ABSTRACT
A core Gestalt proposition is that growth, learning, and change can occur when there is a good enough balance between support and challenge available to the individual, and that fits their needs. The commonly accepted definition of support used by Gestalt practitioners is ‘that which enables’, and it includes both self-support and environmental support, which, in the coaching context, can come from the care, attention, and empathy shown by the coach. We should also recognise that senior leaders often say they want a high level of challenge from their coach and begin with an expectation that they will get this through regular, thought-provoking questions and observations, and a certain amount of respectful provocation.
In organisational leadership contexts, clients are regularly challenged by the increasingly complex nature of their roles and from working in fast-paced, results-oriented environments. And they are invariably trying to do this without sufficient support, and with an internal operating system that has got them so far but may be overheating in its attempt to deal with a very different level of challenge. If complexity exceeds capacity, the inevitable consequence is that it can leave clients feeling stuck, in over their head, worried, and doubting their ability to come through on the right side.
