Whilst in hiding, the teenage Anne Frank wrote:

“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”

This quote optimizes what coaching is. The unquestioning belief in the person in front of you. Knowing they have untapped, undiscovered potential. That maybe all they need is a partner who believes in them. Maybe all they need is affirmation. Who will selflessly gift them the time to really listen.

In March this year, it will be exactly 80 years since Anne was killed in a concentration camp. She had been hiding or in captivity for 3 years, one 5^th of her 15 year life. This is relevant also because the world is again at an inflection point.

We are called upon as executive and team coaches to deal with an acceleration of crucible events that effect our ecosystem- wars, climate change, political, technological and economic uncertainties, accumulating into the pandemic of mental wellness concerns. You might think these issues are far away, in different regions, but if COVID taught us anything it is how we have created a highly interconnected and interdependent world.

In the first year of COVID, according to WHO, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%.  Younger talent, our high potentials of the future, and senior executives feeling the weight of expectations, are particularly effected. Mental wellness issues will cost the world $16 trillion by 2030, according to Project Hope.

As coaches, we might be the only confidential, compassionate, safe space our client has. We need to be on the look out for these concerns, knowing our limits, and not stigmatizing the client to receive the support they need as they can do that whilst we still hold the agenda of executive coaching alongside that. Coaches should be those rare people who ask how you are, and then wait to actually hear the answer.

Because, when we listen, we learn. Coaching has no geographical boundaries. Last year I coached executives in Syria whilst it was being missile attacked and in China whilst in the middle of its first economic crisis. I trained systemic team coaches from New York to Philippines and everywhere between. In a world increasingly polarized and leaning towards boundaries- metaphorical or those who want to ‘build a wall’- coaching allows us to reach out across any boundary. Makes us realize we are all the same. That we all worry about our family. About our career. We all moan about our boss. As actor Alan Alda said- “Listening is being able to be changed by the other person.” ­

And author Doug Larson said:

"Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.” ­

BUT then- you are also busy executives. You face the same anxieties and challenges as your clients. So you need to listen to yourself, too. Are you ready to coach? Have you self managed such that you are in the right state to gift your full, level 3 attention? How often do you ask yourself- how are YOU? And really listen to the answer?

One of our recent graduates says ‘your soul moves at the speed of a camel’. When did you last press pause to let your soul catch up with your body, which is running and juggling from alarm clock to lights out? When did you last diarize to do nothing? When did you last put your oxygen mask on first, before helping others?

To those graduating today- you have invested greatly in yourself- your leadership- your legacy. We appreciate the hours, the effort, and the investment that you have given not just in your future, but in the future of everyone you now coach. Congratulations. You are now certified global embassadors of compassion, understanding and creating a kinder world.

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Madeleine Dunford is the Founder of Career Connections, ICF PCC Level coach, Masters Practitioner in Systemic Team Coaching and global facilty member for the Academy of Executive Coaching.