How I work
I begin by creating space and sanctuary. People who have been in difficult situations for some time tend to find themselves spending most of their energy on simply staying afloat.
I effectively throw out a life ring, lift some of the weight, and carve out a safe space in which you can breathe, relax at least a little, and get some perspective.
The first thing we usually find is that as the needs of the project, organisation and possibly family are demanding priority, and that your own needs have become almost entirely neglected. As a result, you suffer, and have often become way less effective than you are when at your spirited and inspired best.
We work together to restore your oxygen supply, so to speak: to identify and respect your own needs, and to find ways to ensure they’re met in an ongoing way that works for the long term. This can be the critical factor to unleashing enormous energy, effectiveness and establishing deep wellbeing.
I have absolute faith that we’ll manage it, even if it might not seem do-able to you at the point when you’re looking for help. If you lack faith, you can borrow some of mine for the time being. I know we’ll get there.
I am a dedicated ally throughout the change period. I work in a gentle way, underlined by a fierce determination to see you get beyond struggle, beyond coping, and into living a joyful, spirited life. You are likely to find that once you take this quiet time, the things that you need and ideas about how to move forward, come and land in your lap.
My approach is forward looking, oriented towards personal innovation, creativity and action. We are sculpting the future. Clients frequently express a sense of liberation from their perceived notions of how things have to be; their eyes become opened to the possible.
I should tell you that I’m firmly planted in the mainstream world, yet I have long explored the world of holistic and alternative therapies and have found real gems that can be exactly what’s needed. Expect a little of that but at all times translated into your native language and only ever practised in a way that doesn’t have you wanting to roll your eyes heavenward.
Occasionally there may be some underlying patterns that are preventing us from living life as we’d like to. These patterns can need a little unpacking, which we can do. If the past becomes the overall focus of the work, however, and more unpacking is needed before forward motion is possible then it may be most helpful for us to find you someone, who you like, to work with in a more therapeutic way.
I had a growing awareness that there were things about myself that I needed to deal with but I’d never got to the bottom of the issues. I’d tried lots of things, outplacement consultants and different coaching techniques, but they weren’t getting me anywhere.
I liked that you wanted to really understand me and what I wanted rather than apply a process to me.
I got more than I expected from our coaching. I have a lot more drive and I’m talking excitedly about my future. I didn’t expect it to enable me to feel excited about things, that in the past, would have scared me. I’d have rationalised why not to do things and limited my potential.”
— John Metherell, Consultant, Cambridge Learning Associates
Less about how I work and more about what’s shaped me….
Influences and Inspirations
Sir Terence Conran
For showing post war Britain the possibility of beauty rather than only utlility
For running a business where design and profit were equally important
For being willing, when I asked, to come and meet Habitat Youth Training Scheme trainees.
For the best kedgeree recipe I have.
www.conran.com/conran/biography.html
Gabrielle Roth
For the lightest spirit I know
For five rhythms dance that you can’t do wrong, can only do your way
For encouragement to keep exploring your way till you’ve seen the very edges of it and push on out even from those edges
E.F.Schumacher
For economics as though people mattered
For the schumacher society
Thorwald Dethlefson & Rudiger Dahlke
For The Healing Power of Illness
For telling me what our symptoms are telling us
Thomas Moore
For embracing the darkness. How to be with yourself on a dark night of the soul
John O Donohue
For the softest Irish soul and fellow celt who wrote amongst many others Divine Beauty, a gentle but urgent call to awaken.
Scilla Elworthy
For being an inspiration, for wanting to be ‘powerful in a way that is not in itself abusive’ and for rolling her sleeves up and getting into ‘how and by whom nuclear weapons decisions are made worldwide’
www.worldfuturecouncil.org/scilla_elworthy.html
Marshall Rosenberg
For founding nonviolent communication which provides a model for changing lives and consciousness everywhere.
Julio Olalla
For ontological coaching.
Julia Cameron
For The Artists Way which has the power to bring my flagging spirit back to life in 12 weeks
Nancy Kline
For ‘Time to Think’, the most human management process and writing about management I’ve read
David Whyte
For guts in the workplace and in poetry
Eckhart Tolle
For the ultimate clarity in our reason for being
Margaret Benefiel
For ground level research in what spirit looks like when it is present in the workplace
Isabel Briggs Myers
For providing a way of looking at personality preferences that encourages the best from people, viewing preferences as gifts and to look for where those gifts would be valuable rather than where they’re not valued and are viewed as weaknesses requiring correction or improvement. Ah. What a relief.
http://www.capt.org/mbti-assessment/isabel-myers.htm
M Scott Peck
For turning my head early on with ‘The Road Less Travelled’
Iris Murdoch
For blending philosophy and fiction like no other
The Sea The Sea probably still my favourite for the meals concocted in amongst the philosophy
http://www.biblio.com/author_biographies/2036742/Iris_Murdoch.html
Gabriel Faure
For his requiem which takes me to other places
http://is.gd/QNat this is the recording I have
Giuseppe Verdi
For his requiem which also takes me to other places
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsZEv7kAllo this is a one and a half hour live version
Keith Jarrett
For losing himself in performances like The Koln concert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzqMJWlKMsY
Arvo Part
For ‘Alina’ the adult’s lullaby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtFPdBUl7XQ
Buena Vista Social Club
For making age no obstacle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoQNj2tlZhg&feature=related&pos=8
My Auntie Madge
For her light spirit in an otherwise dreich north east Scotland. Whilst others trudged, Auntie Madge sprung, whilst others bleated, Auntie Madge fairly sang (metaphorically speaking). She had the capacity to find pleasure in anything and to lighten the mood of every room she entered. She also loved her husband, as he did her. They were a joy to be around. And fun.
For connection to countless, countless sources of beauty, ideas, conversations, spirited people doing amazing, beautiful things that are inspiring and good. An entirely refreshing view from the mainstream which I had wearied of a long time ago.
Training and qualifications
| Accredited Coach | Association for Coaching |
| Member | Association for Coaching |
| Certificate in Training and Development | Institute of Training and Development |
| Advanced Diploma in Management Development | Roffey Park and University of Salford |
| Certificate in Holistic Spirituality and Spiritual Companionship | William Bloom |
| Nonviolent Communication | Centre for Nonviolent Communication |
| Certificate in Occupational Testing | In house course, The Burton Group |
| Myers Briggs Type Indicator Licensed Practitioner | Oxford Psychology Press OPP |
| Hypnosis Foundation Course | Uncommon Knowledge |
| Qualified Holistic Massage Therapist | Massage Training Institute + ITEC |
