Frequently Asked Questions

I found the process of coaching to be immensely helpful in understanding how I can use my skills and knowledge more effectively in different situations. It has improved my ability to move between strategic and tactical thinking much more easily and be more effective as a medical leader and Board member. Having a space to think out loud and discuss approaches with someone skillful who is encouraging and completely non judgemental was very useful and I have really benefited from my sessions.

Fiona helped me to focus my thoughts about the transition of life as a very busy clinician to that of retirement. The sessions appropriately challenged me to look at my future and unlocked ideas of what really is important for me to enjoy life in years to come.

I would whole-heartedly recommend Fiona as a careers coach. I have benefited enormously from my sessions with her, developing a new strand to my career and even taking the first steps into medical leadership- something I would never have dreamed of before; especially as I was seriously contemplating whether leaving general practice was what lay ahead for me. I was uncertain about the financial outlay initially and a little uneasy about how it would feel discussing things online but I feel so lucky to have been able to undertake my sessions in this way (not being local to Fiona) as I would have missed out on life changing advice and guidance if I hadn't. The cost has been more than worth it and I have gained insight, been challenged in a very positive way and been supported for what feels like the first time in my career to choose/create an exciting future which fulfills my value system and which I am passionate about. Fiona is a very skilled coach and I believe whatever stage of your career you're at you would find her an empathic, professional and inspiring influence on your future.

Working with Fiona has transformed my life. When we first met, I was unhappy, struggled to deal with challenges, and not even sure whether to continue in medicine. Some months later, I know much more about myself that I thought possible, I have discovered new ways of thinking, am much more focused, and with a clear way forward. I feel enthusiastic and positive about the future, ready to seize opportunities, and focus on my core values. Thank you!

Beginning my DPH career during a pandemic has been both exciting and challenging. Having Fiona's coaching support has given me space to think strategically which has been hard to come by whilst the team and the Authority as a whole have been running in response mode. Fiona's coaching has given me the right balance of support and challenge and through her questioning I have developed different perspectives on issues I have been facing and been able to take different approaches in the workplace to achieve progress. Fiona structures the sessions and her feedback well to develop continuity in the coaching process and maintain progress between sessions. Thank you Fiona.

I arrived at the beginning of my coaching journey lacking direction and struggling to find way to move forward to find a fulfilling career. Through the direction, guidance and coaching of 6 sessions with Fiona I arrive in a place much more positive, having identified a set of values which has informed a clear plan I am confident will support my move towards the type of career I crave. I would recommend Fiona highly for her positive, caring and professional approach to coaching in helping me to this point.

I have worked with Fiona for the last 6 months in career counselling. As a GP of 20 years I was burnt out and struggling to reconcile my professional identify with my current role. From the outset , and with high skill and meaningful empathy Fiona helped me gain insights and skills in self care, re-appraisal of my core values. Fiona worked diligently and compassionately with me, such that I am now confident I have clarity, positivity and empowerment which I can readily access and apply to my career decision making. I would not hesitate to recommend Fiona to anyone who may feel they are experiencing something similar and who may be struggling to see how they can move forwards.    

The career coaching I received from Fiona was excellent. As a senior clinician I wanted to explore the process of moving into a new role. The sessions were structured and very supportive right from the start. I feel excited about the future and have clarity about my next steps into a new career. I would thoroughly recommend any other doctor considering a change in career to contact Fiona and gain the valuable insight that I achieved.

I was hesitant about seeking out help in deciding my future, and tried to resolve the issues myself, without success. Fiona has been supportive but challenging, and really helped me understand why I do my job, and the sessions have allowed me to develop and become more confident in myself, as a leader.

I had got to the point where I was too scared to hope that my working life could improve. I had run out of empathy and energy and felt that, unless something fundamental changed, I would have to leave my job. It's early days but Fiona helped me re-remember my work passions and reconnect to the personal values that have always driven me. I now have a plan, resources I can tap into, and I feel safe enough to have allowed some hope to creep back in.

What I really liked when working with Fiona was that she has adopted a very kind and gentle approach, so not an aggressive one, but at the same time without asking her client to make discounts on their goals. I thought initially that she would suggest I tone down my ambition/ goals in favor of my self care, family relationships etc, but I was very pleased to see that she was teaching me ways of how to look after myself and my family relationships etc so that I could achieve my goals. That was valuable. In addition, through the work we did together and the tools she has shared with me, I have been able to adopt a step by step process of tackling my tendency to procrastinate and to respond only to deadlines, in a way that helps me make steady progress.

I learnt a lot about myself and my working patterns during my coaching course and feel that my confidence and self-awareness have improved markedly as a result. I'm aware of new techniques for improving my efficiency at work and have noticed already how I am using the methods in my daily routines. I would thoroughly recommend working with Fiona.

I have had 4 sessions with Fiona, as I had reached a block in deciding whether to continue in either my NHS General Practice or in my Clinical Director role. Fiona was an expert listener. She enabled me to articulate to myself, both what I need from my career and a plan of how to get there. I have now decided to stay in my current roles, but with some clearer goals, boundaries and a useful plan for my development. I feel more content and energised since our sessions together and would certainly have more sessions in the future.

