What is your true calling as a leader? How could you live and lead more sustainably, inclusively and purposefully? How could you make a bigger difference with your strengths and influence?

If these questions excite, intrigue or agitate you, I would love to work with you as your coach. I partner with leaders and emerging leaders who want to initiate change in themselves, their organisations and the world to address our biggest challenges. I provide a safe environment for you to delve deep into the being of leadership, connect with what matters most, and step up to make the purposeful impact you long for.

Together we will tackle obstacles that may be standing in your way, such as:

• Feeling overwhelmed by competing priorities
• A loss of perspective
• A noisy inner critic
• A sense of carrying too much alone

Coaching is an adventure involving deep insights, demanding climbs and inspiring new perspectives. I offer you space to draw breath. To experiment, have fun. To explore your feelings, including the ones you find most difficult. To get to know your real priorities. To plan your next steps confidently. To overcome the obstacles and move into action with focus and intention.

I encourage, challenge and support you in the actions you take to achieve your aspirations and find fulfilment in being your best ‘you’. To discover the benefits of a coaching partnership with me, read the Client Testimonials on this page. Or contact me for a complimentary sample session.

What’s involved in coaching you?

I coach clients around the world by video call, phone or in person. I often coach outdoors, in the natural environment, where people find calm, inspiration and perspective. Moving or being still in nature, we can feel most connected with the Earth, our stake in it, and our biggest fears, hopes and dreams for our future here.

My one-to-one coaching packages are flexible, designed with you to suit your needs and goals. A typical package consists of one-hour sessions every two weeks over a number of months. We’ll work with what your body is telling you as well as what’s going on in your head. The coaching includes exercises in visualisation, perspective and other creative tools, as well as my support between sessions as needed.

Team coaching: I also work with teams and groups in organisations, especially those involved in vital sustainability work. Coaching can facilitate trusting relationships and inclusive ways to collaborate, co-create and influence for success. It meets the team’s needs and agenda, taking account of the wider organisational system.

Pro bono coaching: I offer some pro bono coaching for people who’re not otherwise in a position to access support in their pursuit of making a difference.

About me

Like many people, I’ve experienced significant transitions in my career. I worked for nearly 30 years as a journalist with Reuters and the Financial Times, latterly writing about leadership, management, and change in the business world. My job involved asking incisive, challenging questions, typically of people in positions of power, to throw light on what was not visible and to get to the heart of the ‘story’.

I then created my own ‘portfolio’ career: writing books (on gender-balanced leadership, the future of work and inclusive work environments), speaking, advising, and facilitating group conversations and leadership programmes. These are described in more detail elsewhere on this website.

I came to coaching through my search for more inclusive ways to lead – both self and others. Experiencing the transformative power of  ‘Collective Leadership’ (through three discovery retreats in a beautiful Dutch forest), I was drawn to enabling others to increase their impact through deep insights, a heightened sense of what matters to them, and more profound connections with others.

I work with established and emerging leaders, drawing on my knowledge of how to build positive relationships, communicate effectively, and facilitate open, inclusive and sustainable environments. The powerful questions I ask in coaching elucidate my clients’ worlds and serve their growth and fulfilment as leaders.

I’m collaborative, curious, driven and optimistic. My core values are caring, connection, courage, exploration, fairness, inclusion, integrity, perseverance, reliability and respect.

Qualifications

I hold the ACC Credential from the International Coach Federation, which sets and upholds the highest standards for the coaching profession.

I am a Co-Active® Coach, having completed CTI’s renowned, 104-hour Coach Training Programme.

I completed a 12-week training course with Climate Change Coaches in 2021, learning how to apply my coaching skills to support people who are active, or want to become more active, in addressing the climate crisis. I am a member of the Climate Coaching Alliance.

Also in 2021, I took a UK ICF Team Coaching programme, developing skills and techniques for coaching teams, in particular those working in virtual and hybrid settings.

In 2022, I’ve enhanced my climate-conscious coaching and facilitation by completing the Active Hope Foundations training and embarking on the Circles of Active Hope Facilitator Training. Active Hope is a process and practice, developed by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, to find, and offer, our best response to the ecological and social crises we’re in. I’m bringing this to organisations, community groups and individuals working for a fairer, greener future.

In addition, I am trained as an Enhanced Skills Practitioner in Conversational Intelligence® for Coaches, having been through the C-IQ immersion programme led by Judith E Glaser.

My ongoing learning, together with regular coaching supervision, gives me a huge range of resources and insights. I use these, combined with my professional and life experience and my intuition, to serve you in the best way I can.

Climate and biodiversity commitment 

As part of my commitment to do what I can personally to address the climate and biodiversity crisis, I donate 10% of the fees I receive from coaching clients to nature conservation and regeneration charities. These include WWF,  World Land Trust,  Tree Sisters and the Earth Community Trust, which endorses and raises awareness of the Stop Ecocide campaign. So the work we do together has an impact that will hopefully long outlast us!

Getting in touch

If you would like to speak to me, or to have a complimentary sample coaching session, please contact me via the Contact Me page.