Frequently Asked Questions

My Leadership and Career Coaching Programmes for Doctors and Public Health Leaders are confidential, highly effective, action and future focused, personal and professional development processes which achieve both immediate and lasting, longer term results.

My coaching programmes are always tailored to your own specific needs, and usually include a combination of: addressing career difficulties including career direction and career transitions; public health and medical leadership development; and improving work-life balance and wellbeing.

I use a range of evidence based approaches from applied psychology, leadership development, and adult development theories to help you understand your needs with regards your career and working life, to gain new insights, make significant decisions, to grow professionally, and to develop as a leader.

Coaching is often great fun and very rewarding – and it can also be hard work and demanding to work out what you really want in your life and your career, and to develop further as a leader. It may require considerable courage to take bold action and to make the changes you need. I will support you through the process, providing challenge and accountability as well as being alongside you every step of the way, helping you to find the confidence to experiment, reach your potential and create a new future for yourself.

As well as the contact time we have together, you will need around 2-4 hours of time between sessions to complete the actions we agree to help you to move forward.

Leadership and Career Coaching is not psychological therapy or counselling for people with mental illness, and nor is it any form of medical care.  I integrate coaching approaches with career counselling and mentoring for public health and medical professionals who want to focus on the future and what they want to move towards, as well as to grow their sense of agency and autonomy.

Choosing the right Leadership and Career Coach for you is vital, because a coaching partnership is a very high trust relationship which lasts for months – and often years. You will need to feel fully confident that you can be open and honest with the Coach, and that you completely trust their integrity, skill, and professional practice, and that you feel they are professionally an equal to you.

Unlike medicine, coaching is an unregulated field: it is important to ensure that the whole of the Coach’s practice is ‘independently accredited’ by a professional coaching body, such as the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, and also that the Coach works within a recognised professional code of ethics.

Qualifications, Training and Experience

• Check the Coach is fully qualified and experienced to work with people at your own professional level, and you may also wish to ensure they have direct experience of the kind of leadership and career challenges you face. You may prefer a coach who has worked as a senior doctor or in public health.
• Leadership coaches usually have the ‘ILM7 Executive Coaching and Mentoring’ qualification.
• Career coaches should be specifically qualified in career change as a Career Counsellor, as well as in more general career support.
• You may want to know how many hours of formally logged coaching experience the Coach has with independent (paid) coaching clients, how many clients they have worked with, and what level of seniority they are experienced in working with.
• You are likely to want to be sure the Coach has a broad and deep evidence base to their practice so that you can have confidence in the theories underpinning their work, including a solid foundation in psychology and behaviour change.

Governance

• Check whether the Coach is registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office, and that they have a privacy and confidentiality statement in line with GDPR.
• You may wish to be assured they have an up to date enhanced Disclosure and Barring Certificate, and that they are insured for personal and professional liability.

Professional Practice

• You will also want to be assured that they are in regular supervision with a qualified supervisor, 1 hour supervision per 20-35 hours’ coaching depending on the level of experience as a coach, and that they attend regular professional development to develop their own skills as a coach.

There may be other factors which are important to you – take time to consider what you feel you would need from a Leadership and Career Coach to get the most out of the partnership.

You can read more about my qualifications, skills and experience here.

The questions or issues which you might bring to leadership and career coaching are varied and can relate to any or all aspects of your professional life. This includes self care, work-life balance, setting boundaries, prioritisation, improving communication, managing difficult emotions at work,retirement planning, as well as your growth and development as a leader, and your short or longer term career direction. Having said that, my clients’ coaching goals usually fall into two broad categories:

Leadership and Management Development

You want to lead effectively in complex and transformational contexts, grow and develop further as a leader, feel comfortable with increasing levels of seniority, lead with authentic presence, improve outcomes at scale.

Career Decisions, Difficulties and Career Planning

You want to improve your current role, find work-life balance, career direction, change career, develop a portfolio career, prepare for retirement or a later life career, secure a new role, or accelerate your career progression.

Leadership and Career Coaching with me always has a primary focus on your professional life, rather than your personal life: this may also include your work-life balance and taking account of your wider personal life in the context of your career. I can also help with evidence based, skilled self help to build confidence and emotional self regulation at work, however I am not a therapist and I do not provide mental health treatment or personal counselling support.

If you are experiencing overt or covert bullying or harassment at work, you may benefit from a combination of mediation and assertiveness training; you can find out more from your HR department or organisations such as ACAS.

If your employer has significant concerns about your conduct, capability, or fitness to practice then coaching with me is not suitable.

If you have significant current or recent psychological problems then coaching with me is unlikely to be suitable, as I am not a mental health professional.

I can help with your leadership development and career planning – I am a leading expert in my field of coaching doctors and coaching public health specialists.