Fiona's thoughtful sessions helped me get the most out of a very challenging year. I achieved my career goals, and also a new sense of balance and joy with my outside of work life. I'm really optimistic about new challenges, and developing further with this next stage of my career.

Fiona has enabled me to nurture myself into a confident leader who seeks new challenges and is not afraid to say no to tasks & projects that do not satisfy my core values. Anxieties have become a quiet distant murmur as they have melted away as I have become more mindful and self compassionate. A colleague recently noted that I was ‘too positive’. I now keep a journal and have started a blog and see my life as collections of joy. I would thoroughly recommend Fiona to anyone wishing to be coached to a new level in life.

As a senior Public Health Leader, I worked with Fiona just as I had taken on a new role. The opportunity to work with Fiona has been fantastic as it has allowed me the space and time to set my goals; work towards them with challenge from Fiona and see the significant progress I made over the course of the sessions.

Using the tools I learned from you, I was able to craft my ideal role - keeping the elements of my current role that I love and leaving the rest. I truly believe I could not have done this without the coaching and I’m so grateful to you. All of it was useful and - probably most importantly - the encouragement to believe in my value to my employer. So - Thank you Fiona - another success for you too!

Working with Fiona equipped me with the tools, skills and attitudes that will serve my career and and personal development for a lifetime - including navigating personal barriers to achieving my desired professional state. Fiona's expertise in healthcare, leadership, coaching and psychology were demonstrable in our sessions, which left me feeling in good hands and confident in the process.

Working with Fiona gave me such a confidence boost before successful my Consultant interview. She not only helped me to prepare in a practical sense but also made me realise that I was ready for this next step and to approach the interview with confidence. Fiona is approachable and helpful and works flexibly to what you need to gain from the sessions. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to colleagues (and already have!). I'm looking forward to working with Fiona again in the future as my career progresses.

Working with Fiona was fantastic and really helped me to succeed in my career progression. Her structured approach to understanding my current role, aspects I enjoy and values I hold really helped me to develop a clear idea of where I ultimately want my career to go. Being able to articulate this has helped me take the leap I needed to and secure success at the next level.

Career coaching with Fiona has been enlightening and empowering as it has enabled me to align my values fully with a shift in career horizons. I can now comfortably acknowledge and accept contemporary career decisions and view future career options with excitement and clarity. At times, the experience was challenging requiring resilience and mental toughness to engage in reflection and analysis honestly and with an open mind. Throughout the coaching period, Fiona has been empathic, caring and diligent. Her knowledge on personal development and coaching is bountiful as is evident by her ability to draw on examples and resources to support the process. I would whole-heartedly recommend Fiona.

I came to Fiona at a stage in my career where I felt on the edge of burnout, unable to keep going as I was, but unable to understand what I needed to do to move forwards. I have always been able to sort professional problems myself but on this occasion I was truly stuck. I thought long and hard about the financial cost and was apprehensive it would be a colossal waste of money. I couldn't have been more wrong. In four sessions Fiona has helped me disentangle the multiple strands of my professional and personal life and compartmentalise each one in such a way that I can plan a future. Part of my job role will remain the same, but I now have the courage to try something new, more aware of options out there, and importantly more aware of what I want and enjoy in my work. It has been so important to me that Fiona is medically qualified and works exclusively with senior people in the healthcare profession. It gives her an insight and experience that other career coaches don't have.

I came to coaching with Fiona after a very difficult couple of years in a leadership role, knowing that I needed to work through some issues that were affecting my wellbeing and causing me to doubt my suitability to lead. Fiona is an extremely skilful coach - her compassion, professionalism and expertise have made a huge impact on me. I had to work hard, but felt really supported, and have made transformational progress with the issues I brought to coaching. Not only do I feel much happier and confident, I've been able to use the skills I've developed to manage new challenges and to become a better leader.

I felt perhaps like others "coaching" may conjure up a variety of perceptions. Having worked with Fiona, it has been a real eye opener particularly when I was faced with developing into my Clinical Director role, I think her credentials and experience added a sense of confidence to really engage and not hold back, she managed difficult discussions with empathy, sincerity and holding you to account and really getting into the places where it matters to effect change. Whole heartedly would recommend her.

I had been struggling to find my niche as a new consultant, and was aware of my career path being shaped largely by chance and by the agendas of other people. Working with Fiona helped me to clarify what my career goals are by getting to the heart of what I really care about and what makes me feel energised. I now have a vivid picture of what I want for my future self, and a clear idea of the steps I need to take to get there. I would recommend Fiona as a coach to anyone who feels lost or stuck in their career.

I think Fiona has the perfect background for the highly specialised area of medical careers advice, having had experience both clinically, within public health, and management. This, combined with her intuition, commitment and warmth provided an arena in which I felt understood, and I felt like I was treated as an individual rather than the "tick a box" approach that I've experienced in careers advice previously. The depth to which Fiona helped me explore my career interests was so impressive, and she also helped me understand a lot about myself in the process. When I met Fiona I was feeling burnt out, unhappy and work and lost in the system. 18 months on, I am excited about my career again and have tangible goals; I finally feel like life is unfolding into a future I feel excited about and I am so grateful to Fiona for guiding me through a difficult patch with empathy, humour and wisdom.

