Marc Bowles, an experienced master coach, led an engaging session on using nature as a powerful tool in coaching supervision, focusing on metaphors inspired by the natural world. The session emphasized how nature can enhance the reflective process, helping clients and supervisees gain deeper insights, slow down, and connect with their inner thoughts.
Key Takeaways:
1. Connection to Nature: Marc highlighted that humans have an inherent connection to nature. He drew upon the work of Harvard biologist Edward Wilson and the concept of Biophilia—an innate bond between humans and nature that boosts well-being. Marc explained how nature can calm the mind, reduce stress, and provide cognitive clarity.
2. Using Nature as a Metaphor in Supervision: Nature’s cycles, landscapes, and ecosystems can be potent metaphors for understanding coaching and supervision. Marc encouraged coaches to notice the metaphors clients use to describe their experiences. These metaphors help supervisees understand their challenges and growth processes better. For example, comparing life’s struggles to climbing a mountain or describing personal growth as planting a seed provides deep insights into the client’s mental state.
3. Exploring Seasonal Metaphors: The natural cycles of seasons provide useful metaphors for coaching conversations. Marc explored how autumn, with its shedding of leaves, can inspire conversations around letting go and preparing for renewal. He used the example of trees dropping leaves to discuss with supervisees what aspects of their practice they may need to release to conserve energy and refocus.
4. Artifacts in Nature: Marc suggested using physical objects found in nature, such as leaves, pinecones, or rocks, to represent different aspects of a supervisee’s relationships or challenges. By selecting artifacts and assigning meaning to them, supervisees can externalize and reflect on complex internal dynamics, such as client relationships, coaching goals, or systemic influences.
Course Content
Organisation
BECKETT MCINROY CONSULTANCY (BMC) comprises of passionate, highly qualified and experienced Coaches, Trainers, Researchers, SUPERvisors, Mentor Coaches, Psychometrists, Writers and Consultants with PhDs, MBAs and Master Coaching credentials. We partner with you to understand your pressure points and strengths. Our projects involve accredited coach training provisions, one-on-one executive coaching, team and board coaching, leadership development and profiling tools. We work across sectors globally ensuring that your personal, professional and organisational requirements are met through bespoke provisions. Clients include LEGO, Citi, DHL and Saudi Aramco, to name a few. Our team travel extensively whilst residing in North America, Qatar, Canada, UK, Bahrain, France, Kenya, Germany, France, Iran, Egypt and Indonesia.
Founded through our passion to enable people, teams, organisations and communities to achieve their potential, BECKETT MCINROY CONSULTANCY (BMC) believes that co-creation brings positive transformation for all. We believe that systemic coaching cultures and impactful leadership development programmes can empower humanity and change our world. We are all leaders of ourselves, careers, families, teams and organisations.
We provide bespoke and award winning leadership development programmes, approved and accredited professional coach, mentor coach and supervision training, systemic executive, team and board coaching, psychometric profiling and shadow consulting. Our team of experts have worked across sectors globally.
We have continued to win numerous awards for our CoachME accredited and approved training programmes enabling Senior Executives, Leaders, Managers, Mentors, Coaches and SUPERvisors, to gain accreditation and credentials through:
* International Coaching Federation (ICF) – Associate Certified Coach (ACC), Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Master Certified Coaches (MCC) and Advanced Certification in Team Coaching (ACTC)
* European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) – Practitioner (P), Senior Practitioner (SP), Master Practitioner (MP) and European Supervision Individual Award accredited SUPERvisor (ESIA)
* Centre for Credentialing and Education (CCE) – Board Certified Coach (BCC)
* Association for Coaching (AC) – Foundation Coach/Foundation Executive Coach, Coach/Executive Coach, Professional Coach/Professional Executive Coach, Master Coach/Master Executive Coach
