Resource-Ful Consulting by Izod Karen;Whittle Susan Rosina;

Author:Izod, Karen;Whittle, Susan Rosina;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group

This chapter is designed to help you reach the preoccupation off-switch. Preoccupations trip you up and trap you in compulsive and defensive routines. As such, they offer signposts to developmental needs that you may want to work on, whereby identity and presence become resources rather than liabilities.

Identity preoccupations: We described identity as the characteristics and attributes that offer some coherence to life (whether desirable or not) and which blend into something that is recognisable, to me and to others, as me. To sustain that recognition means making choices about which identities to reveal, to whom, and engaging in identity work, to regulate the emotions that are evoked in sustaining my sense of myself. We find preoccupations with recognition, revelation, and regulation often arise in consulting practice. We explored them in some detail in Chapter Two.

Presence preoccupations: Presence is about being there, in different situations at different times, and about how I choose to bring myself to each of those situations. Presence is inescapable. How colleagues and clients encounter me may not be as I intend, but they do encounter me somehow. How others encounter my presence is shaped by authority dynamics and preoccupations with confidence, competition, and control. We explored these in some detail in Chapter Three.

Preoccupations can easily trip us up or trap us in ineffective practices. Preoccupations can be pursued until some are excessively present and others mindfully absent from our practice and excluded from our repertoires. Preoccupied consulting is impoverished consulting. To enrich your repertoire and practice more mindfully, it is helpful to know when preoccupations are likely to arise and what triggers these defensive routines. The consulting cycle is a useful model for raising awareness about when some typical preoccupations might be encountered.

5.2 The consulting cycle and typical practice dynamics

The stages of the consulting cycle are usually represented in linear sequence, as shown in Figure 5.1.

In reality, the cycle is more emergent, chaotic, and repetitive, as illustrated in Figure 5.2. Stages arise iteratively and consultants usually need to engage with several cycles and several stages simultaneously in their work with any one client system.

We use the term intervention rather than planning and implementation to reflect our view that there is no distinct “doing” stage. Everything is an intervention. Sticking to a planned sequence can be unhelpful, putting the brakes on changes which have unanticipated momentum, or moving too quickly without attending to unforeseen delays and regressions. Working with timing and pace are critical to effective consulting (Whittle, 2013). You may have noticed that “learning” and “regression” appear as stages to be worked with. We introduce these more fully in Figure 5.4.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.