The AC Podcast 270: Transforming Coaching Relationships Through Fierce Love and Courage with Marie Quigley
In this episode, host Helena Clayton sits down with executive coach, supervisor and trainer Marie Quigley for a powerful conversation about bringing love—courageous presence, authenticity, and deep humanity—into coaching. Marie reflects on her own evolution from traditional, performance-driven coaching to a more holistic practice that balances high challenge with deep compassion. She shares how integrating love not only supports clients more fully but also expands a coach's own capacity to hold complexity, uncertainty, and emotion.
Helena and Marie explore the shifting landscape of coaching in a world shaped by global tension, organizational pressure, and rising client needs. They discuss why clear, intentional contracting—at both the beginning and end of a coaching relationship—is an act of love, creating psychological safety, transparency, and shared responsibility. Marie also offers a glimpse into her forthcoming book, Fierce Love, and invites coaches to experiment with bringing more love into the coaching space. This episode challenges coaches to show up more bravely, embrace relational depth, and use love as an active force for transformation.
You will learn:
· How actively bringing love into the coaching space along with challenge and provocation can create deeper transformation in clients
· Why good contracting is a foundational act of love in the coaching relationship
· Love is coaching is part of the evolving of coaching to more holistic, relational approaches
'If we want to do brave things in our coaching practice and our clients want to do brave things, then we really have to contract for a different approach to how we have conversations with each other.'
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