What is coaching?
A conversation between the coach and the client (often referred to as the coachee) where the coach supports the coachee as they work through issues or areas that have become barriers to progress and look for solutions and ways to move forward.
This could be any number of different subjects such as wanting a career change, thinking about retirement, setting up your own business, working through a relationship issue or a desire to get fitter. They are all equally valid and of course, very important to you.
If there is something going on in your life that is a bit of a stumbling block and you just can’t seem to see past it, a coach can help you to unlock a new direction or set of actions to move you forwards.
If for example, you are approaching retirement; you may be happy about the thought of not working, but there are some nagging doubts in your mind such as:
- How will I feel not to have responsibility to get a job done anymore?
- What am I going to do with all this spare time?
- What will it be like to not have the status (at work) that I have been used to?
- Will I get on with my partner ok if I am with him/her all the time?
These types of question are perfectly normal and understandable but sometimes you don’t know where to go to talk them through (particularly the last one). This is where a coach can be really useful...
By listening and asking questions I will reflect back to you what I’m hearing and perhaps how it is sounding to me, to see if that resonates with you, how you are feeling about it and what thoughts it brings up for you. Effectively I am holding up a mirror and allowing you to see and hear what I’m hearing from what you are saying. This can help you to see things differently and as a result, provide you with various options to work with.
A bit about me
My name is Richard Pickering, and I am a professional executive and personal development coach. In 2015 I trained with Coaching Development and have a certificate in professional coaching skills which is accredited by the International Coaching Federation.
Just over 10 years ago I gained an advanced diploma in professional life coaching from The Coaching Academy, and was committed to doing coaching work but found that I was not able to devote the time to it while still working full time.
In 2017 I took redundancy from John Lewis during a big restructure of the Personnel function. I had worked for them all of my working life. During that time I worked in a number of roles; initially in selling but for many years I worked in training and development. My last role being in head office where I delivered leadership courses for both John Lewis and Waitrose managers, team days (often using personality profiling tools such as Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). I also practiced as an internal executive coach which I loved, working with middle to senior managers, some based in head office and others in branches including Waitrose.
Although I was ready for a change, I still found the process quite daunting and the thought of setting up on my own seemed a mammoth task that I was not sure if I was ready for. But I have learned a lot from the experience and am still learning every day. I think this helps me to provide coaching support for people going through any kind of big change in their life; be it retirement, redundancy, relationship or a change to health and well-being. I am very excited to have the opportunity to help people to change their lives for the better.
I currently live on the edge of Colchester in Essex with my girlfriend Annette and my 5-year old daughter Olivia. She has given me a fresh perspective on life and taught me about the important things in life, such as drawing houses, general colouring in, Play Doh and Blaze and the Monster Machines. Equally, the ability to take people exactly as she finds them without judgement and always assuming positive intent. I believe we can learn a lot from children.
My coaching philosophy
I have a firm belief that everyone deserves the opportunity to fulfil their potential and be the best they can be in whatever field that is. I also believe in operating with integrity and from a place of best intent. I think coaching can be really effective when both parties are ‘in tune’ with each other and the coachee is prepared to think deeply and search inside themselves to help find out what is really going on.
The development of the relationship as part of the coaching conversation is very important to me. I will spend time on this aspect early on as I believe the more solid the foundation, the greater the trust that exists in the relationship. This encourages forward movement which I believe is important, so I don’t dwell on the past and encourage the coachee to find actions to work on between sessions.
Request a Callback
“ Why don’t I just chat to a friend? ”
You could, and some people do. The advantage of seeing me is that I won’t know you, therefore I have no pre-formed opinions or emotionally connected views that a friend might have.
Other services
I am a qualified MBTI Step 1 and 2 practitioner and can deliver 1-1 feedback sessions or facilitate feedback on an MBTI based team day.
I can run workshops which focus on adopting a coaching style called 'Development With a Coach in Mind'. I also facilitate team days and other training events
What you can expect from me...
- An honest and professional approach to the conversations
- I am 100% committed to helping you to get the best outcome
- I won’t make judgements
- I won’t ever tell you what you should do
- I may reflect back to you what we have discussed or offer an interpretation for you to consider
- Some of my questions may challenge you and encourage you to think deeply
- Our conversations will be completely confidential
