by Lucia Baldelli
As an Executive and Team Coach, my desire to genuinely support people or their explicit requests for help have pushed me close to being their rescuer – something we want to avoid, if we are to foster growth and autonomy of our clients. And often I had to pause and reflect on whether I was too close to them or their challenges.
In a recent LinkedIn post, Marcia Reynolds MCC talked about NON-REACTIVE EMPATHY.
I was curious about it, as I had never heard of this expression before, and I found an interesting article of hers that expands on how to bring the right amount of empathy to our conversations.
“Non-reactive empathy does not mean you suppress your emotions. Your body is still reacting even if you are adept at hiding what you feel.”, Marcia says.
The article beautifully connects our emotional reaction and empathy with our capability to demonstrate a coaching mindset.
“Non-reactive empathy is especially useful when you feel the urge to jump in and fix people, helping them see what they should feel and do instead. This urge isn’t empathy; you are judging they are wrong or inadequate.”
The amount of empathy that I feel is a good indicator of my capability to serve when I am coaching. Checking in with myself and how I am feeling in regards to my client is one of the strategies I put in place to assess the effectiveness of my coaching.
How about you? What boundaries do you set to maintain your neutrality and stay out of judgement?
You are invited to join our FREE ‘Coaching Dojo’ to practice in a safe space and get feedback on your skills from an ICF MCC certified mentor coach.
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