The emerging and fresh African coaching framework called Ubuntu Coaching at The Coaching Centre is gaining traction among some forward-thinking coaching practitioners and coach-training institutions in South Africa and the Sub-Sahara region of the continent.
Ubuntu Coaching refers to the active application of Ubuntu values, Ubuntu principles, and Ubuntu ways of being, in the practice of the professional field of business, executive and leadership coaching. It can be used in all modalities of human development such as talent management in business, performance coaching, mentoring, executive development, and other forms of people-management. Ubuntu can be easily described as being responsive to the inherent qualities of ‘humaneness’ already within us, or as the ability of being consistently humane, warm and loving when dealing with or relating to fellow humans regardless of their station in life, position or role within your an organisation or community. Ubuntu emphasises that we are inherently interconnected, and that “I am because we are”.
Ubuntu means that what I am is a result of who we are as humans. In other words, what I am and what I do impacts you and the next person. In turn, what you do has implications for me and others too. We must therefore care about what the other does. Recent development in the growing field of climate change and environmental challenges, together with the financial crises that the world is struggling to come out of, continue to scream this message at humanity, yet we continue to act in our small configurations called nation-states. Humanity or the human race as we know it today cannot afford to continue thinking, planning, and acting, in mini-silos called national interests. We must all think and act systemically with the global perspective in mind. Ubuntu Coaching is inherently a systems-based meta-model of coaching that both demands and enables leaders to ‘see systems’ in their outlook on business and in their leadership, starting with close personal relationships and extending out to the community to national and global interests.
One of my favourite Ubuntu descriptions or statements is the one given by our beloved Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu. He said:
“Africans have a thing called Ubuntu. It is about the essence of being human. It is part of the gift that Africa is going to give to the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being willing to go the extra mile for the sake of another. We believe that a person is a person through other persons; that my humanity is caught up and bound up in yours. When I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms, and therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in community, in belonging” (by Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu).
Coaches are allowed to dream too, right? And sometimes dreams do come true. So let me dream a little. This is a part of my Ubuntu leadership coaching dream:
“I see a world where all global leaders in politics, business, civil society, the military, multilateral agencies, and across many communities, are living and relating to each other in an engaged and engaging systemic manner, and live and approach their businesses and their roles from an Ubuntu perspective. There is no egotistic bullying of smaller businesses or countries, and there is genuine global inclusivity in crafting trade regulations and internationally applicable business laws. I see a situation where there is little room for wars, social strife and displacement of large populations through avoidable conflict. There is far less greed and looting of natural resources. There is more dialogue and engagement across the globe, with little in terms of discrimination based on perceptions of being less developed, less educated, or just less than. There are no visa requirements to visit friends across any and all
international borders. The human race is one big happy family!” (Magadlela, 2014).
I think this dream is possible. It seems quite feasible to me. If all coaches receive Ubuntu Coaching skills in their initial and ongoing professional development, we can get close to this utopian dream. If you look at it closely, it is a similar dream to people like Mandela, Mother Theresa, Tutu, Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jnr, and many other selfless leaders. It is essentially humanity’s ideal way of co-existing with fellow beings and with nature. The question then becomes: HOW do we bring this about in our chosen vision of Ubuntu Coaching? And my preliminary answer to it is through Ubuntu Intelligence (UbuQ).
Below is a quick note on the concept of Ubuntu Intelligence (UbuQ):
“Ubuntu Intelligence© is the ability to constantly recognise our human interconnectedness, and requires new mind-sets and especially ‘heart-sets’ that see the self in the other. This is not rocket science or brain surgery. It is about making substantive and real changes in how we relate to ourselves first and then to each other, outside the boxes we create to simplify our understanding of each other in our beautiful diversity. Ubuntu Intelligence© is the capacity to be genuinely interested in the other without scratching the egotistical itch of wanting to be seen to be better or doing more than the other… It is transcending the shallow personal gratification of material acquisition and other superficial, ephemeral or temporary achievements. It is about self-less authentic connection and service to others… and to humanity”. (Dumisani Magadlela, 2014).
My preliminary suggestions and thoughts on this were that as coaches working within organisations we can rally every coach across the world and spread the power and value of Ubuntu Coaching in changing the world. We can nudge every single leader we coach towards greater connection and engagement with their teams. This would be done by raising all coached leaders’ awareness of the inherent human capacity to connect to other humans, other beings, and to nature. Nature is all our finite human support system, and not an infinite or endless well of natural resources.
Ubuntu Coaching is really about helping us all REMEMBER our inherent interconnectedness, and is meant to trigger our natural capacity to tune-in into each other in a caring and less aggressive or less self-serving or self-fish way. This is already happening in communities where people choose to care for each other with very little to share among themselves, while billions of dollars’ worth of food is thrown away as waste or as unwanted extras across the so-called
rich world, and sometimes in centres or pockets of wealth in some of the poorest countries in the world. No need to give examples here. Just take a look around.
Coming back into organisations, one example of HOW we can impact the world through Ubuntu Coaching is through transforming organisational cultures. Recently we used Ubuntu Coaching in the introduction and development of a new organisational culture for one of our clients with amazingly positive results especially in employee engagement and connection across structural levels and roles, and across functions. This approach is fast becoming one of the much sought-after models for team coaching, employee engagement, and building dynamic coaching cultures in transformative organisations.
Our next challenge is to document clear case studies and share them far and wide to showcase how powerful Ubuntu Coaching can be. Let us get to it.
Afrika Coaching is a leading coaching firm that empowers individuals and organizations to unlock their full potential.
