A Coaching Model By Denise Powers, Creativity Coach, CANADA
The TAKE WING Coaching Model Abstract: Using the power of positive psychology coaching to unleash creativity.
The story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, by Richard Bach, is a powerful portrayal of a young seagull who pursues his deepest desire to master flight and to transcend the ordinary, even when that means not fitting in and rejection from his flock. Through pursuing this desire and finding joy in the process, he uncovers his ability to find unlimited freedom.
Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is a limitation. Look at your understanding. – Jonathan Livingston Seagull
The TAKE WING Coaching Model
To ‘take wing’ is “to suddenly develop, freely and powerfully”.[I] It makes one think of a soaring imagination, an uplifting, joyful, free feeling – awe – that is infectious, addictive. To take wing is to settle into Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s “flow”, where one is “so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”[ii]
Does this not describe what our clients are seeking when they come to coaching? They find that they are tethered to the ground by their old (and false) stories about who they are, why they are that way, and what life is and isn’t. What brings them to coaching is the inner pull, that powerful knowing that they are capable of more, that there is more that they just can’t see. The unlimited power of coaching is to help others look with their understanding, and in doing so, untether themselves from the ground.
‘Take Wing’ is an action phrase. It denotes freedom of movement, taking conscious actions to pursue meaning and achievement and to keep practicing it, in joy, not in punishment.
The distinction between therapy and coaching is clear. In coaching, the coach brings the client to focus on what they want to be, to help them see that “there’s a reason to live! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence, and intelligence and skill”.[iii]
When one ‘takes wing’, looking down with a bird’s eye view, is it not possible to see everything below, the minutia, from a different perspective? Is it not possible to see what is up ahead, up in the sky, with more clarity?
The act of lifting off requires a growth mindset, a state explained by Carol Dweck as where “people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.”[iv]
We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence, and intelligence and skill. — Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach)
To ‘Take Wing’ is a process of self-discovery, and the coach, in partnership with the client, perhaps like Jonathan Livingston Seagull and his padawan, Fletcher Gull.
Man’s task is to become conscious of the contents that press upward from the unconscious. -Carl Jung
The TAKE WING process goes like this:
- Get crystal clear on the client’s WHAT: his deepest desire, the dream, the big project. Getting to the ‘what’ is necessary for every session, but also keeping the client’s broader desires in mind. Can he articulate what that desire is? Does he know what that pull is that keeps niggling at him from the inside out? What is that little fist pounding on the door of consciousness, begging him to pay attention and to do ‘the thing’? Uncovering this is a process in and of itself, which may take many sessions. Each session elevates the client to a higher and higher altitude, where they break through the clouds to get closer to the light that shows them what their desire is.
- INVESTIGATE and explore. Wherever there is fear or resistance, that is where the answers typically lie. In the words of Joseph Campbell: “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek”. Really investigating and exploring what lies beneath requires significant courage, but without it, there are no results.
- What are the NEW ways to think about things? This step requires leaving those old stories behind and seeing things with new eyes. How many more ways could you see this situation, event, desire, block, obstacle?
- GO FOR IT. What action is the client choosing to fulfill her dream? What is she willing to sacrifice? This step is all about the client taking the responsibility to do the hard thing, whatever that is, to overcome the blocks and limitations she has clothed herself in before. What does she need to practice every day in order to master her craft? Is her desire to be who she was born to be equaled by her willingness to do the work? What can the client do to remember the WHAT, especially when things get tough and going home seems preferable over the cold of the path? What will drive them forward when giving up is so tempting?
Through this process, the client moves from feeling blocked or tethered, and moves to that exhilarating feeling of soaring, the excitement of having a big idea and the freedom and self-control to act upon it. What does this self-empowerment feel like? Perhaps it feels like a soaring feeling; perhaps it feels like a click, and then the rising feeling in the belly, or the tingling sensation on the skin or the hair raising on the arms. Perhaps it feels like the surge of power when accelerating on a motorcycle or a fast car, riding a horse, summiting a mountain, or sailing a well-trimmed yacht in a feisty breeze. Whatever it is that gives you a sense of exhilaration and the knowledge that you are in control: “I’ve got this, and it feels amazing”.
While ‘taking wing’ is fully applicable to the client’s journey of self-discovery and the process by which it happens, it is also appropriate from the perspective of the coach. When a coach takes a client ‘under her wing’, there is a responsibility that needs to be upheld. It is the responsibility to be ethical, to treat the client as a whole, to be creative, and to be a fully empowered person who can decide for herself what her life path should be. The coach is responsible for asking tough questions, being the mirror for the client, and helping the client uncover why they want to fly and how to do it in their own unique way. Every person flies differently. By taking a client under your wing, you never impose your way onto them. The coach’s role is of a supportive guide and a partner, with the relationship built on trust commitment, and free will. The process of individualization can be painful: “There is no coming to consciousness without pain,” said Jung, and while pain is necessary for growth, those who are courageous enough to embark on that journey do not have to do so alone.
To ‘take wing’ is “to suddenly develop, freely and powerfully.”
Learn How to Create Your Own Coaching Model
Your Coaching Model reflects your values,
philosophies, and beliefs and must communicate who you will coach
and the problems you will solve. Read more about creating your coaching model
References
[i]Cambridge Dictionary
[ii]Flow – The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, Harper Collins
[iii] Johnathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach, 1970
[iv]Mindset, The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck, 2015