Episode 11: Sustainable transformation with a coaching-led approach

The Business Revolution Episode 11

In this episode, we explore the power of coaching in driving sustainability progress within organisations. Our guest, Dr Jon Rhodes, a chartered psychologist and co-founder of Net Zero MAP, shares his insights on how a coaching-led approach can empower individuals, strengthen teams, and accelerate sustainable change.

We discuss the Net Zero MAP framework, the importance of intrinsic motivation, and the role of leadership in creating a culture of sustainability. Tune in as we uncover the transformative potential of coaching for a more sustainable future.

Tune in to gain valuable insights and get inspired to attend our event on 26 March 2025.

Audio version:

Dr Jon Rhodes’ bio: 

Dr Jon Rhodes is a highly accomplished Chartered Psychologist with a proven track record of empowering individuals and teams across a diverse range of fields, including Olympic athletes, Members of Parliament, business executives, the Ministry of Defence, education, and healthcare. He holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Plymouth and is a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society.

As the co-founder of Imagery Coaching, Jon co-developed the groundbreaking Functional Imagery Training approach, specifically designed to enhance individual and team performance. By focusing on values, beliefs, thoughts, and actions, his approach leverages the fundamentals of intrinsic motivation – connection, autonomy, and mastery, which demonstrably drives lasting behaviour change including increased self-awareness, self-efficacy and resilience and consistent goal achievement.​

Links:

Net Zero MAP: www.netzeromap.org

Dr Jon Rhodes on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jon-rhodes-phd

Imagery Coaching: www.imagerycoaching.com

Inner Development Goals

The world’s progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is slow. Why?

A key factor is how we think and act. Research shows that individual and organisational challenges, such as limited self-awareness, unconscious biases, short term thinking and ineffective collaboration, hinder our ability to translate strategies into action.

To overcome these challenges, the Inner Development Goals project was initiated in 2019 by a number of organisations that identified an urgent need for the development of relevant skills and qualities for inner growth of leaders who work with complex societal issues.

The result is a framework with five dimensions:

Being: Understanding ourselves and our motivations.
Thinking: Expanding our awareness and seeing problems as opportunities.
Relating: Building empathy and appreciation for others.
Collaborating: Fostering trust and effective teamwork.
Acting: Overcoming inner blocks and taking action.

By consciously applying these dimensions, we can improve our decision-making, collaboration, and overall effectiveness in achieving our goals.

Businesses like 3P Impact and Bluebird Leadership are using the Inner Development Goals in their work, helping unlock the best in ourselves and our teams.

You can find out more about the Inner Development Goals here

Episode 11 links

 𝐓𝐁𝐑 notes and transcript: www.businessrevolution.earth/businessrevolution11

𝐓𝐁𝐑 episode 11 for download: audio mp3

 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲: open.spotify.com/episode

 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: podcasts.apple.com

 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐞: video

Social media posts: Linkedin – Facebook – Instagram

Transcript – episode 11

Mik Aidt (00:00)

Welcome or welcome back to some of you to The Business Revolution, the podcast where we tend to rewrite the rules of business for the green transition for a sustainable future. I’m Mik, your co-host.

Cherry Ward (00:14)

And I’m Cherry.

Alan Taylor (00:16)

And I’m Alan and we’re your guides on this journey to explore the intersection of business, sustainability and positive change.

Cherry Ward (00:24)

Each episode will bring you inspiring conversations with experts, entrepreneurs, changemakers who are proving that sustainability isn’t just good for the planet, it’s good for business as well.

Mik Aidt (00:36)

We do our best to uncover innovative solutions and good practical strategies for businesses. And we’re always on the lookout for new trends that will shape the future of sustainable business.

Alan Taylor (00:49)

Even whether you’re a seasoned CEO, a budding entrepreneur, or simply curious about how to make a difference, you’ve come to the right place.

Cherry Ward (00:57)

So grab a cup of your favourite sustainable brew, settle in and get ready to be inspired. This is The Business Revolution.

Mik Aidt (01:05)

And in this episode, we’re going to explore how a coaching led approach can drive sustainability progress in a company. And not only that, it can also empower the employees and strengthen their connection to their organisations.

Cherry Ward (01:20)

And to help us explore this fascinating topic, we’re joined by our colleague from Net Zero Map, Dr Jon Rhodes.

Alan Taylor (01:27)

Jon is a highly accomplished chartered psychologist with a proven track record in empowering individuals and teams across diverse fields, from Olympic athletes to business executives. He’s the co-founder of imagery coaching and co-developer of the groundbreaking functional imagery training approach. Jon, welcome to The Business Revolution.

Dr. Jon Rhodes (01:50)

Thank you very much, thank you. Great intro. I know, yeah, it feels like I’m busy. It’s like I’m busy a lot, but I suppose I have been.

Alan Taylor (01:58)

You’ve got your PhD in psychology and the University of Plymouth and you’re doing all of your other businesses. I think so.

Dr. Jon Rhodes (02:05)

I think I’m just curious. I’m curious too. I’m of service. I like to support people. I like to support organisations and I think that behavior change is a fascinating thing we talk about a lot.

In industry, in sport, in the military and even at home we talk about change. So I think it’s a good word. It can also be a naughty word as well. So I think it’s just navigating that with the right motivation in mind.

Cherry Ward (02:30)

Yeah, it’s a really relevant topic. Well, it always is, right? There’s always change. It keeps us busy, keeps us employed in terms of the work that we do.

Dr. Jon Rhodes (02:41)

That’s the truth. Yeah. And it’s interesting, you know, because there are so many frameworks and things that exist within behavior change, but they’re also unique to the situation, the circumstance, the time, the priorities, the purpose, all those things are already important when you think about change. 

You know, and we’re all at different levels of readiness to change as well. So I think it’s meeting the person where they are, figuring out what the best route is, and then supporting them or giving them a MAP in our case, to really work through navigating change over time.

Cherry Ward (03:16)

I think that’s a good starting point. And I think, this is a question for both yourself, Jon and Alan and for our listeners who might not know, Alan and I are also partners in the Net Zero MAP team, along with Jon and a couple of others. 

We’re a collective of coaches and consultants, and we all have diverse backgrounds in psychology, sustainability, business, coaching, etc. tut this might be a good starting point in terms of, you know, you guys are the co-founders or started the journey. Tell us a little bit about the MAP model and where that came from.

Dr. Jon Rhodes (03:47)

Yeah, I think from my point of view, it’s thinking about the problem first. You know, we’ve all been in organisations where we struggle to make a change. 

We’ve all, you know, been in organisations where the leaders are perhaps the issue. We’ve all been in organisations where we have lots of information around change, but there’s no real motivation to act. So we all know that, right? 

We have this kind of inbuilt human way that, you know, being the change makers are really important, but actually as humans, we strug