Ep26: Unleashing the Power of Coaching Culture with Jo Wright
Unlock the secret to transforming workplace dynamics by embracing a human-centered approach at work. In this episode, we welcome Jo Wright, the founder of Coaching Culture, who passionately believes in the power of coaching to foster authentic and thriving work environments. Explore how Jo's journey from corporate roles to becoming a champion for change has shaped her mission to democratize coaching and self-awareness in organizations.
We delve into Jo's fascinating personal story, her groundbreaking book "No More Shit Managers," and the innovative ways she's making coaching accessible to all. Discover the compelling case for integrating coaching into corporate DNA, proven strategies to measure impact, and the challenges of shifting entrenched workplace cultures. Jo provides actionable insights on cultivating self-belief, the art of thoughtful questioning, and creating transformative conversations that empower teams and leaders alike.
If you're a leader, HR professional, or simply someone eager to foster a vibrant and humane workplace culture, this episode is your roadmap. Join us as we explore the future of work with Jo Wright and equip yourself with the tools to champion a coaching culture in your organization.
Topics Discussed:
The goal of making coaching accessible to more people in organizations
The power of questioning and self-awareness in coaching
Shifting from transactional to transformational conversations
Continuous growth and adapting with the changing work environment
The importance of authenticity in the workplace
Timestamps:
00:00 "LinkedIn Power: Authentic Connections"
04:48 Unexpected Founding of Coaching Culture
06:21 Building a Coaching Culture
10:18 "Authenticity and Vulnerability at Work"
15:25 Career Coaching & Overcoming Limitations
18:46 Unexpected Shift to Sales Coaching
21:09 Valuing Employees Boosts Productivity
24:03 "Trust and Challenges Post-Pandemic"
26:11 Cultural Change Requires Time
31:10 Questioning Over Expertise
35:27 "Empower Yourself Through Self-Coaching"
37:52 Uncovering the Real Questions
39:41 "Prioritize Self-Care First"
Read the episode blog here
About Jo Wright
Follow @jowrightcoach on Linkedin
As Co-founder of Coaching Culture, and bestselling author of ‘No More Sh*t Managers: Seven Steps to a Coaching Culture’, Jo’s a passionate advocate for the many benefits a coaching culture creates. With nearly 30 years’ experience in leading and coaching teams, and as a professionally accredited Coach, Jo is a true coaching champion, on a mission to inspire people to think differently about the power of coaching. She is often to be found sharing insights on how the power of coaching can be used to create high performing teams, build trust, shape leadership styles and raise performance in the workplace.
Jo spends much of her time speaking about the benefits of coaching, the power of transformational conversations and culture, as well as interviewing industry leaders for Coaching Culture’s Learncast series. Jo’s first book, ‘No More Sh*t Managers: Seven Steps to a Coaching Culture’ became an Amazon Bestseller on its first day of release in November 2023.
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Ep26: Unleashing the Power of Coaching Culture with Jo Wright
[00:00:00]
Introduction and Guest Welcome
Helen Wada: Hello and welcome to another episode of HumanWise. I am absolutely delighted to have Joe Wright Here with me today. For those of you that might see a clip, she's in a beautiful bright pink. Have you bought my brown colors with you, Jo? Oh,
Jo Wright: I thought I'd make January a bit bright and
Helen Wada: cheerful, to be fair.
Good, good for you. It's been, it's been properly cold, hasn't it? I mean, you're further north than I am. So,
Jo Wright: it's been like the ice [00:01:00] age.
Meeting Through LinkedIn and Initial Impressions
Helen Wada: Jo, Jo and I met, we actually met via LinkedIn. I think, Jo, when you talk about finding your tribe and talk about, You know, actually, when I talk about sales and business development and the power of LinkedIn I do truly believe if you use it authentically, to connect with people, to comment on things that you're interested in, and you will find ways and powers in common.
And actually, Jo, that's how we met. And I was observing and then following your wonderful work with Coaching Culture, which I'm sure you'll talk about in a moment. And then lastly, your book, No More Shit Managers, which we also hear lots about. And goodness, how does that bring us into being human wise in 2025, which is what we're here to talk
Jo Wright: about.
