Coaching and the Paradox of Change
An article by Peter Young
Coaching appeals to our motivation to enable positive change in the lives of others. As coaches we see what isn’t working for people and want to bring about improvement, removing the roadblocks and fixing what’s broken. And yet this motivation has something of a dark side, one which needs to be understood and carefully navigated if those practising coaching are to have the greatest agency and be of the greatest service.
One significant aspect of this dark side is the fear of not adding value, where adding value means helping the individual solve their problem, whether it is achieving their desired interpersonal influence, fixing their bad time
management habits, and so on.
