The Subject–Object Interview (SOI) is a structured, in-depth conversation designed to explore how a person interprets their experience.

Rather than focusing on what someone thinks or believes, the interview attends to how those beliefs and interpretations are formed—what a person is embedded in, and what they are able to step back from and reflect on.

This distinction offers a window into a person’s current developmental orientation.

We often operate in environments marked by uncertainty, competing demands, and increasing complexity.

In these conditions, effectiveness is shaped not only by skills or behaviors, but by how people and leaders make sense of ambiguity, authority, responsibility, and change.

The Subject–Object Interview helps illuminate these meaning-making patterns, offering insight into what currently supports—and constrains—someone’s capacity to respond.

Many development approaches focus on surfacing beliefs, values, or mindsets. This can be valuable work.

The Subject–Object Interview takes a further step by exploring how these beliefs are constructed in the first place—how a person organizes their experience and arrives at a particular view of the world.

This shift—from examining content to examining structure—often reveals where genuine developmental movement is possible.

• A deeper understanding of how you currently make sense of experience

• Insight into recurring patterns in leadership, relationships, or decision-making

• Greater awareness of what you are embedded in—and what you can begin to hold and reflect on

• A developmental perspective on growth that goes beyond performance or behaviour change

The SOI is particularly relevant for:

• Leaders navigating complexity, transition, or increased responsibility

• Individuals interested in adult development and meaning-making

• Coaches, consultants, or practitioners seeking developmental insight

• Organizations exploring leadership development beyond competencies and behavioursription

The Subject–Object Interview can be used:

• As a stand-alone developmental inquiry for individuals

• As part of a broader leadership development or coaching process

• In organizational contexts, to inform reflective leadership and learning initiatives

The interview is not an assessment or evaluation, but a developmental exploration.

Duration and sequence
The process typically includes:

• A brief orientation conversation (30 minutes) to clarify intent, context, and suitability

• The Subject–Object Interview itself (approximately 90 minutes)

• A follow-up conversation (60 minutes) to reflect on themes emerging from the interview and their developmental implications

Focus of the follow-up
The follow-up conversation is reflective rather than prescriptive. It is intended to:

• Make sense of key patterns in how experience is currently being interpreted

• Explore what is being held as object, and what remains subject

• Consider how these patterns may relate to leadership, relationships, or ongoing development

Use within a wider process
The interview may stand alone as a developmental inquiry, or be integrated into an ongoing coaching or leadership development process.

Confidentiality and stance
The Subject–Object Interview is not an assessment or evaluation. It is conducted in confidence and intended solely for developmental learning and reflection.