How I work
What I believe about this work
You are the authority on your own life. But you are not always the best judge of the options open to you, particularly when you are close to a decision. So there are times when an outside view is the most useful thing I can offer, including what I have seen of how others have handled similar moves. I offer it when you ask for it, or when it seems likely to move things on, and I offer it as something for you to weigh, not to follow.
What I bring is mainly the quality of my attention, together with intuition and experience. I pay particular attention to what sits beneath what is being said. Often the most useful thing I can do is notice something that hasn't been named, a frustration or a sense of being alone with a problem, and say so briefly. I talk less than you might expect, and when I do speak it is usually to ask a question or offer a short observation.
In my experience, people usually know more than they have yet allowed themselves to say, and much of my job is to make it safe, and worthwhile, to say it.
How I work
You are the authority on your own life. But you are not always the best judge of the options open to you, particularly when you are close to a decision. So there are times when an outside view is the most useful thing I can offer, including what I have seen of how others have handled similar moves. I offer it when you ask for it, or when it seems likely to move things on, and I offer it as something for you to weigh, not to follow.
What I bring is mainly the quality of my attention, together with intuition and experience. I pay particular attention to what sits beneath what is being said. Often the most useful thing I can do is notice something that hasn't been named, a frustration or a sense of being alone with a problem, and say so briefly. I talk less than you might expect, and when I do speak it is usually to ask a question or offer a short observation.
In my experience, people usually know more than they have yet allowed themselves to say, and much of my job is to make it safe, and worthwhile, to say it.
Real change usually involves an ending and an uncomfortable middle before anything new becomes settled. Rushing through that middle is one of the most common ways people end up somewhere that doesn't suit them.
Coaching versus mentoring
Coaching draws out
Questions, reflection and space to think, so that you reach your own view of what matters and what to do.
Mentoring puts in
A view from my own experience of working in and around government, regulators and international institutions.
Most of my work moves between the two. I'll usually say which I'm doing, and we can agree at the start how much of each you want.
What happens in a session
The Beginning
We clarify the issue you most want to explore, and why it matters to you now, and what you want to have achieved by the end of the session.
The Middle
The exploration itself. I sometimes reach for an approach, such as uninterrupted space to think, drawing on Nancy Kline's Time to Think, or rehearsing a difficult conversation before you have it. But I would rather follow where the conversation is going than steer it towards a technique.
The End
We draw the strands together: what you now see more clearly, what you will do with it, what might get in the way, and where you can find support and accountability
Practicalities
Getting started
We begin with a free, 30-minute introductory conversation, by video call, to see whether there is a fit, and whether working together would be useful. There is no commitment beyond that.
How many sessions?
Most people work with me for four to six sessions over two to four months, though some engagements are shorter and some continue for much longer. If you’d prefer to initially commit to one session, we can do that.
Confidentiality
What we discuss stays between us. Where an employer is paying, we agree at the outset what they will see, which is usually no more than confirmation that the sessions took place.
Sessions
Sessions last 60–90 minutes, usually by video call, or in person in London by arrangement.
Fees
Fees depend on the shape of the work. I'll set them out after our first conversation.
If it isn’t working
Say so. The relationship matters more than any method, and if it isn't right we can change course or stop.