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?

Monday, December 21, 2009

Verse 68

A good soldier is not violent.
A good fighter is not angry.
A good winner does not contend.
A good leader follows the will of the people.

This is known as the virtue of not competing.
This is known as making use of the abilities of others.
This is known as being united with heaven as it was in ancient times.

[For Personal Development]
  • Winning does not mean someone has to lose. Win-win is the only true victory.
  • When you focus on conquering others instead of bettering yourself, the best result you will get is a defeated enemy.
  • Collaboration is more powerful than competition. Working for a common goal creates synergy.

[For Coaching]

  • A strong coach has edge, but does not have to use the edge.
  • Partner with our clients to achieve the results they want, not the result we want them to have.
  • Invite the client to adopt an abundance mentality so they can genuinely share in the successes of others which can support them in their own growth.
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