Systemic Coaching and Constellations: An introduction to the principles, practices and applications

by John Whittington

Coach John Whittington brings a method developed for family systems therapy into business coaching, where rather than resolving a personal issue, the goal is to make a client more effective. He uses the systemic constellation approach to organization health and working with coaching clients, as an intervention for restoring the integrity of a system and the flow of leadership, commerce, and organizational health. Systemic Coaching and Constellations provides a practical discussion and examples of how to integrate the approach into coaching, including case studies from Whittington's own work and that of other coaches from across the world. Highly practical, it includes a wide range of exercises for application with individuals and teams, as well as black and white photographs and drawings. Whether used as an introduction to the topic or to supplement current coaching conversations and interventions, this book offers an accessible, practical starting point to transform a coaching practice.

Genres: Nonfiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2012

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book for new systemic coaches

I will keep my review short, cause I want to highlight two main insights that I’ve got from reading this book:

After setting the mapping of the situation then next step to make is to ask the client to acknowledge “what is” and leave it for a few moments to settle

Second insight is as follows: because the first authority we meet is in the family, our parents, this has a deep impact and forms the basis of our inner relationship to leadership authority.

[Toni Tassani · Rating 3 out of 5]

An introduction to Systemic Coaching and Constellations, a way of coaching where the coachee can explore the interactions of the different elements using the space, either with objects or with people in the room.
The book contains a lot of examples of application and a thorough description of principles and practices.
The "Hidden Forces" of Time, Place and Exchange (balance of giving and receiving) are presented as well as the mapping process: interview, mapping and closure.
The core processes in constellations are Movements and Sentences. The latter is the more controversial part for me.
I have liked the book as an introduction to the discipline but I am not sure about the discipline. I value the power of the connections, of using the space to think better. For visual people is an exceptional tool. But there are some ideas that do not resonate in me.

[Astghik Gabrielyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book! Recommended to all coaches who are searching to find techniques that are dealing with systems , not just the client. The author explains in a simple and compherensive way a theory and practical approach of constellations.
Lots of exercises for doing it first by yourself. Powerful one! This book is a huge self-work and self-development, it takes you to another level of consciousness

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary

This is a wonderfully thoughtful, expansive book that gives some theory and practice on drawing out systemic issues in coaching. It’s quite ‘spiritual’ but pragmatic and grounding - with lots of examples. A brilliant book that has a lot to offer on a personal and practice level.

[Alastair Kidd · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first edition of this book permanently sits on my side table as a go to reference. It will finally be dislodged by this wonderful update. It's a classic of coaching and developmental texts.

John Whittington manages to pull off a remarkable double act in his writing. He both creates an invitation to think and coach from an entirely different space (giving insights into how this can be useful to you in growing as a coach and how you can create client spaces that offer the opportunity for transformation), and he provides several practical guides ("how to" instructions, step by step interventions, example case studies). In this sense this book is both transformational and highly practical.

The new chapter on Belonging is greatly appreciate, and provides a jigsaw piece that I now see was not fully present in the first edition. Belonging, "innocence" and "guilt" are hidden forces that pervade organisational life and (dys) function. Understanding and learning to work with these forces will be valuable to both coach and leader.

[Paul Zonneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great and complete practical guide to the systemic work in coaching.
As it has not yet integrated the fourth principle for organisations (JJ Stam) it is just a little bit dated, but that doesn't take anything away from the quality of this book.