Episode #31: Myles Downey – There Is Genius In Everyone

Myles Downey has been playing tennis all his life. But now, at the age of 62, he is relearning to play the game in a way that’s aligned with his identity and his unique take on genius.

A global authority on performance, coaching and leadership, and the author of classic coaching tomes such as Effective Modern Coaching, Myles says tennis has been instrumental in shaping his view of people and how they learn.

In our fascinating conversation, he describes the transformative experience of reading Timothy Gallwey's The Inner Game of Tennis, and how that led him on a path towards demonstrating the principles of coaching to more people than anyone else ever has.

Having been at the forefront of business coaching for over three decades, Myles explains why Leader Performance is now his major focus, and how he developed the Enabling Genius model and put together a project team to look at the area of genius, which he wrote about in his book Enabling Genius – A Mindset for Success in the 21st Century.

In this episode, we talk about:

  • The vital shift from instruction to focusing on each individual's ability to learn for themselves

  • What Myles thinks are the two most useful coaching questions

  • Why coaches must look beyond the individual goals of each client  

  • The Boost Leadership mobile learning platform that Myles has helped to develop

  • Moving from 'command and control' to 'align and enable' and the battle between love and will

In a world hung up on control and codification, Myles is a compelling advocate for the power of self-expression, creativity and innovation, and his passion is impossible to ignore.

For more information about Myles, visit http://mylesdowney.com/, or email him at myles@mylesdowney.com.

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

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

To support the Coach's Journey, visit www.patreon.com/thecoachsjourney and to join the Coach's Journey Community visit www.thecoachsjourney.com/community


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

- Myles giving a full coaching session on the JMJ YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDCKgvuHZKQ

- The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey https://theinnergame.com/inner-game-books/the-inner-game-of-tennis/

- The Alexander Partnership https://www.thealexanderpartnership.com/about-us/

- Enabling Genius, and Effective Modern Coaching by Myles Downey http://mylesdowney.com/writing/

- George Kelly and his Personal Construct Theory https://www.verywellmind.com/george-kelly-biography-2795498

- Roberto Assagioli https://psychosynthesistrust.org.uk/7-remarkable-facts-about-roberto-assagioli/

- Ken Wilber https://integrallife.com/who-is-ken-wilber/

- Werner Erhard http://www.wernererhard.com/

- Waking Up The Workplace podcast http://www.wakinguptheworkplace.com/

- Alan Fine https://theinnergame.com/alan-fine-developing-the-grow-model/

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

- McKinsey https://www.mckinsey.com/

- The School of Coaching https://www.theschoolofcoaching.com/

- Ken Wilber's pre/trans fallacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Wilber#Pre/trans_fallacy

- Heather Dawson https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-dawson-79b09169/

- Praesta coaching https://www.praesta.co.uk/

- The European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) https://www.emccglobal.org/

- The International Coaching Federation (ICF) https://coachingfederation.org/

- Eddie Jones https://www.englandrugby.com/england/senior-men/squad/eddie-jones

- ActionCOACH https://www.actioncoach.com/

- Boost Leadership http://playboostnow.com/

- George Kelly Shaper Of: Personal Meaning, by Trevor Butt https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/9780230008410

- Inner Tennis: Playing the Game, by Timothy Gallwey https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Inner_Tennis.html?id=G3G1AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y

- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's TED talk on flow https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness?language=en

BIOGRAPHY FROM MYLES

One of the leading coaches in Europe with global experience spanning 30 years, Myles has worked across the C-suite in some of the most prestigious organisations and in the widest variety of industries, including banking and financial services, manufacturing, oil and gas, professional services, and the public sector.

Myles has been at the forefront of coaching, not only in the UK but also right across Europe and into the near and far east, while being one of the first European coaches invited time and again to teach in Russia.

In his role as a keynote speaker he has been invited to speak at the BBC’s Conference for its top 400 senior executives, the McKinsey Global Partners Conference in Singapore, and the ICF Global Conference in Malmo.

Myles was part of the team that established The Alexander Corporation in 1987, and in 1996 he established The School of Coaching – a highly respected provider of coach training and executive coaching in the UK and Europe.

As an author Myles published Effective Coaching in 1999, and it was re-written and re-published in 2003 and then again in 2014 as Effective Modern Coaching. The book has gone on to sell over 100,000 copies and has been translated into four languages.

Myles has continued to develop other projects, which include ‘Enabling Genius Research Project’ with a team of 20 consultants and coaches. The book Enabling Genius – a Mindset for Success in the 21st Century was published to acclaim in 2014.

The Enabling Manager, written with Ian Harrison, will be published in Spring 2022.

Stephen CreekComment