Thoughts
Here you will find articles on the five types of service I offer organisations and the people in them. These will hopefully give you a flavour of how I work and what inspires my approach. If you have any questions about these services please contact me.
Filters
- About Still Waters 7
- Accept Change 9
- Coach 7
- Consultant 4
- Dream Big 10
- Facilitator 6
- Help & Advice 5
- Make Small changes 10
- Mentor 3
- Mindset 9
- Personal Stories 11
- Principles 1
- Published Material 7
- Support Large Changes 7
- Teacher 3
- Tools 7
- climate crisis 1
- eco-coaching 1
- ramblings 16
- reflections 39
- resources 17
- reviews 29
- service 1
Universal Enquiries?
I’ll soon be running my fourth coaches retreat at Hazel Hill Wood. It’s an annual event in magical ancient woodland that I’ve really enjoyed creating. I’ve noticed that every year I bring the same set of enquiry questions for the group to work with. We explore in different ways, always using the trees as part of our facilitation team, but the questions remain the same. Am I just being lazy or might these in fact be universal enquiries?
Group Coaching
I’ve been a group coach a long time but have never really thought about it until I was asked to write this chapter. I don’t call myself a group coach and, to be honest, was not really aware of the term until fairly recently. I’ve been doing this work much longer than I realised. In other words I am ascribing theory retrospectively to practice. All of which feels like history repeating itself.
Relationships; the foundation of success
I was listening to an interview recently with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and lifetime advocate for peace. He was asked what the key ingredient was for making progress in areas of conflict. Without hesitation or equivocation he replied (something like) “It’s all about relationships, without that there’s nothing”. And so it is in every aspect of the work I do, which is why the relationship pyramid is a tool I reach for more than most.
Eco-Coaching and Client Service
The purpose of this article is to speak to you, current or potential future coaching client of mine. I want you to know that our work together will always be in service of your needs. And I also want you to know that I’m keen, where possible, helpful and appropriate, to role the biggest stakeholder into our work together – that would be the planet itself. In view of that I’d like this chance to explain myself.
Coaching Community Collaboration
How might I, as a coach and facilitator, contribute more helpfully to the climate and societal challenges the world is facing today. And what might that require of me and my coaching practice? These are the two questions that have occupying much of my time this year and so I’ve decided to organise a coaching community collaboration, made up of unlikely bedfellows – a retreat in nature and an on-line book club.
Climate Crisis Coaching
“As groups self-organise around the world to process this collective anguish, virtually all experts agree on two therapeutic components: sharing the grief with others and transforming it into collective action on behalf of life” (Joanna Macy, Active Hope. How to face the mess we are in without going crazy)
A Jungian Approach to Coaching
I don’t really do book reviews here but for what seem like unconscious reasons I am. In my work coaching business leaders who are studying, it’s helpful to stay on top of the academic material being pumped into them. Consequently, I can often be found with my head in some relatively obscure books. This is mostly a frustrating experience that makes my brain hurt, as I find the writing often dense and sometimes impenetrable. However, occasionally something resonates and appears very useful, and so it was with Laurence Barrett’s A Jungian Approach to Coaching.
The Future of Coaching
In a world that’s increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, what is my role as a coach and does it need a rethink? How might my coaching practice be no longer fit for purpose? What might be needed of me, as a coach, that is beyond my current model? These and other questions have been occupying me since the start of 2023.
Square Pegs And Sharks’ Teeth
Brian (not his real name) and I hit it off from our very first meeting. He was new into a very large, established organisation, having spent almost all his career in smaller, fast growing businesses and I was asked to help his transition with some coaching. Brian’s boss, who I knew well, was very happy that we built such strong rapport straight away. The HR business partner was delighted that our coaching contract was agreed so quickly. The budget was in place, the schedule and logistics were all sorted. The only tiny problem was that Brian should never have joined the organisation and none of us knew it.