Tango/Coaching – the Art of Leading and Following - Présentation de la conférence de Prague

International meeting of coaches à Prague en février 2011

John Leary – Joyce: Tango/Coaching – the Art of Leading and Following

John Leary-Joyce is an experienced executive coach, trainer, supervisor and presenter and currently EMCC UK President. He is founder and CEO of the Academy of Executive Coaching AoEC an international provider of accredited individual/team coach training up to Masters level. He has been a Gestalt practitioner for 30 years so finding Tango with its emphasis on presence and physical communication in the immediacy of the relationship was a dream come true. He has studied Tango in London with many of the top teachers from Buenos Aries.

Marielle Bezy

Marielle Bezy is an economist who studied at the Sorbonne, Paris. She is employed in an organisation that promotes international mobility, completed a coach training and now coaches as part of her role. She's been dancing Tango for 14 years and now teaches using body awareness that involves martial arts and Alexander technique. Marielle has completed a Master's thesis on "Tango as a tool for coaching and leadership".

Objective of the paper:
To explore
1. the essential qualities of the coaching relationship based on a 'relational' approach to coaching
2. the implications for the coach as leader and follower

Main idea of the paper:
In Tango the…
...leader creates a space where the follower wants to step into
...structure provides the container for improvisation and innovation
...environment influences what can/cannot be created
...dialogue is established through attention to body language
...quality of flow in the dance depends on the level of connection and empathy
Would you agree that these elements can also apply to coaching?

We will demonstrate how Tango can be used as a vehicle for exploring the nature of the coaching relationship and the controversial area of coach as follower and leader.

"Tango must be simply danced, with immense feeling, with a sense of energy flowing between the dancers. This energy grows or decreases as the music ebbs and flows. It is a private conversation, something to be quietly shared, not publicly displayed." Bruno E. Romero - Origins of Argentina Tango