“Dave, What is the Pivot?”

Recently, a client flew in from Kuala Lumpur to spend the day with me in Bangkok. Over a restorative lunch in a Japanese garden, between sessions of deep coaching, he asked me what was happening in my world. I shared that I've been immersed in my own process of shifting my coaching philosophy.

He was curious to hear more and particularly interested in the name I had chosen: The Pivot. He listened attentively as I described my shift from the familiar developmental approach where I design a path for a client, they pursue it, and a lasting change then takes place—or not.

Although tried and true for many situations and people, this way of coaching no longer felt true to me. My perspective now sees the client as whole and in a continual process of transformation rather than as incomplete, existing between a current and desired state. 

Think of Michelangelo’s David. The great sculptor was adamant that David was already in the block of marble before he even touched it and had simply removed the extraneous material surrounding the courageous boy. 

In coaching, I help clients lift away blockages that have accumulated over a lifetime so they can newly see their innate genius and gifts, constantly attuned to the perfection within.

There are additional layers to The Pivot beyond my coaching approach. The change in my own coaching, while consequential for my clients and me, is a small part of a more significant shift I observe: a shift toward innovative methods for addressing and transcending the existential and personal crises we all face. 

After lunch, walking around the city with my client, I shared more about what I have been feeling and observing around me. “Though we are in difficult times,” I said, “this is not the end of times,” I explained my view of this challenging transition period: old structures and stagnant ways of being, living, and thriving are crumbling. New systems are emerging. We are in an in-between or gray stage. Like all growth in nature and human development, there's a period of disintegration and stasis before the new can emerge—like a butterfly from the cocoon. 

How does one talk about transformation in the midst of the meta-crisis?

This question has captivated me in recent years. Lately, much of my work has been with senior leaders who are finding that their old maps for navigating the world are obsolete. They are eager to know how they can capably meet the vast change and complexity we face today—as individuals, communities, and societies.  

In my own search for answers to these questions, I've been exploring and developing ways to work with people, thinking beyond traditional self-development, transformation, and leadership practices, and leveraging technology dynamically. I'm exploring new ways of working with non-ordinary states of consciousness, using neuroplasticity to cultivate new ways of living and being out of peak experiences. 

In conversation with my client, as the word “neuroplasticity” traveled from my lips to his alert ear, he leaned forward, excited. Eager to move beyond the term’s current quick appeal, I explained how my new ways of working and sensemaking had grown out of my profound need for a “re-wiring” of how we think about ourselves, each other, and the world around us—and that this shift had led me to this pivoting in my work.

He shared how much he appreciated that I wasn't suggesting starting from scratch but rather proposing a shift in perspective to embrace the new, the emergent, even the unknown—and to navigate this liminal space with skill. Moreover, The Pivot appealed to his enterprising spirit: he smiled and said, "Dave, you have something to say," and proceeded to paint a picture of me and him in the company of a new model of global leader—people who, in his words, “are looking for more for themselves and who want to make a difference in new ways.”

He threw out the names of a few prominent figures and then winked.

I was humbled, but I agree that my work will continue to help people who are at the top of their fields and who want to make a difference. They are the greatest levers for change and help us navigate the new world.

We ended our day with a riverside dinner celebrating this new work. That day and what has grown out of it since for my client represent how I am bringing my life’s learning, experience, skills, and wisdom into my coaching with leaders, future change makers, and explorers.

I returned to my home in Lausanne refreshed and energized with deeper clarity.

A pivot from waiting for things to return to how they were to using new skills to make sense of the larger systemic changes around us. 

A pivot from relying on our traditional view of our work as a solo hero’s journey for our personal development to combining individual skill-building with the creative and synergistic aspects of exploring and working in groups and communities.

A pivot from mere individual survival and protection to collective abundance and prosperity that is the source of thriving and happiness in this transitional period. 

 Your Pivot might include:

• Using new frameworks and practices to help you navigate the complexity and rapid change you are facing as the old "maps" become obsolete. This incorporates systems thinking, sense-making, and other emergent approaches. We will be learning new ways to continue personal growth during times of global change.

• Accelerating your development by embracing this significant shift in coaching perspective. Instead of a developmental model in which the coach designs a path, this new approach focuses on helping you uncover and reconnect with your inherent gifts and genius. Together, we will build a developmental path forward that leverages these strengths, recognizing your innate wholeness.

• You and I can collaborate by using the latest cutting-edge technologies and wisdom. For instance, we can leverage the brain's neuroplasticity to help integrate peak experiences and altered states—such as breathwork or the optional use of psychedelic plant medicines—into a new way of living and being. This approach can assist individuals in expanding their consciousness and discovering new meanings in life.

Pause and take all this in. Check for resonance. If you find some heat or energy moving in you or your head nodding, ask yourself the following question:

Am I ready to Pivot?