The Story

When East meets West… when Lao Tzu wrote down the 81 verses of the Tao Te Ching 2,500 years ago in ancient China, he may not have realised the impact its philosophy would have millenniums later in the West and the newly-emerging profession of life-coaching.

When Julia from Taiwan met Nick from England on a coaching course, they didn’t realise at first that they had a common interest in the work of Lao Tzu. This joint interest soon became a course project. As we explored a few verses of the Tao, we began to see how Lao Tzu’s teachings could be related to personal development and coaching principles.

On this blog we intend to continue this work by exploring one verse of the Tao Te Ching each week. We invite you to join us on our journey and add your own thoughts to deepen our learning. How do you interpret Lao Tzu’s message? And how does it speak to you as a coach?

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Verse 40

Returning is the motion of the Tao.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.

All things are born of being.
Being is born of non-being.

[For Personal Development]
  • Return to your nature state of simplicity, child-like innocence and curiosity.
  • Let go and let it happen. The more you resist, the stronger the resistance you will encounter.
  • Life often comes full circle.

[For Coaching]

  • Great coaching is to uncover the who and invite the client to embrace who they are.
  • People are inquisitive: Wonder, curiosity and inquiry are the source of all learning (Coach U Guiding Principle #2)
  • The most powerful coaching takes place at the level of "who", the non-being.
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