Every month, we spotlight one of our credible leadership coaches. This month, we welcome you to learn more about leadership coach Ian.
Passionate about the growth and development of leaders, Ian draws on his experience in senior leadership roles (equivalent to COO) to provide effective coaching solutions to senior leaders in educational leadership.
Facilitating leadership training through programmes and one-off sessions, Ian equips clients with a series of coaching sessions to embed learning.
Specialising in leadership coaching, performance coaching, career coaching, managing change, building teams, having difficult conversations, and developing a coaching leadership style and culture, learn more about who Ian is as a coach, his approach to coaching, and what attracted him to the work of The Leadership Coaches here.
Who Are You as a Leadership Coach?
I have been developing my coaching style over the past 12 years, and I am on a constant journey of discovery, mostly about myself. Being in a safe coaching space is such a powerful way to explore the difficult places we need to go to grow and change.
I am motivated to support and challenge leaders to find ways to maximise their own growth and development.
Before becoming a professional executive coach, my background was in Senior Leadership roles where I had a strategic organisational overview and responsibility.
What Is Your Approach to Coaching?
Coaching is about providing the leader with a safe but challenging space to reflect, think, process, face the uncomfortable, face the unfamiliar, take risks, and move forward with confidence.
Together, we explore internal and external worlds and how these impact our behaviours. As a coach, I seek to create curiosity and provoke conversations that get to the core of the issue or challenge. Coaching is a collaborative partnership that promotes self-awareness, self-responsibility, and self-solutions.
What’s Your Superpower, and What Are You Known For?
I build rapport and listen deeply to help create psychological safety, and so I ask intuitive questions. It is rare to be truly heard, but when we are, it creates exciting and scary possibilities for change, challenge and creative thinking.
What Do You Like About Working With The Leadership Coaches?
I have been impressed by how The Leadership Coaches set high standards for the coaches they work with and the quality of work that they provide. Those high standards then promote a high level of professionalism to both executive coaching and clients' experience.
The Leadership Coaches have a great social purpose and make sure that some profits and time go to charitable causes.
I also love working with the people at The Leadership Coaches; they really are an amazing group of people, so much so that I am happy to announce I am joining the team as Director of Coaching and Learning.
How Do You Bring Your Expertise to What You Do With The Leadership Coaches?
In reality, I am a coach mentor and accredited by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council. This means that when I mentor, I bring my previous experiences and expertise to inform my coaching approach and questions and provide elements to be considered. Though I never offer answers, I do provide context.
To find out more about Ian, visit his coach profile here.