I’ve been an accredited coach with the ICF since 2013. Since then I’ve added career coaching, team coaching, Emotions & Behaviours at Work and DISC training, mental health first aid and becoming an Emotional Freedom Technique practitioner to my skillset. I’ve mentored newer coaches who are working towards their ICF exam, helping them decode the ethics and competencies their need to display.
Safe to say I’ve learnt a few things.
In that time I’ve coached hundreds of leaders across the world, from international development specialists working for the UN in East Africa to further education specialists in Western Europe to the heads of marketing or business development teams who live just down the road from me in Sheffield.
I’ve also had lots of coaching myself, from a variety of different coaches, plus coaching supervision and my own therapy. I know what it feels like to work with an experienced and skilful practitioner (and what it feels like when it’s less good, if I’m being completely honest.)
This keeps me learning, it keeps me building my practice. As a result, I’m a very safe pair of hands.
I’ve also learnt a lot through all that coaching, about what helps clients make breakthroughs in their work relationships and how well they influence, what helps them feel lighter, and what will really make a difference to how they feel about work and the impact they can have.
So here are some secrets that aren’t really secrets but no one seems to talk about them very much:
You can only go so far in your professional development by only engaging with your brain.
You also need to engage with your emotions. It’s maybe not what we were taught when we were growing up, but when you do it boy you feel lighter and things just feel easier. (I am an absolute pro at sounding smart and talking a great talk about what’s going on and why, when sat in front of a therapist. A really good therapist sees me for the emotional being that I am and creates a safe space where I can bring my emotions too.)
You have more choices than you think you have.
It is easy to get disheartened and disengaged, especially when in the middle layers of leadership in a big organisation with demands from all sides, but you have more influence than you think. One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself if you’re feeling stuck or on the end of another rubbish restructure is ‘what can I influence right now?’ Even if feels like a small thing, it is a start, and it will make you feel better to focus on exerting that influence.
You might find certain work situations incredibly stressful, but you can learn strategies to feel more confident.
Meetings, presentations, relationships which are absolutely gut wrenchingly awful. They make waking up on a Monday morning sick-making. And that learnt response will have some from somewhere. And it can change. We can look at the stress triggers and work out some strategies to help Monday mornings feel better. You can build your confidence relatively quickly if that’s where we focus.
All of the above I truly believe and I have countless client stories that demonstrate what’s possible, like this lovely piece of feedback:
‘Jen is a kind and thoughtful coach with a great way of helping you access your truth, even in the depths of overwhelm. She helps you reach insights that transform your thinking, and in turn propels you to (appropriate) action. I went from anxiety to assuredness in just one session and am so grateful to her.’
Read more about my 1-1 coaching packages right here. If you need a conversation with your employer about budget, this 1 page summary will be useful.
To book a call with me to talk through what you want to get from coaching, click here.