So welcome to the show. Thank you, Helen. It's so good to be here and talk about my favorite topics.
Helen Wada: So tell us a little bit before we get into it, tell us a little bit more about. Your story, your journey to [00:02:00] what you're here
Jo Wright: today,
Helen Wada: in fact.
Jo Wright: I need, I probably need to start getting this really short because I'm now 53.
So there is, there's a few years on the back.
Helen Wada: Don't mention that five, we've got a big birthday coming up later this year.
Jo Wright: Oh, the best decade, Helen, the best decade.
Jo's Career Journey and Fascination with Behavior Change
Jo Wright: So many years in the corporate world in many different roles. So operations, sales, marketing, lots of different roles. And eventually I moved into sales training, which then moved me into management development, leadership development, change management.
And I started getting really fascinated with Behaviour change and thinking, I was on a change program and thinking, why are people not just changing when we tell them to? Yeah, I know it sounds like a really silly question. I
Helen Wada: did one of those when I was in consulting many years ago. It's amazing how much, how much effort needs to go into change actually.
We are creatures of habit though, Jo. I mean, and I think, you know, never is there more. True than running my own [00:03:00] business and actually sometimes, you know, things that I need to change. I'm like, Helen, just get out of the habit, do something different. Absolutely. Because we are natural creatures of habit.
Jo Wright: Absolutely. So it was a real light bulb moment for, for me on this change program.
Discovering the Power of Coaching
Jo Wright: I suddenly realized people weren't just changing, but actually what was helping them along the change journey. We're coaching conversations and whether that was individual one to one, whether it was group coaching, team coaching, I thought, Hmm, there's something in these conversations.
There's something in coaching. So I started getting curious about coaching a lot more and started researching coaching qualifications and eventually I got the opportunity, don't get me wrong, through redundancy, because they're really quite expensive, these coaching qualifications. First thing I did to do them properly, they are.
And I think that,
Helen Wada: you know, I will add that there's actually, there are a lot out there that, you know, it's one of my bug bits to become a coach. It was like, Actually, you, you actually need a lot of investment and significant numbers of hours [00:04:00] and practice behind each of them really. And so
Jo Wright: redundancy, the first thing I've been thinking about it for a good while and, and then actually, you know, the first thing I did, I got, you know, an average redundancy check.
It was nothing great, but nonetheless, the first thing I did was pay for a, for my coaching qualification. As my husband was pouring away at wanting to go on a holiday or something, I was like, no, no, no, I need to invest in myself and my future. And the coaching qualification was absolutely life changing for me personally.
And I know we hear a lot of people say that. And, but what it did was make me realize, and at this point, I'd started setting myself up on my own. So I'd left the corporate world. The redundancy gave me that sort of push to go and do something different, something I've been thinking about for many years.
And I realized that coaching could be so life changing. But why was it reserved for just a few people in an organization? Why did only the elite of the organization was allowed the the privilege of a coaching qualification and self awareness and that rattled me. To be honest, that rattled my values.
I thought, [00:05:00] you know what? We need to get coaching out to the masses.
Founding Coaching Culture
Jo Wright: And at the same time I gate crashed my way onto a course on a Saturday. All random things. When you look back and connect the dots, the old guy and I go, yeah, that happened. But I sort of, you know, shoulder barge my way onto a course on Saturday that wasn't, that I wasn't meant to be on, but I got in there anyway.
And it was full of entrepreneurs and I was the only person in the room and everybody was like, you know, I'm an entrepreneur this and I'm an entrepreneur that. And I was there going, I've just been made redundant to be honest. And and I met some fabulous people. And in that room, I met my, my now business partner for coaching culture.
And I got talking to him about the power of coaching. He was already running a business and he'd learning company and out of the blue again, out of the blue he sold his business and within a month he and I had set up Coaching Culture. Because I've been going on and on and on about, we need to get this out to the world.
