Coaching Is Dead. Long Live Neurocoaching!

Is it realistic to expect an Olympic athlete to excel without a great coach? Why is it realistic, then, to expect people and teams to be high-performing without a coach? Many businesses are looking to automation to increase profit, but the reality is that A.I. cannot readily replace the creativity and passion of human beings.

Coaching is an essential tool that can nurture creativity and all the emotions that make us human. Instead of being spurned in favour of the bottom line, coaching should be valued by corporations to help people through times of stress and change.

The emergence of brain science is generating a new breed of coaches—the neurocoaches. Neurocoaches can help leaders become aware of their brains and reactions, elevating the quality of strategic thinking, innovation and well-being in the business world.

The traditional method of coaching which has been so useful to many is now taking a new twist, or maybe it’s a turn. As more consultants and coaches jump onto the neurocoaching wagon, you may be wondering what to do next if you are a coach or perhaps a business leader.

What’s more important, I would suggest, is to find out how to incorporate neurocoaching in your day to day interactions with others, whether this is your profession or simply a method you use to guide someone towards success.

Through my years of research and personal experience, I have learned how important the brain is in the decision-making process, in regulating our emotions and even in creating long-lasting relationships.

Because of this, I have stopped evaluating (and judging) people’s behaviours, particularly when they do things opposite to what they committed to do in the coaching session. I now consider their brains and how this may have an impact on what they end up doing.

What To Do When Stress Stops Your Journey

Undoubtedly, a good coaching process led by a coach with skill and experience can help us become unstuck when the stresses or the pressures of today’s living prevent us from advancing in our life journeys.

However, when we can truly understand how the brain works in more depth and the neurophysiological reasons to a highly integrated and performing brain, everything changes.

In one of my blog posts called ‘Boosting Performance through Better Brain and Body Integration’, I explain why we need to achieve integration to improve our performance at work and in life. This post can be a good starting point on this topic.

During the neurocoaching sessions I usually conduct, I have noticed that most leaders tend to think that their brains are functioning well and they convince themselves that they are operating at their best. They don’t realise that this may not necessarily be the case. Nobody is to blame because we have not learnt this new knowledge anywhere. It is only now becoming more common, and the mission we have at the is to make this knowledge available to others.

In my coaching practice, I have had the privilege to see people’s assessment results and several other brain measures, which are very useful to drive the point home.

This also allows me to see that not all brains are operating at the same level. With the right strategies (tailored individually to a person), brain function can be improved significantly if the client is able to realise the impact that a high-performance mind has on leadership behaviour, or behaviour in general.

Turning A Reluctant Brain Into A Champion

Throughout our lives, most of us will experience suboptimal brain functioning for one reason or another. This may lead to a myriad of different behaviours, such as distraction, lack of focus, poor empathy, procrastination, obsession for control or perfectionism, anxiety, memory deficiency, sluggishness in thinking and so on.

I understand these effects all too well, as I suffered an intense period of depression in 2008. My brain was simply not working as effectively as usual.

Neurocoaching techniques, which include using the right tools and having the right conversations with clients, can help people understand their brains better. Give people the knowledge so they can benefit from the power of neuroplasticity, which is about creating new connections in the brain. This understanding can improve how people live—both at work and in their personal lives.

Enhance your coaching expertise for this new era, and make the leap into the Imagination Age. To become the best in their field, Olympic athletes seek experts who can give them a ‘competitive edge’ that will help them win.

To stay at the top of your field, you need to have the most cutting-edge tools and resources available. If you could give your business clients that competitive edge through neurocoaching, wouldn’t it be worth it?