Coaching

Discreet leadership coaching for challenging apex moments in work and personal development

I deliver targeted individual and group leadership coaching sessions for leaders working at the forefront of their personal, organisational and systemic development. These sessions are for people with already a high level of self awareness who have an identified challenge to work on, or an identified barrier which they want to overcome.

These sessions are designed to be targeted and focussed. We also deliver practical mentoring and coaching sessions for delivery teams on the implementation of many of the skills and practices trained in our training programmes and workshops so implementation can naturally follow and new practices become embedded in operational structures more readily.

I'm keen to hear what you're experiencing — let's start there.

What this leadership coaching is for

Whilst coaching takes many forms, the coaching I offer is specified for leadership at the interface between their personal development and taking on complex and challenging systemic challenges which have significant personal, structural and systemic effects. Rather than being exploratory life coaching (we can recommend some great life coaches if that is what you need) this is targeted work for people who want to get stuck in and really explore in depth the challenges they are encountering. The coaching relationship creates time for this detailed work to take place outside the ordinary working calendar. If coaching sessions are included in a larger package of work, this discipline will be upheld, and it will be focussed, discrete time for the benefit of leadership to explore that which matters most for them, and their responsibilities.

I work in a systems aware way — attentive to the structures a leader is operating inside, persistent in exploring the culture they are establishing through their behaviours and rigorous in exploring the plethora of facets which are created and influenced by the actions of those who are in conversation with the use of their personal and organisational power and agency.

Credentials, kept in context

20 years of training and experience support the worldview within which I work - which is at the intersection of the personal and the systemic. I am also a psychotherapist in training (Processwork UK, Diploma in Process-Oriented Psychology). I want to make available that which I have sought and cherished through my entire professional career, a rigorous sounding board, deeply invested in the success of the person and the process in a way which is in service of the wellbeing of the future and everyone involved.

Questions

What's the difference between leadership coaching and mentoring?

A mentor typically shares their own experience and advice from further down the same road. Coaching resists giving advice and works to encourage thinking about the issue from many angles so the individual can discover their own wisdom on the issue. Both have their place; I work as both a coach and a mentor but the context and contract are specific for each and we will clearly discuss that before entering into a coaching agreement. My specialism in the coaching field is working with senior leadership professionals who want to excel and be in service of what matters.

How many sessions does leadership coaching usually involve?

It depends on what's being worked through. Some engagements are a handful of sessions around a specific decision or transition; others run on a regular rhythm weekly or monthly. We will discuss the best shape during our initial session so we agree together what fits your needs.

What's a chemistry conversation, and do I have to commit before one?

This is another term for a discovery call or a scoping call. It's a short, un-pressured first conversation to check the fit works both ways before anything is agreed — no proposal, no commitment, no money required, just a chance to talk about what's going on and see whether this is the right relationship. I always offer this as a straightforward starting point for my clients.

Who do you coach — is this only for senior leaders?

My coaching is specified for leadership working with complex circumstances, tough challenges, big issues and those on the edge of personal growth. This is not exclusively for people in high ranking or apex senior positions, I work also with those who have significant responsibility that impact others, or impacts the system significantly and who need targeted support to do their work whilst recruiting the maximum amount of personal wisdom they can muster.

Is coaching confidential from my organisation?

Yes, as standard practice. What's discussed in coaching stays within the coaching relationship unless there's an explicit agreement otherwise — for instance, a sponsor wanting a general sense of themes rather than specifics. That arrangement would be drafted with your own oversight and you would only participate in the coaching if the terms of the agreement were suitable for you. Ordinarily if you are contracting me, we will agree on the coaching agreement together before commencing.

Is coaching the same as therapy?

No. Coaching is not therapy, and isn't offered as one. I am a psychotherapist in training (Processwork UK, diploma pathway) but coaching sessions are not therapy.

I'm keen to hear what you're experiencing — let's start there.

See the work · Working with me — the practical detail