Articles

Last week I was sat in front of a tall chain link fence at a wolf sanctuary. Part of a group spending the afternoon there, we had been given time to be alone in silence with the wolves. I was just sitting there in the dirt, enjoying my shorts becoming covered in dust and gazingRead More

My friend James Tripp pointed out to me that a lot of public speakers speak with what he calls ‘backfilled content’. What he means by this is that some people first get the idea that they would like to be a ‘speaker’ and they then ask themselves; ‘What shall I speak about?’. Next they mightRead More

The most powerful coaching I have ever participated in has come as a result of letting go completely and allowing love to carry me. Water is flowing against my chest, bubbling up under my chin and around my neck, making sound as it empties over my shoulders. Beneath the surface, it pulls at me underRead More

It struck me once that everything comes from nothing. We don’t typically think of it this way though. We consider things to have come from things that preceded them. Apples come from trees, kids come from parents, etc. What struck me though is that in the same way that something comes from that which precededRead More

What if all the questions we ask – all the things we say and do in coaching – are a superficial dance, the impact of which is minute at best? What if the conversation we think we are having is just ripples on an ocean? What if beneath the surface of our awareness is happeningRead More

Last year, a few months after finishing a coaching program, one of my clients emailed me saying: “Hi John, It’s incredible how much more productive I’m being since we stopped the coaching. I’m not sure what it is, but I’m on fire!” Sitting upright on the bench in the cafe, I raised my gaze overRead More

“You’re in your head.” If there’s a single phrase I’m sick of hearing, and yet always curious as to when I’ll hear it next, it’s this one. In fact, I heard it this past weekend when I was speaking with Mel Carnegie, a woman I just shared the stage with in Zurich. Attempting to receiveRead More

I thought I knew what presence was… …until I held my first nephew in my arms and stared into his eyes. I thought I knew what presence was… …until I stood beside my father-in-law as he took his final breath. I thought I knew what presence was… …until I held my wife’s hand for 36Read More

We cannot create what we cannot see. Since our choices are always limited to the options evident to us, one way we can powerfully impact people is to show them what they can’t see. For example, if your client’s two considered options are (A) raise funds to start a business OR (B) stay in corporateRead More

The words we think, speak and write create the world around us. Not just the world as we perceive it – but the actual, tangible world. Loving words create love. Fearful words create fear. Constructive words manifest. Destructive words tear down. Limiting words limit. Opening words open. Words are magic. Through spelling we create words,Read More