And he said, could it be done, could coaching be done digitally if it is that powerful? [00:06:00] And obviously as a human coach, I was just about to say, absolutely not. And then I thought, do you know what, actually, if we want to get this out to the world, we have to use technology. And I don't mean technology in the, in the.
in the sense of sort of post pandemic technology of coaching somebody over a Zoom call. I mean, how do we utilize technology to get people self reflecting and self coaching? And that's what we did. And we created our first tool, which is called Mindset Self Coaching Tool. And then we've gone on from there and we've, we've got an amazing business that's, you know, already 2025, we're winning new business, you know, we've got off to a great start.
The market's really moving towards, we need a coaching culture. It's a, you know, it's a long burn. And, and we've been eight years since that, since I gate crashed my way onto that course seven, sorry, eight years, this summer, since coaching culture was set up and the rest is history really. Cause obviously it's allowed me to, you know, build a business.
[00:07:00] Work with some phenomenal people, organizations get my voice heard, actually get my passion out there and sort of shout from the, from the rooftops that actually building a coaching culture and helping people raise their own. Self-awareness reflect on their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and limiting beliefs.
Actually, they can make changes and they can, they can own their own power. They can step into their power and they can really achieve things that perhaps they never thought possible. And that's ultimately what building a coaching culture is all about.
The Impact of Coaching and Writing a Book
Jo Wright: And it's allowed me to write a book, which I never believed I would ever do.
Fabulous. I never believed I'd write a book with a swear word in the title. That's another thing.
Helen Wada: And I remember the conversation when reading your book and you talked about the conversation with your dad about titling the book. It's funny how we still go back to our parents. I still, I still update. [00:08:00] I'll tell you today, you know, it's, it's ingrained in our
Jo Wright: beliefs, isn't it?
I want my dad to be proud of me and writing a book, but will he be proud if it's got a swear word in it? I'm not so sure. Anyway, he was, he was, he was super cool about it. Sounds good. I'm glad he, I'm glad it is. Cause I think the title has actually allowed the book to get out there. I knew, I knew that the title.
Couldn't be vanilla, it would just sit on the bookshelf with all the other books. But actually this, I wanted one that was going to jump off itself to jump off the bookshelf. I'd love to see it in airports, but I've not actually done anything about that to be fair. So, so therefore it's not in airports, but it's the sort of title that you could imagine.
Yeah, I could read that on holiday and the boss isn't actually watching me read this book or whatever. So it's been a phenomenal journey. I'm 53 now and you know, I see the next chapter of my career as such an important one to continue the mission, really, to get out there, helping [00:09:00] organizations and I've taken a step to the side of the day to day running of coaching culture.
I still do work with our. obviously I'm still there, but I've also got Joe Wright speaker and coach, which actually allows me to get out, get my voice out there and not be, I suppose, bogged down in the day to day running of a, of a business really.
Helen Wada: And do the stuff that you love, love and being human and, you know, that
Jo Wright: connection.
Absolutely, I'm speaking, I'm doing coaching. I'm doing some workshops to help leaders with their coaching style and their thinking. You know, I get my energy from people. I love coaching coach. I love the team there. They're doing great things. The team don't, I do bits of work where they want me to work, but the team don't need me or even my business partner quite as much because it's all running really beautifully.
So amazing.
Being Human at Work
Helen Wada: So diving in a little bit further, sort of, you know, one of the questions that I asked the guests, everybody coming on the show is What does being human at work mean [00:10:00] to you? So we think about being human wise, you know, on the one hand, and I'm sure we'll get into this is I kind of say to myself, pinch myself, why are we still needing to have this conversation in 2025?
But, but we do, because actually the stats are showing us that increasingly people are not necessarily thriving at work, happy at work, I'm generalizing, you know, there's obviously some great stuff going on out there. But taking a broader view, what does doing human at work
Jo Wright: really mean for you? Do you know what, I, I, like you say that I, I'm not shocked.
We're still having to have the conversation. I'm really not. Cause actually in some pockets of organizations and some businesses, we're going backwards. So I think we have to keep going. Being human at work for me is about. Be showing up as your true self with no mask on. So actually just being yourself and being, you know, cherished for who you are and all, you know, the things that make up you as a human being and [00:11:00] being open and honest and, and.
Allowed to be vulnerable, but allowed to use your strengths because we've all got hidden strengths and talents that make us all human, but unique. And I do worry sometimes that organizations expect people to fit into certain boxes. And if you don't fit in that box, then you're not, you're not as part of the gang.
