by Malcolm Nicholson iCN Journalist (UK)
For a large part of the global population, work has become one of the most all-consuming elements of human endeavour in the late C20th early C21st. Interpersonal relationships within the individual’s microclimate of the work environment are consequently imbued with a great deal of significance, as a result of the importance we place on our work and our identity within it. Indeed the quality of certain relationships can affect the course of an organisation, as they can influence leadership decisions, customer relationships, business acquisition and deployment to interdepartmental relationships.
Relationship coaching is traditionally associated with Life Coaching, but is variously relabelled in business coaching, including communication skills and conflict handling. Just as the family unit over the last few decades has become more complex than ever before, so have organisations. A two thousand year old command and control pyramid dating back to the Roman army is being swept aside with multi-dimensional, complex and often paradoxical working relationships. As each extended step family has to create its own rules, so organisations have to create their own rules and values.
If, as the saying goes, you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family, then it is even more difficult and complex to choose the relationships you have at work. Take one example. There is a truism that ‘People join companies but leave their managers’, reaffirming that the relationship with your boss can be one of the most important in your life.
Source: iCN Issue 24 (Relationship Coaching); pages 22-24
About Malcolm Nicholson
Malcolm Nicholson is the owner and Coaching Director for Aspecture, and has worked successfully with a wide range of senior business people around the globe for over 19 years, enabling them to improve business results through transformational changes. To find out how he can help your organisation, contact him at malcolmnicholson@aspecture.com or on +44 1932 267597.
