The Power Of Leadership Coaching With Nature

Given the challenging times that we have all been through this year now more than ever, people need to be able to get out into nature and learn to reconnect with themselves.  There is just something about being outside in nature that activates the soul and helps us feel more grounded and present. Maybe it is because we often pause and marvel at the great beauty that exists around us, and in that moment we slow down and become really present and grounded. We get out of our thinking brain that is racing around at a thousand miles an hour and for a moment just stop, reflect, and appreciate everything that exists outside of us.

“LOOK DEEPLY INTO NATURE, AND THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING BETTER”

Albert Einstein

There is so much wisdom in nature if we are just willing to examine it. After all, there are no wasted resources in nature, everything has a purpose and knows its purpose. You don’t find flowers worrying about imposter syndrome. The daffodil doesn’t think “Oh no I think I should be a tulip as then everyone will like me more!”.

Nature accepts life as it is and also realizes that the mantra of nature is “For More Life”. Everything in nature is essentially designed to thrive and survive and play its part in the natural ecosystem that exists.  There is a tacit inter-dependency in nature and all of nature knows that it cannot survive without each other.  The grasses know they will be eaten by the antelope. The antelope know they will more than likely be killed by the lion and their remains then scavenged by coyotes, wild dogs, and then vultures.  And then the carcass will decompose and return to the earth where its nutrients will enable more grass to grow.  Such is the inter-connectedness of nature that everything has a purpose and fuels the life of something else.

Yet as humans we have forgotten this basic rule. We have forgotten that we are an integral part of nature. We are not separate from it but rather we all impact nature and the world around us whether positively or negatively. We call this the Impact Ripple. There are five rings to the Impact Ripple:

1. Self
2. Team
3. Organization
4. Stakeholders
5. Community

As with everything in life it all starts with you and then cascades out to your team/family, your organization, your stakeholders, and then the wider community. This year’s events have clearly highlighted the power of community and how when everyone pulls together amazing things can happen. What would be possible if all day everyday people became consciously aware of the impact they were making and how it impacts others?.

The purpose of leadership coaching in nature is to help our clients reconnect to the natural world through re-connecting with their body and senses because when we disconnect from nature we disconnect from ourselves.  When coaching in nature the focus is on getting clients to really embody and experience what is going on around them. To use all of their senses to hear, see, smell, touch, and maybe even taste the atmosphere and items around them.  To embody the experience and start listening, really listening to their body and what their gut intuition is telling them.

As some of the lockdown restrictions get eased why not start leadership coaching in nature. Take your clients on a walk (with appropriate social distancing measures in place of course!).  Often people are more willing to open up and speak about what is really going in when you are not eye-balling them.  Get your clients to stop and then describe how they feel and what are they sensing?  Can they feel the wind on their face? Can they hear the rustling leaves and the bird song?. What are they noticing that they were oblivious to before?  What else could they have been missing out on in life as they have not been grounded and present?

“NATURE DOES NOT HURRY, YET EVERYTHING IS ACCOMPLISHED”

Lao Tzu

For me, this quote sums up so well why we should spend time coaching with nature.  The experience literally enables clients to slow down and when in this space and time so much is achieved. Often people remark on this and also how much calmer and grounded they feel.  Often an inner peace overcomes them and from this place of clarity, they are able to make great decisions.  It’s as if the veil of stress is lifted up as they “find” themselves again, which is why being out in nature is so good for well-being.  And particularly at this time with so many people suffering from mental health issues triggered by the COVID pandemic, this is a way we can support our clients come back into health and re-balance their bodies so they can emerge stronger.

In the words of Albert Einstein:  “a new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels”. Are you ready to embrace a new type of leadership coaching to help raise the consciousness of humanity?