Fiona was fantastic from our initial consultation right through the process. She was understanding when my schedule meant rearranging sessions and made every effort to accommodate the fact that I wasn’t always in the same time zone.

Fiona has enabled me to see a clear career path which suits not only my ‘work’ requirements but also takes into consideration the lifestyle I crave. If you are procrastinating over decisions or unsure if you can change your career then coaching with Fiona will be life changing - just as it has been for me. I’m now in the process of changing career from GP to forensic pathology and feel excited and hopeful about the future.

Fiona makes great efforts to understand your current situation and to help you clarify your goals. Be prepared for a significant time commitment in between sessions to obtain the most benefit.

I am a Consultant working in an Irish health service context. I have a multifaceted patient and management role with minimal supports in place. At the time of starting this program I was really struggling in workplace relationships, achieving goals and being productive. This coaching program has helped almost every aspect of my clinical and management practice. I have a much more structured approach to work and life and this makes everything more achievable. My working relationships have improved with benefits for my service. I am better equipped to tackle the ongoing pressures that come with working in this hectic environment. I would recommend working with Fiona Day to anyone in a similar position.

I engaged in coaching after feeling that I was not meant to be working in leadership roles any more. I'd had episodes of illness, long term health problems and family difficulties meaning that I felt I had been left behind with my career. I'd had so many knockbacks and hadn't achieved my leadership goals despite lots of effort. Coaching was very valuable to make me realise that this is the right direction of travel for me in my career and not to compromise on this goal or to be put off by failure. Fiona really challenged me to act and to put my experience and knowledge into use which I successfully did. This process enabled me to re-build my confidence at a time when I was close to giving up completely.

Thank you for your assistance in coaching me through job transitions, facilitating my ability to reflect and “giving” me permission to congratulate myself! Recent months have been challenging for doctors worldwide, especially for  those who are face to face with vulnerable patients. The response to COVID -19 has been a steep learning curve for me but also, post reflection, an important time to consolidate a vision for my journey going forward. You have helped me to look at challenges from a different perspective and this has been much appreciated.

Working with Fiona has enabled me to focus my ideas about my future career. Her open, non-judgemental approach is balanced by a constructive, critical input that challenged me to untangle some of the career development ideas I have been juggling with for some time now. I have felt able to speak openly to her, and had a clear sense that she was on my team throughout. I still have work to do, but having worked with Fiona feel that I have the tools to achieve my goals.

I thought long and hard about whether to look for coaching and who with. I chose Fiona as I could see she is very well trained and experienced as a Coach, I was impressed by her testimonials including success with clients with the same objectives I was bringing, and in particular her niche practice working with senior doctors and medical leaders. It was important to me to work with a peer who understands my professional world. Fiona took great care at the start to understand and help me clarify my own objectives, and her support has been invaluable in helping me to launch a new career interest as a business, in particular helping me improve my planning and networking strategies. I had a hunch I would come away with more than this however. Fiona has really helped me to see how to find the time in my busy life to make this new project succeed and to create a mindset (fifteen years into the senior part of my career) where I now accept looking after myself as fundamental to delivering my best work.

I have found Fiona to be calm and professional allowing me to think and reflect on my values, goals and skills. Fiona has helped me focus and I have some clear next steps to take. I liked the structured approach and Fiona's skill to keeping me on track during the session so we made best use of our time.

Fiona has this amazing ability to listen (to my somewhat unstructured thoughts!), make sense of situations, and turn deliberations into action plans. Our work together has enabled me to connect my day to day work with my longer term career direction - helping me to recognise my strengths and areas for development, whilst focusing on my values and what motivates me. Through challenging exercises and conversations I’ve gained confidence and the courage to make the right decisions for my career. Fiona’s expertise and commitment to helping me has been pivotal for me this year, and I wouldn’t hesitate to work with her again.

I had been considering coaching for a while but worried about finding someone with genuine experience working with senior medical professionals and academics - Fiona absolutely ticked all the boxes. She has a superb depth of knowledge alongside enormous experience and insights. Working with her was incredibly valuable supporting me in managing significant changes in my role and planning for the future. Medicine doesn't equip us well for significant changes in the direction of our career - Fiona does.

Working with Fiona is highly recommended, whether or not you're at the stage of wanting to change your career direction, or just exploring your options. It helped me define and evaluate my skills and interests in a way that I would not have done myself, which, in turn, helped me focus on what I really want to do (instead of simply what I think I 'should' or 'can' do). Her approach is collaborative, and open and flexible, and provided the time, space, and focus that I needed to define my plans and set them in motion! After working with Fiona, I can't wait for it all to unfold.

