COACHING - A SUPPORT FOR DOCTORS IN THE 'AGE OF UNREASON'

By Brian McMullen
Contact the author by e-mail at brian@peakflow.org.uk

hoolet readers are an erudite bunch (I'm generalising since I only know a few ..... it's a compliment anyway!)

So I'm positive that you can recall several books that changed your lives. One such for me was "The Age of Unreason" by Charles Handy. It was published in 1989 just as the last “New Contract" was about to reform general practice with the previous set of performance targets. Fifteen years later, as we meet radical new changes with another contract a new phenomenon Coaching has arrived. Both Life Coaching and Handy's book were responses to the challenge of change.

What is Coaching?
Coaching has been around for a long time in the world of sport. It was Thomas Leonard who transposed many of the ideas from sport into personal development. Leonard was a pioneer and visionary in the world of coaching. He founded two of the main training organisations, Coach U and CoachVille. He was single, had a family history of heart disease and died last year of a heart attack, at the age of 47, after leaving the gym.

There are many definitions of coaching. Dave Buck followed Leonard as CEO of CoachVille and I like his definition ...

“Coaching is inspiring an individual or team to produce a desired result through personalized teaching, expanding awareness and designing environments”.

So you may already be a coach without realising this!
Coaching is personal development. Whereas counselling and therapy start from a place of dysfunction, coaching emphasises our potential and possibilities. Like the athlete, we are on a journey of fulfilment in life. A coach is there to help improve our motivation.

There are different models for coaching. Some emphasise behavioural psychology. Others are more concerned with finding meaning in our life and work and so have a spiritual as well as emotional component.

Coaching and Medicine
In the original introduction to his book, Handy describes "the besetting sin of modern life, reductionism". Many doctors struggle to find fulfilment in a Biomedicine where the concept of a healing doctor-patient relationship is under such time pressure. There are many positive signs that the culture is changing. The increase in the female influence in the profession has seen a change in the work/life balance. Appraisal is altering our approach to continuing education. Support has improved in the forms of mentoring and coaching. A coach may even provide "mentor replacement therapy". A good coach needs many of the characteristics of a good Appraiser and a communication skills tutor. Like a good GP they need to be comfortable with discomfort. They are excellent at motivating people for change.

Medicine offers a rich variety of work places. There are many opportunities for a "portfolio". Handy coined the word in 1989. Part of my excitement in reading the book was discovering that work/life could be so rich. His description of wage work, fee work, homework, gift work and study work became my model for a more fulfilling life.

The Age of Unreason
The story of Handy's book rests on the assumption that the change taking place in our society now is discontinuous. This happens from time to time in history and it can be confusing and disturbing. This is especially true for doctors who have had a position of authority.

To handle discontinuous change we need discontinuous thinking. Einstein once said “You cannot solve a problem using the same type of thinking that created the problem in the first place".

We also need skills of emotional and spiritual intelligence that have not so far been part of our education system. It has been estimated that we only use about 5% of our brain potential.

How will you respond to the changes in your life and work?
Imagine a health service where the most important factors are positive thinking, motivation and forgiveness when errors are made. An environment where self care is promoted and the goal is balance of mind, body and soul. It may take some time for the NHS to get there and it is a choice that is available to you and me now.

Coaching is about supporting doctors in a time of discontinuous change. It is part of the culture shift in medicine. More than this, it is motivating people to fulfil their potential and move on with confidence. Ultimately it is about investing in your self. Which leads me into the last word from Handy. He was waiting outside the door of the Personnel Manager of a large multi-national company of his youth. A "wily old Scot" passed by who had worked there for a long time. "What are you waiting for laddie?" he asked. "I'm waiting to see what they are planning for me"

"Och, invest in yourself, my boy, don't wait for them. Invest in yourself; if you don't, why should they?"

Brian McMullen is a freelance GP and a coach. His portfolio of work also includes the GMC and the Open University. He can be contacted at brian@peakflow.org.uk

hoolet is the magazine of RCGP Scotland. It is supported intellectually, financially and emotionally by RCGP Scotland.

This issue maintained by Robert Hallam.