaching at Work magazine, co-editor and co-founder of the International Journal for Mindfulness and Compassion at Work, author of Mindful Coaching (Kogan Page, 2013), author/editor of Coaching in Times of Crisis and Transformation (Kogan Page, 2015), and chapter contributor to books including Mindfulness in Organisations (Cambridge University Press, 2015), and Mastery in Coaching (Association for Coaching/Kogan Page, 2014).

She is a Senior Practitioner Coach (European Mentoring and Coaching Council), and a founding member of the Association for Coaching Spain.

She delivers one-to-one coaching, runs Mindful Coaching programmes as open programmes, and also within a range of organisations. Clients include and have included Corus (now part of Tata); Portsmouth University; Green Alliance; Sustran; the Escuela Europea; the UK’s NHS (National Health Service); News UK; Open University, and Imperial College London. Liz is a trained mindfulness teacher (Bangor University) and long-standing meditator who attends mindfulness retreats regularly including with Thich Nhat Hanh in Plum Village, France. She delivers Mindfulness programmes for leaders and other professionals within organisations, and a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programme for the general public. She is a founding partner of the 1st International Summit for Mindfulness and Compassion at Work (25th May, Madrid).

Liz is in demand as a speaker on mindfulness, and has presented at events for organisations including the EMCC, the AC, Sheffield Hallam Business School, the CIPD, Henley Business School, i-coach academy, Coaching at Work, and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES).
In addition to being part of the Academy of Executive Coaching faculty, she is an Associate with the IES and with Rising Minds.
Liz is also an award-winning HR, health & business journalist who started her career in journalism almost 30 years ago and who has written for publications including The Financial Times; The Guardian; People Management; Personnel Today; Employers’ Law; Occupational Health; Doctor; Hospital Doctor, and Practice Nurse.

Liz won the Association for Coaching’s Award for External Impact on the Coaching Profession 2010-11.

Liz is passionate about mindfulness and compassion can heal and transform, helping us lead authentic, courageous and ethical lives.