Whereas actually, I think there's way more recognition these days that. It's uniqueness and diversity of thought and creativity that actually brings innovative solutions to organizations, rather than us all looking or thinking the same, actually, it is about having different perspectives. And I say that.
So that for me is about being human. So being authentically yourself, but with kindness and care for other people. This isn't about, well, actually, you know, today I feel authentically grumpy and I'm going to be awful to people, you know, that I don't think is acceptable. You know, [00:12:00] you've got to be authentically yourself.
You might want to say, Hey, I'm not feeling the best today. But as long as people know that this isn't. This isn't about allowing people to be, well, I'm just a natural bully or psychopath, so therefore I'm being authentic and human. That to me is, you know, that's not acceptable, even though those sort of behaviors do happen.
And you're right, it's, it's,
Helen Wada: it's also about boundaries. It's not, it ultimately is business. This isn't about people taking this. This isn't about people that are, you know, doing things that they shouldn't really be doing that are in the wrong way. It's about being you. And that unmasking, I love that term that you, you use there because it's, for me, it's not, not just a female thing.
It's also for, for the men in this, in this, in the world, it's for those that are older in the generation of workforce, it's, it's the younger generation and everybody brings something different and it's, it's allowing people to [00:13:00] be who they are and make a difference to the contribution. Not just for themselves, but to the business as well, because ultimately, otherwise you would be doing something else, right?
Jo Wright: Absolutely.
Personal Growth and Coaching's Role
Jo Wright: And I think it takes time, you know, just thinking from my, even just my own personal experience, you know, like I said, I'm 53, it's probably taken me to my fifties to really understand who am I and, and I'm still going to be understanding that I think we're on a constant journey of raising self awareness because we change who I was in my twenties is not who I was in my thirties is not who I was in my forties.
Again, in my fifties, fifties so far feels like the most powerful, I felt the most authentically me, I think coaching cultures allowed me to unlock that. Raising my own self awareness and actually caring. Caring more for people, but caring less as well at the same time in a weighing scales of, I really do care, but do you know what?
I don't care enough that it's going to get under my skin anymore. [00:14:00] It's that. I
Helen Wada: was coaching somebody yesterday, actually, when we were having that conversation that they weren't quite 50, they were a few years behind, but they're still getting to a point where, do you know what, actually, I don't let it worry.
When I think about my early stages of my career and, you know, I've been working 25, 30 years. I'd always be that, you know, that people, please, I'd be worried what you thought. And what was I doing? And you would look up and, and actually you weren't like the people that were above you. So you were like, well, how do I make that work?
And how can I do it my way? There's that uncertainty that can lead to imposter syndrome, can lead to, you know, that spiraling, but actually it's, it's going, no, actually you're you for who you are. And, and I'm picking that. And it does change, you know, I, I had a working life before I had children, I had two children, they're now teenagers.
Things change in terms of what we want as well as what we can bring. I wouldn't be sat here today, you know, I'm a chartered accountant by trade. [00:15:00] I did maths, economics and French at eight level. If you'd said, you know, 25 years ago, you'd be sat here as an executive coach. Yeah. You know, talking, working with leaders to shift their behaviours.
Yeah. Think about sales. I never wanted to be in sales. I was a global client director for professional services for five or six years and loved it and was great at it. But it's putting all those building blocks together to recognize.
Jo Wright: And I just, I just hope that some of my learnings and experience from a career of 30 years can help other people who are either at the start of their career, middle of their career, get somewhere quicker.
I often think, I did my coaching qualification at 44 and I suddenly thought, why did I not know this stuff about myself before? And that was where coaching culture came in. It was brought about actually, we've got so many different modules, including things on like imposter syndrome, growth mindset, all the things that [00:16:00] if somebody had only told me this shit before, maybe either I could have done something about it, or I would have been supported in the organization to do something about it.
But instead, you know, I was probably, I was growing in confidence and in roles. But losing confidence as well. Limiting beliefs were being accumulated and by the time I actually got into my mid forties I always say that I felt like I had a rucksack of boulder sized limiting beliefs on my back, in like a box.
