Organizational and systemic coaching practices imagine a more equitable future
Client interest in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives is reshaping coaching practices. Building off the foundation of emerging DEIB coaching programs in the workplace, future coaching approaches can expand to support social well-being and equitable communities.
Challenge:
Global distrust in governments and institutions centers around a growing awareness of inequality
Opportunity:
Coaches can facilitate the conversations needed to nurture cultures of mutuality and reciprocity
Impact:
By strengthening equitable social connections, coaches pave the way for a collaborative future
Wisdom Weavers
Global trends in social well-being are reshaping coaching practice
Social well-being is evolving, reshaping perceptions of community and belonging. On one hand, the movement of people from small communities to urban centers has sparked a global rise in loneliness and isolation. These feelings can have negative impacts on mental health and even physical health if left unaddressed. With approximately one-quarter of the global population experiencing loneliness, governments are now taking steps to strengthen social cohesion and create a greater sense of belonging.
A second trend shaping social well-being involves growing inequality between populations. Working to measure global changes in holistic well-being, Wisdom Weaver and social scientist Dr. Byron Johnson highlights the correlation between security and health; individual perceptions of well-being suffer when inequality increases. Byron elaborates, “There has become an increasingly wide gap between people doing poorly in terms of financial security and people who are doing well. As that gap widens, we see a rise in deaths of despair, pain, suffering, and hunger.” Economic research indicates that in addition to the health impact of inequality, financial insecurity increases distrust in institutions and weakens democracy.
Reflecting on the potential of human ingenuity and cooperation to overcome these challenges, Byron encourages people to stay optimistic, asking, “What can we do collectively to contribute to a brighter future?” He encourages helping professionals to lead the way, strengthening existing support networks, aiding social skills development, and encouraging cultures of volunteerism and other acts of service.
Coaching practice in organizations is evolving to support social well-being
Coaching relationships play a vital role in addressing the social well-being needs of clients. Firstly, by forming a collaborative partnership with clients and, secondly, by helping them identify additional relationships and connections to support goal attainment. Dr. Anastasia Dedyukhina, a digital well-being advocate and Wisdom Weaver, highlights a third opportunity to strengthen social well-being by including social health in a holistic well-being framework. “Even though social health is often overlooked, it is an essential component of well-being that describes our sense of belonging, being recognized by people, and the feeling that we matter.” Coaches can assist their individual and organizational clients in exploring how their relationships influence their overall sense of well-being.
As an experienced team and leadership coach, Wisdom Weaver Dr. Sackeena Gordon-Jones sees a recognition of social well-being sparking new demand for team and company-wide coaching programs to facilitate collaboration. Among these developments, the ICF report “Defining New Coaching Cultures” highlights growing client demand for coaching that enables collaboration by cultivating diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations. Sackeena echoes the report’s findings, noting that “If individuals cannot flourish because of the systems in a diverse organization, they actually diminish. Their ideas diminish, and they become less engaged. So, there is a business case for inclusion because it helps achieve an organization’s mission.”
Coaching can help foster more inclusive and equitable organizations
Growing interest in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives will continue to transform coaching engagements in organizations and beyond. Coaches can play an important role in supporting these programs by enhancing collaboration skills, asking open-ended questions to uncover group challenges, and providing a platform for teams to explore new systems or cultures.
Sackeena underscores the value of open dialogue in revealing team friction. “When we become more open to being vulnerable with each other, that reduces stress. When we talk about psychological safety in the workplace, we now recognize that by creating places where people feel seen, heard, accepted, and safe, we are helping to create places where people thrive.” Coaching conversations can help clients feel comfortable voicing concerns or considering alternative perspectives when navigating conflict. These conversations model empathetic communication, equipping the team to navigate and appreciate how different perspectives can strengthen the team.
Putting these conversations into action, coaches play a role in keeping teams accountable to act on needs as they emerge. Looking to the future of well-being, Sackeena underscores the importance of building equitable cultures and systems where everyone can benefit, stating, “Psychological safety helps open up empathetic conversations where we can position well-being as a win-win.”
In a community context, DEIB coaching casts a vision for an equitable and thriving future
Coaching methods that are used to promote team cohesion and collaboration in diverse workplaces can also be applied to promote social well-being at the community level. Coaches are currently experimenting with community coaching practices that can benefit underserved communities, youth, and local governments. When applied at the community level, coaching can help uncover policies and systems that create divisions within the community, find common ground among residents, and promote collaborative problem-solving that benefits the entire community.
Drawing from his experience in community activism and global health, Wisdom Weaver Sam Brakarsh feels optimistic about the potential for communities to come together to develop equitable solutions, “There is hope in creating these subtle cultural shifts, working with people to create communities of healing.” However, he acknowledges that community relationships are often complicated and should not be idealized, as hierarchies and tensions inevitably arise. Nevertheless, he is encouraged by the increasing number of individuals who are committed to “doing that kind of slow and deep work, creating change and structures that are deeply caring and supportive but also ones that hold each other to account.”
To realize this future, Sam emphasized the significance of healing as a crucial aspect of the community’s development process. Though discussions regarding inequality and disunity might be uneasy, coaching sessions provide a secure environment to handle difficult emotions such as grief and anger, directing these sentiments toward productive actions. Sam asks, “How do we slow down and think about healing, overcoming trauma, and deep change? Especially among younger generations, who are increasingly rejecting extractive relationships. Young people see that they are one of the most educated generations, yet they frequently cannot afford housing and, at least in the United States, are not offered basic social services. There is frustration there. Anger can – and often should – be a part of the process of creating well-being when you think about it holistically. Wellbeing is not merely about learning to accept oppressive realities but also involves the emotions and actions that lead to transformation. We need to ask, where is well-placed anger, and how do we start mobilizing that in strategic ways?”
Embracing discomfort can be a catalyst for action. Byron shares, “A lot of people are flourishing, and we owe it to the world to share that knowledge with other people who are not. We also must recognize that many millions of people around the world are suffering, and that should keep us up at night.” Working with professionals across the care ecosystem, he believes that coaches can help spur action that reverses negative trends in social well-being and enact a future where everyone can thrive.
A Call to Action for Coaches
Picture a world where coaching is utilized actively to support community initiatives. Currently, emerging coaching practices are being employed to assist government leaders, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), educators, and youth programs. By expanding these practices to the community level, coaching can help bring together various stakeholders to facilitate empathetic conversation and ignite innovative solutions for a more equitable future.
Transformational questions:
- How can coaching approaches facilitate meaningful community dialogue?
- In what ways does coaching practice differ in a community context?
- What additional competencies are essential for coaches working in a community setting?
- How do coaches effectively challenge a client’s perspective or worldview?
- How can coaches promote diversity and inclusion within the coaching context to ensure that everyone feels valued and respected?
Learn more about how coaches can help shape a more equitable future:
- Read about coaching innovators Tim Harrison and Juan Diego Calisto, who are using coaching approaches to support underserved youth
- Learn about how community organizations use coaching approaches to fill care gaps and address inequality in the community.
- Dig into diversity and equity resources curated by the International Coaching Federation
- Explore coaching for social impact through programs like the ICF Foundation’s Ignite program
