Integral Coaching: Like a Beautiful Tree - Strengthen and Even Out Your Developmental Lines

One of the exciting moments during the coaching process is when coach and client meet for the first time. Here both find out if they trust each other to go on and enter the path of guided development. During this first meeting, a lot is going on.

This is the 2nd part of my article series on the unique Integral Coaching tools that make this coaching method so effective.

Photo by Fabrice Villard on Unsplash

While defining a topic together with my client, as an Integral Coach I first look at their Current Way of Being (CW). I do it from two perspectives: looking at the client and looking as the client as I outlined in my previous article. I also need to find out how the client makes sense in their life. Why do they act in these certain ways? What beliefs are behind these behaviors, and what benefit do they perceive in being exactly as they are? What did the client achieve while acting in this way and what hindered them to grow further in their topic?

The analysis of the Current Way of Being is not only the starting point of the coaching process, but is then included with all of its insights in the practices to follow. The Current Way is who the client is today, and only when I hold this state as precious in my mind as a coach and include their personal way of being, can I truly start talking about integral development. Acknowledgement and attention should be given to all of the elements that brought them to this particular point in their life. 

After the first contact, I begin mapping and acknowledging all of my client’s capabilities, which they can perceive and demonstrate at this point, identify certain behaviors, build on them, include them in their growth, heighten the awareness of their actions, habits, and motivations, and introduce new ways of behaving to work towards achieving the goal of the Coaching Topic. There are many lenses an Integral Coach is using during their first meeting to understand the clients topic. I elaborate here the 6 developmental lines, which is a helpful tool to identify and explore a person’s situation.

Take Sarah, for instance. Sarah is very sensitive and not very outspoken. She wants to learn to have her opinion heard when in large groups. If I only worked with her by giving her simple public speaking exercises, I might lose Sarah’s special sensitivity along the way. Only when I am aware of her fine skills to notice all the subtle signs in the room, her ability to feel the state of others and herself, and include these insights into her practice, will her coaching program be successful. Sarah will feel seen and also learn to notice the benefits of her sensitivity. She will slowly learn to interpret the feeling of being overwhelmed as an insightful and helpful sign, and then allow herself to slowly react to them. This new way to be will be empowering for her and a huge benefit for any group she is in. 

Developmental Lines

Now, let us look at Sarah through the lens of the Developmental Lines:

Sarah is highly intelligent (we call it the cognitive line), overwhelmed by and can’t differentiate her emotions which is why she learned not to talk while being excited(emotional line). She has little body awareness (somatic line), and her way of relating with others initially is rather underdeveloped (interpersonal line). She has high integrity, which is observed when she stays aligned and acts on her values (moral line). She is very interested spiritually to investigate the greater reason of life (spiritual line).

What do I as a coach do with this type of analysis? In correspondence with her goals, I will look on which of the 6 lines, which form Sarah like branches of a tree, I could rely on to achieve the New Way of Being the client is asking for. In this case, the moral line and cognitive line will form the known basis for Sarah’s ongoing practice. She feels at home with these lines and they form a kind of security while daring to experiment in new grounds. Simultaneously, I would work on strengthening Sarah’s emotional and somatic lines. She will need more awareness, distance and competence in this field. Once she knows how to handle her emotional states, she will also learn to speak up and her care for others will show in her new interactions. During the weeks to follow Sarah will observe herself, journal, receive practices according to her specific way of being and slowly experiment with new forms of behavior.

How does this affect you? 

What is the benefit for you reading about the lenses an Integral coach uses to analyze her clients?

I would like to invite you to make such an analysis for yourself. Not every topic needs a coach as self-development is a natural human desire. You surely know your inner voice which pulls towards that desire for improvement. Take some time and look at yourself. You will feel where you stand within your own lines of development.

You may find yourself, for example, intelligent and just, walking on a spiritual journey, but leaving out any physical exercises in your life. What can you do? Choose a sport which inspires you to invest some time so that you can improve your overall health during the week. If your interpersonal line is weak and you always have problems talking in front of people or in public, try to find an improv (improvisation) group in your town. It’s fun and will help you develop that missing branch. If you think that others are always smarter than you, notice if they also think that and identify what makes you say that. Make notes when you achieve something. If you are under-nourishing your mind on the sofa with Netflix every night, it might be time for a great book. If your body is rather tight, find a way to relax, perhaps a yoga class would be a good fit for you. If your body is too loose, kickboxing might be something you would enjoy and your resilience will strengthen. 

As my Buddhist teacher used to say: imagine yourself like a tree. At the beginning of your path to enlightenment some branches are shorter, others longer and some thicker, and some thinner. Some are very well developed, others crippled. Your goal of development should be to grow as round and even as a beautiful Christmas tree, and for that you will have to focus on evening out your different skills. 

Nobody can play piano without practicing. After you make a clear analysis of your different developmental lines you can begin a conscious process of growth. You will know what you need to practice. You will find out that you have a lot of insight about your own way of being and your desire to change if you slow down and ask your inner wise voice. For me, I find the best tool for this is meditation. Write your different qualities down, decide which field you want to improve, imagine yourself already owning these new qualities. Then, set your intention and target your goal step by step with a little battle plan. If this voice is too deeply buried inside of you: Why don’t you invite your best friend and “test” your ideas about yourself with them? Invite them to do the same, it might be a lot of fun and a new depth can arise in your relationship. 

How does that sound? Try it out. You can achieve a lot by strengthening the different lines by yourself. And in case your resistance to change is too persistent and your non-beneficial habits seem to reappear no matter what you try, a coach might be a solution to grow your branches. 

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