I have found the experience of working with you very helpful in understanding better my strengths and weaknesses. I have been better able to position myself and the role I contribute within the senior management team. I have also been able to benchmark myself as a Director in comparison to others in my field. I have gained better insight into the dynamics of the senior management team. I have truly benefited from my sessions with you and appreciated your open and honest feedback on matters and your valuable ability to conceptualize the bigger picture from an outside perspective which was harder for me to see. I would definitely recommend you and your services to other senior leaders in their fields who need to gain a better understanding of themselves and where they are positioned within their senior management teams. You are a friendly, approachable, honest professional with high moral values and ethics. I thank you for the help, support and good advice/ direction you provided me with and will not hesitate to reconsider the need for further work together in the future should the need arise.

Fiona is a fantastic coach. She challenges me and has enabled me to make major changes both in my work and personal life. Through her sessions I have set-up and am running my own Medico-legal business that is being inundated with new work – I would not have moved at this pace and achieved this prior to my coaching sessions.

I had never considered coaching before. After three sessions the benefits are crystal clear. Fiona’s coaching style has really suited me: a perfect mixture of affirmation and challenge. Being coached by Fiona has helped to give me clarity about my own strengths - and helped me shape career choices moving forward.

I started working with Fiona when I realised that the way I worked was not going to be sustainable in the long term. Working together helped me realise that my biggest weakness was not in my professional ability but in my failure to care for my own wellbeing and to maintain a healthy work life balance. Fiona shared enough of herself for me to feel that I was working with a ‘real’ human being, not just with empathy, but with relevant life experiences of her own – but always maintaining appropriate boundaries such that it remained ‘my’ session. I now have a far more healthy view of the place that work has in my life, and whilst I see myself as a ‘work in progress’, when things to start to slip I continue to refer back to the strategies I learned when working with Fiona.

Working with Fiona has helped me to stop, take stock and critically assess my career. The exercises undertaken with Fiona have reinforced my need to work in an environment that align to my values. Looking back over my career, including how I managed through some difficult times, helped me to realise what strengths I have, and what choices I have moving forward.

I have found coaching a very useful use of time in trying to negotiate and plan the numerous commitments and opportunities that modern day general practice throws up. It has helped set realistic targets and plans to maintain my work life balance.

Honestly I was dubious before the process started. Once I went through it I learnt so much about what I really wanted in life and how to go about it. Fiona gave me the confidence to do this. She allowed me to take control of my future and gave me the tools to make the changes in my life to give me clarity.

With Fiona's guidance I have just re-invented my professional life after retirement from NHS clinical work, developing an independent consultancy in my area of expertise. She offered great listening skills, calm and warm hearted conversations, clarity in setting of objectives, defining my vision and plans. Whether you have a 'burning platform' or you are at a crossroads with your career, you can trust Fiona with creating the right setting to reflect, innovate and thrive.

Each session was well structured around things and issues that matter to me in progressing my professional and wider carer choices. I feel much more focused in what I want to achieve and the necessary steps and actions. I have also learned some exercises which are helping me to be more socially aware. Overall, it has been a thoroughly good experience.

Since working with Fiona I have established a clear set of goals for the next three years. Working through a series of actions with her support I have moved mountains, going from a set of ideas to creating a new role which combines my strengths and key interests. This clarity has helped others around me understand how I might contribute more effectively to the system I work within. I really valued the calm space that Fiona creates in which to test out ideas and refine what my vision is. She uses really effective exercises that energised me, rediscovering what I want to achieve and helping me focus on what really matters to me. I was nervous about the time commitment and investment required at a time of maximum stretch professionally. However the push to do this was a need for greater job and life satisfaction. I would recommend Fiona’s approach to senior clinical professionals who are considering making a change or are working within systems that are changing. She has helped me grow in confidence about my personal strengths, learning how I can effect change in the system by finding a role that I can bring my best skills to.

I started working with Fiona at a time in my professional life where I was seeking direction and reflecting on my next steps as a doctoral student. I am lucky to have worked with Fiona who approached my needs with kindness and understanding. Fiona enabled me to see the positives in my professional journey which I have learnt to use as a strength moving forward. Her understanding of my professional context was extremely beneficial as not everyone can understand the differences in working in a country low resource setting compared to a high-income country. I will definitely recommend Fiona Day Consulting to friends and peers.

Investing in coaching was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I recommend Fiona without hesitation. In just five months it has made a huge difference to my life:  I feel more centred and resilient, applying for a Consultant job no longer feels overwhelming, and I have made significant progress towards creating a portfolio career. The actions from each session kept me motivated and added a level of accountability.  Given how disempowered I felt before coaching, they also gave me permission to try out new behaviours in a safe environment.  Most importantly, I now have a range of tools and techniques that will help me grow into the best version of myself and I’m grateful.

I went into coaching with a real lack of clarity over how to progress in my career and feeling very unsure if I would want to continue to work as a Doctor. Through skilful guidance, Fiona has really helped me understand and identify my needs. This was something I had totally failed to consider before. I now recognise what makes me feel energised and what I need to have a happy, fulfilling professional life. Coaching with Fiona has helped me realise that I do enjoy being a Doctor but I may need to make some "tweaks" to my path. I now have the confidence to undertake this!

