1st International Congress of Coaching Psychology: Ireland Event

Dublin, 18 June, 2011.

The Psychological Society of Ireland’s, Division of Work and Organisational Psychology (DWOP), Coaching Psychology Group (CPG) held the third event (Symposium) of the International Congress of Coaching Psychology (ICCP) in Dublin on Saturday, 18th June. As somebody commented, "it was a most enjoyable and engaging day - the product of great teamwork".

The title of the symposium was "Navigating complexity and change through Coaching Psychology". The symposium set out to explore the issues of complexity and change as we are currently experiencing them in Ireland and also the role of coaching psychology within these contexts. The event was chaired by Hugh O’Donovan, current chair of the Coaching Psychology Group (CPG) with Dr Joan Tiernan acting as convenor.

Professor Stephen Palmer opened proceedings with his keynote which was a comprehensive exploration of Coaching Psychology and its’ evidence based underpinnings. The presentation was delivered against the background of how to deal with complexity and also some clear examples of identified questionable and unethical behaviour by those who allegedly lead and give direction to the general population in financial and other areas. The importance of ethical values of governance (Van Vuuren 2011) was introduced early in the presentation with specific mention made of the values of transparency, fairness, accountability and responsibility. The question was then posed as to what can Coaching Psychology do in this context and indeed how can Coaching Psychologists work with bankers? The point was made, that, in the area of ethical behaviour, coaching psychology can provide many and illuminating insights into positive and negative performance but that we must create a greater and wider understanding of the potential of coaching psychology to have maximum impact and benefit.

Stephen drawing on the work of Stelter and Law (2010) outlined the progression from earlier problem / goal perspectives in coaching through more solution focused, future perspectives, to the third wave of reflective perspectives, practice and values. This is the area where perhaps coaching psychology can have most impact in that space of ethical practice and value based leadership. This arises from the fact that as a profession, Coaching Psychology has ingrained ethical practice built into its process, around a fundamental professionalism, where rigor in practice and application is adhered to, and where the core micro skills necessary to understand and facilitate human learning, performance and development are at the centre of coaching psychology practice. In that respect Prof Palmer referred to the fact that you can take coaching out of psychology but you cannot take the psychology out of coaching. He concluded by situating the challenges faced by Coaching Psychologists and Coaching Psychology in general, in the real world by quoting Llewellyn and Blucker (1982), "Mastery of various aspects of Coaching Psychology is not an easy task" but as one who listened closely to the message of the Irish congress event, it is a pressing and necessary task not just locally but also globally, to be taken on by all Coaching Psychologists who care about the societies and communities in which they live.

The next speaker, Ms Karen Lopez, an experienced Work and Organisational Psychologist who was formally the Products and Training Manager with SHL, Ireland, guided those attending through a comprehensive review in her presentation entitled, "Navigating Complexity and Change across the Lifespan". Karen opened with a consideration of the commonly held perception that older workers are less able to deal with and adapt to change in challenging times. She then went on to explore the evidence around performance and attitudes to older people before examining Langer’s (2009) concept of mindfulness, in terms of critical thinking which enables us to reject rigid beliefs and labels and to be more open and attentive to possibilities. She concluded her presentation by integrating a Cognitive Behavioural approach into a coaching process which can explore and challenge negative mindsets as they apply to age and ageing.

The final speaker was Mr Eric Brady, who is currently working as HR Director with the Irish Prison Service having previously held a similar position with An Garda Siochana. Prior to that Eric worked in Leadership Development in the Irish Financial Services. The title of his presentation was "A Developing Coaching Intervention within the Irish Prison Service". Eric opened his presentation with a clear description of the "real" world that he occupies. His description of an appreciative enquiry coaching approach to delivering transformational change within the complex world of the prison service was fascinating. It was all the more interesting when considered against the wider constraints of a contracting public service, given the current state of the Irish economy.

All of the speakers in turn brought their unique perspective to the symposium. We don’t live in a linear world. It is complex, uncertain and sometimes chaotic. Coming from their particular domains of competence and expertise, all speakers identified their own understanding and experience of "Navigating complexity and change through Coaching Psychology".

To round off the symposium, Prof Palmer chaired a Round Table discussion on the proceedings of the day and the role of Coaching Psychology in the ever changing and complex world of our work and day to day experiences. All attendees enthusiastically engaged in a discussion on the psychological issues surrounding complexity and change as interpreted by the three speakers. As tends to be the case the discussion could have gone on indefinitely. However, in the time available, the common thread running through all presentations on the day was that of enabling in the coaching process and conversation. The question of sustainability was discussed and the notion of thinking local and acting global was emphasized. The psychology of performance and group cohesion in challenging environments, along with the challenges of different cultural contexts was explored also from a Coaching Psychology perspective. The reality of an ageing population and the necessity to retain the knowledge and wisdom of this population beyond so called retirement raised issues as to how we view the concept of work and payment for same.

Proceedings were brought to a conclusion by the Chair, Hugh O’Donovan. He especially thanked Professor Stephen Palmer for his continuing commitment, energy and support to Coaching Psychology in Ireland and globally. We are pleased and honoured to take our place and play our part in the continuing conversation around Coaching Psychology worldwide. Our event would not have been possible without the considerable input of all the CPG team and especially Carmel O’Neill who heads up a tremendous CPD Event Team. Dr Joan Tiernan who was convenor of this symposium was also thanked. Finally, in consideration of the not insignificant challenges we as a country face and also the wider global challenges we all face, the necessity to develop the skills to have difficult conversations cannot be understated. However, once those conversations are conducted on the evidence based insights of psychology in general, Coaching Psychology in particular and also ethical based reflective practice and competence, we perhaps give ourselves the best chance of "Navigating complexity and change through Coaching Psychology" and indeed adding the value we all believe and increasingly based on the evidence, a Coaching Psychology approach can deliver.

Correspondence
Hugh O’Donovan.
Chair Coaching Psychology Group
Email: [email protected]

References
Langer, E.J. (2009) Counter Clockwise. Ballantine Books.
Llewellyn, J.H., and Blucker, J.A. (1982) Psychology of Coaching: Theory and Application. Minneapolis: Burgess Publishing Company.

Stelter, R., and Law, H. (2010) Coaching-narrative-collaboration practice. International Coaching Psychology Review, vol5, 2, p152-164.

Van Vuuren, L. (2011) Coaching for Ethics: Keynote presented at 1st International Congress of Coaching Psychology, Pretoria, South Africa.