Human Performance and Coaching
Many of the essays concerning neuroscience findings that have been published in LPC relate to specific aspects of human behavior. They provide new and enriched neurobiologically based understanding of this behavior and trace out the implication of this understanding for professional coaching practices. An essay on motivation is offered first. A recent essay on memory is presented that concerns findings from two fields – the neurosciences and the cognitive sciences. Finally, a neurologically based perspective on interpersonal relationships in offered as a concluding observation regarding the “discipline” of professional coaching (especially in an organizational setting).
Motivation and Coaching
Holmes (2015)
People often behave in ways that seem at odds with their cognitive position or their perception of a situation. This ‘at odds with self’ phenomena is a great example of the ways motivation can cause a person to be in conflict with themselves, resulting in procrastination, indifference, double mindedness or conflicting body language. Motivation is worthy of our attention. In the book “Mastermind – how to think like Sherlock Holmes”, Maria Konnikova observes that motivation is one of those x-factors that affect everything positively. Motivation improves memory, concentration, brain receptivity, priming for learning and performance on any spectrum you’d like to measure. Understanding how motivation works will directly affect your success as a professional coach.
Memory and Coaching
Bergquist (2023)
The retention of memories from our life has always been a source of great interest on the part of philosophers as well as biologists and, more recently, psychologists. Now, with the ongoing revolution of the neural sciences, we are learning much more about how memories are formed, retained, forgotten and revised. Here is a brief summary of what we now know—or at least are considering—based on research done by biologists, psychologists and neuroscientists. A variety of strategies and tools are offered that enhance the retention of work from a coaching session.
Interpersonal Relationships and Coaching
Page (2022)
Linda Page emphasizes the usefulness of neuroscience to coaching theory and research, as indicated by her suggestion of “Neurosocial Dynamics” as the name for a discipline of coaching. This suggestion by Dr. Page is made with recognition that the usefulness of neuroscience or any other potential contribution to the proposed discipline will be determined by the field of coaching itself The richness of dialogue within that field will help to determine its viability. It is out of this dialogue that the foundation for a discipline of Neurosocial Dynamics (or whatever it ends up being called) will emerge to provide a theoretical foundation and evidence for the value of coaching.
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I believe that there is much to learn from those engaged in research on the functioning brain and body. As professional coaches, we must meet the challenges that arise from both our client’s mind and our client’s body. We are becoming increasingly aware that mind and body are fully integrated and that our coaching perspectives and practices must take this integration into account.
William Bergquist, Ph.D.
Editor