Fiona has been very supportive and really helped me to know how I can use my skills and achievements more effectively in different situations. The coaching sessions were enlightening and empowering. They have allowed me to further develop and enhance my potential as well as to project myself better as a leader.

Fiona helped me during a critical decision stage of my career. Fiona helped me evaluate my values and strengths and reevaluate my career aspirations. This involved helpful and informative exercises, followed by in-depth discussion. All along Fiona was considerate, supportive and encouraging. She asked key questions that enabled me to make confident career decisions. She also provided support and guidance whilst applying for a new role and around the interview process. She helped me bring an awareness of my core values into my decision making process regarding this new role. I was always impressed by Fiona's high level of professionalism, kind and considerate nature. I found her to be very respectful, trustworthy and easy to talk to. We did our sessions online which worked very well and was convenient.  3 months later I am now working outside the NHS in a new career and I am happy with my decision and where I now am. Fiona's coaching services were an important and helpful part of confidently making this career transition.

I came to Fiona at a critical time in my life and career, with a ‘dream’ that seemed an awful long way away. Fiona calmly and professionally made me realise that the dream could be a reality with careful consideration of what was right for me, she also gave me the courage to leave the job I was in and move into the right place. I am now “living the dream”. Thank you Fiona.

I have worked with Fiona for just less than 3 years, during a complex merger of multiple GP practices, significant changes in my family life and the start of a very challenging leadership role. With Fiona’s help I’ve survived these changes, am clearer about my values, can take better care of myself and have managed to create a professional role, leadership position and working pattern that feels right for me. I feel that the Fiona’s coaching has helped me succeed in delivering a series of difficult projects that would not have been possible without her skilled, validating and supportive mentorship.

I came to Fiona with so many thoughts and ideas, which she carefully help me dissect and re-craft; in doing so I have gained much more clarity about my career goals. Fiona has a fantastic manner with an obvious wealth of experience that makes the experience enjoyable (if a little unnerving at first!) I would totally recommend her. I appreciate coaching is expensive, but I challenge anyone to find a bought item that can add so much value.. invest in yourself!

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Fiona. She has challenged me, she has made me think, she has worked me hard and together we have created a working and viable blueprint for the next stage of my life and career.

I found the sessions with Fiona very valuable. I had been struggling with a portfolio career and saying yes to all opportunities that came my way. I also felt guilty that I was not fully committed to GP work. Fiona helped me understand the way forward and improved my confidence and my belief in my right to choose a career I wanted. Fiona was flexible with timings and really listened to my position. I would absolutely recommend her.

Working with Fiona has provided me with the headspace, and challenge, to reflect and refocus my energy where its needed in order to be most effective. By doing so I've been able to achieve my aim of a much healthier work life balance.

Working with Fiona helped me to better understand my skills and where I have thrived most in my career so far, and after the career coaching I feel much better equipped to identify aspects of alternative roles which are most important to me looking forwards. In addition I have a much better idea of other options which would be suitable for me and where to begin exploring for these. In the short term I also feel more positive in my current role whilst I explore these other options. Fiona was kind and discerning, and took the time to get to know my attributes, skills and career needs. She also made time between sessions to assist me when needed. I would thoroughly recommend working with her if in a similar situation.

Fiona's coaching has helped me to make changes in my working life with confidence, and provided clarity about the next stage of my career. Her supportive but challenging approach has been much appreciated. I started the process with some reservation, but would now recommend to any doctor feeling dissatisfied in their career.

Coaching with Fiona has been supportive, challenging, thought provoking and empowering.  It has helped me to develop skills to look at my current work situation, reflect, and given me tools to make changes- with the aim of letting go of one trapeze and catching another.

I've developed greater clarity on my career vision, what I want from a job and how to take the next steps in my career development journey. These sessions have given me time and space to reflect on my career to date, my skills and development needs and have made it easier to make decisions about career direction and jobs I can take to help me get there. I have since been appointed to a new role that meets many of my aims. As part of our sessions we also did some very useful work around systems leadership and how to work in complexity which has helped me on my journey to becoming a stronger leader. Fiona has a supportive style and provided just the right amount of challenge, helping me to clearly identify my aims and to recognise my strengths and areas for development. I've gained a huge amount in a short space of time and would definitely recommend her to others in similar senior leadership positions.

Fiona helped me work through a difficult period at work when pressures on my organisation were at their highest. She encouraged me to challenge my own work patterns allowing me to prioritise some of my needs without compromising the work I delivered. Through my sessions with Fiona, I was able to recognise the impact of the work environment I had created and take simple steps to improve it. She supported me to hold constructive conversations in order to enable me to grow professionally.

You are a transformational coach who has enabled me to significantly improve my performance and wellbeing. I enjoyed working with you because you were both assertive and compassionate and enabled me to achieve my specific goals. I would recommend your services to anyone in a professional role because for me, the experience I had as your coachee went way beyond my expectations and has had such a positive impact on my stated outcomes.

