I’m a Coach and a Facilitator who works together with individuals, teams and organisations facing a variety of work related challenges. I am driven by finding fresh perspectives, new ideas and bespoke solutions to improve the dynamics of creative businesses and their people. Working with me is not about going over old ground, but inspiring you to find the enthusiasm and dedication to make a difference.
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News:

April 10: My work with Channel 4 News continues and even though the election looms the group is working hard and is very committed. It's proving to be a very rewarding & successful piece of work. I'll put a detailed case study together soon. But if you are interested in finding out more about Team Coaching and what it can do, please contact me. It is a very profound and powerful team develoment tool that delivers lasting results.

I enjoyed working with Sony Music this month through a partner organisation Blue Phoenix. I delivered a Presentation Skills course that they seemed to find very useful and I enjoyed too; they were a great group to work with.

March 10: Alongside delivering some more Creative Thinking Techniques workshops at ASOS.com I also facilitated a Pitching & Presenting workshop. One of the participants recently emailed me with the following feedback:

I just wanted to let you know that the presentation course has had a really positive effect for me at work. I have recently presented in a sign off, a rather intimidating environment, to heads of department and directors and my monthly departmental presentations have been going a lot better. A big part of this was accepting that, as you said, I may never feel comfortable or rid myself of the shakes and blushes but that I can get on and do it anyway. The most surprising thing that has happened without me realising it is that I have stopped agonising about presenting for days and weeks before. It sounds silly to say but the amount of angst I was having previously when I knew I had to present caused me real stress for weeks. Taking control of the situation and making strides to change this through the methods in your course has really helped me to keep a lid on that anxiety and appreciate that actually presenting can be your chance to shine and be in the spotlight.

It's great to hear that not only are the courses I design & facilitate enjoyable but they have a real lasting impact on the individual and the business.

I've started a couple of new coaching relationships; a designer at a fashion label and a Cultural Leadership Programme Peach Placement. A scheme designed to develop leaders for the Creative & Cultural industries. Both will be interesting clients to work with.

Finally, I lectured this month at London South Bank University on their MPA in Public Administration. It's great to work with the students and give them an opportunity to practice their consultancy skills in a challenging environment.

February 10: I have begun coaching some of the Design Directors at Glue. A very timely exercise as they have just gone through a merger and with high anticipated growth for 2010

I have been doing some of 'the ususal'; facilitating The Art of Persuasion: Influencing Skills course at Top Shop.

January 10: A great start to the new year with lots of exciting projects to get stuck into for 2010.

Firstly, the Creative Renewal project has begun with Channel 4 News. Due to industry pressures Channel 4 News has challenged itself to appraise how it currently delivers news and what the future needs of it's audience is in order to identify how it needs to change. I will be working with the management team to bring them together and get them ready to deliver this change. This will involve: looking at the current culture, how they interact, function and communicate as a team; assessing the structure and how they make decisions; how they involve and empower the wider newsroom and determining the next steps to the project. By January 2011 we will see a change on screen and how C4 delivers news to it's audience.

Secondly, I have started a Tribe. A group for independent woman workers (sounds a bit socialist!) to share ideas, frustrations and learning about the freelance world. The name and idea was inspired by Sir Ken Robinson's book 'The Element'. It's a great book that discusses how finding your passion in life changes everything. He talks about the importance of having a Tribe; that is a group of people who you can 'talk shop' with, inspire, challenge, compete with and support. And that is the basis of our tribe. If you are interested in joining do contact me.

Other work this month: Facilitating a Team Development Day for the Designers at Top Shop using Myers Briggs and a Creative Thinking Techniques session for ASOS.com.

December 09: I started this month working with the Design Directors at Glue helping them to look to 2010 by taking some time out to re-set, re-fresh and re-focus.

I travelled to Edinburgh to work at BASF's annual conference (for the second time) delivering a couple of discursive sessions on worklife-balance and stress.

Lots of coaching work this month, from 121 work to Team work and Assessment of others aspiring to become accredited coaches.

Finally, I have been commissioned to work with ITN and Channel 4 News for a large part of 2010. Working with the News Team it is going to be an exciting piece of work. But more later....

November 09. Lots of varied work this month from 'guest lecturing' on the Management Consulting Unit at London South Bank University's MSc in HR to Presenting Skills and Creativity Workshops for ASOS.com.

I began an interesting piece of work with the Merchandising Team at Top Shop; helping them to understand their team dynamic and how they work together. In the New Year I will continue working with them to analyse and introduce new and efficient working practices.

I attended an invaluable day of development for myself and my coaching practice: Coaching for Careers. It is an area that is currently in demand by coaching clients and through the course I have developed a 7 point plan to support clients looking for a change in career. The 7 points include: assessing career option, identfying your own personal brand and interview techniques.

