Over the years, I’ve become convinced of something simple.

Human beings change through conversations.

When I look back on my own life, I can point to a handful of conversations that changed my direction, challenged my assumptions, gave me courage, or helped me see something I couldn’t yet see for myself.

Perhaps you can too.

Over the last thirty years, I’ve had the privilege of working with leaders, entrepreneurs, church planters, politicians, charities, and organisations around the world. Through thousands of conversations, one pattern kept emerging. People rarely change because someone gives them the perfect answer.

More often, transformation begins when someone listens deeply, asks a thoughtful question, and creates the space for a different future to emerge.

That simple observation eventually became a book.

Today, I’m delighted to share that The Imaginal Coach: How Leaders Unlock Human Potential One Conversation at a Time has officially been released.

The book brings together lessons from coaching, leadership, resilience, change, and spiritual formation. It is written for leaders, coaches, mentors, parents, managers, and anyone who wants to help others flourish.

To learn more or order, visit here.

Thank you for your support over the years. Many of this book’s ideas grew from our conversations:)

People often ask me what I actually do.

And if I’m honest, I’m sometimes at a loss for words.

On any given day, I can find myself working with leaders across the globe – entrepreneurs, clergy, executives, church planters, creatives, and people quietly carrying the weight of change in their organizations, families, and lives.

Yes, I coach leaders.
Yes, I help people navigate complexity and transition.

But the older I get, the less interested I become in the latest coaching fad, fast-track certification, or leadership trend.

What fascinates me far more is how human beings have always navigated change.

How each of us eventually reaches moments when the old way of being no longer fits.
How uncertainty can quietly become the birthplace of transformation.

And how, buried deep within us all, lies a blueprint for something new trying to emerge.

Much of my work involves helping restless leaders slow down long enough to hear what is happening beneath the noise of their lives. Not to give them quick answers, but to help them notice the deeper story unfolding within them.

The older I get, the more I believe transformation rarely happens through force.

It happens through presence.
Through silence.
Through someone holding space long enough for clarity to awaken from within.

If I have ever struggled to explain my work in a single piece of writing, this excerpt from my upcoming book, The Art of Imaginal Coaching: How Leaders Unlock Human Potential One Conversation at a Time, is probably the closest I have come.

…

The Art of Imaginal Coaching: Presence, Silence, and Story

Imaginal coaching guides restless leaders into the calmness that births their next identity. Every leader who seeks coaching is, in some way, like a caterpillar on a leaf. The leaf has sustained them up to this point. But eventually, an inner voice speaks, “There is more than this.” It is rarely a loud declaration; most often, it is a subtle restlessness, a sense that the familiar is no longer enough. Real growth requires stillness.

In nature, the caterpillar enters its cocoon not to simply add wings but also to undergo a complete transformation. Everything that previously defined it dissolves so that something entirely new can emerge. In this apparent chaos, imaginal cells appear, tiny carriers of possibility containing the blueprint for the butterfly. At first, the old system treats these cells as threats, but the imaginal cells persist, connect, cluster, and communicate until the new form begins to take over.

This describes the process of imaginal coaching. We do not force change or impose clarity. Instead, we create a still, present, and holy space where the coachee’s deeper truth, the imaginal potential, can awaken and reorganize their life from within. To practice imaginal coaching is to walk with someone through their cocoon season: to hold stillness even when they crave answers, to stay present as their old identity dissolves, and to listen for the quiet emergence of their imaginal self.

…

If this resonates with you, I’d genuinely love to hear which line or image stayed with you the longest.

And perhaps this week, instead of rushing to force clarity or solve everything immediately, simply pause long enough to ask:

“What is trying to emerge within me that my current life no longer has room for?”

A new kind of campfire now glows across our world. It has no smoke or sparks, yet it is just as alive. We gather around it daily, often without naming it. I’ve come to think of it as the digital campfire. 

Coaching no longer happens only in cafés, retreat centres, or conference rooms. Now it takes place on video calls, shared documents, and online communities. 

Coaching now unfolds in virtual spaces that were hard to imagine just ten years ago. For Generation Z, the line between physical and digital life is already thin. They build real relationships online, lead teams there, and mentor one another. What is new to some feels normal to them. This asks those of us who coach to pause and reflect. 

• What does it mean to create space for presence, wisdom, and growth in this new world? 
• What does it mean to gather when bodies are far but attention is close? 

Often, we see the screen as a barrier. But presence is not just about being near. It is about attention, curiosity, and care. My reality is as a coach who works with people on screen and can interact with different time zones with ease. 

Additionally, I regularly influence individuals and organizations via digital media, which would have been unimaginable to me only a few years ago. 

The way we connect has changed, but the core work remains. Stories are still told. Courage is still named. To be honest, the more I think about and experience this new ‘digital campfire’, the less I care about where coaching can happen. A better question is where it cannot. Whenever two people meet with intention, honesty, and respect, something meaningful can happen. Whether across a table or across time zones, the connection stays the same. 

From ancient fires to virtual clouds, coaching has always been a relational art. 

The challenge for today’s leaders is not to choose between old and new, but to integrate them, to honor the wisdom of embodied presence while embracing the possibilities of technology. The next generation is already doing this. They host digital campfires daily-gathering, learning, and forming one another in spaces unseen but deeply real. I invite you to embrace this shift, experiment with new forms of presence, and lead the way in creating digital spaces for genuine connection. 

When we hold space for another with empathy and care—face-to-face, on video, or even as avatars—we step into familiar ground. It is the same sacred place where human souls have always been formed. 

The fire still burns. It just looks different today. Let’s gather around it, wherever we are, and actively shape the future of coaching together.