It all began in 2007 when 4 professional coaches began to explore how they might work together to create some kind of product that would serve anyone who facilitates groups of people. They discussed how sometimes each of them and/or one of their clients had experienced some difficulty in getting a group to get to “the heart of the matter” and getting beyond just what is felt and said from the head. These difficulties might happen when desiring people to connect with others in the group so they can function better as a team, when planning a course of action for a new opportunity, or even when tackling a challenge a group is facing,
These four coaches represented diverse communities across the U.S. and Europe and they wanted something that would work with any group, anywhere. Jane Kerschner (east coast U.S.), Irene Kelly (midwest U.S.), Carol Harris-Fike (western U.S.), and Tom Hatton (Europe) had studied ontological coaching in a program called: “Leadership & Coaching: Increasing Results through Powerful Conversations”, designed by Newfield Network and sponsored by Villanova University in 2005.
Ontological coaches understand the connection of all of who we are as human beings… body, emotion, and language, and how that connects us with ourselves and with others. This understanding leads to the use of questions and practices that involve getting in touch with all parts of one’s self. So, most conversations among ontological coaches, with each other or with their clients, involve all three domains.
In the case of Jane, Irene, Carol, and Tom, meetings always began with a check-in and maybe a little laser coaching, if requested. Often the use of a metaphor was helpful in describing the emotions or thoughts around some situation and in stating an intention or planning for actions. Knowing the power of metaphor, these coaches focused on creating a tool employing the use of metaphor that would more quickly lead people to deeper emotions and thoughts and, thus, fresh ideas for accomplishing goals.
