In this instance, I am the client. I am desperate for help to manage chronic pain. Pain is the special subject of my coach. I have explained to her that I am sceptical about how far mind-based approaches will work and that I am already familiar with many of the techniques.
Unfortunately, this coaching went … Read the rest >>
In her engaging memoir, Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown, Anne Glenconner devotes many pages to the behaviour of her husband, Colin Tennant, later Baron Glenconner. His family’s vast wealth had been created in the 19th century from developing and selling bleach. She describes his frequent full-scale tantrums when … Read the rest >>
A famous middle aged man is revealed as a sex pest, a cheat, a bully, or someone who has lied about his sexuality. He is influential, admired, affluent, seemingly he has everything. But… underneath all this success there may be something less pleasant going on. He is taking risks which could expose him. Any passing … Read the rest >>
Congratulations, you’ve finished your training course, your portfolio has been approved, you’re ready to go! But are you?
I’ve seen many hopefuls falter at this stage, despite the financial and psychological investment they have made in their future. Here are 10 proven ideas about how to achieve success:
1) Accept that you are still at … Read the rest >>
Over my decades as a coach I have worked with many clients accused of bullying. It’s never pretty. The accused person may have been subjected to a formal investigation and may have lost their job: most likely they are still aflame with rage at the ‘unfairness’ of it all.
Most of the attention over the … Read the rest >>
The Queen arrived at my door. She stood there, a sturdy figure, wearing an elegant pale blue coat, a jaunty hat in matching blue with one of her Launer handbags looped over her left wrist. I didn’t invite her in, but I knew what I had to ask. It was this: could she please, please … Read the rest >>
So you got the job and you’re now Director, or VP, or Chief Officer for – whatever. Congratulations!
I’m delighted when coaching clients get that promotion. But it’s no surprise when about six months later they reappear in my coaching room.
‘This is harder than I thought.’
‘There’s something I’m not getting right but what … Read the rest >>
It’s a first supervision session for this coach and I’m exploring how her early life shaped her adult beliefs and behaviour. She looks dubious. ‘I had a perfectly happy childhood’, she says, hesitating a little. ‘Except we did have to tiptoe around my Dad sometimes’
‘Tell me about that.’
‘He was in a senior role … Read the rest >>
My coaching client, B, is looking at the floor. He is six months into a promotion, struggling to grip the astonishing slipperiness of the new skills the job needs.
‘I suppose’, he says slowly, ‘I’m a bit of a fraud. I think I must suffer from Impostor Syndrome’.
Ah, Impostor Syndrome, an increasingly familiar presence … Read the rest >>
My questioner had had more than a few glasses of Christmas cheer and maybe that was why he was eyeing me so beadily. ‘Coaching is just the new snake oil isn’t it? What’s the proof that it works?’
A party was not the occasion for a serious discussion but his question was perfectly legitimate. As … Read the rest >>
I watched the recent film featuring the astounding Dr Gabor Maté. It’s called The Wisdom of Trauma (www.thewisdomoftrauma.com). It shows vividly how much dysfunctional human behaviour is explained by early childhood trauma. You don’t have to look very far, for instance, into any prison population to see how clearly this is true or to see … Read the rest >>
It’s amazing how much you need a working shoulder on your dominant side in order to do everyday tasks. If you or someone close to you has a shoulder injury or is getting a shoulder replacement, here are my top tips, garnered through my own experience after a shoulder replacement.
Top tip: if you haven’t … Read the rest >>
