The Interview: Jason Ighani
Everything about coach training was a turnoff except for one thing—how it elevated listening to an art form. He was hooked.
Based in Costa Rica, Jason Ighani coaches teams and organizations to become more adept at collaboration. He doesn’t self-identify as a social entrepreneur (my word), but he’s the co-founder of a global coaching company, founder of a coaching-based nonprofit, and organizer of men’s retreats. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn or follow @menatpinetree on Instagram. —Steph
Tell us about yourself.
If I were to start with how I spend most of my time these days, I would have to lead with being an uncle. I play lots of Minecraft and sports. But I'm also the co-founder of kite, which is a global consulting firm that elevates the discourse and practice of team leadership within the humanitarian and international development field, from startups to United Nations agencies. I'm also the founder of The Humanitarian Coaching Network, a platform that helps humanitarian and development organizations scale their ability to provide professional coaching to staff that otherwise would not receive it, and in populations that historically have been overlooked for such services. And on the side, I host retreats for men. If there's any piece of my work that holds my heart, it's this.
How did you come to coaching, and what is your training and certification as a coach?
I came to coaching in a roundabout way. I began my career in education and community development, then moved to psychology, but I never really felt that I was cut out to be a teacher or a therapist—and largely because of systems that felt confining.
Then, at one of the lowest points in my life to date, someone invited me to observe a coach training session. (At the time, a lot of coach training programs would invite observers as a way to market themselves.) So I went, and I found it largely obnoxious. I found the experience really off-putting. But there was something about what they were doing that really resonated with me—people were treating the asking of questions as if it were an art, with intentionality and thoughtfulness. And that was fascinating because, in a way, it captured the spirit of what I loved about both education and therapy.
I went on to train with the Co-Active Training Institute, and I’m certified as a team development practitioner through 6 Team Conditions.
I love this articulation, that coaching treats asking questions “as if it were an art.” I’ve wished that every journalist could go to coaching school for the simple reason that it deepens how you listen and how you ask questions.
Well, journalists are really good at asking certain types of questions. And I think a lot of us could say the same, that we get used to asking certain types of questions, but to ask questions from a place of pure curiosity, or at least the closest thing to it—I think that's when the asking becomes a process of personal refinement and growth. It was very clear to me, early on, that being a coach would require me to become a better person, and it has. It has made me a better brother, son, partner, facilitator. It all comes down to our ability to be real, compelling, and alive in the moment.
Tell us more about your previous career; how does that influence you as a coach?
I don't know whether I had a previous career. I've done a lot of different things in a lot of different places, like art therapy-inspired work in an afterschool program for children of homeless families in Brooklyn. Things like that. But the experience that informed my work today was helping community-based organizations—and more specifically, indigenous organizations in rural communities in Latin America and the Caribbean—develop their organizational capacity. That was my “boot camp” in working with groups and supporting collective learning.
Did you have an “a-ha” moment when you realized the power of the coaching model for yourself?
I think it’s what I alluded to before, that it inspired me to want to become someone who listened well. A lot of people who become coaches are the ones that others would confide in, and I was certainly like that growing up. But the idea that listening could be honed, developed, and turned into something that felt magical at times really energized me.
I'll also add that the idea of using and trusting one’s intuition—and not because it's right, but because it’s information, like a sonar that bounces against a whole bunch of stuff and comes back to us—has had huge implications for my life.
Most of your work is with teams in humanitarian organizations, and specifically around designing collaboration. What are you like in this capacity as a coach and trainer?
Oh man, I would love to hear how others would describe me. Most of my work is with leadership teams driving programmatic work at the level of the country, and people who work with me often want things spoken directly. I have very little patience for convention, very little patience for beating around the bush or political games. I try to make that very clear with clients from the outset, that this is going to be a process of having conversations that they wouldn't otherwise have.
People who appreciate my style might call me direct, bold, to the point, incisive. Others, who may not be as appreciative, might say harsh, reckless, rough, abrasive. I think both are probably are true. I strive to be truthful and direct, and also to be equally compassionate. I don't always strike that balance well, but I try.
What do you wish everyone knew about coaching?
At the risk of sounding a little woo-woo, there is nothing that grows us spiritually more than co-creation and partnership. I wish more people would approach the process of collaboration not just as a necessary step, but also as a more profound opportunity to deepen our sense of self and what it means to be in relationship with others.
Effective collaboration doesn’t happen naturally. It has to be designed intentionally and purposefully, and I'd add that the most important, complex challenges of our time are inherently collaborative, so it's something that we better get good at. We love the idea of finding that visionary, charismatic person, putting them in a leadership position, and expecting them to work wonders. It just doesn't happen.
What is your vision for the coaching industry?
The thing that jumps out at me is diversity. The field needs the input and thought leadership of people from a wide range of backgrounds in order to grow because we are still dominated by a very particular social, cultural mindset. As an industry, it's our ethical responsibility to make sure this is addressed. In other words, diversity is not something that we just wait for.
The coaching field is evolving. When I started my training in 2011, I asked the program advisor how the frameworks were adapted to different cultural contexts, and the answer at the time was, “Well, we believe that coaching is a universal skill set.” I think the field has moved from this idea to one that understands coaching to be very contextual.
I would also like to see individual coaches have a more sober concept of their work. The language that we use around coaching—that it’s “transformative”—grates on me. I don't know what that means anymore. It sounds good, and big, but I think we're overselling what we're doing, and I'd like to see a bit more humility because coaching is a powerful, incredibly beautiful skill set.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.