Coaching and cultivating

Blog #45

Coaching and cultivating – envisioning a better future

Words are so often contextual. Meanings vary depending on setting or circumstance. The word ‘coaching’ has its most familiar framework in sports.  Individual athletes and sports teams depend highly on effective coaching for success.  (Okay, hockey fans in Canada, perhaps the Toronto Maple Leafs still have that hope!).  About ten years ago, Morris and I welcomed a new context for this word, attaching it to being a leader. We quickly resonated with the principles, values, and theory of coaching and have sought to emulate it in our leadership.  We haven’t perfected it but still pursue it.

The other word for today is ‘cultivating’.  Without much difficulty, common images are growing, gardening, or farming, though it can apply elsewhere - in education, relationships, or even finances. In my current setting, the default for this word is quite natural. Living in rural Africa, cultivating is seen constantly since farming is the inherent livelihood for most.  Recently, I considered the congruency between coaching and cultivating.  Both, I believe, are rooted (no pun intended) in the forward movement of a better future.

When harvest season happens in Kenya, hundreds (maybe thousands) of acres of maize (corn) are cultivated. Maize is the basis for a staple food – ugali.  Maize is planted in March or April and usually harvested in October.  The investment of sowing the grain commences the annual practice of producing what is needed to feed families and generate revenue. Without it, their future may be bleak.

To redeem a quality crop, cultivating is quite a process.  It begins with choosing the right kind of seed, one not easily destroyed by insects. The seeds are planted in straight rows about two feet apart with fertilizer sprinkled to stimulate productivity. Once the plants grow to about knee height, weeding happens, discarding all that hinders maximum gain. Following a second topping of fertilizer, and if weather conditions are favorable, in a few months the green cobs turn brown and are ready to be cut. After grouping the stalks in bundles for quick drying, the kernels are peeled from the cobs and laid out on a flat surface to dry for two weeks, followed by tedious shelling, until only the maize seeds remain for grinding into flour. Finally the flour is bagged into 90 kilo sacks and ready for home and the market. Every year the farmers must care for their crops properly to ensure a fertile harvest. 

Recently Morris and I did some lectures at the Officers Training College on leader coaching. On our drive home, peering past miles of farmland, I contemplated the similarities between coaching and cultivating. Coaching is a style of leadership that involves building trust, creating an honest awareness of your current reality, and making necessary adjustments to redeem a better future.  Carol MacKinnon and Susan Wright define it as “the process of getting to know both yourself and other(s), establishing a relationship of mutual trust and awareness for the purpose of working together to reach a common goal” (Leader Alchemy).  Coaching begins with an investment (a cultivation of sorts) in yourself first and then developing others to accomplish goals (or mission) for something bigger than self-interest. For spiritual leaders, it is an investment for the purpose of seeing God’s Kingdom come (grow) on earth as it is in Heaven – the prayer and passion of Jesus.  Others using this approach can also find personal or organizational applications.

So how are coaching and cultivating similar? When local farmers start tilling soil and planting seeds, a trust commences.  To start with, they believe the ground to be fertile in ‘receiving’ what’s being embedded. A unique relationship emerges between the farmer and the soil, perhaps similar to fisherman and the ocean or miners and the underground.  Farmers also need trust in the atmospheric environment – the right balance of sun and rain.  Yet, truth is, the weather is not dependable. Too much rain washes away the crops prematurely and long periods of drought saps the crops nutrients. To add to that, if they haven’t chosen the right seeds or if they have failed to weed properly, these variables can adversely affect the results and the needed source of life for their families.  Simply put, farmers cannot depend on nature alone.  The process needs their regular attention.  

In leader coaching, if people are being led towards a better future, they should be able to trust the person or the organization they are following.  Realistically, people can find themselves embedded in a culture that has taken for granted the faith others have in them (the natural ground).   However, when rains of doubt or uncertainty fall too heavily or if a drought of dependability occurs, or if regular attention to what is integral has been neglected, trust can be marred or even severed with rebuilding required. Trust must be created. It is not automatically dependable ground. Transparency and accountability, honesty and integrity, as well as being reliable and approachable are foundational values which leaders (and others) want to sow and give regular attention. These seeds of character need cultivating.  And whereas some external conditions in farming like weather patterns are not predictable or controllable, perhaps our behaviors ought to be. Jesus said “Let your light so shine before people that they see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

When my untrained farming eye first started gazing at large fields of maize, I was impressed.  What a great harvest! After some time, however, I discovered there was something even better going on, something else was growing in between the rows of the tall corn stalks that I didn’t see. Beans had been planted in the gaps, enabling farmers to reap not just one crop, but two. While the corn is hovering high, beans are being produced closer to the ground. Optimal use of the field is happening!  (And by the way, I’ve tasted the beans here - they are quite yummy and provide great protein too.)

One of the goals for leading as a coach is to identify and help fill in the gaps of what is missing in the culture being created, for the purpose of an improved future. It’s easy sometimes to see all that’s good and miss some prime opportunities.  The former Salvation Army General, Andre Cox, reminded us that we cannot depend on our past successes, no matter how great they appear to be. There are still gaps missing.  Filling the gaps in churches and also in our individual lives (whether we are leaders or not), means becoming aware of what can be better, admitting what we have possibly overlooked, and exploring the prospects of a forward movement or a better direction. This requires a combined effort with lots of helpful and loving support. Leadership is not a solo sport and we can always accomplish more together than alone. The cultivating process farmers use is not done by one person.  There’s too much to do and too much at stake.

When crops yield a productive harvest, I’ve seen how happy people are. Conversations in the tea room at the office or with the locals on the street are naturally more jovial when the farming year has been a good one. Everyone benefits - families, the economy, the church and the community. The process has been worthwhile when all contributing factors are working in the same direction and goals are accomplished.  If however the conditions have not been favorable and the results are less than what was imagined, I also see that the farmer doesn’t give up.  If a crop has failed or is poor, the farmer must examine the reason why and commit to a change for the following year.  Was something neglected? What changes are required for better results? What can be done differently? And of course, acknowledging what was uncontrollable (like the weather).  Instead of yielding to despair, new commitments (alternative actions) can ensure progress.  Before long, there is a new year ahead! Another opportunity and fresh space to adjust, regroup, learn, and plant again.

In leader coaching, as we build trust through healthy relationships and focus on common goals, we gain traction in moving beyond resistance (our own or what is in others) and discover together new possibilities for more favorable outcomes.  Commitments and helpful support will enable us to set our sights on the fields around us which are “white unto harvest”, knowing that nothing is wasted when we are leaning and growing.

Coaching and cultivating may have an array of meanings for different people. For me, they are opportunities for wise investments, developing something beyond ourselves, and foreseeing greater takeaways!   On this Canadian Thanksgiving Day, among many reasons for gratitude, the ability to learn, improve and grow is definitely on my list.