Coach Camilla Degerth supports expat partners who wish to live more sustainably – a priority for more and more global citizens in today’s world.
Earth as a stakeholder
As a child Camilla spent large chunks of the year in the Finnish archipelago, where she and her relatives learned how to make do with less. “It was a formative time. All my life, I have never been comfortable seeing excessive consumption. As a coach, I now have a chance to help others establish sustainable pathways,” says Camilla, a member of Climate Coaching Alliance. “We agreed – as coaches – that if Earth is a stakeholder, we can bring sustainability into the conversations.”
Making a difference
“The word sustainability can mean different things to different people. When I bring the word up, the conversation can go in many directions. Climate change. Human rights. Personal growth. A more ethical lifestyle or business. In the end, we can all make a difference. It’s about being brave and stepping up,” says Camilla, who recently coached one member of our community that became self-employed, something which required setting up a business in his host country.
What the world needs
“I will always direct people to the resources they need and let other experts field questions on topics such as taxation and legal matters. But my coaching focus is expat partners and sustainability. For someone who is becoming self-employed for the first time, they might not believe it’s advisable to challenge new clients on sustainability. Indeed, it’s hard for companies (especially large ones) to change gears. But what if the freelancer made it part of their unique selling point? If this is what you believe in, and if this is how you wish to meet the future, you have to be brave enough to say: ‘I have something of value that the world needs.’”
The butterfly effect
“When I worked with a group of 18-25 year olds, I discussed how coaching had helped one coachee in terms of his own journey to fight climate change. Interestingly it was confidence. Coaching gave him the tools and self-belief to talk to senior executives and introduce a sustainability programme, which he duly set up and now runs. So even if I don’t directly discuss climate change with a coachee, if it’s on their agenda, as it is for so many young people today, they will use it for good.”
