One-to-One Coaching

What kind of issues can I work with you on?
Nothing is out of bounds as far as I am concerned, and I believe it is often helpful to take a broad approach – about you as a whole person, rather than just the particular issue. If something comes up where I feel I may not be the best person to help you, I will suggest someone or something else that I think might help. You may already have a clear sense of what you want to address through coaching or mentoring, but sometimes the first task for us is to identify and clarify what you want work on.

Some of the areas I have worked on with my clients:
Career change, career planning
Job search and interview practice 
Job crafting – making your current job work better for you
Stepping up into a new and/or more senior role
Dealing with overwhelm
Work-iife balance, burnout
Life transitions – starting work, getting married, having a family, returning to work, retirement
Relationships at work – with bosses, peers, reportees, clients
Networking – professional and social
Developing and sustaining new habits, eg around exercise, diet, meditation
Identifying and changing self-sabotaging beliefs and thoughts patterns
Stress management, eg through meditation and connecting with nature

What is my approach to working with a new client?
Usually, we begin with a brief (10-15 minute) phone call where I find out a little about you and what brings you to coaching/mentoring, outline what you can expect from a first session, and answer any questions you might have. If you decide you want to try an initial session together, then we agree where and when to meet. I prefer to meet face-to-face, but I’m happy to meet via a video call if that’s easier. I always enjoy working outside, either sitting down or walking and talking, so that is an option to consider.
The initial session is usually between 60 and 90 minutes, depending on your preference and how the session goes. I offer the initial session free of charge. In return, I will ask you to complete a short feedback form which will help me improve coaching and work more effectively with you in any subsequent sessions.
During or following the initial session we can discuss whether and how you would like to continue with further sessions. This could involve a package of 4-6 sessions structured around your goals, or could evolve more organically, one session at a time.

Case Study: Sarah

Issue: Sarah wanted to prepare for a difficult conversation with her boss.

What we did in the session: We began with Sarah talking through the context and what she wanted the conversation to address. We then moved into an “empty chair” exercise: first, Sarah spoke to a chair in which she imagined her boss was sitting, and rehearsed her opening to the meeting. Next, she moved into the empty chair, put herself in her boss’s shoes, and said out loud what she thought he would say in response. Sarah then alternated between playing herself and her boss, as the imagined conversation went back and forth. The final step in the exercise was for Sarah to take herself to the side of the space containing the two chairs, imagine herself stepping into the shoes of a good friend who had been observing the dialogue, then voicing what her friend had observed about the “meeting”, and what advice her friend had for her. We spent the final part of the session with Sarah reviewing what she had learned, and identifying some specific steps she would now take to further prepare for the meeting with her boss.

Outcome: Sarah felt clearer about the reasonableness of what she wanted to ask for, had identified some possible objections and evasions which her boss might deploy, and practiced how she would keep the meeting on track to meet her objectives. As a result, Sarah felt less anxious and more confident about the meeting.

Coaching Case Studies

Case Study: Ravi

Issue: Ravi is 30 and in a job that pays well but is not fulfilling. He is also aware that he alternates between periods of being highly organized and productive, and times when he feels overwhelmed by his responsibilities and to-do list and falls into periods of lassitude and unhealthy living.

Prior to the session: Ravi completed the “wheel of life” exercise and found that this offered a structure for grappling with the range of issues he was confronting.

What we did in the session: Using the 8 life-domains from the wheel of life, Ravi spent most of the session talking through the range of issues that have been swirling round his head for a long time. We identified some underlying themes, including his lack of confidence in some relationships and associated anxiety. He decided not to focus on any single issue and specific actions to take, preferring to stay with the wider set of interlinked issues and explore further some of the underlying issues.

Outcome: At the end of the session, Ravi was clearer about how much had been going on for him in recent months, but also felt he had gained more perspective about how much in his life was going well. He decided to further use the wheel of life framework to clarify where he wanted to be in 5 years time in each life-domain, and the main steps which he would need to take in each area. He felt that this would give him a way of “naming the beast”, getting down on paper all the things he could be doing, and then more consciously priortise where to focus his energies in the near- and medium-term.

Case Study: Nathan

Issue: Nathan is in his early 50s, currently working part-time as a management consultant, following 6 years heading up a major public sector body with over 1000 employees. He wanted some help thinking through his choices.

What we did in the session: We spent some time pinning down the specific questions Nathan wanted to address, which were: 1. “Am I content with my current career position?” 2. “If not, what do I want to do instead?” 3. “Am I a plausible candidate for public sector Chair roles?”. We took each question in turn. I used a version Nancy Klein’s “Time to Think” framework to provide a combination of space, structure and challenge to Nathan’s thoughts.

Outcome: By the end of the session, Nathan was clear (“9 on a 10 scale”) that he wanted his next career move to be into a public sector Chair role. He also clarified the gaps in his CV he should fill over the next 1-2 years to maximise his chances of getting the sort of position he most wanted. He identified a concrete next step to move forward, which would be to re-establish contact with some headhunters to signal his interest in potential roles to strengthen his CV.