Helen Wada: Yeah, you pick them up along the way and it's like, now how do I get rid of them?
Jo Wright: Absolutely. And I just think if somebody had supported me earlier in my career, who knows where it would have gone. I always remember, you know, I now speak on stages and feel really confident and alive there. You know, the first time I fully spoke on a stage, I was in my early to mid twenties and the lead, the director introduced me onto the stage basically said here's Jo and Jo's going to talk about this today.
And she's here today cause she really messed up my, my senior leadership [00:17:00] meeting that she presented at recently. That was my introduction onto a stage for in front of like a hundred people. Oh my goodness. Honestly, hell, my mouth went dry. I'd not be, I, it was awful, but now I just, I would love to speak to that line manager again.
Mmm. Just go. Yeah, well, to be honest, I'd be,
Helen Wada: I'd be saying something interesting to it. You wouldn't be recording it on a podcast. Oh, look at this now.
The Importance of Coaching in Business
Helen Wada: But, but take us, you know, not, not specifically to that, but, you know, thinking about why we still need this conversation, because a bit, a bit like you, you know, in terms of my story where mine's very similar and very quickly.
But. I trained as a coach back in 2015 when I, I was fortunate enough to have a coach when I was on maternity leave. I got huge value for, from that coaching session, even, even to this day, I remember one of the sessions where I was thinking about my career and, you know, I was always that go [00:18:00] getter.
When's the next session? What am I doing? And I remember sitting with my coach who was called Bridget, I can't remember her surname, but if she ever listens to this, she was amazing. And we drew a timeline and it was kind of quite scary, but I still refer back to that myself. And I still refer my clients to that.
You know, I was what, 34, 35 at the time. And actually, you know, We've got a hopefully working, not as a working age, but a real active age to at least we're 80. Yeah. And what am I going to do with that life? And actually six months at 35 is really not a lot. Yeah. And so that really started me thinking. And so actually I took a step out of my client base and work.
I spent a year with my children. I did some work internally for business and then I trained as a coach. Yeah. Yeah. And then through that, and they were like, you're wasted here. What could you be doing? And I'm like, well, I miss clients. And so that's how I moved into the sales role that I never expected.
And then it was that sort of question about, well, why are you good at what you do? [00:19:00] And I, I like, you know, I really saw what you were doing with coaching culture, because I'm an absolutely passionate believer that coaching can go a long way to supporting a human centered working role. It really can. The skills that you and I have as a coach.
Are very, we feel very privileged to have them and, and we don't see them everywhere. But also what I saw with those skills, but those are the skills that I was seeing that I needed to develop client relationships, to develop business relationships, external relationships. And for me, one of the things that we are missing with developing a cultural culture from a broad perspective is that commerciality.
Jo Wright: Yeah,
Helen Wada: because there's two strands. On the one hand, we need to be commercial. We need to do more work. We need to respond to our shareholders, whoever they may be. Commercial. But actually, we know, and I think the world is increasingly realizing that we need to be more human. We need to bring in some of these coaching skills, this coaching culture.
But [00:20:00] it's kind of like never the twin shall meet. And for me, that's where the human, where I created the human advantage and where human wise was taught is to really knit the two together to say, hang on, let's take a step back. If we are really, truly interested in building a coaching culture across the business, we need to look at it with a commercial lens, because if it's not looked at with the commercial lens, the board won't get the attention.
It won't get the attention. But, but we can knit these together.
The Human Thread: Integrating Skills
Helen Wada: And so the human thread is for me, I get so excited, but that's where the human, the framework that I built, create together from a commercial coaching perspective, like, no, let's bring the two together because fundamentally they are one skill set.
It's not two books. It's one of the same.
Jo Wright: Yeah.
Helen Wada: And, and that's my hope for the future.
Putting People First: Insights from Casper Craven
Jo Wright: I've got a good friend, you may know him Casper Craven, the author of a book called Be More Human. And [00:21:00] there's a quote in there that I, I reel out a lot because it just so resonated and it was put people first and the results will follow.
