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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 9, No. 11
Publication Date: November 25, 2022
DOI:10.14738/assrj.911.13371. Forbes, R. L. (2022). Leadership Coaching: Are We Missing the Alchemy? Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(11). 1-08.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Leadership Coaching: Are We Missing the Alchemy?
Raymond L. Forbes
Senior Leadership Coach and Chair, MS in Business Psychology
Franklin University, 201 South Grant Avenue
Columbus, Ohio, USA 43215
ABSTRACT
In an era characterized by fear, uncertainty and doubt Leadership Coaches now find
themselves operating on more difficult and unfamiliar terrain. Enabling their
clients to cope, survive and thrive in such tenuous conditions offers a significant
professional challenge. This paper offers an unusual supplemental approach to
more conventional and traditional coaching methods. Utilizing principles derived
from the ancient field of alchemy, as well as from modern neuroscience, this article
provides both new ideas and guidance to the practitioner of leadership coaching.
Beginning with a guided imagery, this piece will then cover the connection between
alchemy and leadership, followed by alchemy’s relationship to leadership coaching.
The article will next review some relevant findings from contemporary brain
science focusing, in particular, on the role of the unconscious mind. The ensuing
section provides some ideas for what Leadership Coaches might consider doing
differently to be more effective in working with their clients. The article concludes
with a short summary and discussion of future implications.
Key Words: Alchemy, Brain Science, Neuroscience, Leadership, Leadership Coaching
INTRODUCTION
Clear your mind. Quiet your body. Calm your breathing. Picture in your imagination a small,
dim, and obscure chamber. The space, at first glance, seems very old. It smells musty, the air
dense with unfamiliar noxious odors. The walls are damp with moisture. In the semi-darkness
your heightened senses detect the aura of a compact human presence. Brief indistinct
movements cast wavering grotesque shadows on the surrounding stonework.
No weapons are visible. Placed strategically around the room are slender wax tapers. The
spluttering candles afford only limited illumination. A small grouping of spectral figures
appears to be seated on short benches hunched over a long wooden table. Plainly laid out upon
the table are a variety of some kind of simple implements or tools.
Carelessly scattered across the tabletops are fragile hand-printed parchments penned in an
obscure language. Several ancient-appearing leather-bound volumes are also in evidence.
Particular selections of these fragile works are propped open to display specific portions of
illuminated text. All of the revealed regions of the books overflow with enigmatic diagrams.
Some even contain intricate, elaborate, drawings. Here and there, indecipherable coded
notations show.
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 9, Issue 11, November-2022
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Clearly noticeable at the corners of the area are a few groupings of fairly large and complex
constructions. These impressive fabrications seem to be composed mainly of dull metal and
crystal components. They are intricately connected together by looping glassine tubes that
appear to have some sort of fluid flowing through them. Altogether, they comprise an extremely
puzzling assemblage of unknown purpose and origin.
When the ghostly figures move, they do so slowly and cautiously with infinite care. Their bodies
are dressed from head-to-toe in long flowing robes. Sandals cover their feet. Hoods shroud their
heads, making their faces appear vague and featureless. Several of the figures are awkwardly
bent over bubbling-hot crucibles to which they occasionally add things. The steaming cauldrons
frequently emit strange flashes of colored fire, smoke and exotic odors.
Seemingly engrossed in their labors, a few of the forms appear to be gingerly handling fragile- appearing glass beakers. Large flasks nearby are filled to the brim with curious unknown
substances of various colors, densities and granularities. The workers infrequently speak.
When they do, it is in muted tones using a tongue difficult to comprehend. Their movements
seem agonizingly slow and calculated. In the dim candlelight their single-minded attention
appears to be narrowly and feverishly watchful, even expectant.
Chancing a final look, you conclude that all of the physical arrangements and intense work
efforts seem to be concentrated solely on accomplishing a single task. With that realization, the
once vivid scene slowly dissolves and fades from your senses, returning you fully conscious to
the present.
