All Right Now - The Paradox of Change with John Leary-Joyce

What really creates change - in coaching, in leadership, and in life?Highly RelationalSeason 4 - Episode 5All Right Now - The Paradox of Changewith John Leary-JoyceIn this episode, host Robert Digings is joined by John Leary-Joyce, one of the UK’s foremost Gestalt practitioners and pioneers of Gestalt coaching. Founder and CEO of the Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC), co-founder of the Gestalt Centre London, and author of The Fertile Void: Gestalt Coaching at Work, John has spent more than 45 years developing and teaching relational, embodied ways of working.Together, Robert and John explore how Gestalt principles - awareness, contact, embodiment, and presence - translate from therapy and personal development into leadership, team coaching, and organisational life.In this conversation, they discuss:🌀 The power and magic of working in the moment - and why presence changes everything🧠 How emotions and anxiety disrupt clear thinking, and how the body offers a direct route back to awareness💬 What Gestalt reveals about contact, connection, and the interruptions that limit our aliveness🌿 The Paradox of Change - why transformation happens when we stop trying to be what we’re not🧘‍♀️ The Fertile Void - trusting the creative potential that emerges when we pause and allow💃 What tango and Gestalt have in common - and what 'flow' looks like in both movement and leadership🧩 How great teams mirror this flow: open, connected, and unafraid to speak or stay silentJohn’s message is timeless: real change begins in the present moment. When we stop striving and simply allow ourselves to be, the relationship - and the learning - takes care of itself.John Leary-Joyce:www.linkedin.com/in/learyjoycewww.aoec.comRobert Digings:www.linkedin.com/in/robertdigingswww.highlyrelational.comTeam Development Consultant and Executive CoachRobert has been working with teams and their challenges for over 20 years. He has discovered that the biggest improvements come when a team has the courage to do the challenging work of developing deep personal connections and a real sense of belonging.In this business podcast Robert explores the insights, experience and advice from other experts in the field of human collaboration, be they leaders, authors, coaches or consultants.Production credits:Studio Engineer at Premiere Podcast Studios - Hetal PatelPost Production - Shaun LawsonSeries Producer - Julie Allen© 2025 Highly Relational LimitedFind Highly Relational on all your favourite podcast apps or YouTubeIf you are enjoying the listen, hit subscribe and leave us a review! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.