Episode #25: Kim Morgan - Here You Can Just Be Who You Are: Glitter, Grief and Barefoot Coaching

Kim Morgan has a mantra for everything she does. It's about the learning space, and its power as a vehicle for change.

That space is one she grew up in, with parents she describes as very psychologically aware, and Kim went on to train as a humanistic person-centred therapist before finding herself in need of "something grittier".

Via Freudian psychotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming, she discovered her gift for developing training and experienced a revelation when she realised that not everyone grew up, like her, constantly absorbing new perspectives and reframing situations.

Barefoot Coaching is now world renowned, but Kim established it – with its name inspired by a cherished poem – at a time when there was very little training for coaches available in the UK.

Nearly 15 years later, a tragedy struck that altered Kim's perspective on her life and her work. But remarkably, she returned to deepen her practice and grow even further the many joyous success stories of more than 4,000 Barefoot alumni.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The story of how Kim built Barefoot into one of the most successful coaching organisations in the UK

• How training as a coach mirrors the process of coaching

• The way adults learn, and how it differs from children

• The conditions in which transformational moments occur

• What happens when training is both fierce and compassionate

• How to honour endings in our coaching engagements, and how to make them matter

Kim also speaks movingly about the devastation of loss, the perspective shift that came with her grief, and the support she found in the least expected places.

For more information about Kim, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdkimmorgan/

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

To find out more about the WBECS Summit (including the complimentary Pre-Summit), click on one of the banners or visit: https://coach.wbecs.com/wbecs-2021/a182301. If you register via this link, it’s a way of supporting The Coach’s Journey podcast.

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

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

~5: Barry Ennis on the Coach’s Journey https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-9-barry-ennis-follow-the-fire

~16: “The learning space is the optimal development atmosphere and vehicle for change in which meanings can be played with and understood. An area of psychological experience located between wishes and reality, between one's inner and outer worlds. It allows for certainties about self and others to loosen in order to allow for playful reflection and creativity to enable shifts in self-identity.” - DW Winnicott, Playing and reality. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?hl=en&publication_year=1971&author=+Winnicott%2C+D.W.&title=Playing+and+Reality

~12: Wheel of Anything https://elisabethgoodman.wordpress.com/tag/wheel-of-anything/

~19: Jack Mezirow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Mezirow

~22: Humanistic person-centred therapy https://www.simplypsychology.org/client-centred-therapy.html

~25: Neuro-Linguistic Programming https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/neuro-linguistic-programming

~25: Solution-focused brief therapy https://solutionfocused.net/what-is-solution-focused-therapy/

~25: Robert Holden's Happiness Project https://www.robertholden.com/the-happiness-project/

~25: Positive psychology coaching https://positivepsychology.com/positive-psychology-life-coaching/

~30: I'd Pick More Daisies http://www.devpsy.org/nonscience/daisies.html

~31: Coach U https://www.coachu.com/home/

~35: Sir John Whitmore https://www.performanceconsultants.com/sir-john-whitmore

~35: Joseph O'Connor https://internationalcoachingcommunity.com/joseph-oconnor/

~40: Nancy Kline https://www.timetothink.com/nancy-kline/

~40: Jamie Smart https://www.jamiesmart.com/

~40: Damian Hughes http://liquidthinker.com/

~40: Julie Starr https://starrcoaching.co.uk/

~40: John Perry https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-perry-71490867/?originalSubdomain=uk

~45: Kim Morgan Coaching Cards for Every Day https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coaching-Cards-Every-Day-Barefoot/dp/0992898943

~1.05: The Coach's Casebook https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25017473-the-coach-s-casebook

~1.14: Cruse bereavement services https://www.cruse.org.uk/

~1.14: The grief recovery method https://www.griefrecoverymethod.com/

~1.14: The Good Grief Project https://thegoodgriefproject.co.uk/

~1.15: Rio Ferdinand, Being Mum and Dad https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08kzclp

~1.17: West Midlands Coaching Pool https://www.wmemployers.org.uk/what-we-do/coaching/west-midlands-coaching-and-mentoring-pool/

~1.28: Joel Monk https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-6-joel-monk-conversations-at-the-cutting-edge-of-coaching

~1.43: Coaching Skills for Family Life https://www.barefootcoaching.co.uk/news-blog/coaching-skills-family-life

~1.45: PG Cert in Coaching Supervision https://www.barefootcoaching.co.uk/courses/pg-cert-coaching-supervision

FULL BIOGRAPHY FROM KIM

Kim Morgan is CEO of Barefoot Coaching, one of the most successful and fastest growing coaching and coach training businesses in the UK. Kim was one of the UK’s first executive business and personal coaches, pioneering the development of university-approved coach education in the UK, and her lifetime contribution to the industry was recognised when she the Coach of the Year award from Coaching at Work.

Kim has over 25 years’ experience in the training and development of coaches. She holds a Masters in Coaching and Coaching Development and is a Visiting Research Fellow of the University of Chester and lifetime Fellow of the National Council of Psychotherapists. Kim is also a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist.

An inspirational and innovative coach, Kim works extensively across the UK and Europe with organisations, senior business leaders and executive teams. She is a specialist in delivering mentor and coach education at all levels within organisations, developing and implementing a coaching culture.

Kim speaks at conferences in the UK and globally, delivering stimulating and sometimes challenging presentations on the latest developments in coaching and coach training. She also has a monthly column in Psychologies Magazine that takes a look into her coaching casebook.

Kim brings her passion and expertise to every aspect of Barefoot’s work, and though the business is now long established and continually growing, she is determined to ensure the service Barefoot provides will always be personal.