In a truly reflective dialogue between coaches or coach-like leaders, a profound discussion usually emerges…
This was our intention, anyway, in our conversation this month with Bernice Hewson. Bernice is a leading accredited coach (European Mentoring and Coaching Council) and emotional intelligence practitioner with an MA in Race Empire and Postcoloniality, who we have been collaborating with since last year at MSB around developing a coaching philosophy on noticing, naming, and creating spaces of authentic belonging.
The conversation that ensued illuminated our pathway and our organisational approach to providing a coaching education that transcends traditional frameworks by embracing plurality, relationality, and a deep commitment to honouring diverse ways of knowing.
At MSB, our work is influenced by coaching experts like Claire Pedrick, whose emphasis on simplicity creates effective coaching conversations that move people forward. Although simplicity and ease is part of our way of approaching complexity, our approach is deliberately eclectic, drawing from various knowledge frameworks including Owen Eastwood’s work on belonging, Nancy Klein’s thinking environment, and Adrienne Maree Brown’s facilitation methods. This epistemic plurality forms the foundation of the MSB coaching philosophy.
Central to our philosophy is the concept of Resourcing. We delight in helping our coachees and programme participants identify and map their sources of stability and strength. As our Head of Learning, Naomi Ward puts it: “We’re going to incorporate that into all our coaching curriculum that you map the sites of your resources. Your body, your mind, your spirit, your emotions, your world, what is it that keeps you okay?” This approach recognises the importance of self-care not as a luxury but as essential preparation for meaningful work.
Our wider coaching philosophy challenges the traditional professional development model that simply adds more tasks and responsibilities. Instead, we advocate for stopping and really thinking about what keeps you in equilibrium and a good enough place to do the work that the world needs you to do. This emphasis on kindness, slowing down, and compassion reflects our belief that the truest, most mission-led work (is anything more mission-driven in the world than education?) comes from first being properly resourced.
With Bernice, we reconnected to earlier work we had done as a team on conceptualising our core coaching philosophy and added in a few key pieces. We first captured our ‘acts of refusal’ with regards to the philosophy – what are we not willing to do as an organisation? Bernice then offered a Mind/Heart/Body framework she uses as a litmus test for any newly forming philosophy. What Stretches the Mind, What Stirs the Heart, What Grounds the Body, and What Shapes Our Identity. What naturally flowed from that provocation is below:
What Stretches the Mind:
We can challenge systems and name their complexity
What Stirs the Heart:
We want to evoke emotion, and connect to purpose
What Grounds the Body:
We work rooted in presence, practice, and human relationship
What Shapes our Identity:
We know who we are as coaches and leaders and we notice and make space for difference to create real belonging.
Finally, we also spent time reflecting on epistemologies and the worldview of our curriculum to ask ourselves critical questions about whose work we hold up as important, and to challenge ourselves to ensure there are all kinds of voices and perspectives in our literature, teaching materials and -crucially – in our organisation itself.
At MSB we position ourselves as critical friends within a very traditional space. That means sometimes living in acknowledging the tension between what our coachees want and what they need. We recognise their unique access to leadership spaces, and our own privilege in the world of school leadership that we also occupy.
We therefore view it as our responsibility to “open doors” and bring marginalised voices and references in from “the corridors” into the “meeting rooms of power.” This tension is embraced rather than avoided, reflecting our commitment to authentic engagement even when it is a more complex conversation.
The MSB approach rejects surface-level conversations prevalent in educational spaces, instead creating room for deeper dialogue about grief, overwhelm, and systemic challenges. In thinking about this, we were able to articulate a vision for coaching that embraces “messy learning and constant adaptation,” prioritises “human connections in the room,” and celebrates “the coexistence of lightness and darkness.”
Bernice shared that while a philosophy can sometimes feel abstract or static, “your words already have movement. It’s present in your rebranding conversation, in how you show up, and in the work you are doing. Perhaps “actively” becomes a thread at MSB.”
From her guidance and gentle reflection on our work, we notice that the MSB Way is rooted in being active – in dialogue, in disruption, and in learning.
By centring freedom, liberation, and relational wisdom, we craft a coaching philosophy that feels both appropriate and responsive to our complex times —one that makes space for both joy and grief, acknowledges complexity, and honours more diverse ways of knowing and being. The philosophy serves not only as an aspirational vision but as a practical blueprint for our coaching that will nurture genuine adaptability and growth through conscious, responsible connection with all aspects of one’s being ·
Bernice Hewson is the Founder of Raising Racial Consciousness and a trusted partner of MSB in our self-study on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
