Coach as Instrument: Bearing Witness

This Week's Attunement 

“I used to think bearing witness was a passive act. I don’t believe that anymore. I think that when we are present, when we bear witness, when we do not divert our gaze, something is revealed — the very marrow of life. We change. A transformation occurs. Our consciousness shifts.”  
— Terry Tempest Williams

The idea of bearing witness can seem passive, as if we are somehow a bystander. And yet, when we bear witness to our clients in our coaching, something remarkable can happen. As Terry Tempest Williams says, "when we do not divert our gaze, something is revealed — the very marrow of life."

Our witnessing alone is generative and it's anything but passive. To give bear witness some dimension, I created the five A’s of Bearing Witness:

1. Attending — paying attention to the experience of the client
2. Allowing — allowing and holding space for whatever is emerging for the client
3. Accepting — accepting without condition, without judgment what we experience from our clients
4. Attuning — attuning with the experience of the client, allowing ourself to experience it
5. Acknowledging — acknowledging, naming, articulating the experience.

All 5 A’s work together to create something generative for the client.

What I'm Learning
 So I can improve myself as a coach, as a human
 
If you'd like to practice Bearing Witness, here is an exercise that will provide some clarity on how to apply this concept. Enjoy.

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