Deciding to embark on careers counselling felt like a daunting task, I was unhappy in my career and felt like there was no solution. Fiona was kind and guided me through a structured approach to uncover what really makes me tick in a professional environment and eventually to what I am really looking for in a career. I am leaving the other side excited about the next stage in my career and confident to start searching and applying for the jobs I know I want.

It has been so useful to have an expert external providing training on coaching.  What I found particularly useful was the emphasis on how I can better incorporate coaching skills into my day to day work, rather than it being seen as a separate “add on.”  During the training I have worked with a great group of people in a safe environment to refresh skills, learn new, test ideas and apply our learning. I have thoroughly enjoyed and been enriched by the whole experience.  Fiona’s style of training pushes you but is also very empathetic and nurturing; the course resources and materials are brilliant. The sessions have been challenging, intense and very rewarding.  I have since used my coaching learning in appraisals, one to ones with staff, to support others with their personal development and in other ways, and feedback has been very positive.  I am now asking more insightful questions to encourage others to dig deep into their experiences, values and aspirations etc. and enabling them to create their own solutions.  As one of my appraisees said “you made me work hard there and I got so much out of it.”  I am really motivated and gratified to see I am helping others be more self-aware, courageous and solution focused.  When I began the course I was somewhat cynical as I have undertaken training in coaching before but never made it stick; however I am now fired up and committed to continuing to apply my learning in other ways, and am convinced there are real benefits in this.  

I have benefitted from working with Fiona in the way that I understand my place in the current organisation much better, and can now express my wishes and plans for the future development of the department in a clearer and more strategic way,

I was very pleased with the work done by Fiona during our coaching sessions. She really helped me to understand how employable I actually was. She was very empathic and demonstrated both an excellent knowledge of the feelings and psychological pressure we sometimes go through and how to put things into perspective by looking at the real-world. The exercises we did to simulate job interviews and the analysis she did were great to equip me with tangible tools in the near future.

Coaching with Fiona was a really good experience. At the start, I knew I needed coaching but I was not very clear how coaching would help me. Fiona's approach of deep and careful listening for both the spoken and unspoken, careful playing back to establish shared understanding, and skilful questioning and nudging to enable me get to the solution myself was really impressive. Amongst others, one of the clearest benefits I got from working with Fiona was that I became supremely clear about my purpose in what I am doing right now and became even clearer about how I will know when my job is done in my current role. In addition, Fiona's coaching allowed me to explore my strengths and preferences in such a way that I have since become clearer in myself of what my career next steps could be should I decide it is time to make such a move.

I had a clear goal identified for what I wanted to achieve from coaching. Fiona talked me through the goals and helped me to identify the key areas I needed to focus on to achieve these. Over the course of the first few sessions we were able to focus on specific areas of improvement which led to a successful application and interview for a Director of Public Health post.

Fiona is a skilled coach who has helped to clarify my role and direction in leading the new primary care network and finding our place in a developing integrated care system. With calm empathic challenge, she has helped me develop leadership skills and navigate difficult situations, giving me insights that have been beneficial both professionally and personally.

I would recommend Fiona Day as a career coach. At a crossroads in my career decisions both emotionally and through changes in circumstance I have been able, with her help, to gain clarity on what gives me satisfaction in my working life and what my overall priorities are in future plans. The meetings were carried out virtually but I still felt a comfortable working relationship could be established. The rest now is down to me! Thank you.

Many thanks for the encouragement and confidence to step up to a national role! My Annual objectives meeting was a breeze - so thanks for your guidance with that as well.

Very professional coach. Sympathetic but challenging and gives homework to help progress between times. Kept me afloat during a very challenging period which I am proud to have come through without too many scars. A better transition than the last couple. Honest and with a wide range of tools to offer. Understands the Public Health world.

Thank you for your guidance over the last couple of years. I've finally secured a permanent post - after lots of uncertainty! It was very reassuring to me to know you were available to talk things through and break down my problem into tangle steps. You also gave me space to feel how annoyed I was feeling - which helped me progress to doing something constructive!

I would recommend Fiona's coaching service to other professionals who are at a stage in their career where they want to achieve something different for their working life. I have never been an ideas person and was at a loss to know where this would take me, or if there was anything at all that I would want to do, or could do other than my clinical role. I'm really glad to say that over the course of the sessions Fiona has helped me to create something that I feel comfortable and excited to be embarking on. She has helped me gain the confidence to realise a future that I did not imagine I could do.

I have enjoyed working with Fiona massively over the last few months. I had not had career coaching before and did not know what to expect. She has expertly taken me on a journey with appropriate support and challenge to a career choice/ aspiration that I am now very comfortable with. I would heartily recommend senior medical colleagues who have concerns about career choices use Fiona's services to help them with their decision making process.

The value for me on a personal basis was that Fiona was on my side , with out any bias which may have impacted on the work and feedback I received , I felt that I could discuss very difficult topics and achieve a way of tackling these in a hugely impactful way which empowered me in my professional and personal life - so a huge thankyou !

You have a very calm, kind and knowledgeable approach and bring with you a wealth of experience that you pass on in a really constructive way.

