Any coach who has undertaken formal coach training will most likely have been introduced to the GROW model at a fairly early stage in their career. Whether we go on to use GROW in our practice or not, many accept the basic premise that helping clients identify and achieve their goals is the holy grail of coaching.

Then along came 2020, a momentous year and for many of us a crash course in flexibility and resilience. But where has our experience of the Coronavirus pandemic left us in our thinking about goals in coaching? How have our clients been able to set their goals in a rapidly changing and complex context? And what about our own ability to focus on future goals when no one can predict with any certainty what the future holds? Has any of this changed our approach to the process of goal setting in our work?

Join creative coach and supervisor Auriel Majumdar for a provocative workshop that will critically examine the topic of goals in coaching, using our learning from the last seven months. This interactive and co-creative session will explore:

• The philosophical and theoretical roots of the different approaches to coaching goals
• Challenges to our own assumptions about goals and what we think our clients want or need
• The usefulness (or not) of setting goals in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) contexts
• The possibilities of a 'goal light' or even a 'goal free' model of coaching

Auriel Majumdar is a creative coach, supervisor and consultant with more than 20 years' experience as a manager, leader, strategist and change maker. In her coaching practice, Auriel specialises in business, leadership and personal development in the creative and third sectors. Her coaching and facilitation practice has a particular emphasis on the use of creative techniques to challenge individuals and groups to reflect on their experiences so the can continuously learn and develop.

Formerly Course Leader for the Masters in Coaching and Mentoring Programme at Sheffield Hallam University, Auriel is now Executive in Residence at Sheffield Hallam University, teaching and supervising coaches in training. In 2018 she was nominated by her students for Sheffield Business School's Inspirational Teaching Award with the following citation:

'An engaging and inspirational teacher and coach. Combines theory with stories from their professional practice and brilliantly creative activities to deliver their subject with warmth, humour and depth.'

Auriel is accredited by the EMCC at Master Practitioner level.