As coaches, we regularly encounter leaders caught between seemingly opposing forces. For example, autonomy and collaboration, assertiveness and empathy, stability and change. These are not binary problems to be solved, but polarities to be navigated. 

What makes polarity thinking particularly powerful from a psychodynamic perspective is what it reveals beneath the surface. The behaviours a client wants to change are often the shadow side of something they genuinely value. Shifting the frame to find how they can authentically balance both polarities, we help clients hold complexity with greater flexibility, resilience, and wisdom.

In this interactive session, you will:

• Develop your ability to recognise polarities in coaching conversations, distinguishing them from problems that have a clear solution
• Reflect on the polarities most alive in your own professional and personal life and practice naming polarities in order to better recognise and process these with clients
• Identify effective actions that leverage the upsides of both poles, and spot warning signs of gravitating to extremes
• Recognise that polarities can’t always be “solved” and explore ways to increase resilience and flexibility in order that they can be ever present
• Practice peer coaching using polarity frameworks in a safe, supported environment

Who is this for? Coaches at all levels who want to deepen their practice, expand their diagnostic vocabulary, and bring greater nuance to complex coaching conversations. Come ready to engage, this is not a lecture.