Spiritual Life Journey Transformation through Coaching

Research Paper Assessment

Name: Gopalakrishna G Gubbi Date: 11 July 2012 Student ID: Email: gggubbi@gmail.com

Complete your 2000 word research paper and insert it in the space below. Then email this document as an attachment to assessment@icoachacademy.com

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Spiritual Life Journey Transformation through Coaching SPIRITUAL LIFE JOURNEY TRANSFORMATION THROUGH COACHING

Table of contents
Research Paper Assessment ... 1 Table of Contents . 2 1.INTRODUCTION . 3 2.WHAT IS COACHING .. 4 3.SPIRITUAL COACHING .. 4 4.SPIRITUAL COACHING - INTERVENTION THROUGH MEDITATION ... 6 a. b. c. d. e. Helping clients to believe in themselves... 7 Showing clients how to take control of their lives... 7 Teaching clients to understand their life purpose.. 7 Guiding clients to realize their purpose.... 8 Uplifting clients to live to the fullest.. 8

5.RESEARCH APPROACH 9 a. Findings.. 10 b. Survey Conclusion ... 11 6.SUMMARY . 12 7.CONCLUSION 12 8.REFERENCES .. 13 9.ANNEXURE : SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 14

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Spiritual Life Journey Transformation through Coaching

1. INTRODUCTION In todays world, the human beings are more self centric, materialistic, racing behind recognition & success, rushing to make exponential money and so on. As a result, the many of them are frustrated, feeling tired & lost energy syndrome, feeling restless, rushing ahead goalless & loosing meaning in life. The result of such in ones routine life is - lost track of wellness, short lived satisfaction, anxiety syndrome in most of the activities, loosing quality life, increased suicides, increased divorce cases, unhealthy sexual relations, increased employee turnover, work place environment with least of trust & confidence between managementmanager-member, increased faults & frauds, etc. The number of such cases is increasing globally. Arianna H of the Huffington Post wrote, the conventional view of human nature embedded in our educational systems, business practices and political culture makes the people more detached, rational and objective and makes individuals as autonomous agents in pursuit of material acquisition than promoting family/relatives/colleagues in a shared and interconnected world. The above situation has definitely disturbed the society in general and organisation & family in particular. The global study indicates that this disturbing environment has noticeably influenced people & organisations to recall the Coaching need. Effective 1980s, the Coaching concept has slowly spread-over among Life, Family, Life Cycle, Career, Health/Wellness, Business, Workplace, Executive, Spiritual, etc.

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Spiritual Life Journey Transformation through Coaching

2. WHAT IS COACHING To define Coaching, it is an ongoing partnership between a client and a qualified coach, which is entered into to assist an individual to produce fulfilling results in their personal and/or professional life. Coaching involves profiling ones life to determine strengths and areas of improvement, primarily the asking of questions in professional manner to assist individuals and groups to raise their consciousness to understand unconscious or conscious motivation, to change unconstructive thoughts, words and actions into positive ones, to achieve goals, to solve challenges and stream in genius solutions for permanent positive change. Coaching is unlocking a persons potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. Every being has an answer within. Coaching is an interactional process born from a space of unconditional love and wholeness, which catalyses the awakening in a client of his/her real Self and inspires him/her to be who they truly are. Upon deeper examination of the coaching trend, one might say that it is clear that society has shifted away from earlier models of success, and is now favouring personal definitions of fulfilment based on individual values. Whether at home or the work place, the environment is shifting to co-creation/collaboration/coordination/cooperation, work with wisdom compared to the days of authoritarian / power / instruction driven approach. That is where Spiritual Coaching comes in. One of these so-called terms is harnessing the transformative power of Spirit so that we are in touch with our Higher Self and hear inner guidance/guidelines.

