Why do I coach?

Self-reflection is a useful and intriguing exercise. Something that coaching should trigger. So writing about how I got into coaching is an opportunity for a bit of my own personal reflection and insight.

Why do I coach and how did it all get started?

I first became aware of coaching as a practice when working at Henley Business School in the early 2000s. It was a new and young discipline at that time, and I was fortunate enough to know and work with some great people, including Dr. Patricia Bossons who first introduced coaching at Henley.

Alongside Patricia worked others in her team (notably the wonderful Alison Hardingham and Denis Sartain) and I noticed a few things about these people. First that they appeared to me to be very grounded, in control of their own feelings and responses, and very effective communicators. They radiated serenity and were clearly comfortable in their own skins.

There had to be something in this thing called coaching! I explored it more and in 2010 took the Henley PCIC course to learn and develop my knowledge and skills.

Coaching within business

For the next decade, I applied my coaching predominantly as a leadership skill, while I held senior roles at the business school that required me to build and develop teams. Coaching is a process of working alongside someone, supporting that individual to progress and move forward, and often making change happen.

It is particularly helpful to individual performance development but also when building teams.

During this time, I was responsible for leading a multicultural team overseas at a new university campus in Malaysia and was able to apply my coaching skills in what was a start-up situation. I used coaching in a number of ways – to support the induction of new staff; performance development; dispute resolution; team building; as well as my interactions with other senior leaders.

A shift in focus

By 2019 I was looking for a new focus in my life that would complement my work in business education and also leverage my coaching experience. I obtained my ICF accreditation and launched my own coaching practice Rose + Bloom Coaching. Now in 2023, I support many clients directly as well as working with many partner coaches and organisations.

The power of coaching

I firmly believe in the effectiveness of coaching. It is now an accepted and much-used developmental intervention that can have an effect in the corporate world, the professions such as academia, and in people’s personal lives. For leaders, it provides the basis for self-reflection and personal insights that help us build our values and capabilities as we navigate change.

I would love to hear from you if you are looking to find out how coaching could help you! Please get in touch at hello@roseandbloomcoaching.co.uk.