At Nordic Business Forum 2023 I asked Tim Ferris, American entrepreneur, investor, author and podcaster, to share some piece of advice with my children. That’s what he said.
I’m happy to start again the most exciting journey – Supervision and Coaching Programme – with my dear colleaugues and 16 students at International Supevision and Coaching Institute. The journey lasts for more than two years and provides great opportunities to create a safe place for learning for our students. And it is always an amazing opportunity to learn and grow myself. Bon voyage!
Jaan Tootsen can create a safe space for reflection and self-discovery. All our ISCI members had an opportunity to have a chat Jaan.
We spoke in our heart-warming chat with Jaan Tootsen about:
In the podcast we reflect on the benefits of supervision and coaching.
My dream is that one day every leader, including heads of state, regularly attend supervision as integral part of their work to reflect on their work, their impact on the people their work for and the planet.
At coaching conference 2021, I spoke about coaching supervision and its benefits to coaches and clients.
The manifesto for coaching supervision published by Henley Business School and the Association for Coaching, summarises well what coaching supervision is. The authors of the manifesto believe that ‘having supervision is a fundamental part of continuing personal and professional development for coaches, mentors, consultants and psychologists. It provides a disciplined space in which the supervisee can reflect on particular work and client situations and relationships, and on the reactivity and patterns they evoke in the mind. The process of transforming these in supervision can profoundly benefit the client, their organisation and their own professional practice.’ (https://www.henley.ac.uk/news/2019/the-manifesto-for-coaching-supervision)
I also shared some stories which you can read here:
The course gave me fresh perspectives on the science of well-being. I enjoyed the studies on how our brain works and on happiness. It helped me make another step towards a more satisfying and happy life. I’m more than happy to share my knowledge and discoveries with my clients in my training programmes, but also in supervision, coaching and mentoring if necessary.
It was in 2006 when I discovered the famous Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address that had a huge impact on my life. Back then I didn’t know that Steve wasn’t the kind of leader I believe great leaders should be, but he sure had courage to follow his heart and intuition. Some of my favourite quotes from the speech:
‘Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.’
‘You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.’
Inspired by the commencement address and a Harvard University programme I attended years ago, together with Kairi Kuuskor from Bold Tuesday we delivered a practical seminar at Estonian Art Academy. The seminar was called ‘Courage to create one’s future’ and focused on two topics:
We shared our own personal dots and pivots from the past and invited the big hall of students and lecturers to do so.
We used Bold Tuesday Vision Board Reimagined as a basis for our seminar.
Special thanks to EKA and Robert Luig for video and technical support!
International Supervision and Coaching Institute, where I’m one of the partners and trainers, starts a new programme in February 2021.
Intercultural Supervision and Coaching Training Programme is for people who want to bring a positive changes in the world, especially:
– people who would like to become professional coaches and supervisors;
– leaders who wish to find alternative ways to support and engage their teams.
The programme is in English. Further information can be found here: https://www.isci.ee/international-supervision-and-coaching-programme/
I discovered the Japanese concept Ma thanks to Peter Hawkins, Professor of Leadership at Henley Business School.
In Japanese Ma can be translated as “gap”, “space”, “pause”. In traditional Japanese arts and culture, ma refers to the artistic interpretation of an empty space and is often as important as the rest of an artwork. MA is in the purposeful pauses in a speech which make words stand out. Ma is in the silence between the notes which make the music.
Coaching and supervision enable to slow down, take a break from our everyday work and reflect. If we don’t take regular breaks, we may lose our essence.
Examples of ma appear in this old poem:
Thirty spokes meet in the hub,
though the space between them is the essence of the wheel;
Pots are formed from clay, though the space inside them is the essence of the pot;
Walls with windows and doors form the house,
though the space within them is the essence of the house.
Ma
The space between creates the frame,
To see the heavens
Peeping through.
So we can realise
We are three
Not two.
Peter Hawkins (Kyoto, 2019)
Ott Tänak (born 1987), World Rally Champion 2019, shares his story in ‘Ott Tänak: the Movie’. Among other things the movie made me think about mindset and the quality of being coachable. Sometimes our mindset cannot develop as fast as our technical skills, especially if we don’t have a growth mindset. A person with I-know-it-all (instead of I-want-to-know-it-all) mindset may not be coachable. However, even the most successful champions, executives … actually anyone can benefit from coaching and supervision, but that requires a growth mindset and some humility.
In the movie, Ott Tänak shares how his mindset cost him his career at one point in his life:
‘My development was fast, but in my head … I couldn’t mentally develop that fast. I was the same boy who I had been in 2010, but in 2012 I was racing with world-class rally drivers, yet I wasn’t ready for that. Finally, the mistakes were very simple, but cost a lot and eventually cost me my career at that time.’
Another thing that the movie made me think about is the beauty of fragility and vulnerability. Sometimes our hearts are broken. It takes courage to be fragile and vulnerable and it hurts. Yet, it also connects people. ‘When I see how much pain I actually cause to my loved ones, this is the only breaking point for me,’ said Ott Tänak. And pain helps us grow. We grow as parents, children, colleagues and friends … as human beings.