If you think you may be ready to explore working with me, the first step is to book a free, confidential, no obligation Career Consultation on the phone. This is essentially an informal conversation so that we can explore your needs and confirm whether working together is right for you at this time. This usually lasts around 40 minutes, please allow extra time in your diary so that we don’t have to rush to complete the consultation if we need a little longer.

The Career Consultation includes:

• Background to your current situation
• Your future aspirations
• What you would like to get out of the coaching partnership, ie start to clarify what success would look like for you
• About me and what you can expect from me
• What I would expect from you
• Practicalities (fees, dates, venue etc)
• Any questions you might have

If I feel that working together is not right for you at this time, I will help you to identify alternative options where possible.

If we agree to work together then we will set a date for the first session. I send you a copy of our Coaching Agreement for you to check and sign. this ensures a safe, transparent and confidential relationship which works well for both of us. Once this is signed I will send you your invoice and your full welcome pack. This includes everything you need to get started (such as exercises and questions to help you to prepare for our work together) in order for us to finalise your coaching goals in your first session.

I integrate Coaching, Career Counselling and Mentoring with my background in psychology, medicine, leadership and workplace health in a flexible way to meet your specific needs, ie I may use all three approaches when I work with you according to your needs and your preferences.

All three approaches are confidential developmental processes between a Client and a qualified Coach, Career Counsellor or Mentor which take place as a series of conversations. They may be short term relationships over a few months, or longer term over a period of years.

Good practice states that all of these approaches should involve an explicit ‘contract’, a depth of listening, and the use of measurable goals which provide a frame for the conversations and the relationship; all three approaches may include specific skills development and personal growth.

Mentoring is a supportive process where a more experienced person shares their knowledge and gives advice to a less experienced person through a series of conversations. The Mentor may share their perspective on what they did in a similar situation, for example, or tell you what they think you should do in this situation. The focus of mentoring is usually limited to the domain of a specific field of professional practice, is often more informal and more ‘adhoc’.

Coaching is an explicitly equal adult-adult relationship, where the Coach partners with the Client ‘in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires the Client to maximise their personal and professional potential’ (ICF definition). Coaching may have a particular focus (such as Executive/ Leadership/ Career Coaching) and takes place through a series of open, honest, direct conversations, with an emphasis on gaining clarity of thinking about their needs and wants, gaining increased self awareness and insight, taking action, and developing skills. The Coach also provides objectivity, independence, accountability, and support, and should be trained to a depth of skill in the area which they coach in. I am trained to a high level in Executive, Leadership, Career and Health Coaching methodologies including behaviour change science, third wave cognitive behaviour therapy and ‘positive psychology’ (the science of human flourishing). I integrate a range of specific evidence-based coaching interventions with a focus on action, so that my Clients consistently achieve lasting change and get on an ‘upward spiral’.

Career Counselling is not personal counselling or therapy, but uses specific career counselling skills in the context of understanding the Client’s career needs and goals, and then creating a longer term career vision. It usually involves specific career-related exercises and, whilst personalised to you, follows a structured approach to help you to specifically find direction in your career. It is also a process which will support you to change direction or even to change career.

I am uniquely qualified and experienced: to ILM7 level in both Mentoring and Executive Coaching, and have used both methods for over 25 years; and I am also accredited and licensed as a Career Counsellor. I use all three approaches in my work to suit your specific needs.

Wherever possible I mainly use coaching approaches over mentoring as I believe in developing people’s own sense of agency and autonomy; I use a more structured careers counselling approach for clients whose focus is to seek clarity on their future career direction.

I am an expert in deep listening, coaching, careers counselling and mentoring, leadership development and leadership training, and also in the field of behaviour change and human flourishing, having spent the last 30 years learning, using, leading and teaching evidence-based theories of applied psychology to effect change at individual and population levels, in order to improve health and wellbeing and for leadership development.

I am highly trained in a range of methods and models. One of the main theoretical models which I use in my coaching practice is the leading edge ‘third wave’ applied psychology ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Training, pronounced ‘act’). ACT’s focus is on enabling people to live lives based on their personal values: helping people to find meaning, purpose and satisfaction in their lives, and taking action in line with what matters most to us personally, despite the difficult thoughts, feelings and urges which arise for us all in relation to our careers, leadership, career changes and working life in general. There are now over 250 Randomised Control Trials of ACT of which many relate to its use in the workplace. Please see here for a list of recent references supporting the use of ACT in the workplace setting.

