Why is Rugby School a Coaching School?

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Thank you to Justin Muston, Head of Staff and Student Formation at Rugby School, who gave the following speech at our recent Best Practice Day. As one of Graydin’s Coaching Schools, Rugby has embraced coaching as a key part of their curriculum and we loved to hear—in Justin’s words—how Rugby’s core educational philosophies have been infused with and supported by coaching. He has kindly allowed us to share his powerful speech here.

Whole Person Whole Point is not just Rugby’s tagline. It is a hugely powerful educational statement of real intent and impact, whose essence replicates the core philosophy of coaching. Below, therefore, are 10 principles which underpin Rugby’s emphasis upon coaching as key to our education.

1) Connection to Humanity

Being comes before doing: to reverse that equation is to push individuals away from their true selves, in the process also undermining the power of community.

2) Self-management

When we focus on being well, we encourage and support self-management - the interconnectedness of emotion, intellect and action. Better awareness creates more connection (with ourselves and with each other), which in turn facilitates greater effectiveness and a hunger for positive change.

3) Be authentic

When we focus first on being, we are valuing and calling out the true but hidden depths (the 95%) of the human iceberg of creativity and resourcefulness which are within everybody. To do otherwise is to enfeeble our students and staff.

4) Curiosity

The primary vehicle for that evocation is genuine curiosity, the most powerful part of the intellect which should be the driving force of any educational establishment.

5) Empowerment

Closely allied to genuine curiosity are effective listening, which is a radical act of empowerment, and powerful questioning, which breaks limiting assumptions and enables the supremacy of striving.

6) Partnership & Power

The point of community is the realisation of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. A key pillar of coaching is true partnership, derived from genuine curiosity in support of each individual’s persistent growth in natural resourcefulness.

7) Constant Growth 

Coaching believes in progress along life’s many, wondrous journeys. The focus on being well means there are no ceilings—I can always be better, and therefore I will always do better.

8) A Learning Community 

Coaching facilitates our equality as thinkers and removes that most invidious of agents, personal judgement. In such circumstances, everyone can realise their greater potential.

9) Choice & FulfillmenT

As we constantly question, we realise that life is about choices, and evaluating our choices in order to make them better. This is the rigorous, nimble process of coaching: where does fulfillment lie, both in the short-term and the long-term? How can the perspective change so that fulfillment is constantly accessed and re-quested, and challenges or obstacles are launchpads for growth not markers of failure? How to ensure that the action fits the aim?

10)  Connection to Humanity

While change continues apace in the modern world and as machines take over more of what we do, a successful career now means the versatility to use one’s passion, creativity and judgement to follow different pathways.  In this context, the resilience, awareness, connection, drive to action and effectiveness which result from a coaching approach to life are a vital component of a happy and successful journey. In other words, in the age of the machine, what keeps us from the scrap heap of history is the strength of our humanity.

Conclusion: The Harmony of Individual & Institution: 

Coaching is at the heart of Rugby School because in the quest for being well, we mobilise our hidden strengths and realise that there are no limits. Coaching means empowerment, response-ability, and a constant quest for fulfillment, which means our personal and institutional objectives will not only be met, year on year, but will keep on growing, organically and purposefully.    

We partner with our Coaching Schools to embed self-sustaining coaching cultures that foster and support their educational philosophies.