[I]t is perhaps a strange question but one that I was compelled to consider recently. In a coaching session my coachee was describing a situation with their client and said, “the covert opposition was obvious”. It stopped me in my tracks; I had to really think about it. What passed through my mind was that by its very nature covert opposition was just what it said on the tin – covert and therefore could ‘obvious’ opposition be called covert?

With some further inquiry with my coachee we uncovered a story in which the client was behaving in ways whereby their opposition to the recent intervention appeared to be calling out for the consultant to notice that they were not going to be compliant with what was being asked of them.

In the room they were withdrawn where they might have been vocal, they were late back from breaks, not showing up at agreed group work or workshops. Out of the room they were not responding to emails or telephone calls, cancelling meetings, undermining the intervention with gossip and all manner of similar behaviours that we normally associate with covert opposition.

When I really thought about it, it did occur to me that indeed it did seem to be fairly obvious what the message was. “I am not happy with what is happening so I won’t engage with what is being asked of me”. So why do we call it ‘covert’ opposition? I really started to question what lies behind the terminology we use. As I often do I go to the dictionary to check on the root meaning of a word or phrase; this is what I discover:

Covert; adjective

Not openly acknowledged or displayed

Obvious; adjective

Easily perceived or understood; clear, self – evident, or apparent

So on the face of it then, saying that the “covert opposition was obvious” does initially sound like and oxymoron yet it was indeed describing the situation that was being presented. I began to wonder if it isn’t the opposition is covert, rather it is the feelings that are stirred up as a consequence of a request, a behaviour or a proposed change; what is covert is the need to speak out and to voice but not being able to find the courage or strength to do so. It is the fear of shame or rejection and not having the internal resource to cope with facing the ‘other’ and so finding an undercover way out is easier. What is covert is the fear that something will be asked that the person does not believe they have the capacity to engage with.

Could it be that covert opposition is simply a cry for help and that the more obvious it is the greater the need to reach out to that person or group and help them find a way that is easily understood, clear and self-evident in voicing their discontent in a way that does no harm to them or those around them?