Episode 142: Climate Consciousness: The Coaching Connection with guest, Lydia Stevens and Grattan Donnelly

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What if the key to transformative coaching isn't about adding climate awareness to your practice, but recognizing it's already there? Climate biodiversity coach Lydia Stevens and regenerative leadership coach Grattan Donnelly challenge us to look "upstream" beyond immediate client concerns to the interconnected living systems that shape all human experience.

The powerful metaphor they share illuminates why this matters: villagers downstream rescue bodies floating in a river but rarely venture upstream to discover why people are falling in. Similarly, coaching that ignores ecological context addresses symptoms rather than root causes. "Business as usual is downstream," explains Donnelly. "Until we start thinking about what kind of world we really want to live in."

This expanded awareness doesn't require changing client agendas. Stevens points out that climate consciousness isn't something "outside" coaching—it's embedded in everyday life. The framework they share expands traditional coaching domains (self, team, organization) to include land, workspace, wider ecosystems, and biosphere, recognizing that all human activities exist within living systems.

Their methodology often involves nature itself. Donnelly conducts sessions as outdoor "walk and talks," letting nature serve as co-coach. This practice activates the calming parasympathetic nervous system, allowing clients to literally see challenges from new perspectives. "When I slow down, I see twice as much," he notes. This integration of "head, heart, gut, and earth" creates conditions for profound mindset shifts without forcing climate topics.

At its core, climate-conscious coaching recognizes what Donnelly calls the false "story of separation" between humans and nature: "We're not a part of nature, we're not apart from nature. We are nature." Through this reconnection, clients discover new possibilities for relating to themselves, others, and the world around them.

Watch the full interview by clicking here.

Find the full article here.

Learn more about Lydia Stevens here.

Lydia is offering a free 30 minute leadership coaching experience in nature wherever you are based in the world - see here.

Learn more about Grattan Donnelly here.

Additional Resources:

Shaping Tomorrow: A Playbook for Coaching Leaders in Sustainable Decision-Making and Policy. ~This flexible workbook provides actionable strategies, communication frameworks, and holistic approaches, that will show you how to navigate political systems and inspire leaders to make courageous, sustainable choices for our planet’s future.

The Future We Choose is an inspiring manifesto from Global Optimism Co-Founders, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac. It explains what’s to come, how to face it and what we can do. Practical, optimistic and empowering, this is a book for every generation, showing us the exciting world we can all be part of creating.

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