Higher Education
Trust Support Challenge Change
'We spend all day everyday with people very similar to us. We can get trapped in the same thought patterns and negative thinking as each other. Coaching let me challenge my own assumptions and thoughts; my mind feels more free’
I work with many UK Universities including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds & Southampton, as well as coaching researchers at Universities across Europe. As a 'Vitae' associate, I have coached recipients of the 'La Ciaxa Junior Leader Fellowship' in Spain as well as participants on the flagship 'PLATO PhD' programme, supporting research into social sciences and developing the influencers of the future.
In addition, I have created & led a coaching programme to Early Career Researchers supported by the UKRI Research Culture funding. The pilot project I delivered in 2022 was so successful that a larger coaching programme has been set up for 2023 & 2024. More recently, I have been developing & delivering coaching projects supporting mid career staff towards a full professorial position.
As a founding coach with 'Know You More' I have worked with academic and professional service leaders in coaching partnerships involving a wide range of professional and personal development.
A general observation about coaching in Universities is the extraordinary value of offering coaching alongside the mentoring offering that is typically in place. All of the people with whom I have partnered, say they never had a safe space to explore their thinking prior to being coached, whereas they were rich in opportunity to talk about their work.
On a number of occasions academic coachee’s comment 'I have never been asked these sort of questions before.'
For them it was challenging, and led to feelings of vulnerability. It was a testament to their courage and willingness to experiment that they quickly discovered the benefit of a coaching conversation, and made best use of the opportunity they had to benefit from them.
'Coaching can only have positive outcomes for the faculty and staff. The opportunity to talk to an independent coach has been invaluable to me, especially around career development and focus.'