Episode #32: Mike Toller – This Work, Coaching and Psychotherapy, is an Act of Care
Having achieved success running a popular clubnight in London and living his life by "trusting serendipity", Mike Toller wondered whether he could make more of a difference in people's lives. That thought was the beginning of his journey to becoming a professional coach and a psychodynamic psychotherapist.
The world of coaching opened up to him through conversations with Phil Bolton, who trained both Mike and I at the very start of our coaching careers, and through some remarkable discussions with his flying instructor that Mike talks about in this episode.
Our journeys have remained intertwined ever since, and recently we have been working together to train new coaches for a consultancy called Curve, who are doing amazing work in the world.
That experience has given us the opportunity to refocus on the essence of our coaching practices, and in this episode we explore what we have learned and shared, both together and separately, over the course of an enduring friendship and a hugely productive working relationship.
In this episode, we talk about:
Using physical space symbolically to shift perspectives in coaching sessions
Mike's role in the world's only indie air guitar band
Getting back to the fundamentals of coaching and how, as coaches, we can model healthy relationships
The vital importance of intentionality and how to create it in coaching relationships
What happens when we make coaching sessions an embodied experience
Mike is also a practising psychodynamic psychotherapist, and he offers valuable insight into both worlds, comparing and contrasting them from his unique vantage point.
For more information about Mike, visit https://www.michaeltollercoaching.co.uk/ or email him at michaeltollercoaching@gmail.com.
For information about Robbie’s wider work and writing, visit www.robbieswale.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):
- Phil Bolton http://www.phil-bolton.com/
- Vegard Olsen https://coachingpartner.net/cp/en/
- Introduction to Counselling at Birkbeck https://www.bbk.ac.uk/study/2021/short-courses/modules/SSPA/SSPA116N0/
- What a Girl Wants https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286788/
- Feeling Gloomy https://feelinggloomy.com/
- Club de Fromage https://clubdefromage.com/
- The Coaching School https://www.michaeltollercoaching.co.uk/training
- Episode #2 with Phil Bolton https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-2-phil-bolton-from-forensic-accountant-to-the-go-to-career-coach-in-london-and-on-to-work-with-ceos-mds-and-founders
- Curve https://www.curve.cc/
- Episode #15 with Toku McCree https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-15-toku-mccree-sales-with-honour-and-love-on-the-end-of-a-sword
- Kim Morgan and Barefoot Coaching https://www.barefootcoaching.co.uk/about-us/kim-morgan
- Robert Stephenson https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-27-robert-stephenson-animas-how-to-say-yes-and-become-a-conduit-for-change
- Animas https://www.animascoaching.com/creating-space/
- Closer Apart, the book on designing and facilitating workshops by Curve https://www.closerapartbook.com/
- The interview with Inga Umblija from Curve and Phil Bolton about their work on abundance https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-28-inga-umblija-phil-bolton-abundance-formula
- John Monks https://www.thnk.org/community/people/john-monks/
- Katie Harvey https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/coaching-during-coronavirus-katie-harvey
BIOGRAPHY FROM MIKE
Mike was born in Germany and moved to the UK when he was six years old. He lived in Oxfordshire, Leeds and Norfolk with his parents and three brothers. When he was 19, he studied Linguistics in Cambridge, and then moved to London.
Mike first worked for a graduate recruitment startup, then followed a passion for writing and made a leap to publishing, editing travel guides. In his spare time, he put on clubnights for fun and later took the plunge and left his job as an editor to turn the nights into a successful events company.
Realising he wanted his work to be more fulfilling and align directly with his values and wider goals, Mike began a process of self-reflection and worked with some amazing mentors, who inspired him to take his career into his own hands and choose a new direction. He made a plan for change, and in 2010 began training as a psychotherapist.
Along the way, he decided to develop a portfolio career and trained as a coach in 2014. He also co-founded The Coaching School, a centre of excellence for coaching committed to training and supporting the next generation of outstanding coaches.
Mike now works as a professional coach and psychodynamic psychotherapist, supporting individuals privately and in organisations, and training people to bring coaching skills and mindsets into their personal and professional lives.