ABSTRACT

Each of us comes into, and has to interact throughout life with, a world that is full of pre-existing meanings and familiar and established patterns of thinking, interaction, expectation and norms. Thus the meanings we hold and those held by others are central to how we organise our experience. Early relational experiences with caregivers establish templates for relating that persist into adulthood where they continue to shape perception and interaction often out of conscious awareness. From a relational and inter subjective perspective, the idea of pure neutrality is problematic. All coaches will have their biases, prior knowledge, training backgrounds. Coaching from a relational perspective frequently involves exploring how the coachee is experiencing and managing this tension and, with some clients, such as those who might be perceived to be mavericks by other members of the organisation, is often central to the work of coaching itself.