Small Shifts to Create Bigger Shifts in Climate Adaptability

Jul 28, 2025

At Empower World, we believe coaching is one of the most powerful catalysts for conscious change as the impact of climate change intensifies. As uncertainty grows, there is an urgent need for new ways of thinking, leading, and being, and coaching must also evolve to support individuals and systems to adapt, thrive, and lead in service of a better world.

The climate crisis is not a problem to be solved in isolation: it’s a complex, dynamic challenge that requires emotional resilience, collaborative leadership and values-driven action. And that’s where coaching plays a pivotal role.

Letting Go of Certainty to Embrace Change

In our society, we’re often drawn to certainty: clear solutions, fixed timelines, predictable outcomes, but climate change lives in ambiguity and demands adaptability, experimentation and the courage to take action without full clarity.

Many leaders may still be seeking “the right” solution and fear making mistakes. As coaches, we recognise this type of thinking can limit innovation and growth.

Alan Taylor, an executive coach and sustainability advocate, explains, “We are very much into binary thinking: it's either right or wrong. As coaches, we need to help our clients cope more with ambiguity: to understand that we don’t always know the right answer.”

This mindset shift is essential, and coaching supports people to become more comfortable in the unknown. This can foster creativity and adaptability, rather than cause paralysis. It builds the inner capacity to hold space for complexity - something needed in climate leadership today.

Small Steps, Big Ripples

The scale of the climate challenge can be overwhelming. A more empowering approach is one of experimentation, says Alan and what he calls “test and learn.”

It’s the idea that progress comes from starting small, trying something new, learning from it and adjusting. This mindset doesn’t ignore risk: it reframes it by taking small, contained actions where teams build trust in their ability to adapt and solve problems, shifting from fear to agency.

At Empower World, we see this daily in our work. One small shift, a courageous question, a new perspective, a different decision can have ripple effects that expand far beyond the coaching conversation.

From Compliance to Connection

Many organisations today are engaging with sustainability from a place of compliance. New regulations and reporting standards are driving awareness, but not always action. Alan says, “The driver in most areas is ‘What do we need to report on?’ But there’s not enough emphasis on ‘How do we put that in motion?’”

Coaching can change this. It helps shift the focus from “What do we have to do?” to “Why does this matter to us?”

When leaders connect climate action to their personal values and they’re invited to explore what’s meaningful to them - momentum grows and sustainability becomes more than a duty: it becomes a mission.

Coaches, leaders who coach can support clients to explore their values, purpose, and connection to the wider world. When leaders act from this space, change becomes not only possible, but energising, life-changing and can create inspired actions.

Unlocking Collective Purpose

Adaptation isn’t just about external strategy: it’s about internal alignment. Teams and organisations move forward most effectively when individuals are connected to their own purpose and aligned around a shared vision.

Alan believes a powerful coaching framework that supports change is MAP, which stands for Meaning, Awareness, and Purpose. Alan says MAP can assist individuals explore their own values, deeper beliefs and motivations and bring that awareness, collective energy and clarity into the team environment and utilise that understanding into a way forward.

“Each person’s meaning is different. But when we invite them to bring that meaning into the room, it becomes a significant motivator. And once you understand yourself and where others stand, you can align and move forward together,” explains Alan.

We’ve seen this in action: when senior leaders share their personal connection to sustainability, trust and momentum grow. Teams feel safer to speak honestly, try new things, and step into action when alignment is authentic, energy multiplies.

What’s Stopping You?

Coaching assists people get curious about what’s holding them back: whether that resistance is real or just a belief. Too often, people hold off taking action because they imagine the cost or risk is greater than it actually is. Coaching individuals, leaders, teams, and organisations can bring clarity and perspective. It supports individuals and groups to reframe fear, question assumptions and explore possibilities that they may never have thought of.

Whether it’s starting a new sustainability initiative, speaking up in a boardroom, or changing how we work, coaching offers a space for courageous reflection, which can lead to movement and much better outcomes than ever realised.

The Coaching Mindset: Building the Future as We Go

Awareness of climate change is growing, but meaningful action is lagging behind. Alan reports: “We hear organisations say, ‘We don’t have the expertise yet, so we can’t act.’" He then goes on to suggest: "But what if we built the ship while sailing it?”

Coaching leaders who are willing to learn, adapt, and grow along the way can create the mindset and emotional agility needed to do this. It supports people to be open, reflective, and new, action-oriented in support of better outcomes.

We know that change doesn’t always require a grand plan. It requires clarity of intention, awareness of values, and the courage to take a first step, small steps. Coaching uncovers these opportunities and builds momentum over time.

A Call to Coaches and Leaders

So we invite you as a coach or a leader to reflect:

What matters most to you about the future?
What’s stopping you from taking the next step?
What small, meaningful action could you take today?

Coaching is more than a profession. It’s a way of being that invites clarity, courage, and compassion. And in the face of climate change, that’s exactly what the world needs.

Let’s step forward - together.

Be Empowered.

www.empower-world.com

To hear the full conversation with Jeanine Bailey and Alan Taylor, you can click here.

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Coming up at Empower World:

Webinar: Back to Coaching with Confidence: Reignite Your Skills, Purpose & Practice on 29 July 2025. Register here.

Empower World's world-class ICF Approved Professional Coach Training and Leadership Programme's next intake starts on 03 Oct 2025 in Doha, Qatar. You can find out more here.

Coaching Skills Mentoring Programme with an MCC mentor for ICF credentialing purposes, starting 19 September 2025. Find out more here.

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