Yeah. And I, I really out so much on, I always accredit it because it's his words, but it's like, it's that you think about your people, they will go the extra mile, whatever that may be, they will, if you're showing your appreciation, you know, if people feel valued at work and the contribution that they're making.
And then they're enjoying what they're doing because you are thanking and supporting and developing them, the results will follow.
The Cost of Neglecting Employee Well-being
Jo Wright: If you don't do that with your people, you might squeeze people and the results may come short term, but then you're getting your burnout, then you'll get into people highly stressed, people disengage, you start losing your talent.
It, it, it's either a virtuous circle or the opposite. to me, I, I just think it's not rocket science, but so many boards do think it's rocket science. It's [00:22:00] like, well, how can we measure that? And it's like, but this is about measuring change in habits, behaviors, thoughts, feelings, how people turn up with their attitude every day.
To me, it's like, what is, what is the bigger question is how much does it cost if you don't do that? If you don't do that. And it's really interesting. I am.
Pandemic's Impact on Organizational Culture
Jo Wright: Feeling, I felt since the pandemic, we've had quite a positive wave of more organizations really thinking in this way. And it's, you know, and I felt really positive at the moment.
I'm still starting to question whether things are going a little bit backwards. You get people like Mark Zuckerberg saying we need more male energy in organizations and it's like, how much more can we have? We need more.
Helen Wada: This balance. We need a balance. It, it's unbelievable that that's appeared really this week, isn't it?
In the context of where the world is and yeah.
Challenges in Building a Coaching Culture
Helen Wada: Frighteningly, so to be honest, but that, but that brings us on to a point about why, what are the challenges that you've [00:23:00] seen in, in organizations, right? You know, you are working to try and build this coaching culture. Yeah. But we are getting stuck. We're getting stuck because people are looking for that RO why, or people are just curious.
Yeah. What have you come up against?
Jo Wright: The story has changed actually.
The Evolution of Coaching Culture
Jo Wright: So we started the business well before the pandemic like I said, nearly eight years ago now. And we, we knew that this was where the world of work was moving and it wasn't going to be about a coaching culture. So organizations were busy talking about a learning culture, but we were like, no, it's actually, it's not all about training.
It's about a coaching culture. To get people thinking for themselves. You know, watch the magic happen and back before the pandemic organizations were saying to us, yeah, we know it's important, but it's not our strategic. Priority right now, pandemic definitely accelerated it. They were like, actually we've realized now, and those organizations who had done something before the pandemic felt the benefits throughout the pandemic, that actually there was trust in the [00:24:00] organization, they were trusting in the direction of the organization.
And since the pandemic, there's been interesting moves, some have gone forward and some have gone backwards. And the challenges have been, you know, we need everybody back in the office or we need people back in the office more. You know, we've been in some level of crisis mode since the pandemic, you know, just in General in organizations, whether it's cost of living, you know, people are confused and I think thankfully there's a move again towards, but the challenges are always back to that ROI.
You know, how do we prove this? How do we show this on the bottom line? I think where the difference is made is if you've got a CEO or people on the board who get it, they've either experienced coaching themselves. They've, you know, they've had a coach, they know how much it's valuable and they know the difference they want to see in the organization from a cultural perspective.
They're the ones who get behind it. And that is really [00:25:00] where I think the magic happens. We've still, this sounds awful. I do think there's, there's possibly a Possibly we've got some people who need to probably one day leave the workplace. Natural reasons, natural, you know, it's a natural evolution of time.
And actually, because a lot of people from younger generations are expecting and wanting this. So we've got to see that transition over time. And I think building a coaching culture does take time, but where organizations have really focused on it. They see the difference it makes to their people and the results and that I just want to get it out to the world.
I want, honestly, if I could get everybody, you know, I say to people, you know, partly to make people laugh, but actually there's part truth in it. I've set myself a deadline of 30 years to actually help. So what's that 83? That's a bit, that's a bit
Helen Wada: beyond, that's a bit beyond my my age.
Jo Wright: It's 29 years [00:26:00] now.
It started last year, did my 30 year deadline to say, look, I'll give you all a deadline of this because, and after that you're on your own sort of thing. But, cause it does take time to change behaviors, en masse, a culture, but I think if the will is there. Then it can work, but I see organizations investing in, you know, capability, capability building programs, but they're not looking at the culture.
