Episode #6: Joel Monk - Conversations At The Cutting Edge of Coaching

Joel Monk is a coach whose work transforms leaders beyond the limits of conventional success, and the Co-Founder of Coaches Rising, a community of over 19,000 coaches dedicated to having the biggest impact they can. Working as a community artist - and after a difficult period in his life - he moved into a Bhuddist house. There he met a coach, his soul spoke to him and he set off on a journey which has led him to coaching bank CEOs, TV personalities and… well… me!

Alongside that, Joel and his Co-Founder Laurens Van Aarle created Coaches Rising, a pioneering training organisation bringing together thought-leaders from across the world and empowering coaches to create ever-better results. Coaches Rising brings together tens of thousands of coaches, has an amazing podcast (hosted by Joel), and runs some of the best (and best value) coach trainings available.

All this means that Joel has spent time with many (if not most) of the most forward-thinking people in the world of coaching, which gives him perspectives on everything from enrolling clients to myriad coaching techniques to the newest and most advanced ideas at the cutting edge of what makes great coaching.

In this episode, we talk about:

- How problem solving and goal-setting can be traps that coaches fall into and what to do instead.

- How he ended up living out of his jar of loose change and how being broke helped him change his story about money.

- The roles serendipity and a tantric sex retreat played in him getting his most rewarding coaching gig ever.

- His three pieces of advice for those new to coaching, and why he has faith that sincerity, dedication to the craft and putting the time in can make amazing things possible in anyone’s life.

Plus, we have a conversation about the role coaching has to play in the strange, complex and sometimes-unsettling modern world.

For more information about Joel, visit his website: http://joel-monk.com/ or Coaches Rising: https://www.coachesrising.com/

For information about Robbie’s wider work and writing, visit www.robbieswalecoaching.com.

Music by My Good Man William: listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4KmeQUcTbeE31uFynHQLQg

Things and people we mentioned (that you might be interested in):

~8: Robbie’s colleague Jo Hunter’s TEDx Talk about Creativity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eun2mJMs1DM and her everyday creativity company, 64 Million Artists: https://64millionartists.com/

~12: Rivca Rubin: http://www.rivcarubin.com/

~13: Fred Kofman (https://fredkofman.org/), Integral Naked and Ken Wilber (https://integrallife.com/who-is-ken-wilber/)

~20: Robbie’s Twelve-Minute Writing Practice. You can browse all the pieces here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbieswale/detail/recent-activity/posts/ Or this one gives a description of the practice and its origins: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/creativity-fear-freedom-robbie-swale/

~20: Steven Pressfield and The War of Art: (https://stevenpressfield.com/)

~25: Rich Litvin: https://richlitvin.com/

~30: THNK (School of Creative Leadership): https://www.thnk.org/

~35: Tim Ferriss: https://tim.blog/

~37: Jamie Wheal and his book, Stealing Fire: https://www.flowgenomeproject.com/team/jamie-wheal

~37: The mouse study Robbie mentions (thanks Peter): https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/05/scientists-find-fear-courage-switches-in-brain.html

~54: Laurens Van Aarle (https://www.coachesrising.com/about/), Ewan Townhead (https://www.ewantownhead.com/) & Coaches Rising (https://www.coachesrising.com)

~55: Coaches Rising Podcast: https://www.coachesrising.com/podcast/

~56: The two Coaches Rising programmes I have been on: Become a Transformative Presence (https://www.coachesrising.com/becomeatransformativepresence/) & The Art of Developmental Coaching (https://www.coachesrising.com/artofdevelopmentalcoaching/)

~57: Coaches Rising Podcast with Richard Boyatzis about the neuroscience of goal setting: https://www.coachesrising.com/podcast/how-to-access-optimum-growth-states-in-coaching/

~66: Peter Levine on polyvagal theory - this is the video that I watched, which I mention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiIm9NTC2JU. You might want to start from the first part of the series, though!

~67: Jim Dethmer: https://conscious.is/team/jim-dethmer

~68: Doug Silsbee and Presence-Based Coaching: https://presencebasedcoaching.com/

~69: Steve March and Aletheia Coaching: https://integralunfoldment.com/

~70: Circling: https://www.circlingeurope.com/

~72: Rich Litvin: https://richlitvin.com/

~72: Thomas Hübl: https://thomashuebl.com/

~73: Jennifer Garvey Berger and her book, Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: https://www.cultivatingleadership.co.nz/our-team/jennifer-garvey-berger

~77: Steven Pinker: https://stevenpinker.com/publications/enlightenment-now-case-reason-science-humanism-and-progress

~78: Daniel Schmachtenberger, Jordan Hall, Jamie Wheal (again), Rebel Wisdom, A good introduction to these thinkers is via the Rebel Wisdom YouTube Channel website (https://www.rebelwisdom.co.uk/) or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQ6Gptuq-sLflbJ4YY3Umw

~78: Thomas Hübl (again), Circling (again).

~79: Dave Snowden: https://cognitive-edge.com/. His framework, Cynefin, gives incredibly useful distinctions between complicated and complex. This is a great introductory video to Cynefin, with Jennifer Garvey Berger: https://conversational-leadership.net/video/video-an-introduction-to-cynefin/

~81: Martin Heidegger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Heidegger

~82: Guy Sengstock: https://guysengstock.wordpress.com/

~84: Margaret Wheatley - here’s Joel’s conversation with Margaret Wheatley on the Coaches Rising podcast: https://www.coachesrising.com/podcast/coaching-from-deep-service-in-times-of-collapse/

~95: Jim Dethmer: https://conscious.is/team/jim-dethmer

~100: THNK (again): https://www.thnk.org/

~102: Joel’s website. He hasn’t had one for most of the time I’ve known him. http://joel-monk.com/

~106: Angela Duckworth: https://angeladuckworth.com/

~111: Minor Arias and The Coach’s Journey Podcast Episode #03, with him, which I mention: https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-3-minor-arias-living-by-design-glz56

~111: Rich Litvin (https://richlitvin.com/), Steve Chandler (https://www.stevechandler.com/), Kari Granger (https://www.coachesrising.com/podcast/how-to-enrol-clients-and-create-amazing-proposals/)