Great to meet everybody at the recent Association for Coaching (AfC) brand-building workshop in London last month.
I was thrilled to get a call-up to sit on the workshop panel alongside Rob Lawrence and Lee Cannon to discuss “How to build a brand your prospective clients can’t resist!”
Happily, the workshop was perfect timing because – as serendipity would have it – I’d been thinking getting out and about to speak more about what I do and the experiences I’ve had that have shaped my business and my own personal brand.
To be completely honest, my first thought when I got the invite from workshop chair Kim Arnold was: Really? Do I even have a brand?
Predictably, all the usual negative bias and self-critic demons jumped on my shoulder and had a good laugh at me – but not for long. I’ve recently come home from an inspiring – not to mention career-shaping trip to South Africa – so my new courageous and confident “SA self”, stepped up to the challenge.
After meeting with Kim to run through what to cover, I realised it was more what wouldn’t I have to say to the workshop delegates. At the ripe old age of 58, it’s a shock to take stock of what I actually already know, feel, sense and have experienced. After all, a lot has happened in my 40-year-career.
When I became self-employed four years ago, as an organisational behaviour consultant, exec and team coach, it was THE opportunity to finally be the authentic me. To do things my way and work with the people I like.
The way I run my business is a reflection of the authentic me and all that I care about.
Day to day it means I am proud to:
Deliver quality work to a really high standard – much higher than the “average” coming in from consultants and coaches when I was a corporate client and ‘buyer’.
Have the integrity to always fully understand a client’s needs, even if they are adamant they know exactly the prescription I need to provide. Sometimes their self-diagnosis is correct but sometimes they simply haven’t asked themselves the right questions to see the systemic issues.
Bring the scientific rigour of psychology to support all my proposals for team and exec coaching.
Have the courage and honesty to say things as they are. Changing behaviour is hard.
And when executives say they don’t have time for working on what they see as “soft and fluffy” personal development, I use scientific evidence to challenge them. I tell them what is REALLY stopping them from being courageous, wise and kind enough to take responsibility for training their brain that’s fit for purpose as a compassionate leader.