So they've got pockets of skills being developed, but they're not knitting the dots together in everyday behaviors and language. And
Helen Wada: I think this is where, and I'm going to come back in with my commercial hat. Yeah. Yeah. So having, having.
Essential Skills for a Coaching Culture
Helen Wada: You know, being at the center of trying to grow a business, trying to win work, trying to, going back to putting the skills, take coaching out of it for a moment.
So take, take the word coaching culture out of it for a moment. If we look at the skills that you need to build a coaching culture, and this is where my human framework comes in. It's absolutely essential. how [00:27:00] you show up. It's about being authentic. It's about knowing your value. It's about knowing who you are, the value you can bring, how you want to be authentic in front of people in the conversations, how you can build trust and transparency with others.
What are those limited beliefs? That's all about who you are, how you show up. You need those skills. You need to be able to understand others. That art of being curious that we have about coaching, you know, the ability to truly listen. The ability to dive deeper in questioning, not just having things on face value, but actually what's under the skin of that?
What does that mean to you? Whether that's a team member or whether that's a customer or a stakeholder, that's the you. And then what's our mindset? You know, how do we think about things? How do we think about what we think about people as individuals, as human beings, not just a business transaction.
Because for me, it's looking at different. And then how do you act? How do you adapt once you know that, you know, there is [00:28:00] no playbook, there's guides, there's training, but actually once you get out there, you need to try, you need to build your resilience. You need to see what happens. You need to review and then you go, so what's next?
Yeah. Yeah. And for me, those skills about how you show up, understanding others, what's your mindset, how do you act, how do you adapt and what do you do next are our skills that contribute to this coaching culture, but actually our skills that you need to build long term sustainable business relationships to win more work, to get out in the market.
Absolutely. And, and for me, knitting that together, Is where we can see the magic happen. They're
Jo Wright: human skills. They're fundamentally, when I think of coaching, I say to people, don't get hung up on the C word. Yes. It's communication, it's collaboration, it's creativity, it's change, it's curiosity.
Fundamentally, these are human communication, relationship building skills. I call [00:29:00] it coaching because, but actually it's all of that. It's basic, basic communication skills that. we just not seem to be taught it. You know, I, I didn't start coaching my teams until I was in my early thirties when I had a light bulb moment.
And I had been told that I was the manager of the team. The team were way more experienced than me. So I had. oodles of imposter syndrome, you know, throughout my veins. So I thought I needed to have all the answers. And so I was busy telling them stuff, you know, do this, do that. This is the way we'll do it.
And then suddenly one day I just didn't have all, I didn't have the answers. So I asked the team and I was like. Oh, bingo, they've got way better answers than me. I think I'm going to start asking them in future. And it sounds silly, but it was as if I'd been told you're the boss, therefore you need to have the answers.
That's what we pay you for. And actually that's not the case whatsoever. My role is to knit those brilliant ideas together and do [00:30:00] something with it.
Helen Wada: I, I think that's, that's super jokes.
The Power of Questions in Coaching
Helen Wada: It's, it's thinking it's flipping that advice piece to asking a question. And I think this. So much power in questions just to help us, us reflect ourselves.
And there was something that I saw at the end of social media this morning from Dan Pink, , who, who wrote the book to sell as human. And. It was about that whole thing of we tell ourself advice, you know, I can do this, but actually instead of doing that, ask yourself, can I do this or how can I do this?
How can I do this? And it gives you a whole different lens about what the art of gospel is. And that's where as coaches, we're so used to the power of questions, the power of questions for ourselves, but also the power of questions for others. And whether that's team member, whether that's clients, you know, our role in increasingly society with technology and [00:31:00] things knitting together, we need to be able to see the bigger picture, ask questions, get curious.
I'm getting the
Jo Wright: neural pathways sparking up because I remember listening to Tony Robbins once and he said, sometimes, because I think the beauty of coaching is it encourages you to self coach. So rather than just going, Oh, I need to ask somebody this question, you could actually go, actually, Tony Robbins said.
