Think of a sports coach: they will help a good athlete or sportsperson to achieve their ultimate potential. Top athletes know that they need someone who will help them set goals, believe in them, give them feedback, help them to try out new things, suggest exercise and practice routines to improve their performance and hold them accountable. A life coach does the same things, but with your whole life, not just your sports performance.

What can coaching help me with?

That depends on you and where you are in your life. It could include:

• Review your skills, experience, values and desires to decide on a new career direction
• Get a more fulfilling job
• Make the transition from employment to self employment
• Improve your job hunting, CV and interview skills

• Improve your relationships with your colleagues, direct reports and boss
• Increase your organisational and political awareness
• Develop a career strategy
• Understand the impact you have on other people and change how they perceive you
• Improve your leadership and management skills

• Recognise and value your strengths and gifts
• Improve your self-confidence and presence
• Identify and manage your "saboteurs"
• Change your negative habits to positive ones

• Set up a system to get organised and work more efficiently
• Improve your work-life balance
• Manage your time
• Reduce your stress
• Have more time and energy for the things that make you happy

• Review your business to identify where to best focus your energy and investment
• Improve your sales, marketing and PR
• Develop more profitable income streams
• Review your strengths and preferences to outsource parts of your business
• Stand back from the day-to-day management to get a more strategic view

• Find out what gives meaning and purpose to your life
• Create a sense of personal freedom and choice
• Have a clear sense of values and direction
• Rediscover and develop your creativity
• Have more fun and enjoyment in your life
• Improve your personal relationships

Well, it can be, if that is what you want. Every coaching relationship is unique, and is designed to meet your needs and desires. If you struggle to do anything and you want someone who will hold you to lots of actions, we can make that happen.

On the other hand, if your life is over-busy, then maybe you need some space to step back and ‘be’ rather than ‘do’. Then you can reflect on what is really important, and get your sense of perspective back. We can make that happen too.

How would you like coaching to be? What would you like to get out of it? If you decide to take me on as your coach, we will discuss what you want and design that into the relationship.

I love to work with successful people who want more! People who have achieved things, made some progress, and now want to go up to the next level.

I like to work with people from a professional or corporate background. Partly because that is my background too, so I understand it.

I’m interested in people who have been successful in their career and their life up to now, and who are finding that their career alone or their current lifestyle no longer satisfies them. Maybe they are asking some deeper questions like "how can I express my creativity?" or "what do I really want to do (or be)?" or "how can I make a difference in the world?" or "what is my life purpose?"

I enjoy helping people who want a career review – to step back and work out if their current job is the right one and, if not, what they would rather be doing.

I should add that I have had successful coaching relationships with people who don’t meet any of these criteria, but these are the areas where I have particular experience and expertise.

I trained as a coach with The Coaches Training Institute (CTI) in 2006. I am a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF) and abide by their standards of ethical conduct. I hold full professional indemnity and liability insurance.

I have certificates in person-centred and psychodynamic counselling, a diploma in NLP, a postgraduate Diploma in Transpersonal Arts and Practice and an MSc in Organisation Development. Previously, I was a management consultant for Ernst & Young (now Capgemini), specialising in change management and organisation development, and before that held various management roles.

Yes. We can arrange a taster session. This normally lasts about 30 minutes. It includes some coaching and gives you the opportunity to ask me whatever questions you like.

Most coaches do this, and it is a good way to see if you ‘gel’ with your potential coach. It is important that you feel comfortable working with your coach before you commit, so I encourage you to do this with me, and with any other coach you may be considering.

Yes!  If I thought that someone would not benefit from coaching, it would be unethical of me to take them on as a client.

For some people, counselling or therapy are more appropriate than coaching. For instance, if someone is severely depressed, or if they have big issues from their past or from family relationships to work through.

You make an initial commitment of three months, and then we carry on month by month. When you want to end the relationship, I ask you to give me a month’s notice.

We start with a ‘discovery session’ to really get to know each other. This normally lasts about two hours, and includes a number of exercises to help uncover where you are in your life, what your values are, how you see yourself in the future as well as designing how we will work together. This is charged as a month’s fee, but doesn’t count towards your initial three months’ commitment.

If you live near me, (South East Hampshire, South West Sussex), I can come to your house to do this. If you don’t, then we will do this on the phone, probably over a couple of sessions, with homework in between.

After that, coaching will be on the phone (you phone me). We will have two hours telephone contact per month. My preference is three 40 minute calls, but I can also do four 30 minute calls or two hour-long calls. I can be flexible.

I charge £250 per calendar month for typically three 40 minute telephone coaching sessions.