In the late 1990s, the concepts of psychological safety and team coaching had yet to be clearly defined. In 2020, the International Coaching Federation (ICF) introduced their Team Coaching Competencies to drive team coaching consistency and to clearly distinguish team coaching from training, consulting, facilitation, mentoring, and development involving teams. The ICF defines team coaching as:
partnering in a co-creative and reflective process with a team on its dynamics and relationships in a way that inspires them to maximize their abilities and potential in order to reach their common purpose and shared goals.
Team coaching distinguishes itself from other team interventions in that the team is the owner of the process, not the coach. The growth area focus of team coaching addresses team goal achievement and sustainability of the team itself. Extending beyond the team itself, Peter Hawkins’ systemic definition of team coaching includes the broader system in which the team operates, and those relationships in the system:
enabling a team to function at more than the sum of its parts, by clarifying its mission and improving its external and internal relationships.
Both definitions highlight relationship improvement as a crucial component to achieving team coaching goals. In fact, ICF Team Coaching Competency 4 specifically identifies how team coaches must “cultivate trust and safety” by “creating a safe space for open and honest team member interaction.”
Since 1997, significant strides in the field of neuroscience have demonstrated key connections between the mind and the body’s nervous system in terms of emotions and feelings of safety. Physician and psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk speaks to the impact of social safety from a neuroscience perspective. Positive social relationships create powerful protection against being overwhelmed by stress. Being acknowledged, seen, and heard by people around us provides a visceral feeling of safety. When we believe we are safe in a team, the parasympathetic nervous system counteracts stress by relaxing the heart, muscles and breathing. This mind-body process occurs whether we find ourselves in the Kuwaiti desert or in our Monday morning team meeting.
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