I have worked as a facilitator, coach and mentor - for individuals and teams - in the business and sports worlds since 1992 working with many companies in 37 countries around the world. I was a mentor on the Queen’s Young Leader programme and worked as a coach on the UK Sport Elite Coaching Programme. I gained a Post-Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Development and Facilitation from University of Surrey in 2004.
I belong to no coaching federation and, although I have been a Tutor, Coach and Lead Coach at London Business School since 1992, I am tied to no particular doctrine and I have developed my own coaching approach and practice. It is grounded in the experience of leading and training teams in the British Army, in the business world, on the mountains and on the sports field. It blends practical experience, research and study with the values that have influenced and shaped my own life. It balances the challenge, discipline and drive of the military and sporting world and the sensitivity and intuition from my mystical studies and practices.
I have always seen an important part of my coaching work is to inspire, enable and encourage a way of living and being that brings harmony of body, mind and spirit – within and with the outer world.
The Guide on the Journey
On the mountain, the mentor is the guide; walking alongside the traveler to help them reach their destination, whatever that might be.
It is developmental relationship in which the wisdom accrued though experience is passed on to a younger or less experienced person.
Purpose and Higher Purpose
My aim, as a mentor, is to encourage, enable and inspire individuals to reach for and achieve higher levels of awareness, understanding and performance. It is to help them to fully express their talents, whatever they might be – or perhaps to help discover what those talents are. To fulfil their dreams – or perhaps to help them to dream. I also encourage the quest for a higher purpose to our lives and the work we do. I can help individuals find their own sense of meaning and purpose and a way to express their spiritual impulse.
And why the photo of a seagull?
When I had just left the Army, I met a woman called Jenny Bailey who ran her own company to draw on her experience. She gave me a wonderful book of inspirational writings created by her staff. Her own chapter contained quotations from the book, Jonathon Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach. I bought the book. It sounds crazy - to find inspiration in the story of a seagull. And yet, it touched me deeply. Jonathan wanted to explore the joys and potential of flight and not be bound by the laws of the flock. He sought freedom and, when had lived and learnt, he returned to the flock and became a teacher - encouraging others to live, learn and reach their fullest potential. Jonathon became my hero.