If I did know the answer to the question, what would it be? So actually, so you actually start rather than just saying, I can't do this or I don't know, well, if you did know, where would you go to, you know, get that answer? Or if you did know, what would that look like? And you just, rather than just assuming, Oh, I've got to ask somebody else, start thinking it through.
And I started doing a lot more of that. I certainly rely on my business partner a lot for technology. And it's like, actually. I know the answers to these. Why am I even asking the question? I know the answers now. I just need to go and then go to the right person. And I [00:32:00] think it's that, I think the art of coaching others really builds yourself and develops you as a human being.
Sorry, develops others, but it develops you as well. It unlocks your own potential. While you're unlocking the potential of others. And that is what I love so much. And it is about the power of questioning and listening and, and thinking it's the
Helen Wada: art of thinking, isn't it? Oh, Nancy Klein's time to think if, if people haven't come across that, but you know, that's a goldmine, you know, it's a staple amongst coaches, but actually the number of people within an organization that haven't.
come across Nancy Glantz kind of thing. Because the culture is don't think, just do, do, do, do, do, do. Task
Jo Wright: focused. And I did some work recently with a fabulous organization. Myself and two others went into work. The senior leadership team, the CEO was in the room.
Transformational Conversations in Organizations
Jo Wright: There was about 25 people in the room and it was all about moving from what I call transactional to transformational [00:33:00] conversations.
Transactional being, meaning get the test done, get the job done. Yeah, that's fine. You get that done, but actually. When you move to transformational conversations, the deep ones, the getting to know you conversations, the who's the human I'm actually working with conversations, the results just explode in the right direction.
And the feedback from the end of that day was phenomenal. Just like they really valued the conversations they had, conversations they'd never had with their, with themselves or with their colleagues before, and it wasn't rocket science. But it was.
Helen Wada: It was beautiful art. It's thinking differently, isn't it?
It's taking from the top and it's taking what you're talking about questions. What question are we trying to answer today? What is the question? You know, when I'm in coaching, we call it contracting. You know, that top of the conversation. What is the conversation we want to have? What is the question that you're actually trying to ask yourself?
And actually, if you're going deep, [00:34:00] And going, having a proper conversation that doesn't always sit on the surface.
Jo Wright: No, and
Helen Wada: that is, is where we're trying to get to is that actually, what is that real question we're trying to answer? And if you think you overlay that with business conversations, conversations in a sales environment, conversations with your suppliers, conversations with your owners, whatever, what is the real question that's bugging them right now?
And very often it's not what. It's all about peeling back those layers and goodness, you and I could, you know, we can talk for, for hours on the subject and it's just, yeah, it's just heartwarming to find a like minded individual, Jo, to share the passion around skills of coaching and what it means for organizations.
Final Thoughts and Reflections
Helen Wada: I think in an AI world where I know 2025 is a lot of technology. There is an increasing art for us to really beat the [00:35:00] drama of the being human at work. Absolutely. Absolutely. Lovely to have you on the show. I think before we, before we close out I always ask guests for one tip. And, and one question, we've talked a lot about questions, but one tip for listeners and one question for them to think about reflecting on our conversation today.
One
Jo Wright: tip, let me have a think. So one tip I'd always say is look after yourself first, so believe in yourself. So if you're going to be helping others, make sure you're believing in yourself first and really look after your own your own self. You know, it's that whole, put your own life mask on first.
You really look after yourself first and then you can show up to be your best self for others. So I think that's quite nice. Yeah, absolutely. One question. Let me have a think. So what, what is your culture and what do you need to do to go and unlock a coaching culture?
What are the steps you need to take to unlock a coaching culture, to bring [00:36:00] more humans to work?
Helen Wada: Brilliant. I love it. Lots to ponder, lots to think about. And where can people find you, Joe?
Jo Wright: Well, I am on LinkedIn everywhere as as Joe Wright coach on there. I'm on, I've got my own website, joe wright.com and also through coaching coach as well.
So any, I'm everywhere out. Yeah,
Helen Wada: everywhere. I'll tag you. People can find you and look forward to further conversations in 25. Joe.
Jo Wright: Ah, thanks Helen. Take care. All the best.
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