The Coach as a Fellow Human Companion

Abstract

The relationship between coach and coaching partner is presented as a main condition for successful coaching. The role of this relationship seems to be even more important when current societal changes are taken into account, changes which are often the pivotal point for the understanding and necessity of coaching in our society: We live in a hypercomplex society in which both individuals and organizations struggle with increasing diversity and organizational challenges, and where it has become impossible to reach unequivocal and long-lasting solutions to these challenges. The agenda for the coaching conversation is to provide a space for new refl ections by initiating a process that leads to transformation, a new self-understanding and enhanced agency. This transformational process may be inspired by third-generation coaching, where the coach and coachee are collaborative partners , and where the dialogical focus is on value refl ection and the striving for meaning-making. Based on research into 'common factors', the main intention of the chapter is to unfold and illustrate key dimensions that lead towards the coach as a fellow human companion of the coaching partner: (1) The dialogical dimension, (2) The narrative-collaborative dimension, (3) The protreptic dimension; (4) Mentalization and (5) Feedback as collaborative and outcome-oriented practice. The intention of this chapter is to show the importance of relationship with a 'human face' as the most important infl uencing factor in coaching, a factor that is also recognized with growing interest and evidence in both psychotherapy and coaching research.