The Evolution of Coaching: From Boardrooms to Bodies, Nature, and Ancient Wisdom

Integrating Indigenous Wisdom: The Humbling Recognition That We Knew Better 10,000 Years Ago

The integration of indigenous wisdom into coaching is another profound and challenging evolution in the field. It requires those of us trained in Western modalities to admit that our “innovative” discoveries are often pale imitations of practices indigenous peoples have refined over millennia. It can be humbling to realize that while we were creating personality assessments, indigenous cultures had developed sophisticated practices for understanding human nature that consider ancestry, community, land, and spirit.

Indigenous wisdom brings perspectives that fundamentally challenge the assumptions underlying traditional Western coaching. The emphasis on individual achievement? Indigenous traditions understand that individual wellbeing is inseparable from collective health. The linear progress narrative? Indigenous cultures recognize circular time, seasonal rhythms, and the spiral nature of growth. The separation of professional and spiritual development? Many indigenous traditions would find this division both artificial and harmful.

But here is where we must tread carefully, with the kind of respect that has been notably absent from centuries of colonial extraction. The integration of indigenous wisdom into coaching cannot be another form of appropriation, where we cherry-pick practices divorced from their cultural context, slap a trademark on them, and sell them as the latest coaching innovation (I am looking at you, everyone who has ever offered “shamanic coaching” after a weekend workshop).

Real integration requires relationship, reciprocity, and respect. It means learning from indigenous teachers, compensating them fairly, and understanding that some practices are not meant for commodification. It means acknowledging the historical and ongoing harm colonization has caused and considering how coaching might participate in repair rather than perpetuating extraction.

When done with integrity, the integration of indigenous wisdom offers profound gifts. The Haudenosaunee principle of seven-generation thinking transforms how we consider impact and legacy. Ubuntu – the Southern African philosophy that “I am because we are” – revolutionizes our understanding of individual development. The medicine wheel teachings offer frameworks for understanding wholeness that make our four-quadrant models look like stick figures.

During the retreat, I started a rich and insightful conversation with one of the participants, Sharon Pitawanakwat, who is a coach and an indigenous leader, that continued to deepen long after our in-person time together ended. Sharon brings a rare and powerful blend of Indigenous and Western knowledge to her work with clients and organizations. For her, coaching presence means welcoming both worldviews into every sacred conversation she holds. Her ancestral wisdom isn’t a tool she reaches for when needed – it is the ground of her being, shaping how she listens, perceives, and connects. Through this integrated way of seeing, Sharon recognizes the web of interconnectedness in all her dialogues, helping clients weave their own discoveries into a living tapestry of self-awareness and understanding.

The Enneagram: When Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology (and They Really Hit It Off)

Before we explore how all these streams converge, we need to talk about a framework that has revolutionizing how coaches understand human patterns, motivations, and potential: the Enneagram. Now, I know what some of you are thinking – “Oh great, another personality typing system. Is this like Myers-Briggs but with more spiritual bypassing?” Stay with me here, because the Enneagram is something altogether different and far more profound; what follows is a brief review, for context.

Unlike personality assessments that slot you into a fixed category (Congratulations! You are a Type A go-getter! Here is your certificate!), the Enneagram reveals the underlying motivational patterns that drive our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. It is less about what you do and more about why you do it – the core fears and desires that operate like invisible puppet strings, making you dance the same patterns over and over until you become conscious of them.