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Spiritual Life Journey Transformation through Coaching

3. SPIRITUAL COACHING As Albert Einstein quotes, Spiritual Coaching can address the intent of people who would like to be man of value vs becoming man of success. Spirituality is all about living a fulfilled life and the mode to reach status of enlightenment & personal mastery. A spiritual human being is a happy and successful human being. Success is not about how much money one has amassed in his life; it is rather about the degree of happiness life moments he has attained and continues to gain such moments. Success, in other words, is a measure of contentment every-day life moments have offered. Life indeed is a journey that one has decided to take in the direction of achieving self defined goals. Very naturally, one ought to enjoy every step in this journey, not just the final outcome. For example, if one is completely busy with his business building/expansion activities and in the process fails to enjoy the moments with the close-net family (spouse, children), then the very essence of his living is lost, and the business he is building/expanding would never give him everlasting peace and happiness neither to him nor his family members. Therefore, while he builds his business (& business goals), he must also give/plan quality moments to the ones he care for, and the ones who care for him. Many say that coaching is the latest evolution in the arena of self-improvement, and its transformative power is being embraced by tens of thousands both personally and in business. Spiritual Coaching is everything that we may have experienced and understood about what coaching to be, but with certain added elements that distinguishes it. Those elements are based on the idea of consciousness and for a better life. The point of this type of coaching is to take spiritual principles and spiritual ideals into the real world, so that they can be applied practically to several aspects of ones life. This would produce greater success in clients endeavour and also promote personal evolution on every level of his/her life activities/approaches like satisfying his/her common desire to grow, be happy, master life and imbibe peace.
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Spiritual Life Journey Transformation through Coaching

A spiritual coach teaches you how to live from consciousness. A spiritual coach focuses on the inner workings of clients mind, body, and soul. A spiritual coach can help client learn that spirituality is often one of the best tools that one can use to overcome life's troubles. A spiritual coach will also show you how to break free of a lifetime's worth of limitations and help you find joy and true peace. 4. SPIRITUAL COACHING INTERVENTION THROUGH MEDITATION As historically known, the meditation techniques has philosophically and scientifically proved transforming people positively. Today this powerful tool & technique is widely applied in organisations for developing individuals, leaders and managers to improve self realization (ability, potential, confidence, etc.), build harmony at the work place & mould leaders to be in inspiring/motivating space with goal clarity. The regular meditation process offers space for positivity and possibility in ones life through : 1) self awareness 2) realizing their values & beliefs 3) self mastery to take appropriate actions & change themselves for positive move. Through the meditation process, a qualified Coach would take the client to draw the inner energy by connecting to Body Chakras*.
*Sanskrit word = wheel in our body which acts as electro-magnetic field. Close to 90 deg angle, Chakra is in our Spinal card root,

novel, heart, throat, centre of eyes &in brain. Each one produces its own energy and influence our thought/actions.

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The benefits of regular meditation for the client : a) Ability to tap quickly into our intuition for questions that generate the best results b) Enables forward thinking in creating doable plan of action without any anxiety c) Allows creative ideas flow in the fresh mind/brain of client d) Sets mind & body with ease & gentleness while handling complex situations e) Influences faith in self and others (with positive energy) around. Meditation opens up our creative centres in the brain. It prevents many disasters because wisdom comes to you before the disaster happen. Since we all have the wisdom inside of us already, meditation is a mode to access it. From the Client-Coach perspective : a. Helping clients to believe in themselves : When we understand ourselves as spiritual beings having a physical experience, we also recognize that we are magnificent individuals with infinite potential. When this happens, life takes on new meaning. In the process, a Coach can bring Self Awareness within the client. Realisation of Self (strengths & limits) enables natural confidence in the clients mind. It moulds him to be more assertive in the organisational decision making context or self dependent in his activities. b. Showing clients how to take control of their lives : Today, most people are running on blindfold, controlled by what they have been taught to believe and what others expect of them. For their magnificence to blossom, they have to take control of self and change course. The meditation influences Self management in clients life & act appropriately in their routine life. c. Teaching clients to understand their life purpose : Spiritually, each of us is here for a reason, with magnificent gifts to share. Learning about ourselves and learning to live in harmony with our purpose is a tremendous gift. The meditation process enables the client to scan his own beliefs & values** and thus transform his thinking/approach in life appropriately. In the

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organisation context, this works positively in building healthy relationship between client and his colleagues/peers/superiors. This enables positive energy in the work environment.
** Spiritual values could include honesty, self love, confidence, trust, respecting others, humility, etc.

