Last week we experienced a special Lab, and for the first time run by guest host Eric Larson (PCC with more than 10,000 coaching hours on his back and special friend of the Lab). Georgie held a powerful space for her client and this somewhat unconventional coaching conversation went into a level of depth nobody had quite anticipated.
Curious to know more? Have a peek at this month’s Lab Report below or consider membership to access the recording of this and many more exciting coaching sessions (including a 45min debrief and Q&A with coach and client).
Yannick’s Coaching Lab #23 — Georgie Nightingall
Lab Report by Daniel Lev Shkolnik
Summary
Georgie Nightingall is an ICF-accredited coach and the Founder of Trigger Conversations, a London based human connection organisation. Her client, Mette, had just returned home to Denmark after a year traveling in South America. She returned with a “backpack full of ideas” and looking to live more purposefully, but didn’t know where to start. She also felt herself return to the same job, apartment, and patterns she’d tried to leave behind in the first place.
Key Insights
Many Paths, One Taken — Just like Mette’s year-long travels, the coaching conversation had many different paths it could have gone down. Ultimately, Georgie could only choose one path to take with Mette’s session, but it generated a lot of discussion afterward as to which doors were left closed—such as Mette’s greater life purpose, or authentic relating—and what other paths may have offered.
“This isn’t where I thought this was going” — Mette was under the impression their session would be business-coaching, but instead she found herself tearing-up at times, and provoked. “I’m screaming at you a little bit inside. This is not the place I wanted to take this,” she said with tears in her eyes. At the end of the session Mette reflected that these challenging moments helped her look at the not-so-pretty parts of herself.
Backpack Metaphor — Early in the session, Mette introduced a metaphor of a “backpack” full of ideas. Georgie rolled with this, asking, “what’s in the backpack?” allowing Mette to start unpacking it. In the discussion, someone suggested that a metaphor like this can even be treated like a physical object in the coaching-space. You could say “we’re going to put the backpack down now” when you move past the metaphor.
Different Flavors of Silence — After the session, there was a discussion about two main types of silences that occurred in the session. In one type of silence, Mette was thinking or processing a strong emotion that had come up. In the other type, Mette described herself as waiting for another question or was unclear about the question that had just been asked.
Parts Work — Informed by Internal Family Systems, Georgie said she felt “another voice” within Mette (the perfectionist). “giving that voice a dialoguer can be useful to interact with it.” Georgie said, “can you ask it [the perfectionist] why it exists?” After a long pause, Mette said, “it’s protecting me.” Speaking to this voice was an important turning point in the session.
Takeaway
Like Mette’s journey in South America, the session had many different paths it could have taken. Constrained by time, as all of us are, Georgie had to choose one and exclude the others. Through a combination of careful listening and parts-work, Georgie was able to help Mette identify her inner perfectionist, give voice to it, and ultimately come away with a sense that there was “more healing” to be done. Her journey continues.
Watch the recording of this session and debrief by becoming a member: https://bit.ly/CoachingLabMembership
The complete vault of recordings can be found at https://bit.ly/LabRecordings
Many more exciting Labs are on the horizon: https://bit.ly/FutureCoachingLabs
