Systems Coaching, Models of Typology, and Emergence

V Varner Philosophy of Coaching: An International Journal 2019

Systems coaching generally refers to coaching assorted groups of people, whether they entail corporate teams or families. However, systems are also present within individuals. Such systems, representing different value clusters, interact between coach and client, and sometimes present coaching challenges. A well-known category of these systems within individuals has been broadly defined as “typology,” encompassing Jung’s theory of psychological types, temperaments, and social styles (among others) in a tripartite view of individual psychology. In this paper, I present an outline of three well-known typological models and explain how the values they encompass play into coaching relationships. I discuss how an emergent system results from the interaction of these individual systems via the field that materializes between coach and client. I conclude with suggestions for ways coaches can utilize these typological models to reveal the values inherent in each client’s psyche in order to enhance the effectiveness of the coaching process.