A coaching relationship can help make powerful changes in a person’s life. Daniel Little, an Integral Coach™ with Round Sky Solutions, walks his walk as a change-maker by engaging with individuals in the hard work of making meaningful adjustments to the way they understand themselves and their work. Here we interview Daniel about the Integral Coaching® program that he offers through Round Sky Solutions.
The Foundation of an Integral Coaching® Relationship
Have you heard of Integral Theory? Integral theory is a framework for bringing together diverse perspectives and integrating them in a coherent way to generate clarity out of complex problems. Integral Coaching® Canada describes Integral Theory: “Integral” means inclusive of everything, entire, complete, whole. So, at its deepest root, Integral Coaching® refers to a way of coaching that is whole, complete and integrated.
Further, Integral Coaching® includes frameworks and developmental principles based on globally recognized Integral Theory.” In Integral Theory we honor a wide range of views. For example, both interior and exterior perspectives, meaning that both our subjective experience and our objective realities are important and need to be taken into account.
It’s not just that we need to learn about our thoughts, feelings and emotions on the interior side, nor is it just about behavior, action, and engagement on the exterior side, but an artful blend of both are needed to make effective change. So when you’re talking about biohacking or human optimization, it’s Integral Theory that really holds the leading edge of Human Development research, technology, and understanding.
Charlotte: Hi Daniel, so tell me a little bit about your background in coaching.
Daniel Little:
Well, I feel like my background in coaching has been a lifelong passion for human development and how we learn and grow as people. That’s always been a key thing for me. For the early part of my life it was always a pursuit of my own. I got my undergrad in psychology, but it was a few years ago in 2008 when I just had this big realization about my life: this is my life, what do I want to be doing with it? At the time I was doing this beautiful thing as an Ecological Builder, but I decided I wanted to spend my life connecting with people and asking deeper questions.
So I decided to go back to school and ended up getting a graduate certificate in Integral Theory. There, I heard about this coaching program that uses Integral Theory through Integral Coaching® Canada, and after a few years I got my certification as an Integral Master Coach™. I got certified in 2011, and I’ve been working with coaching clients since then to transform their lives and their work.
Charlotte: Tell me about the coaching programs that Round Sky Solutions offers.
Daniel Little:
There’s a few different ways that Round Sky Solutions works with people one-on-one, from one-on-one mentorship training programs for collaborative leadership to business startup advising, and the Integral Coaching® program that we offer is really for people who want to enhance their own personal and collaborative leadership capacities.
These programs can be scaled to fit different needs, but typically are set up to take a deep dive into transformational change. We meet every two weeks for about 10 months. The first sessions are filled with a tremendous amount of insight, and we set up a customized and comprehensive coaching program that’s highly tailored to the individual needs of the client. To really make change that sticks, it takes embodiment, and it takes practice. So the main work of the coaching program is in trying practices and experiments in the client’s own life that will create changes and develop new capacities. It’s this practicing over time, with the customized support of an experienced coach, that really makes change stick.
Charlotte: What’s so exciting about a coaching program with you?
Daniel Little:
Well, my clients tell me that they’ve found me to be a very supportive and encouraging presence in their lives, and that the tailored attention to the particular areas of their lives really helps them feel met as a complex, whole person. This kind of change takes time, yet, across the board, at the end of their programs, as my clients reflect on the progress they’ve made, I hear how astounded they are at the shifts that they’ve been able to make in their approach to the world and their work.
For example, one of the clients who recently completed coaching with me had been struggling with feeling overwhelmed from taking on too much. While she was incredibly competent and confident in many ways, through the program design process it became clear that a big part of her struggle was not believing in herself in a way that would allow her to make better choices about what she took on, and what she said no to. Through the course of our work she was able to really get a handle on this and become much more rooted in her own self confidence that allowed her to make better choices about what to take on, and ask for help more clearly. In the end she reported a lot more joy and freedom in her work, and was being more effective in her collaborations with others.
Charlotte: Who are these programs really good for?
Daniel Little:
I think the coaching programs at Round Sky Solutions are great for people in some position of leadership, where they’re trying to include more voices in the conversation, to become more collaborative, and to create environments where people are working really well together. Anyone has the potential for leadership inside them, and most people need a little guidance to discover just how they can function really well in a position of shared power with others.
I also love working with people on life-coaching topics related to life purpose, spiritual development, and relationships. Everyone needs support in these areas of their life, and often, especially in times of transition and growth, a coaching relationship is just right for creating the deep understanding and clear action that’s needed to move forward with grace and power.
Charlotte: Is there any way these great programs can be accessible to all Vermonters?
Daniel Little:
Yeah! I work with people all over the United States and even internationally, too. Coaching sessions can be done just as powerfully via phone and online video chat, and of course I love working with people locally as well. Vermonters have a unique opportunity to apply to work with me through one of our training programs that have been accepted for the Vermont non-degree grant program. These programs in leadership and communication topics are eligible to receive up to $2500 in grants for Vermont residents. (Read more here about that.)
Wow. It sounds like Daniel really cares about understanding what makes people tick, and working with them to optimize their strengths, and work deeply with their challenges. This blogger knows from experience that change only happens with an authentic support system and commitment to personal and professional development.
My experience with Daniel has been that his engagement with people comes not only from a strong background in education and practice, but also from a deep willingness to listen and integrate what he hears. He’s curious about the human condition, and he’s always learning. Having him on your side as a coach means having an experienced and engaged mentor, who’s ready and willing to not only talk you through what you’re experiencing in the moment, but also to support a deeper understanding of how we create the conditions that are right for our own success.
Have you ever sought help for making improvements in your habits? Have you ever thought about expanding your capacity for empathetic leadership?
Contact us now to schedule your FREE ½ hr exploratory session with Integral Master Coach™ Daniel Little and take this revealing test to see where your leadership strengths and challenges show up!
For more on Integral Theory go here.
For more on Integral Coaching® go here.