Expanding Your Group and Team Coaching Toolkit - Inner Critic - 21

Work around the Inner Critic, The Saboteur, or Gremlin is at the core of many coaching processes

and models. As we move through a process of change it’s useful to remember that the Inner Critic surfaces, making it known that change is afoot.

The Inner Critic can take many forms, and is an internal voice the coaching client will hear when change is happening. From saying “you are not good enough” to “who will care”, the inner critic is often grounded in our core identity, values and belief systems. The voice of the inner critic will point to different perspectives, as well as assumptions at play.

At different stages of the coaching process, it will be important to identify when the Inner Critic is showing up and to determine how you want to address it. Unchecked, the Inner Critic can derail the best plans, getting in the way of action and progress. It can be a signal that there is deeper work to be undertaken around mindsets, beliefs and assumptions.

In a group coaching context, it is likely that the inner critic is getting activated at different times as group members hit different stages in the coaching process. Our approach to working with the inner critic may also be variable. Some clients may want to take a playful, exploratory approach with the Inner Critic, by giving it a shape, or a voice. Others may want to box the inner critic, while others may want to banish them. Given that the inner critic is part of ourselves, and may be a signal of protection, it’s important to gain more experience and tools in this area.

While an entire team may have limiting beliefs, there may not be one voice of the inner critic which exists in a team context. As such, inner critic work may be more pervasive in the team context than the group context.

For more on inner critic, do check out these resources:

Taming Your Gremlin -Rick Carson

Positive Intelligence - Shirzad Chamine

Questions to consider :

1.       What inner critics are surfacing as you move through change?

2.       What do they look like? Give them a voice, a dress, notice their manners…

3.       What changes are the inner critic signalling?

4.       As you move through change, what is the inner critic wanting to hold onto?

5.       What would be a more empowering belief for you?

6.       What’s another way of approaching change?

Enjoy the exploration,

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, PCC – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
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