THE REVELATION
Aided by guided imagery, this fictional narrative was empowered by your mind’s own creative
unconscious processes. The storyline deliberately portrayed people in an unusual setting
engaged in an ambiguous and unspecified task. The tale was intended to elicit a stylized version
of the legendary quest for the “Philosophers Stone.” This mythical rock was believed to have
the transcendent power of transmuting lead into gold. As the primary symbol of Alchemy, the
Philosophers Stone symbolized perfected enlightenment and heavenly bliss, not to mention the
possibility of unlimited fabulous riches. Thus, the imaginary tale intentionally depicted fantasy
figures who could well have been medieval alchemists.
For many of us, this hypothetical yesteryear scenario tends to elicit sinister images of
mysterious fictitious characters like Professor Severus Snape. Snape was the erstwhile
instructor of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Snape springs from the fertile imagination of best-selling author J. K. Rowling. Rowling’s
immensely popular Harry Potter book series has captivated audiences world-wide.
As a prototypical character, Snape might be considered a model for a present-day alchemist.
Alchemy has historically amassed a bad reputation as an occult science. Through the ages
Alchemy has earned a dubious reputation as a pseudo-science. It has been long considered a
kind of false knowledge rooted in the confusion and mysticism of the Dark Ages following the
fall of the Holy Roman Empire. Traditionally, Alchemy has been identified as the medieval
forerunner of modern chemistry.
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Forbes, R. L. (2022). Leadership Coaching: Are We Missing the Alchemy? Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(11). 1-08.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.911.13371
A more contemporary perspective, espoused by some modern-day theorists, considers
Alchemy to be a centuries-old part of the field of natural philosophy. Natural philosophy being
the philosophical study of physics or nature and the physical universe. Alchemy, as such, is often
seen as a pre-science tradition concerned with purifying and perfecting specific substances and
the finding of a universal elixir. Even that paragon of early objective scientific thought, the
acknowledged founder of the field of modern Physics, Sir Isaac Newton, was a practicing
alchemist (Newman, 2018). With all the historical controversy and negative views about
Alchemy, what could it possibly offer a modern Leadership Coaching practitioner?
ALCHEMY AND LEADERSHIP
A number of these ancient alchemic ideas, rooted in longstanding customs, have been linked to
the leadership field. They have also stimulated several recent subject-related books. These
works include: The Alchemy of Power: Mastering the Immutable Facts of Leadership (Corley,
2019), The Alchemy of Authentic Leadership (Massouth & Mondale, 2013), Leadership Alchemy
(Pi, 2020), Corporate Alchemy (Shields, 2018), and The Alchemy of Truly Remarkable Leadership
(Watson, 2020).
The topic of Alchemy has also garnered the notice of practitioners from other, more traditional,
business disciplines. Of particular note, for Leadership Coaches, is the professional interest of
controversial marketing guru Rory Sutherland. Sutherland is a noted author and vice chairman
and creative director of advertising powerhouse Ogilvy & Mather. In his recent book, Alchemy,
Sutherland defines Alchemy as “the Dark Art and curious science of creating magic in brands,
business and life.” (Sutherland, 2019), He further suggests that our brains, consistent with
evolving neuroscience research, offer us a deliberately biased viewpoint designed less for
accuracy and more to advance our evolutionary fitness. In other words, our brains appear to be
constructed to prefer thoughts and actions that support passing on our DNA and enabling
survival of the human species.
Sutherland, something of an iconoclast among contemporary marketing experts, further
proposes that the human mind is not primarily driven by logic but by emotion. Additionally, he
suggests the conscious mind tries mightily to continue the fiction that it alone chooses every
action that we take. Sunderland, ever the experiential teacher, also advises practitioners that
not everything that makes sense works, and not everything that works makes sense.
This pragmatic notion of sense-making seems very consistent with what Leadership Coaches
attempt to accomplish with their clients. Sutherland’s idea that individuals are not principally
driven by logic and rationality is finding support in the work of contemporary neuroscientists.
Much of our behavior, according to their brain research results, appears to be driven by
unconscious processes, only some of which make it into conscious awareness. This emerging
realization of the impact of unconscious processes on behavior may hold real implications for
the work of Leadership Coaches.
ALCHEMY AND LEADERSHIP COACHING
So, what does alchemy actually have to do with leadership coaching? White & McKinnon (2003)
showed that the essence of Leadership Coaching is about establishing, influencing and
maintaining human relationships. The alchemy lies in the extent to which individual talents,
competencies and interests artfully meld with imagination and creativity via people