Build your confidence and thrive
“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes."
Andrew Carnegie, Industrialist & Philanthropist.
What extraordinary times we’re living in. Are you seeing this dislocation of normality as an opportunity to make changes in your life and work?
Would you value the space and time to find solutions, a plan or a way forward?
Are there things you want to do for yourself or your organisation that you wish you could discuss? Do you have someone neutral to have those conversations with?
Maybe you want to:
“As coaches, we equip people to be in touch with their best selves."
Clyde Lowstuter, Master Certified Coach & CEO
It frees your mind and gets you unstuck. You’ll then realise how you can achieve what you want to - and possibly more than you dared hope to - either as an organisation, a team or as an individual.
Coaching is a conversation with a purpose and each session is focused for you.
The conversation typically takes place over a period of a few months, with time in between for you to try things out and reflect. Sometimes one or two sessions are sufficient, other times you’ll need more.
You decide what you want to achieve. I’ll then use questions, listening, challenge and feedback to get you thinking, see things differently and then you create your options and solutions. There are exercises and activities that we might use too.
I usually recommend we meet initially to talk about what you want to achieve, find out a bit about each other, decide whether we think we’ll be able to work effectively together.
The next step will be for you to write down what you want to achieve and how you’ll notice when you’ve got there. We’ll discuss how many sessions, what length and when. All this will go into our contract so that we are clear what we can expect from each other.
Coaching doesn’t have to be face-to-face, it can take place very successfully virtually or on the phone.
There will usually be an additional step in the coaching process if working for an organisation. It is important for everyone involved to sit down together to agree what coaching is aiming to achieve, how we will notice, review and measure progress.
For individuals this is usually a three way meeting between the person I will coach, the person who has suggested or commissioned the coaching and me.
Coaching is still a conversation with a purpose, but we will usually use an activity to get that conversation going.
Typically a team will need a number of sessions. How many will depend on the nature of the relationships that exist within the team and what you are trying to achieve.
Team coaching is typically sponsored by a senior manager or director. We would need to meet so I can find out about the team, the organisational culture, what you want to achieve and why. Often the Human Resources or Organisation Development functions are involved in these conversations too. We all need to feel confident we can work well together.
Typically I’ll send you my ideas in a proposal or we can talk again to discuss options.
... or something else?
I’ve been privileged to be a coach since 2012. I say privileged because that’s how it feels. After all this time I am still amazed by what people can achieve when they allow themselves to.
My background has been mainly in the corporate world focusing on organisation development and recruitment, but I’ve worked in a start up company too. Most recently I’ve spent almost 13 years working on all sorts of people related projects with a brilliant team at Northumbrian Water.
I’ve learned, and am still learning, from some inspirational coaches and have achieved formal coaching qualifications - an Advanced Diploma in Leadership & Performance Coaching and the Chartered Institute of Management Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring.
I have supervision sessions regularly and always continue learning so I can provide a valuable service to my clients.
The global pandemic has shown us the value of technology to enable conversations. I am based in Northumberland, UK, and can meet face-to-face in the UK or virtually, anywhere in the world.
Get in touch. Let’s start talking. Until we’ve agreed to work together, there is no charge.
Email: contact@deror.co.uk
Telephone: 0776 997 8107
or send me your details and I'll contact you.
"Thank you for providing such premium coaching. It has been a brilliant experience. You are a wonderful, patient and kind coach."
"I'd had an extremely challenging year implementing fundamental changes at what had turned out to be a very difficult time operationally. It was a year of steep learning curves, daily issues to resolve, long hours, conflict and demanding deadlines. The coaching sessions were a valuable opportunity to reflect, discuss and start to re-focus in a safe and confidential environment."
“I got so nervous about public speaking I literally froze if I had to talk in front of a group of people. I’d just accepted a new job where I knew I’d have to do it. Sophie and I had about 3 hours together and now I still get nervous, but I can do it, and do it well.”
"I’d reached a stage in my life where my work/life balance was out of kilter, working too many hours and feeling like I wasn’t adding value at work, with a knock on effect on my personal life.
I reached out to Sophie for some coaching. She put me at ease, let me talk, encouraged me to think and reflect. She was never judgemental, was empathetic, she saw me at my worst when at times I felt overwhelmed and to be honest ashamed. Sophie helped me identify constructive steps and actions to move forward to change my mindset, helping me to regain my positivity and feeling of worth,
I would highly recommend Sophie to anyone who is looking for an experienced, excellent coach. I feel that without her support I would not be in the great place I am today, both at work and in my personal life."