Fiona is very professional, with a clear, structured approach to coaching which made me feel really comfortable as a coachee. Fiona is a very good listener and her manner encourages honest, open conversation, whilst maintaining a focus on achieving your learning goals and ensuring that every decision/discussion is backed by actionable, achievable tasks to take away.

Fiona is very supportive and professional. She has helped me to work out where to direct my career and on what values to base it on.

You have a really calming and relaxing tone which took out the stress of the subject matter. Thinking about being a consultant and the gaps in line and team management can be daunting but you were reassuring and made me remember that I have the skills even if not the experience and there is a continuous support network. You were open with your own experiences so the course felt real. It was tailored to the specific needs of us as a group. You are a natural facilitator for discussion ensuring we kept to topic and time but enabling conversation of details. Thank you so much for everything Fiona, I feel much more confident about my transition to consultant!

Your calm and professional manner and the way to took the time to understand us as individuals really helped to make the course engaging, supportive and a safe space to share and reflect.

A massive thank you for offering this fantastic course. Absolutely the most useful and relevant training I have been on.

I went into the course seeking clarity on how to make careers decisions, how to maximise my chances of getting a consultant role in an area I am interested in and how prepare for working in a consultant role. The course has met all of these objectives.

I really appreciate practical advice, and you gave a lot of this. You're very supportive and straightforward, which was really reassuring when thinking about this big transition to the next stage of my career.

The process of working with Fiona to define my career goals and the strategy to achieve those goals has been really helpful. She used a combination of short written exercises and coaching sessions to help me direct my thinking. Over the several month process I have been able to develop a much clearer picture of my skill strengths and how I can apply them to my advantage as well as having a strategy for continuing to develop my ongoing career direction.

I entered coaching with dread as my issue was looming retirement and no planning. I wanted a coach who was a doctor and who would explore work life balance not leadership strategies and the goals of youth. The worst and best part was the knowledge that I would be challenged each month on progress. It prevented me from failing to progress. What was most useful was learning to put aside all or nothing thinking. My plans for retirement are much more stepwise. I also have had chance to sense check. So retire and come back with combination of weekday time out and blocks of stone for bigger projects have become my strategy for future.

After resigning from NHS practice and before I started working with Fiona I felt overwhelmed with decisions on where to take my career. I knew I wanted to continue to develop my medical skills and use them to explore options outside of clinical practice. I also had the hugely daunting task of using a new appraisal platform which required hours worth of data imputing which I kept putting off. With Fiona's gentle but challenging guidance I was able to set comprehensive weekly goals and reward myself for completed tasks, even if it was watching trashy tv! Fiona supported me to set my pace to achieve these goals using validated coaching techniques. I would highly recommend coaching to anyone either at a crossroads in their career or who needs further challenge to climb that ladder. There are many professional coaches out there but Fiona celebrates your achievements with you which makes you believe you can continue to succeed in whatever you choose.

Fiona is an excellent listener, insightful, easy to talk to about challenging subjects, encouraging and empathetic. The tools and resources provided are very helpful to enable change. The coaching programme helped me manage challenges/complex situations, build personal resilience and confidence and competence in my leadership roles. Fiona was instrumental in helping me make some decisions which are likely to be career defining. I would highly recommend Fiona Day Consulting to other public health/medical colleagues looking for coaching and in leadership or developing leadership roles.

I feel that I am equipped with the instruments to deal with myself and the environment around me. I know my leadership style, behaviour, and performance much better. I know how to manage challenging persons and issues very effectively. I feel closer to myself, and I can be myself. Importantly, I learned to have a structured approach in my life. The coaching benefited me in my professional and my private life. I strongly recommend Dr Fiona Day's services. Dr Fiona Day is very professional, knowledgeable, humble, structured, and a great leader, coacher, and mentor.

I have done coaching before and always find it invaluable. What I found different and helpful working with Fiona, is that she has useful tools and tasks to facilitate the coaching session, allowing reflection and meeting any set objectives of the session.

I must admit that I was quite sceptical when I first approached you. I’ve always been quite pragmatic and really wasn’t sure how you could help me. I was amazed by how much help your first session was, and I am now exactly where I want to be. With your help I made things actively happen rather than just drift in to them. Thanks to your help, I understand myself better and I know what I want. Finally, you also helped in very practical ways, covering all the tiniest details. You also helped me to work out for myself what I wanted, and how best to achieve them. I would definitely recommend you to anyone who feels that they are not quite where they want to be career-wise, or are having difficulties at work.

I would highly recommend working with Fiona. When I started coaching I was quite despondent about my career and work life balance but now I feel much more positive about my future home and work life. Fiona has given me tools and direction to deal with difficult relationships at work, manage my work life balance and plan for my future.

When I worked with Fiona I was pleasantly surprised at how much opportunity got unlocked both within and beyond my job. I'm now focusing on a direction that everyone wants to be a part of. It was great working together and Fiona is very astute and insightful. She gave me a toolset that can be applied to any form of change and helped me in recommending some specific moves which have already added value.

