028: Ethan Schutz: Truth, Choice & Awareness: Designing Space for The Human Element in Teams

Join Dr. Krister Lowe and leading organizational coach Ethan Schutz for this week's episode of The Team Coaching Zone Podcast.  Ethan Schutz is the President and CEO of The Schutz Company--a consulting and publishing company and provider of the LIFO Method and The Human Element approach.  Ethan promotes, encourages and directs the use, development and expansion of these bodies of work in the US.  Globally, he nurtures and grows the LIFO and Human Element communities, made up of practitioners and partners in over 30 countries.  He delivers training, coaching and in-depth practitioner training progams to support consultant excellence and creativity.  Ethan worked with his father Will Schutz, PhD, creator of FIRO theory and The Human Element--a body of work designed to improve individual, team and organizational effectiveness through self-awareness and direct, honest communication.  

Prior to assuming the President and CEO role of The Schutz Company in 2009, Ethan worked as a manager of training and development for Reuters; as an organizational development consultant for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and as the President of the Business Consultants Network.  Ethan also worked as an architect for a decade where he discovered his true passion around helping people work more effectively together.  Ethan holds a Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University as well as a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Architecture from The University of California at Berkeley.

In this episode of the podcast Ethan introduces listeners to the FIRO-B and Human Element body of work pioneered by his father Will Schutz PhD and now extended by both himself as well as a global community of practitioiners.  The use of this well-tested and applied body of work is illuminated through stories of coaching teams. Ethan shares two stories from his practice--one a non-profit leadership team and another involving an action learning-based leadership development program in a hospital both grounded in The Human Element methodology. Some themes covered in the interview include: inclusion, control and openness in human relationships; compatibility in teams; rigidity and defensiveness in human interactions; decision-making in teams; process consultation; utilizing team coaching to embed training outcomes into the culture of organizations; becoming a Human Element Practitoner and more.

Team coaches looking for a tested method for helping individuals, teams and organizations become more effective may find The Human Element approach and tools right up their alley!