The word “goal” seems to have become the corner stone of most coaching practices.  This makes me nervous.

I am not opposed to goals, and I think it is important to have an aim and a direction that we each want to head in.  I believe, however, that coaching can be a lot more than helping you to achieve your goals.

I work with clients to help them realise their potential.  We can only set goals based on what we already know about ourselves.  In this way, settings goals is limited to our current level of awareness.  Our potential often remains hidden to us, and I think the true power of coaching is to give light and oxygen to this potential so that it can grow.

My approach is based on enquiry.  It is about you asking questions of yourself.  It is about you using your brain and your body in unison.  We limit ourselves when we only act on our thoughts, and we limit ourselves when we only act on our feelings.  It is the combination of the two that gives us wisdom and instinct.  It is the two which give us courage and sense.

My approach is based on presence.  By encouraging you to bring all of you to the coaching session, I am helping you to develop your awareness of yourself.  Sometimes this is scary, and sometimes we hear inconvenient truths.  My coaching sessions are based on each of us being ourselves - without masks and without censorship.

My approach is based on relationship.  This means that it will be the combination of you and me sitting together and sharing an experience that will yield an outcome.  This defies modern logic and scientific explanation, yet anyone who has been a part of a group which has achieved something which has felt greater than each of them, something synergistic, will understand the power of this.

A relational approach means that I am in the room and the dialogue with you.  I am not a blank page.  By sharing my reactions, thoughts, energies and emotions with you as we work together, you gain insight on how you are seen from the outside.  By reflecting back to you, you have access to the small clues in your behaviour which can lead to great understanding of your true desires.

My approach is based on equality.  You are the expert in your life, not me.  You have responsibility for your development.  I cannot tell you what will make you happier.  I do not have your answers.  What I have is experience in listening, of noticing the small clues, of helping you connect with your instinct.  What I have is an honest approach.  In this way, we are partners in your growth.

My approach is based on releasing energy.  Lists of goals tend to come from our heads, and only have the energy of our heads to keep them on track.  By linking your direction with your true passions, you release all of the energy of your head and body.  Most people have the experience of knowing that when they really want something, nothing will get in their way.  Consider the smoker, who every year sets a goal to stop smoking and every year finds their will has dissolved.  That same smoker, when experiencing a new child or family death, can stop smoking cold turkey and never look back.

My approach is based on realising your potential.  I don’t want you to limit your growth based on what you currently know about yourself.  I want to help you see the treasures that lie within you.