When the world shut down to a virus at the start of the year, a significant number of people turned up the dial on a necessary human upgrade. New kinds of communities evolved. Sporting and performance enthusiasts took to the rooftops to ignite joy through movement, and everyday heroes channelled their inner child to scale the world’s greatest drive-by teddy bear hunt that delighted the wild minds of children and their families otherwise stuck indoors. So how does Coach2020 come into play here?
Amongst the muddy waters of an uncertain future, stories of unexpected acts of human goodness, courage, and kindness filled up my social feed. They provided an instantaneous hit of meaning, and reminded me of the difference I, too, could continue to make for others. According to psychologist Jonathan Haidt, I was experiencing ‘elevation’, a ‘warm, uplifting feeling’ born out of witnessing exemplary acts of kindness that makes us ‘want to help others and become a better person’.
When the days are long, and the world is uncertain, elevation is a feeling that can keep the light at the end of the tunnel shining. The people who ignite and fuel that light are special people indeed.
In my opinion, Anna Sheppard, founder of Bambuddha Group is one of those people. And so are her community of brave hearts. It has been my utmost pleasure and privilege to lend my knowledge and expertise to develop Coach 2020, a program and coaching ethos I hope will serve this growing community who act as a force for good in a world that so desperately needs it.
When Anna and I dreamed up this initiative, our shared vision was to create a new kind of Kindness Coach, capable of eliciting the spirit of elevation through the ethos of BAM Coaching, a framework I designed in an attempt to synthesise scientific knowledge with practical wisdom from Eastern and Western cultures.
With BAM in mind, the coaches in your organisation can join us in our mission to establish kindness coaching as a personal and professional development vehicle that promotes business for good.
BAM stands for
B – Beginner’s Mind
A – Awareness to Action
M – Meaningful living
Beginner’s Mind
Kindness Coaches are curious. They recognise that in order to understand the depths of another person’s lived experience, they need to ask good questions that breakthrough their own assumptions. By adopting a beginner’s mind, they bring the qualities of a humanistic approach to their coaching, such as empathy, authenticity and unconditional positive regard. When coaches bring their whole selves, and invite their coachee to do the same, they co-create a safe, non-judgmental space from which they can help others to maximise their wellbeing and explore and realise their full potential.
Awareness to Action
The Bambuddha tribe are driven to get things done and are constantly exploring new and novel ways to change the status quo for the greater good. Bambuddha coaches recognize that the process of turning awareness into action takes patience, perseverance, and loving, kind support. That’s why they arm their coaching toolkits with a diverse range of evidence-based strategies that support human motivation and behaviour change, and work together to stay ahead and contribute to the growing, collective body of research and practice applied to business for good.
Meaningful Living
Kind-hearted humans driven to make a difference can find themselves feeling overwhelmed with the change they want to create. Kindness Coaches help their people to retain a sense of groundedness and focus with questions that offer a reflection on three pillars of meaningful living:
- Does this align to my values? (is it significant to me and others)
- Does this align to the story and vision of how I want the world to be? (does it makes sense)
- Does this goal align to the greater good I am contributing to? (is it purpose-driven)
(For more on the pillars of Meaning, refer to the work of Frank Martela and Michael Steger)
With the heart and soul of the growing Bambuddha community in mind, we have found a collective of wholehearted humans, who are willing to share their fierce intellect and practical wisdom to serve as Kindness Coaches. If your team is ready to join the human upgrade, I encourage you to consider joining this movement, so that together, we can lean into one of the most powerful vehicles of growth, human connection.
To enquire about Bambuddha’s offerings and services including Individual and Team Memberships contact Tom, our Community Manager here today at [email protected].
