Why I started coaching
I sort of found coaching by accident.
I’ve always had a natural nosiness when it comes to talking to people and listening with intent to their incredible stories. I could write a book (which I don’t think I ever will!) about the highs and lows of clients’ professional careers, what makes them tick, their biggest fears and what challenges them the most. It’s fairly common to hear clients say ‘I’ve never spoken these words out loud before’ and it’s moments like these that make my spine tingle. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lay awake at night willing those particular clients on and wondering what the next session will bring.
It’s such a privilege to work with senior leaders in a confidential space and to know through skilful questioning, active listening and my own intuition, that together we enable their professional and personal development even further then they ever would have thought possible.
My expertise is be present in the moment, to hold the mirror up, to ask that killer question at the right time and in the right way in order to feedback what I see, hear, feel and sense in order to develop client awareness. It takes real guts, intense concentration and a massive dose of emotional intelligence.
Setting up Xenonex
When I first started out as an Executive Coach many years ago now, I made some classic mistakes – I now call that ‘car crash coaching ‘ in our training programmes and it’s the painful growth curve that we all go through to hone our craft.
Over the years, I’ve grown Xenonex from a one-man band, in to a reputable coaching and coach training provider with an incredible team, working with some of the biggest brands across all sectors, and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved.
Shortly after launching Xenonex we became an Approved ILM Centre delivering a range of Coaching and Leadership qualifications and a few years ago we launched our online courses and most recently co-founded the Northern Coaching Network (NCN). We were quite simply in FLOW, going from strength to strength, some would say unstoppable.
Then COVID-19 hit.
A big intake of breath and time to re-think, pivot, change, adapt, however you want to call it, and we certainly weren’t the only ones doing the same. We’ve really had to look at ourselves again, with fresh eyes at what the future will hold for our industry and for Xenonex.
Online coaching, online courses – going forward
Don’t get me wrong, I’m more convinced than ever that coaching has an even bigger role to play in enabling the successful transition of organisations, their leaders, their teams and their people in to a ‘new normal’. Leaders need to re-share their vision, re-ignite their teams and really focus on the human side of leadership. Working practices will change and peoples’ view of what they want and need from work will change. Without a structured coaching process to communicate these desired changes, organisations will undoubtedly be weaker for it.
Coach training and development will attract new recruits from those who have jumped ship from their corporate environments to pursue a career of supporting others, through to organisations being conscious of the need to develop their own internal coaching cultures so their finger is firmly on the pulse from the very top down.
Future of Coaching
Therefore the future need within organisations for coaching and internal coach development is bright. Our ideas for Xenonex just keep coming, the new service offering just keeps coming, and it’s creating an energy that’s real. It’s as exciting a phase as when we first started up…except all rules are off. Anything is possible and there’s everything to play for. What’s ‘got us here’ is certainly not to going to ‘get us there’ so hold on to your seats and watch this space!
Next Steps
To reignite your fire, contact us and let’s start a conversation.