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
Governance
Professional Practice
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
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:
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!
Having been in my chosen career for many years I found myself anxious about the next steps to take. Fiona completely related to my dilemma and provided an excellent service. She helped me identify my goals, supported me to do that with exercises and tasks that felt relevant to my life stage, and enabled me to explore solutions in safe space. I would recommend Fiona to any professional seeking to explore their future career plan.
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 via Skype 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!
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 my personality type 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 helped me during a critical decision stage of my career. After I made a difficult decision to explore an alternative career, after 14 years in medicine. 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 over Skype 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.
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 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.
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. One word of warning if your goals are nebulous like retirement consider spacing dialogue 6-8w apart. At my age (58) real life gets in way and 6-8 weeks is more realistic.
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.
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 after just 2 sessions I am exactly where I want to be. It may be that this would have happened anyway, over time, but 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. It would never have occurred to me to work out how much I needed / wanted to earn each month, and yet knowing this is so important as it allows me to work out just how much I need to actually work. 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 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.
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 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!
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.