We thought we had it all worked out.

After hundreds of hours of team coaching, we know the value of preparation. We ask the right questions, clarify expectations, design detailed guides with minute-by-minute timing, and even build in Plan B, C, and D.

This time, when we arrived at what was meant to be the final session with a client team, we were confident: it would be a reflective wrap-up, a chance to look back on progress and plan forward.

But then it happened. One participant leaned in and said quietly, almost hesitantly:

“𝘐𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.”

The room fell silent. You could feel the weight of that statement hanging in the air. One by one, others began to nod. Voices followed: yes, there were tensions, frustrations, things unsaid. The sense of “completion” we had planned for wasn’t real — not yet.

At that moment, every plan we had carefully crafted got binned, with some anxiety on our part! We paused, asked the team for a few minutes, and quickly reimagined the session. Together, we designed a clearing process that allowed them to surface what had been buried between them. It wasn’t the session we expected, but it was the session they needed. And it was their relationship system that knew.

That’s the paradox of this work. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. But the real craft lies in holding the plan lightly, reading the room, and having the courage to follow the team into the work that truly matters.

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 — 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Well done to our directors Sindiswa Calana and Cecil Murray, for putting your certainty aside, bringing your curiosity and being led by the client instead.

#TeamCoaching
#ElephantInTheRoom
#RelationshipSystemsIntelligence
#TheWisdomIsInTheSystem
#PlanningToPivot