October 09. This month has been busy. I worked with Nokia Brand Engagement helping them to find new ways of working and I have been commissioned to do some work with the Design Directors at Glue.

I became a qualified Myers Briggs Step II practitioner, which means I can work with teams in more detail around personality profiles and what it means for them and with individuals who find it difficult to identify the MBTI Profile.

As ever, I've been assessing coaches who wish to obtain an accredited coaching qualification and running skills workshops with ASOS.com.

September 09. Finally the launch day for Platform is here. The launch party was good fun. The 'Formers' had produced some great work and it was brilliant to see them so excited about being in London and ready to go.

To support the launch I worked with some of the people at Wieden + Kennedy London and facilitated a mentoring workshop to prepare them to be brilliant mentors for the 'Formers.'

Also, I will be working with the Platform Formers on a monthly basis as their Team Coach, supporting their group dynamics and understanding the process of how they work together effectively to produce some amazing work... hopefully.

August 09. Again working with the fun and youthful crew at ASOS.com delivering workshops around Creative Thinking and Pitching Skills.

The artist/practitioners from Method are some of the most hardworking individuals I have worked with. Brilliantly intense and so committed to their work. It's been a joy to work with them and watch them develop.

July 09. Won a great contract, along with my colleague Mark McGuinness, to coach a group of artists on a pilot programme called Method funded by the Cultural leadership Programme to develop leadership with artists and practitioners.

I worked with the Top Shop Buyers and ran a Team Development Day using Myers Briggs Personality Profile. A really interesting, dedicated, fun and hard-working group of people. I look forward to working with them again.

I facilitated a number of scenario analysis sessions with Wieden + Kennedy London designed to get the Account Directors and others engaged with the new creative school, Platform, to understand its potential and how it could benefit them and their clients.

Finally, we ran the first Open Day for Platform. Hopeful participants travelled from all over the world for the opportunity to join Wieden + Kennedy's creative school. I helped put together the selection criteria and joined the assessors on the day. It strangely felt like being one of the judges on X-Factor; selecting using photos. But we've got a great group to work with. It's going to be an interestign experiment.

June 09. A busy month. I have facilitated 2 fun and interactive courses for ASOS.com: Creative Thinking and Pitching Skills.

The work for Platform for Widen + Kennedy is picking up. I'm involved in strategy meetings and getting back into some facilitation by designing and running a Scenario Analysis session for their Account Directors.

With my colleague Mark McGuinness we have won the contract to coach all the particpants on this years Method Programme. Method is one of two programmes supported by the Cultural Leadership Programme which focus support on the development of independent leaders in the cultural and creative industries in the UK. I'm really excited about working with these artists.

May 09. Finally Platform has an online presence. I will be working with Sam and Lucy at Widen + Kennedy to consult on this project and ensure that the best creative learning opportunities are exeprienced by all. It's got fantastic potential.

I stepped in for my colleague Alec McPhedran and ran a Leadership & Management for Creative Industries course at 01ZeroOne. It was great fun, a great group and a great test of a new approach I have been developing whereby particpants coach each other through their current leadership issues. This approach enables the participants do deal with real stuff, in the moment, develop and understanding, create their own model and practice their coaching skills too. It really worked.

April 09. I've picked up a couple of interesting clients this month and I am now coaching for Comic Relief.

March 09. I have been working with a training provider called You:Unltd to design a course following an interesting conversation we had before Christmas. We have designed a course based on the concept of Survivor Syndrome and recognising that, to some, the redundancies that are happening as a result of the economic climate is a trauma. The course is designed to support those who have not been made redundant to help them become refocused and motivated when faced with a new role and perhaps more work... see more information here.

I ran a Team Development day for the guys at onedotzero. I used the Myers Briggs Personality Profile and after some initial scepticism (as usual) they loved it. It was good fun.

Feb 09. I went to a great talk by Wim Crowell, a really important designer in Dutch graphic history. He designed font sets and brilliant posters for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. I was impressed by his attitude to socially responsible design. See his ideas and work in this interview by Creative Review.

I attended an intense 3 day facilitation course called Beynd the Flipchart delivered by Margot Corbin & David Briggs. Great facilitators themselves, they managed to skillfully navigate a pathway between a skills course and a profound experiental learning event. The course enabled me to reflect on my own practice and think about a few different ways of doing things. I would recommend it to any facilitators out there looking to push the boundaries of their work.

Dec/Jan 09. I've finally launched my new website. I hope you like the look and feel of it. It's creation is thanks to the very talented Chris Angelkov of Fiction Department.

I've been working with and coaching some very talented people at ASOS.com. They are such a dynamic and energectic company it has been such fun working with them. I look forward to doing more with them in 2009.

Oct/Nov 08. I was involved in the new and exciting Cascade project for Onedotzero. Read more...
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