I found that the value of this process was in challenging me to justify my self-perceptions and particularly my negative or self-limiting feelings about myself. I have gained from my coaching experience a renewed confidence in what I do well, and the ability to give myself credit for things where previously I didn’t fully allow myself to do so. My coaching experience has helped me define and affirm my values and principles and know what’s really important to me professionally which has brought a clearer plan of how I want to develop and grow in my career.

Fiona's approach of completely and confidentially being on "your team" to support your development is genuine and gives you the confidence to aspire to do well and progress in your career. The coaching sessions gave me a better understanding of my own leadership styles, through a combination of PLI, 360 degree feedback and reflecting on both strengths and areas for development. Our conversations about dealing with challenging situations brought some new perspectives on dealing with complexity.

I would highly recommend working with Fiona. She helped me with my transition back to work after a considerable break, and with a career change. I have since gained employment in my new area and used many of the skills from our working relationship to get this role.

This course helped me to drown out the noise of an increasingly chaotic workplace and focus on what is important to me. I have gained a deeper understanding of the options that are available to me in diversifying my job as a medical consultant in the NHS.

I throughly enjoyed working with Fiona, and would recommend her highly. She encouraged and helped me think about the elements I wanted in my working life and how to achieve them. This helped me make some adjustments to the now to make my current work life more manageable and enjoyable whilst I worked on moving onto the next steps. I have now been successful in securing a new exciting role more in-tuned with my personality and aspirations. I feel excited about the future. Thank you so much!

Fiona has been kind, insightful and non judgemental throughout our sessions. She has provided a framework for me to consider my career in a positive light. With this structure I feel I am capable of approaching future decisions with the resolution and clarity required to make the right choice for me.

I was skeptical about being coached as I am in my late 50s and had achieved my professional goal but was re-evaluating everything. Through various tools and techniques, Fiona enabled me to gain clarity to be able to establish new goals and new ways of thinking about career.

If you apply the same amount of energy to the process that Fiona applies, you will feel more enriched. This is not a box ticking exercise to feed numbers into a computer to tell you what job you should have. This is an exercise in self discovery, and this in turn can not only define what the career goals are but WHY you are pursuing those next steps. I would recommend her coaching to all who are reviewing their past and shaping their future, through understanding their present.

Fiona provided some great career coaching for me, supporting me to gain clarity over future direction leading to significant improvements in work life balance. She worked within a tight timeframe which was hugely helpful in achieving my goals. I’d definitely recommend Fiona as a coach.

I have enjoyed working with Fiona during a period of intense challenge and change at my organisation, both prompted by internal leadership issues but also by the pandemic. Indeed, it is a regret that I had not organised coaching support earlier in my medical leadership career. Fiona speaks with great common sense based on considerable experience, and I was always struck at how she could bring a different perspective to the issues I was dealing with. This was particularly true of her deep understanding of how people think and react, enabling me to see the other side of some complex discussions. I strongly recommend Fiona's coaching to colleagues in senior leadership roles.

I have known for a long time that I wanted to broaden my horizons and in particular, work more strategically, looking to national work opportunities. However I wasn't sure quite what form this would take or how to achieve it. Time spent exploring these issues with Fiona was fundamental in really helping me to understand what I wanted to achieve professionally - both in the short and long term - and how I could go about fulfilling these goals in practical and realistic ways. I feel in a different place now and really do consider that I have ALL the skills, opportunities and ability to achieve my best. I thoroughly recommend that anyone asking the same questions, access coaching time with Fiona - you won't look back!

The opportunity and experience of being coached by Fiona for several months has been transformative, both personally and professionally. One of the most impactful aspects of my coaching journey with Fiona was the extensive and evidence-based 360-Transformational Leadership Questionnaire and subsequent reflective exercise and feedback she provided. This comprehensive feedback gave me invaluable insights into my strengths and areas for growth. As a result, I felt empowered to apply for more senior responsibilities/roles, which I have been successful in securing. Fiona has also shown me how to use coaching as a strategic tool, which has allowed me to contribute more effectively to fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement in my organization. Her expertise and supportive approach have been instrumental in my growth as a leader, and I highly recommend her to anyone looking to elevate their coaching and leadership capabilities.

Working with Fiona has given me an excellent framework to begin my leadership journey. We focussed on specific challenges based on my own experiences and produced workable solutions which I could test in practice. This gave me confidence to take on more difficult problems. The leadership 360 exercise was immensely useful in highlighting areas for development.

Fiona was very accommodating when helping me at short notice with some career-related feedback. She was able to bring the feedback to life for me and scrutinise it in a manner that made it genuinely useful for my own personal and career development. Her ability to put you at ease and recognise and utilise the positives, whilst at the same challenging you to explore beyond your comfort zone, is a real strength of her coaching style.

Fiona was excellent at helping to form and direct the very vague ideas I started with into what became a much clearer way ahead. I found it a very challenging process to break out of my fairly set way of thinking, but Fiona was very patient and encouraging and made sure that I kept going. I would definitely recommend working with Fiona.