I also draw on my theoretical knowledge and practical skills in prevention and early intervention with ‘positive psychology’ (experience dependent neuroplasticity; mindfulness based cognitive approaches), adult development theory, complexity and systems theory, and compassion focused approaches. I also draw on communication theories such as non-violent communication,  transactional analysis (TA), and motivational interviewing; and also the science of occupational and workplace health improvement, as well as my knowledge and experience of system-wide, organisational, and team leadership theory and practice including transformational leadership and leading in complexity and ambiguity.

I am skilled in working with senior doctors and public health specialists who find themselves in difficulty with their careers and working lives due to mild-moderate health issues, including doctors in difficulty and who are struggling with burnout; I may be able to help you to stay in work, or to get back to work. Please discuss your specific situation with me through a confidential Career Consultation; if I feel that I am unable to help you, I will try to help you to identify alternative support.

If you are currently off sick from work, or have been mentally unwell requiring clinical treatment in last few years, please do let me know before or during our Consultation.

Depending on your specific circumstances, I may still be able to work with you; however I will always ask you to discuss with your clinician or therapist whether working together is an appropriate contribution to your recovery at this point in time. I am a coach and not a clinician or therapist in this relationship, and my coaching services are not an alternative treatment for mental illness. The focus of our work is always on your professional life.

Coaching has been proven in research meta-analyses to significantly increase the success of returning to work after a period of mental ill-health, in conjunction with clinical care. Please let me know if you are currently or have recently been working with a clinician or therapist at the time of our Consultation so that we can both be sure that working together is appropriate for you at this time.

I have experience of coaching doctors and leaders who have a neurodiversity condition including: Autism, Asperger’s, ADHD/ ADD, and Dyslexia. Please note that I do not make a diagnosis, but if you do have a neurodiversity condition then I can help you to understand the impact of your condition on your career and working relationships, and help you to make the right career choices to enable you to improve your working life in the future. Please contact me to find out more.

I don’t come into your workplace to observe you. I don’t feel this adds anything to the coaching process and it can change the feeling of equality in our coaching relationship and distract from the work we do together in coaching sessions.

I am an experienced facilitator for the NHS Leadership Academy 360’ feedback tool, the FMLM tool and am also trained in a leading self assessment leadership behaviour process. I use other evidence based ways to increase your self awareness including self assessment exercises, some of which are externally validated.

I don’t offer full personality profiling and full psychometric testing, as there is growing evidence that personality is not a fixed construct, rather I use other tools to help you to develop insight into yourself and your impact on others including adult development theories. The evidence shows clearly that transformational leadership is primarily about leadership behaviour, and competence, rather than about personality; my focus is on effecting sustained change through supporting my clients to expand their range of leadership behaviours and growing their competencies.

In a coaching partnership, we meet as equals for an agreed initial number of sessions to explore an agenda wholly set by you, within a contracted agreement. We work together to identify what outcomes (goals) you want from the coaching relationship at the start of the coaching process.

We meet either in person for our coaching sessions or by online which is equally effective and suits many busy senior doctors. For face-to-face coaching we would normally meet in my office in Chapel Allerton, north Leeds, and I offer Zoom (or other provider of your choice) based coaching to clients across the UK and Internationally – I have a number of international clients and have worked with clients from all five continents.

All my coaching sessions are both reflective and action orientated and are usually 90 minutes long, and I am flexible according to your own needs. Session frequency varies according to your needs; sessions are usually 2-4 weeks apart especially for the first few sessions, and can be more frequent for people seeking a complete change of career under time pressure. I currently offer programmes in blocks of 4 or 6 sessions. Leadership coaching is usually around 12-18 sessions over a couple of years, with a minimum of 6 sessions. Career direction coaching (career counselling) is usually 4-6 sessions over a several month period.

I support you to set your own goals for each session, and at the end of each session we agree actions for you to take forward to complete before the next session. I ask for your feedback following each session to consolidate your insights and learning.

In between sessions you put your agreed actions into practice, and start to make the changes you want to see in your life and career. All my coaching programmes include access to the resources section of my website, and my evidence-based career worksheets to complete between sessions on topics specifically relating to your needs.

At the final session we review your learning over our coaching relationship, and develop plans to enable you to move forwards into the future with greater meaning, purpose, satisfaction and wellbeing in your career, leadership role and working life.

If you are wanting to explore a complete career change or to develop a medical career plan I will usually suggest a specific, more structured career counselling programme, I will discuss this with you in the Career Consultation.

Many of my clients choose to continue to have additional sessions as their career progresses over time, either immediately after our initial sessions, or at some point in the future. We would always work within a contract and a framework of your own goals, and would regularly update your goals to reflect your current circumstances and context.

I understand that discretion and confidentiality are extremely important to my clients, and I take great care to provide a safe and confidential service within the limits of the law. In line with my professional accountability ethics, if I have concerns about your or someone else’s welfare I will discuss this with you in the first instance and I will agree a course of action with you. I will always make every effort to discuss any concerns with you in person or by phone, and will only contact another party as a last resort in extreme circumstances, and even then on an anonymous basis if at all possible.

