I think its true to say that the world is reeling in light of events in the oval office last week, when two bullies teamed up to demand gratitude and subservience from Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy.  It was a shocking display of strongman behaviour.

At GCI we‘ve been speaking about the effective use of power and actively training our graduates in how to coach leaders, HR practitioners and employees on these sensitive issues for over a decade.  Those skills have never been need.

Rapidly unfolding global events are truly frightening.  We are seeing a public permissioning of these appalling behaviours.  One can’t help but feel that it is more than incidental modelling, but that it’s intentional.

Yet these incidents are also an opportunity for learning and evolution.  And that will depend on the actions that ordinary people take, the conversations they have and the standards they set in their own families, communities and workplaces.

For a long time we’ve feared power and avoided talking about it – and as a result we have trouble navigating it. 

Now the misuse of power is coming out in the open for us all to witness.  We are experiencing a masterclass in the misuse and abuse of power.  And so there is no more pretending or feigning ignorance.   It’s in our faces, and we have to decide how we engage with history.

At GCI we are committed to giving coaches the skills to take action, action based in a nuanced understanding of the complex interactions of diverse human beings.  Each person brings their own experiences of high and low rank to life (and to coaching).  And within that cocktail lies the capacity for any of us, to misuse our power.  Sometimes we do it to protect ourselves, sometimes it arises from an inflated sense of ego and sometimes the misuse of power looks like abandoning our sense of agency and doing nothing at all.

They are complex times folks, we’re all wrestling with these issue.

If you’re keen to learn more about GCI’s process-oriented approach to coaching, please join us for a complementary demonstration in our FREE event next week: Experience Process Oriented Coaching.