Coaching, Flow, and Fulfillment

When we talk about coaching, we inevitably come to speak about the state of flow as well.

Moreover, based on my experience, flow not only enhances the performance of both client and coach, but also brings fulfillment into their lives. Therefore, it is definitely worth exploring how we can cultivate this state, in coaching and beyond.

I strongly believe that we all desire to create fulfilling experiences, for ourselves and the people we serve, influence, lead or inspire. In my view, a coach can do this precisely by facilitating the flow.

I’m excited to share with you that this idea is not just a theoretical notion but has a robust scientific foundation. Research by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who identified the concept of 'flow,' defines it as: "a mental state in which a person is fully absorbed in an activity that they perceive as enjoyable, experiencing a sense of control and complete concentration to the point where they forget about time, fatigue, and other external factors."

Does this resonate with your experience of coaching? It certainly aligns with mine.

Delving further into the scientific study, I found that two conditions need to be met in order to enter the state of flow – conditions that, in my opinion, perfectly describe the requirements for an effective coaching process:

1. a balance between the challenges of the activity (client's issue) and the person's (coach's) skills, and

2. a clear goal with immediate feedback on the progress made toward achieving it.

And this is exactly what happens in coaching - the coach’s role being to guide the client in setting clear objectives and to follow-up on client's progress in achieving them.

In other words, when the coach brings their best self (i.e., highest skills) to the sessions, they can create a state of flow where, by focusing entirely on a clear, positive, and achievable goal of the client, they encourage optimal mental and emotional functioning, thereby catalyzing the performance growth of the people involved.

The best version of a coach, in my view, requires continuous development and professional use of the coaching competencies.

So, how can a coach bring their best self to coaching?

I have identified four key areas of development (feel free to add your own!) that can support coaches enhance their practice. For each area, I’ve included a guiding question that a coach can use to decide which type of development would be most beneficial at different times.

1. Mentoring: Working with a mentor can help a coach improve their competencies, contributing to the balance between challenges and skills, which is essential for the state of flow.
   Guiding Question: Which coaching competency do I need to focus of developing, with a mentor’s guidance, so that I can create a coaching environment that fosters profound and accelerated learning and growth for my clients?

2. Supervision: Provides the coach with the opportunity to reflect, receive feedback, and refine their skills.
   Guiding Question: What key aspects of my work – such as how my coaching impacts me as a human being, the ethical dilemmas that I face, or the impact of my coaching style on my clients and the systems they work within – would benefit most from reflection with my supervisor, leading to essential learnings and significant personal and professional growth?

3. Continuous Education: Professional training courses – such as coaching, supervision, and mentoring - can help a coach develop their competencies and creatively adapt to a wider range of client objectives.
   Guiding Question: What professional training can significantly elevate my coaching competencies to the next level?
   Some examples from my own experience:

   • Coaching Supervision Training: Enhanced my ability to maintain Presence, leading to more impactful coaching sessions.

   • Mastery Coaching School: Helped in achieving high precision, allowing me to Evoke client’s Awareness more effectively for greater clarity and accelerated growth.

   • Coaching Mentoring Training: Enabled me to refine my coaching philosophy and systematically improve each and every coaching competency.

4. Meditation: Enhances mental and emotional clarity, increases focus, and reduces stress, which contributes to improved presence and concentration levels.
   Guiding Question: What type of meditation practices would be most helpful for me to learn and engage in during the day and/or before coaching sessions to better support me in getting out of my own way and fully dedicating the coaching space to my clients?  

A proof of the direct impact of heightened and properly used coaching skills on a coach's ability to generate flow can be clearly demonstrated by the connection that I found between the eight coaching competencies – as defined by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) - and the six characteristics of the state of flow identified by Csikszentmihalyi. For each of them I’ve included a guiding inquiry that a coach can ask the client to better generate both flow and growth. 

1. Demonstrates Ethical Practice: Adhering to ethics creates a framework of trust, generating a sense of control.
   Guiding Inquiry: I appreciate your trust in me when asking for my advice, but I am fully confident that you will find the most appropriate solution during our conversation. So, what would like to focus on further in today’s session?

2. Embodies a Coaching Mindset: An open and client-centered mindset facilitates intense concentration.
   Guiding Inquiry: I’m curious, what makes this goal important to you?

3. Establishes and Maintains Agreements: Setting clear goals and immediate feedback creates the premises for flow and the disappearance of self-perception as a social actor (i.e., what I know about myself, how others see me etc.).
   Guiding Inquiry: How will you know, by the end of our time together today, that we’ve had a successful exploration of this goal?

4. Cultivates Trust and Safety: A safe and trustworthy environment allows the activity to be experienced as enjoyable in itself.
   Guiding Inquiry: What more would you like to share about your feelings (or thoughts) on this matter?

5. Maintains Presence: Maintaining a constant and flexible presence during the coaching sessions can lead to the fusion of action and consciousness.
   Guiding Inquiry: I’m noticing a strong emotion that you might be experiencing and tears coming into your eyes as you share this with me. What is this emotion about?

6. Listens Actively: Engaging in deep listening allows the coach to fully immerse in the client’s experience, contributing to the disappearance of self-perception as a social actor.
   Guiding Inquiry: I noticed that, for the second time in today’s session, you laughed when talking about not being able to make this change. As I share this with you, what comes up for you?

7. Evokes Awareness: Questions that catalyze learning can generate a distortion in perception of time.
   Guiding Inquiry: What new thinking is required to move you forward?

8. Facilitates Client Growth: Supporting the client in developing their own solutions brings intrinsic satisfaction, transforming coaching into an enjoyable experience in itself.
   Guiding Inquiry: If you stay true to this new understanding, what action becomes possible for you now that you want to take to move forward toward your goal? 

While there is a clear link between a coach's level of competency and their ability to generate flow, there is also a connection between living in a state of flow and experiencing fulfillment. In this regard, Csikszentmihalyi discovered that the state of flow is essential for a 'fulfilled life' - one of the three paths to happiness, alongside 'the pleasant life' and 'the meaningful life,' as identified by Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology. Thus, a fulfilled life means "engagement in intrinsically motivated activities, where the experiential involvement is total, and the person reaches their maximum potential”.

In conclusion, from my perspective, continuous development of competencies is a valuable resource through which a coach can contribute to creating flow-generating experiences. Furthermore, these experiences not only support the maximization of the client’s potential and the achievement of their goals but also transform the coaching process into a way of bringing a touch of fulfillment into our lives.

Finally, I leave you with two questions to reflect on:

1. What activities do you fully engage in and enjoy so much that you lose track of time and forget about fatigue? (Is coaching one of them? 😊)

2. What specific actions are you taking towards your development, to maximize both the impact and fulfillment generated by these activities?

References:
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York, HarperCollins,1990 (in Romanian: Flux: Psihologia fericirii, București, Publica, 2015)

Tatar, A.S., David, D., Tratat de Psihologie Pozitivă, Iași, Polirom, 2017

Note:

A shorter version of this article was published in July, 2024 on ICF Romania blog.