For more than 25 years I’ve run management training courses, coached people one to one (before the term ‘life-coaching was invented!) and I have been heavily involved in coaching hockey and athletics. So I guess I can say that my life has mostly been about helping people to learn. I’m also a sports nut!
Sport
I’ve been lucky enough to play hockey for England, at the World Cup in 1998, where we won the gold medal! I also coached the Somerset Under 21s to win the County championship and was part of the coaching team that of the West U21s that won the divisional championships.
Coaching
These experiences have been useful away from the sports arena; I love coaching people as long as they are prepared to put in the effort required.
My approach is a little different from many life-coaches as it embraces the skills of counselling, coaching and mentoring, moving between the three areas as appropriate for the client and the context of the discussion.
It seems to me that the counselling-only approach to coaching as often inappropriate in a business context, where clients often have a legitimate expectation that the coach will, at times, advise them.
Management Training
Many trainers and consultants take an overly-theoretical approach, often giving the impression that they are imparting knowledge for knowledge’s sake. That doesn’t work for me – business training and coaching (and I include the public sector here) should have one purpose: to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation. Anything else is self-indulgence.
Personal Influences
I’ve been influenced by many people including Brian Tracy, Jay Abrahams, Peter Drucker, Roger Harrison, John Kehoe, T Herv Eker, Simon Coulson, Anthony Robbins, Richard Bandler, the many clients I’ve worked with and most of all, my wife, Mathilda van Dyk.
