Business Coaching  & Executive Coaching

In addition to offering life coaching to private clients, I also work with a large number of senior executives and other professionals based in a range of organisations, many of which are located in and around the City of London.  Executive coaching clients come to me via two main routes: either they find me after searching on the web themselves and ask their company to support the cost of their coaching; or a decision maker at the organisation contacts me and arranges business coaching for one or more of their professional staff.  Sometimes I work with only one executive within the organisation, sometimes I work with members of a senior management team and sometimes I facilitate executive coaching retreats or “away days” for entire departments or, in the case of small or mid-sized businesses, for the whole organisation.

From my perspective, corporate coaching and executive coaching (or business coaching in any setting) must still remain focused on the individual in question.  Of course, I address all relevant work-related issues.  However, I also try to understand a great deal about the individual’s personality, experiences and approach to life as factors such as those heavily influence life and work satisfaction, job performance and how motivated and empowered people feel about making productive changes. 

When I work as a life coach with private clients, I always assure total confidentiality at the beginning of each coaching relationship.  When I work with clients in a corporate or business setting where the organisation is covering the cost of the business coaching, details regarding confidentiality, form and level of feedback reports, outcome expectations of all stakeholders (client, coach, senior management), payment arrangements etc., are all discussed, agreed upon and, when appropriate, explicitly set out in a contract.

The following list provides examples of areas which I often address when coaching executives and business professionals:

identifying core competencies and interests
developing better leadership/management skills
managing relationships with subordinates/superiors/peers
identifying barriers to productive change
improving delegation skills
reviewing career path goals
assessing career change options
addressing work/life balance
improving motivation
examining implications of lifestyle choices
improving interpersonal communication
developing better presentation skills
managing stress
developing conflict resolution skills

Effective executive and business coaching ideally should facilitate improvements for the individuals involved and the companies that employ them. Through thoughtful, provocative coaching, people can learn a lot about themselves, the reasons for unhelpful behaviours, the barriers to positive change and ways to move on confidently, enthusiastically and productively.