I trained in Generative Coaching which emphasises our different forms of ‘intelligence’. One way to describe this approach is that to truly achieve transformative change in our lives, generative coaching states we might need to listen to our emotions a lot more than we’ve become accustomed to in western cultures. Our intellect – our cognitive capacities – can only take us so far.

When we find we keep on experiencing the same challenges or we’re not able to pursue tough goals, we have to look a little deeper than some coaching approaches ordinarily allow. This is where generative coaching comes in because we take a thorough look at all the things going on in our lives and what on a deep emotional level we might still need to address or change. I like to characterise generative coaching as a highly interactive approach – not just getting a pad of paper and a pen and plotting an abstract timeline, hoping a few listed promises will see us change our lives. There’s some hard work involved and that’s where we have to engage with our true selves – our desires, obstacles and, yes, our emotions.