Statistically, the answer is probably yes.

I´ve talked previously about how denying people support feeds broken workplaces and my desire to work directly with leaders to create change. But this needs to be the right support.

For a few years, I´ve felt frustration with the surface level of many leadership development and coaching approaches. When people struggle to find mental space and clarity traditional coaching can be useful; facilitating structured thinking, enabling individuals to get clear on their outcomes, working through blockers and creating momentum.

But especially when we´re talking about being a leader or an entrepreneur, coaching doesn´t always go deep enough, it moves people forward but doesn´t always raise self-awareness sufficiently, dealing only with what´s conscious, offering short-term fixes and feel-good moments over a lasting foundation of change.

There´s plenty of research on self-awareness and leadership and it says similar things - self-awareness is crucial to be a really effective leader, and most leaders aren´t sufficiently self-aware. Psychologist Tasha Eurich estimates that only 10%–15% of people fit the criteria for having self-awareness!

Everyone brings their dreams, biases, needs, fears and ego into everything, including work, and these things are not always conscious. To pretend otherwise leads to leaders who struggle to connect with those they work with, who make short-sighted decisions driven by fear rather than possibilities, who fail to prioritise their own and their teams well being, who trust only their perspective, ignore or suppress alternative voices, who hear constructive challenge as a personal slight or who lead through control rather than empowerment, leaving them too busy and stressed to actually lead.

This sounds like a highly toxic destructive leader, but the reality is almost every leader I have ever worked with struggles with at least some of these things (including me). How long does it take to think of leaders you know who display some, or even all of these behaviours? Or can you recognise some in yourself?

Increasingly, the world of coaching and leadership development is recognising that working predominantly with the conscious mind isn´t sufficient if we want to be self-aware leaders who can balance our needs with those of the people around us.

Moving someone from their current reality to their desired outcome is far more effective and enables longer-lasting growth when the coach is skilled enough to help the individual go beyond the surface. To support them to identify the fears and needs they aren´t fully aware of and bring them into the light so they can address them, so they don´t unconsciously drive their decision making, so they can be more deliberate in their choices, balancing not just immediate needs but long term goals and wellbeing.

A different approach

Last year, despite having a decent roster of coaching clients and being booked with work 6 months ahead, I took a risk on an untested coach training programme.

For the last few years, I have wanted to do a further coaching qualification that would provide the skills to do this deeper work with leaders and build greater self-awareness and faster growth - as an experienced certified coach and psychologist with many years of experience working in and with corporate leaders, I needed something that would offer me something new, challenging. So, last year, with trepidation, I joined the first cohort of students with The Intuitive Psychology Association on their Advanced Coaching Diploma, Accredited by the Association for Coaching.

The programme combines best-practice coaching approaches with an understanding of the psychology of the unconscious mind and draws on several therapeutic modalities to provide coaches with a more holistic understanding and toolset, enabling them to work with trauma and emotional triggers while having a good understanding of the boundaries of coaching vs therapy.

It still works to empower clients to get to outcomes and action, it just takes a deeper, harder but ultimately more lasting and rewarding path.

Those who have worked with me know how important evidence-based approaches are to me and how I work. A new course, even when accredited by the Association for Coaching and based on solid evidence, is inherently untested, so this was a big leap.

But this is how change is created right? By taking the leap, and doing the risky things. Changing our workplaces, how we lead and creating lives that are more successful in ways that matter to us as individuals will take different approaches.

I´ll be sharing more about my approach and how I see Intuitive Psychology combining with my Psychology & Behavioural Science experience to create a more impactful experience for leaders over the coming weeks, if you´re curious and want to know more about how I could support you or your business get in touch.

Further reading

Dickerson, C. (2024). The ladder of inference: Building self-awareness to be a better human-centered leader. Harvard Business Publishing. https://www.harvardbusiness.org/the-ladder-of-inference-building-self-awareness-to-be-a-better-human-centered-leader/

Eurich, T. (2018, January 4). What self-awareness really is (and how to cultivate it). Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/01/what-self-awareness-really-is-and-how-to-cultivate-it

Marsh, C. (2024). Insight: People need fixing. Caroline Marsh. https://caroline-marsh.com/resources-insights/insight-people-need-fixing

Intuitive Psychology. (n.d.). Home. Intuitive Psychology. https://www.intuitive-psychology.com/