Ontological coaching emerges as a necessary response to a changing, dizzying and unpredictable world. Based on this, the ECOA School (American Ontological Coaching School) was born in 2010 under the direction of Lic. Pablo Seghezzo and Lic. Fernando Persello. “Many people ask us what “ontological” means, and precisely there lies the superior proposal of coaching that we propose. Ontological refers to the being of things, and coaching means “training”, so ontological coaching means “training of being”. Being, where our beliefs and particular ways of interpreting the world live, is ultimately what generates actions, and is the great forgotten in our culture. From coaching we try to reach the centrality of a way of being, that generates responsible and sustainable actions”, explains Pablo Seghezzo, Lic. in Leadership and Organizational Management, Professional Ontological Master Coach and Academic Director of ECOA.
“We live in interpretive worlds, and those interpretations belong to us, hence what someone may consider a superior proposal, another may see as unfeasible. The problem is that we have not incorporated this notion into our culture, which produces cracks and clashes in the bid to be right. If we let go of the paradigm of the only truth, we could open ourselves to a dialogue with others and with ourselves, free of absolutism. We need to enter the world of diversity of ideas, not as a threat, but as something positive and creative. Today’s world asks to migrate from the universe to the multiverse”, adds Fernando Persello, Bachelor of Organizational Development, Professional Master Coach and Executive Director of ECOA.
– Does this mean that the way we learned to relate to each other is no longer efficient or useful?
The system around us has become something unknown to previous generations, and the answers we had no longer work. There is a world that no longer exists, resisting what is happening and encamping in the old obsolete formulas produces a decoupling with reality, which in the long run generates individual and social suffering and discomfort.
– What are the new capacities that are needed to be able to live in this new world?
To generate positive results, we need competencies that not only have to do with technical knowledge focused on doing (what we call hard competencies), but mainly with human competencies (called soft) that allow us to coexist ecologically and with flexibility for constant creation of new learning that emergent contexts demand of us.
– How does ontological coaching work to achieve these human or soft skills?
Ontological coaching is a conversational discipline that seeks generative questions, evoking commitment and creativity, focused on possibility. It applies to any discipline that can be perfected, from the personal to the organizational, executive, political, sports, couple, sales, etc. It is transversal to any discipline since it takes charge of observing and transforming the way of being on which behaviors are based. It works from individual conversations, in personal sessions, to group interventions to teams where tools are provided for the realization of the objectives set. From coaching we propose that the human factor is the greatest capital in any project, company or organization.
– What is the fundamental principle on which ontological coaching is based?
From the ontological perspective, we recognize that we are not only particular observers of reality, but also creators of it. One of the fundamental principles of ontological coaching is responsibility. We create the conditions of our realities with our human and especially conversational abilities (or incapacities). Taking charge of this is the beginning of the path of transformation.
– Are all clients looking for the same thing in coaching?
Many people who turn to ontological coaching are quick to want to know “how” they should do to obtain the results they want, but they do not have the questions at hand that lead them to review “who” they are being, what are the values that support them, what are the purposes that move them and what are the assumptions from which they start. From coaching we maintain that the shape of our being is key and profoundly affects the shape of the results we have. A caterpillar needs to take on the shape of a butterfly in order to fly, but to get to that shape it must undergo a transformation process called “metamorphosis.” Once transformed, it will be virtually unavoidable for him to fly. The proposal of ontological coaching is the positive and responsible transformation of ourselves and our environment to achieve individual and social well-being. Our ECOA school is committed to promoting this superior proposal with its staff and coaches in each of its locations.
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by CEDOC