About John Whittington
Seeing Client Relationships as Constellations
4 Coaching World | May 2012
“When something is stuck or a goal isn’t reached
or fails to have the impact imagined, it is very often
a systemic issue. Systemic issues are beyond
the individual or the team and inevitably require a
systemic lens and intervention to resolve them.”
For more on John and Systemic Constellations, visit
www.CoachingConstellations.com
From the ICF Archives!
For more information on the use of Systemic
Constellations in coaching, listen to the archived
presentation below with John Whittington.
Listen to Recording
Research
“Constellations allow us to disentangle ourselves
from hidden loyalties, hidden blocks and repeating
patterns. They often reveal something in the past
that’s leading to inertia in the present that keeps us
from moving forward. But systemic coaching is much
more than simply creating and facilitating spatial
relationship maps, it’s a different way of thinking and
working with a client.”
If a coach is trying to work through a difficult
problem with an individual or team, and there have
been some unexpected and hard to identify issues
clouding the situation, taking a systemic approach
may be the key to disentangling the problem and
finding an enduring solution.
Marketing
a hidden dynamic. For example that might be one
or more members of their team looking away from
them. When you ask where those individuals may
be looking, or you put in an object of where they are
looking, it often represents a previous event, or a
boss who occupied the same role before them.
John has since worked with some of the world’s most
successful individuals and firms on personal, professional
and whole system development and flow. The Systemic
Coaching and Constellations approach and methodology
is a core part of his client work and he also shares the
principles and practices in open and in-house workshops
and training programs around the world with leaders,
internal and independent coaches.
Benefits
Coachees are encouraged to make a connection with the
constellation to access information held in that system.
“In some, perhaps we might say more conventional
coaching, the inner stance of the coach is to think
about how they can help move their client into the
future. How can I help this client get to their future
objective? While that can be useful, the systemic
approach allows coaches to see if the system will
allow goals to be reached. I guess you could say that
systemic coaching and constellations are solutions
focused but not necessarily goal orientated. In my
experience clients are very capable of setting and
realizing their own goals once the system issues are
clear and resolved. A system in flow moves forward
of its own accord.”
“I realized that I missing something in my own leadership
and understanding of organizational systems,” explained
John. “I discovered I was not as good at leading other
people or systems of people, as I thought I would be and
I wanted to learn how to lead and build effective teams
and enduring businesses.” 10 years ago, John met a
coach who transformed his understanding of himself.
“I remember thinking I wanted to understand what they
understood, and to share it with others.” That led John to
train in the application of MBTI and then systemic coaching
and constellations. He first came across the approach in
its original form – family systems – and then trained in its
application in personal and organizational contexts.
Profiles
Systemic coaching and constellations are a useful
approach when supporting individuals and teams
to release stuckness, access the system level
information and dynamics and look toward the future
with real clarity.
John has served as a manager, leader
and chief executive in several marketing
communications firms as well as setting
up his own. While being an effective
entrepreneur and having a history of
successful start-ups, John turned to coaching to develop
his own capacity to lead and explore how successful
organizations thrive.
Leadership
Leadership
Leadership
J. Whittington