The Impact of the Inner Game and Sir John Whitmore on Coaching

A Commentary

Annual Review of High Performance Coaching and Consulting 2009

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INTRODUCTION ​

In this article, Simon Jenkins directs us to fundamental considerations about the level of knowledge appropriate to being an effective coach and the influence of a significant contributor, Sir John Whitmore, to the art of coaching. The article is a thorough discourse on recent comment and research and will be an extraordinarily helpful reference point for non-academics. As a “non-psychologist coach”, I was inspired by Jenkins’ exploration of coaching psychology though have always instinctually recognized that good coaching skill can develop from a range of exposures. 

In this commentary, my aim is to make some small additions to the story of the Inner Game and the growth of the coaching that has developed from this particular path. Jenkins’ knowledge of the background and work of John Whitmore appropriately describes and values the lifelong contribution that John has made and continues to make to coaching and the human potential movement. 

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THE LABEL OF ‘NON-PSYCHOLOGIST’ 

This is the first time that I have referred to myself as a “non-psychologist” and it is not a label that I found easy to associate with despite its accuracy. For the purposes of Jenkins’ article, however, it makes the distinction clear and raises an issue of the inadequacies of calling oneself a coach. Hence the market has spawned: performance coaches, development coaches, management coaches, executive coaches and even life coaches! 

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THE INNER GAME OF TENNIS 

As Jenkins mentions, Caroline Harris’ learning about the underlying philosophy and core skills of the Inner Game came directly from Tim Gallwey when the early programmes were run in England in 1979 (initially by an associate). John Whitmore, Graham Alexander, Alan Fine and a number of other early Inner Gamers who gathered in Beaconsfield learned, debated, practised and were consumed by passionate exploration of this “new dimension” in coaching. I was privileged to be among these pioneers and to be taken along on an extraordinary journey of learning from an eclectic mix of national coaches and elite sportsmen who came on our early Inner Game workshops or popped in for coffee in the Inner Game office at West Hampstead, London. Using these skills to teach tennis to numerous individuals and groups over the next 15 years provided significant development. The hour-upon-hour repetition of attempting to use the skills appropriate for each student left me with no doubt about their efficacy. I was aware that this approach accessed the student’s innate ability and propensity for learning. It enabled students to learn about how they learned and not simply to improve their tennis strokes. The reward of students leaving the lesson with greater confidence in their ability was enduringly powerful. Beyond that, it gave a glimpse of what is possible - the moment of connectedness between coach and student when learning is transformed. 

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THE GROW MODEL 

With the launch of Gallwey’s The Inner Game of Golf [1] came more invitations to work in different sports. By the early 1980s, The Inner Game Ltd. began to be asked by business companies to design bespoke programmes that would help their managers learn coaching skills. These Inner Game skills were the building blocks of the leadership, manager-as-coach and culture-change programmes that followed. Blended with the educational and life exposures of the pioneers, the Inner Game philosophy underpinned the growth of this path of coaching. While the requisite skills to coach well were adequately demonstrated and taught, the demand for more clarity about what actually happens in the coaching process led to the birth of GROW. The acronym devised with and for a client of Alexander, it simply highlighted the route of the established coaching process “organically” created by the forerunners. It was the map of some of the work that occurs between coach and client. Jenkins reflects accurately on GROW that it is a “heuristic device” and is as such a valuable tool for those learning coaching skills. As it moved into the public domain and was taken up by those unfamiliar with its background, there was potential for it to be used as a problem-solving model only. This negates its value and purpose. Whitmore’s book Coaching for Performance has contributed to a much greater understanding of the model and its position within the coaching conversation. I concur with Jenkins’ reference to Myles Downey’s book that in particular draws attention to the fundamental aspect of awareness and responsibility and that the GROW model is underpinned by focusing attention – the core skill of the Inner Game. 

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PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT AND BUSINESS COACHING
Another development in coaching history that was perhaps less noticed came in the mid 1980s. After being recipients of the extraordinary coaching and consulting work of the late Ben Cannon, Stephen Bampfylde and Anthony Saxton of the leadership search firm Saxton Bamfylde set up a coaching company, Cannon Rosen. They partnered psychologists with coaches; the process of psychological assessment with individual business coaching programmes. Ben Cannon had joined the Inner Game 

The Impact of the Inner Game and Sir John Whitmore on Coaching: A Commentary 55 

prior to university and became one of coaching’s greatest exponents. Saxton Bampfylde had used psychological assessment in their search work for a number of years and saw both the value and marketing potential of such a marriage. It has been a long, productive and sympathetic liaison with this method of assessment and coaching both inviting self-reflection. Positioned after the initial goal setting, the assessment was focussed upon those internal structures that influence change and how the individual relates to the “outside world”. The information gained acted as a springboard for the coaching sessions that followed. The marriage allowed the two aspects of client development to be “held” and for the client each aspect was distinguishable. With regular dialogue between coach and psychologist, there was little doubt of the union’s effectiveness for the client. Respect for and contextual understanding of one another’s different skill base grew exponentially through the live process of working together. 

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“COACHING DANCE” 

A further contribution came in 2005 when David Hemery, Olympic gold medallist in the 400 m hurdles in Mexico and performance consultant, published How to Help Children Find the Champions within Themselves [2]. In this book, he describes eloquently the polarities of coaching. With regard to both coach-centred and performer-centred styles of coaching, his “Coaching Dance” draws out the essential components of improving performance and involves goal setting, learning, listening, questioning, motivation and feedback. While the Coaching Dance, like GROW, may be a “heuristic device”, it provides a clear picture for most coaches and enables understanding of the importance of balance. More especially perhaps, the majority of coaches who attend coaching workshops are engaged by this simple, visual model rather than threatened by the perception that what they have done until now is “wrong”. The entrenched or reluctant coach is inspired to broaden their knowledge to develop the ability to move flexibly across the spectrum according to the needs of the student. With this model, Hemery has captured the space in which flexible coaching occurs. 

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CONCLUSION 

There are many avenues leading to the creation of an effective coach. Simon Jenkins has described current questions and the potential tensions as the paths of coaching psychologists and those he names “non-psychologists” meet. Both of course push the boundaries of understanding and thus make valuable contributions. No doubt my commentary itself reveals some personal preference towards the value of learning through practice of the art. The increasing number of coaches practising performer- centred skills worldwide is a tribute to the work of John Whitmore. The enduring gift of the Inner Game is to have brought awareness of skills in coaching that are catalysts for self-belief, optimise learning and performance, and demonstrate trust in the potential of all students. 

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REFERENCES

1. Gallwey, W.T., The Inner Game of Golf, Jonathon Cape, London, 1979.

2. Hemery, D., How to Help Children Find the Champions Within Themselves, BBC Worldwide Ltd, London, 2005.