d. Guiding clients to realize their purpose : This involves setting life goals (self, family & social) and taking action to realize their dreams. As they do this, life truly takes on new meaning. As Maslow states, this 4th phase of individuals need hierarchy enables the client to phrase his self confidence, self ability, visualized achievements and thus map professional growth accordingly. The organisation is much benefited by his goal clarity and enables them to plan his career development which would be mutually beneficial & purposeful. e. Uplifting clients to live to the fullest. Think about the joy of feeling excited about being alive each day and moving toward the brightest possible future. The client at this space of self actualisation will be in a position : - to carve his professional/personal destiny, - feel contented in all perspective of life, - to inspire/motivate others, - voluntarily share his expertise/ experience for the benefit of people around. Through the Coaching intervention, the Coach should assist/support the Client in defining the very purpose of clients existence - which is to nourish his spirit while realizing his goals. The quality of Clients life is dependent on the degree of awareness that is brought into his everyday living moments. This happens when the client is a witness to every moment that his life is bringing forth, and this witnessing should happen without the interference of the mind (here & now status). When the mind interferes, then the client is living either in the past or in the future. But real living is only in the moment, not in the past, nor in the future. Nourishing ones spirit is all about living the moment as he is working towards fulfilling his goals. This process would naturally take the person to his/her destiny.

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In Spiritual Coaching, the Coach should help the Client to nourish his spirit and take him towards preset goal in a way that brings a different dimension of life into his living. The Spiritual coaches in our recent history including Lord Krishna, Buddha, Christ, Mohammed, Lao Tsu, Nanak, Mahatma Gandhi & so on, who showed the possibilities of attaining following by practicing spiritual life : a) Self mastery b) Strong intuition c) Balanced health d) Happiness sustained e) Inner peace f) Repeat success g) Leadership and natural attraction h) Increased credibility i) Harmony and ability to recognize potential of others j) Growth in their chosen area spiritual, professional, political, etc. k) Improved relationship

5. RESEARCH APPROACH A small survey was conducted to understand the awareness among working professionals about coaching intervention in general and about Spiritual Coaching in particular. The questionnaire was sent to 25 working people across the country in India. The intent of this effort was to get clarity on the need of Spiritual Coaching & the perceived influence in building positivity/healthy work environment. (Due to paucity of time, the survey inputs were collected through telecom responses).

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a. Findings Respondents were in the Managers to Vice Presidents grades 90% of the respondents said that their organisation had offered coaching (internal/external) intervention. In balance 10% cases, they were not offered Coaching intervention since their organisation concentrated only on Leadership team for Coaching. Respondents took the liberty to identify few coaching styles familiar to them. o 80% of them are familiar with Executive Coaching o 30% of them are familiar with Life Coaching o 30% of them are familiar with any other Coaching which includes Coaching for Performance, Behavioral Coaching & Coaching for Leadership Development. Respondents were offered following Coaching intervention in their respective organisation : o o o o o 35% had gone through Executive Coaching 25% had gone through Leadership Coaching 5% had gone through Life Coaching 25% had gone through Behavioral Coaching 10% had gone through Performance Coaching

Surprisingly, only 10% of the respondents said that their organisation gave them the option to choose among the type of Coaching intervention whereas 90% stated they were not given any such choice by the senior management.

Of the 80% respondents, significant size defined Spiritual Coaching as an intervention which could enable them to explore their inner power, values, ethics, transparency, inner conviction, hidden creativity, love & affection for self & for people around, clean & openness, belief in self, others & God.

