52: The Meaning of Life (Coaching) with Nick Bolton

In this podcast, Nick and Simon go on an intriguing journey that explores coaching from different perspectives. Nick shares his experiences of what is called ‘life coaching’ and reflects on how this differs, and shares common ground with, executive coaching and other forms of helping relationships such as counselling and psychotherapy.  Nick believes that coaching is a new configuration, built on the shoulders of giants i.e. it draws from the well of knowledge and practices from psychology, psychotherapy and more. Yet he also claims that coaching delivers its support to others in a new way, and also that it has created a new and different client group.  Contemporary society demands a lot emotionally and psychologically and navigating our way through ‘life coaching’ has emerged because it can be beneficial in this domain. Those who are attracted to life coaching aren’t typically experiencing their lives as dysfunctional or suffering in a way that might attract them to psychotherapy or counselling. This opens up a new space to explore and leads to new conversations, methods and insights.  In this fascinating podcast, what it means to be human emerges to be at the centre of Nick's work.  Nick Bolton is the founder and CEO of Animas Centre for Coaching and the International Centre for Coaching Supervision. With a particular interest in the role of coaching in helping individuals navigate existential issues and the complexities of 21st-century life, Nick combines a solution-focused approach with a deeper inquiry into the client’s worldview which contributes to, though isn’t exclusively responsible for, the conditions or dilemmas they are facing. Nick is an avid lifelong learner and recognises that anything he says today merely reflects his limited thinking in the moment. He considers that a wise disclaimer for any foolishness he says along the way!