I am happy to answer any further questions regarding your privacy and confidentiality, please see my Privacy and Confidentiality Statement for a more information.

Absolutely! Coaching is an ideal use of continual professional development (CPD) time. I am happy to provide a certificate on request to state how many hours of coaching we have undertaken together. I can help you to develop your reflective practice skills further and to gain additional CPD time for your reflections – which also helps you to get the most value from your sessions.

Please contact me to discuss this. It will very much depend on your individual circumstances. If I have been coaching you personally, we will need to consider whether we feel we can maintain our relationship without this being detrimental to the our relationship and to the rest of your team. If you are an HR manager or Medical Director and are looking for a Leadership and Career Coach to work with a member or members of your staff rather than yourself directly, the answer is usually yes.

I have facilitated and led groups and teams since 1996. Please contact me to discuss your needs further.

Working with me in a coaching partnership is a significant investment in your own personal and professional development to support you to lead confidently and effectively and to ensure that your future career and working life meets your needs, and is fulfilling, satisfying and sustainable.

My clients consistently tell me that they feel they have received full value in terms of return on their investment, and they are wholly confident that the work we have done together will continue to have a positive impact on the rest of their career – as well as their long term quality of life.

I bring my professional skills and experience to support and champion you in your professional life. I offer you a level of challenge which is appropriate to your needs, and I am an objective, independent professional for you to be accountable to. A coaching partnership is similar to a Continuing Professional Development course which is wholly tailored to you and your unique and specific career and domestic needs.

I will discuss my fees with you at the Career Consultation once I am confident that I can help you. Many people wish to have further regular or ad-hoc sessions as their career progresses after their initial block of sessions.

It should be possible for you to count your coaching sessions as Professional Expenses (CPD) for tax purposes and I can give you a CPD certificate for appraisal purposes.  Many employers will pay for leadership and career coaching from an independent provider such as myself to support their more senior staff. Our contract describes the full terms and conditions, please ask me for a draft contract if you would like to see this.

All sessions are paid in advance either in full or in installments. I will send you or your employer an invoice for each block of sessions which is paid electronically, and you then will receive an email receipt as confirmation of your payment. I ask for a 10% deposit from self-funding clients at the time of booking your first session to secure your coaching programme.

Many people that I work with have never worked in this way before so please be assured I will be sensitive to your needs during our sessions.

Before our first session, we will have already had a Consultation to discuss the coaching relationship and to agree the practicalities including: time and date; duration; location/ videoconferencing platform. I will have sent you exercises to complete and return before our first session to help you to identify your coaching goals, ie what you want to achieve from working with me.

A coaching partnership is a high trust non-therapeutic learning and development relationship, including contact time together in the form of coaching sessions, to help you to move forwards towards your leadership and  career goals.

The first session involves getting to know you, your context and what you have learned so far. At the start of our first session, I will always check with you if you have any questions or concerns. We will then review the exercises you have completed before the first session and we will use them to finalise your coaching goals, so that we can both be really clear what you need to get out of our coaching partnership.

We will then start to work on your goals and moving forwards into the future, whether they relate to developing your leadership skills and style further, improving your wellbeing at work, or making career changes and planning your public health or medical career. Each coaching session is always bespoke to your own specific needs.

During each coaching session, we identify ‘between-session actions’ for you to complete before the next session, such as conversations with people, reflective exercises, experimenting with new behaviours;  we will agree these at the end of the session.

Between-session actions are always an invitation for you to help you to move closer towards your goals; as a guide they may take around an hour a week. Before we close each session, we’ll briefly review the session, and agree the date of the next session.

Please bring a pen and paper with you to the session, perhaps in a special folder if you like. After the session, I will email you with the actions we agreed, the date of the next session and any resources you need. I will also send you a session evaluation email to help you to reflect and gain further insights, and also to help you to prepare for the next session.

In our second and subsequent sessions, we’ll check whether your overarching goals remain the same. We’ll also briefly touch on the last session, discuss progress since we last met, review the actions you have completed, and identify a session goal to focus on, aligned to your coaching goals. In this way we are constantly moving towards improving your career and working life, so that you leave each session feeling clear, energised and excited to be moving forwards!

Outside of the work context, I’m an ambivert personality, so I enjoy a mixture of time with people and time alone. Since I was a young adult, I’ve loved dance, yoga, canoeing, and being outdoors in nature, as well as spending time with friends and family. I love organising social events in order to connect people together and build community. I’ve always been curious about what makes people ‘tick’ and am usually doing something related to this – one way or another!