Surprisingly none of the respondents organisations have applied Spiritual Coaching in their organisation. On the other hand, significant size of the 80% respondents expressed
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that Spiritual Coaching best suits the Indian traditional/cultural environment and can produce the challenging positivity in the work/family environment. They are astonished as to why their companies have not thought about this approach. Some of them stated the advantages of Spiritual Coaching as follows : o A coaching intervention which can be offered to all levels of employees either through internal or external Coaches. o It will promote sense of commitment, ownership, transparency, harmony among the people & departments o It can promote positive culture, work environment, good values & ethics within the organisation. o It can build healthy relationship among all hierarchy and bond the people at all levels. o Such intervention would influence self awareness, self confidence, self discipline, self management among the Coachee and that would create the wonders for the management & customers. o It would enable contentment among employees & thus will influence better retention of valuable talents within the organisation. b. Survey conclusion It is good to notice that most of the respondent organisation covered in the survey offers Coaching intervention. However the number of opportunities gets reduced on top-down hierarchy approach. The survey could not cover the reasoning for non-optional coaching intervention offered by many organisations. It is good to record that most of the respondents expressed their astonishment about noninclusion of Spiritual Coaching among the available coaching intervention and expressed their strong recommendation that such intervention is very much required for employees in the Indian context.

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6. SUMMARY Spiritual Coaching supports us to achieve wholeness in other words the integration of all parts of our being body, mind, heart, spirit and soul into a highly functioning Self. Through coaching models based in Spirit, we can deepen and re-define lifes meaning and begin to emerge truly empowered in life. This takes place because we access a more authentic sense of who we are as human beings and discover a genuine connection to life, to spiritual dimensions, to our own dreams, and to other people which leads us with greater potential, increased fulfilment and a fuller expression of our personal power. By ensuring Spirit in clients lives, coach can support client to rise above the mass consciousness and become true leaders who know how to solve the problems in a matured manner. Spiritual Coaching can help repair the moral fabric of ones lives to prevent a lot of unnecessary hardship and suffering. The Coach is an Architect. Spiritual Coaching can change this actuality as it supports clients journey to become naturally aware of our thoughts, words and actions. 7. CONCLUSION As stated in MITs Sloan Management Research Study, People are hungry for ways in which to practice spirituality in the workplace without offending their co-workers or causing acrimony. It is better to understand that Spirituality is not a reference to any religion, caste, creed, geography, etc. It is about how ones positive beliefs are applied in his/her day-today life. Business Week magazine reported on research by McKinsey & Co. in Australia that found productivity improved & people turnover reduced when some companies applied spiritual techniques in some of the engagement programs for their employees. It is important to understand that organisations do give priority at achieving their business goals, earn better profits & move ahead with business expansion programs and further investments. To achieve defined business milestones, they concentrate more on business

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coaching, leadership coaching and executive coaching as appropriate interventions to enable their business leaders to think differently and work towards the target. While the above happens at the outer part of the materialistic world, there is a need to explore the vast potential of within self. Believe it or not, theres a purpose to everyones existence. Gifted are those who are able to realize their purpose and live towards achieving it, irrespective of whether the world has recognized them or not. The Spiritual Coach can assist/support the client towards his/her internal journey to explore the wonderful inner-self available within clients body, mind & soul. Such self exploration could create immense energy like the rocket propeller engine which when switched on, can take the client to the greater height where sky is the limit. Ultimately what makes you (client) special is whether you (client) have been successful in nourishing your spirit as you are moving towards achieving your professional/personal goals. 8. REFERENCES :
Book of Secrets by Osho Biology of beliefs by Bruce Lipton The inner game by Timothy Gallway Dance of Insight by David Rocks A way of being by Rogers.C.R. The Art of Happiness, a handbook for living by Dalai Lama Your inner Coach by McDermott and Jago W Meditation and Chakras in Wikipedia

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Annexure Questionnaire Employees Spiritual Life Journey Transformation through Coaching

Name : ___________________________ Gender : M/F

Age : ___________________________ Occupation : ______________________

Based on your past 3 years experience, please answer the following : Q1. Do your organisation have/had offered Coaching intervention to the employees : Yes / No Q2. Which of the following Coaching styles you are familiar with : a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. Business Coaching Executive Coaching Health/Wellness Coaching Career Coaching Finance & Wealth Coaching Sales Coaching Life Coaching Spiritual Coaching Any other

Q3. Which of the above Coaching were offered in your organisation. Q4. Does your organisation offers opportunity to opt for Coaching of your choice ? Q5. What is your understanding about Spiritual Coaching : Q6. Do you think Spiritual Coaching is required for Employees and if so, why ?

Thanks for taking out precious time in responding to this request. Your profile details are kept confidential.

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