Mike Hohnen

Mike has his own unique style. He draws on more than 27 years experience. He has worked most positions in the service industry and feels at home in more major cities than most people.

Mike Hohnen

Archive for the category 'General'

Coaching det ku’ være så godt….

Det er ikke så tit jeg planlægger en hel aften foran skærmen – men kombination af at det var DR2 ( havde det været TV2 ville jeg ha vidst bedre) og emnet coaching fik mig til at rydde aftenen og sætte mig godt tilrette – ja, oven i købet med en blok og en blyant inden for rækkevidde – det her kan jeg garanteret lære noget af, tænkte jeg.

Men ak – det var godt nok den mest miserable forestilling jeg længe har været vidne til. En gang tandløs sødsuppe journalistik fra start til slut – ikke helt til slut. Jeg synes faktisk, at det sidste indslag med Carsten Mørk havde sine positive sider. Men Carsten Mørk – dygtig som han sikkert er – er jo ikke ligefrem en nyhed (de stakkels kaniner skulle frem fra arkiverne – igen…)

Der var en dejlig promotion for brillebutikken på strøget – og de havde flotte briller alle sammen – men hvad de rent faktisk reelt brugte de coaches til konkret, det fandt vi aldrig ud af. Der var ikke noget: ”Jeg stod her i livet, og efter mit coaching forløb skete der helt konkret det og det ..”Nul og nix – bare 2900 Café Latte idyl og smoothies.

Sikke en fuldstændig forspildt chance for at lave noget virkelig interessant fjernsyn. Tænk, hvor kunne det havde været spændende at få belyst, hvad coaching virkelig er, og hvor mange forskellige opfattelser af coaching, der findes. Eller en debatrunde med nogle af de meget forskellig coaches.
Eller bore lidt i spørgsmålet nogen coaches koster 500 kr per time og andre 5000 per time - hvad er forskellen. Coaching er på mange måder lige så broget som brugtvogns markedet.

Hvor var den skarpe og kritiske gennemgang af coachens forudsætninger – hvad kan de? Hvad har de lært? Eller én der tog fat i, at de der virkelig tjener penge på coaching er dem, der uddanner coaches – som så til gengæld har det noget sværere med få det til at løbe rundt (der er noget pyramidesalg over det).

Men nej – vi fik langsomme billeder af mor og datter – bagfra – på en græsmark. Efter at de have talt en del om at lade være med at smække med døre… og så fik vi en omgang landsbyidyl fra trekantsområdet. Her forstod jeg aldrig hvori coaching bestod, eller også ved jeg bare ikke hvad coaching er – eller måske jeg bare var faldet lidt i søvn på det tidspunkt….

Afsnittet med damen der tog til coach for at blive hjulpet med sin trafikskræk – ja han klarede det da rigtig flot, den gode prof coach – men helt ærligt, hvorfor er der ikke nogen, der har fortalt dem, at den slags problemer ikke er coachingproblemer, og at meget få coaches overhovet er klædt på til at tackle det, der i virkeligheder hører ind under angstlidelser og som virkelig er noget, der kræver stor viden og indsigt at kunne behandle. Det er ikke noget, ’Johnson’ lige kan trille os hen og få fikset mellem to foredrag.

Og den stakles Lasse Zael, der blev præsenteret som Danmarks bedst erhvervscoach, fik ikke mange chancer for at give os bare et lille glimt af, hvad det så er han kan – og som er så godt for erhvervslivet. Sølle fem minutters lommefilosofi på en balkon blev det til…Tænk en interessant samtale/interview, man kunne have haft med den mand i stedet.

Hvis jeg ikke vidste bedre, kunne man tro, at det hele var en stor gang product placement: Promtion for en brillebutik, en Livstilsekspert og en fremtidsforsker – ja vel også en landsby, der gerne skulle have nye tilflyttere nødtørftigt pakket ind under overskriften ‘coaching’.

Utroligt at DR2’s programledelse have sat en hel aften af til et så spændende emne, som er så meget oppe i tiden, lavede sådan en gang hø ud af det.

Ku’ de da bare have hyret en coach til at hjælpe dem fra start….

Sorry, but this post is not available in English

Sorry, but this post is not available in English

Integral Theory in Action

We have been dabling with Integral theory for a few years now – and have slowly gained some understanding of the ideas and maybe more importantly also understood how much more there is to learn. But I think it would be fair to say that at this point the way we run our business and our trainings is definitely integrally informed – probably not 100% compliant but definitely informed.

The combination of theory and practice became very clear to me when I attended the 4 day Integral Theory in Action conference in California this summer – the first of its kind where more than a 100 presenters had submitted papers relating to Integral Theory.

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Integrally informed approaches to transformational leadership development
One presentation: “Integrally informed approaches to transformational leadership development” by Alain Gauthier & Marylin Fowler was particularly interesting from my point of view.

The presenters Alain Gauthier and Marylin Fowler have over a period of 9 months researched more than 20 cutting edge management development programmes. They summarize their key findings as follows:

“The selected programs focus on developing integrally-informed approaches that put equal emphasis on the ‘interior’ dimensions of both individual and collective development (intention, worldview, purpose, vision, values and cultural norms) and on its ‘exterior’ or visible dimensions (behaviors, organizational structures and processes), and how shifts or interventions in these domains must be coherent for change to be both deep and sustainable. They also pay attention to developmental levels in these dimensions, and to the dynamic relationship between individual and collective transformation”

Characteristics of the programme
The research also identified a number of common characteristics of the leading edge programme. They were:

“1. Over a period of four months to two years, they alternate short intensive retreats and months of fieldwork, with periodic individual coaching and/or mentoring by people who know the program well.

2. Their cohorts range from 15 to 25 people, to allow both large group dialogue and individual coaching by faculty members.

3. An attentive selection of candidates ensures both good fit and good timing, with the help of ‘alumni’ who become nominators and/or mentors.

4. They emphasize action learning, offer multiple conceptual frameworks, approaches and practices as possible entry points, and combine inner work, peer learning, individual and team coaching, action-learning projects and community building.

5. There is a strong commitment to values and corresponding behavior patterns throughout the programme (Kofman, 2006).

6. Innovative learning processes include various forms of group and individual practices (Part II refers to a number of these practices as well as many others):

Self-reflection practices such as action inquiry, journaling, meditation, silent nature retreats
Analysis of films and other artwork
Artistic expression, body movements, improvisation
Circle rituals and other forms of deep dialogue
Peer shadowing
Learning journeys
Hands-on ‘prototyping’ and experimentation

7. Programme design and activities evolve over time, based on the evaluation of each retreat and of the overall programme by faculty and participants, as well as on participants’ initiatives within the programme.”

Similar to the way we conduct leadership development in GROW
These finding are of course very encouraging for us – because the seven key characteristics to a very large degree reflect the way we conduct the GROW Service Managment Action Learning programme that we run and that is accredited by the University of Chester. If you are interested in reading the full report of their findings you can download their paper here. You can read some more about how we integrate integral theory in GROW here.

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