John was spending 16 hours a day working on his business and was feeling exhausted. He knew he needed to make changes but hadn’t made time to think through what to do. The coaching sessions acted like a safety valve allowing him time and space to reflect and see the bigger picture. Through talking through his issues and getting impartial feedback he was able to see the changes he needed to make. These changes included specific actions to dramatically improve his time management which had been very inefficient. The coaching process supported him as he made the changes and allowed him to modify his actions in the light of the results he was getting. John succeeded in taking control of his business and achieving a much healthier work/life balance.

Les had been asked to do a presentation at an important customer meeting. He was anxious about it and wanted help to ensure that his presentation was successful. I helped Les focus on the key things he had to do to ensure he was confident on the day and that he delivered a great presentation. Les practised his presentation to me and I showed him ways that he could improve it and make a bigger impact. When the meeting took place Les turned up to do his presentation feeling supremely confident and gave the presentation of his life, receiving very positive feedback from the customer.

Dianne was a business executive who felt physically and mentally tired and stale. She felt that what she needed was to get down to her ideal weight and get physically fit. Through the coaching process we created an action plan for achieving these goals. Progress against the action plan was reviewed during each weekly coaching session and I helped her deal with the obstacles that appeared. As a result she was able to keep on track and over a period of months achieve her ideal weight and fitness level. The impact on her outlook and self-esteem was dramatic.

Brian was CEO of the successful business he had started. He had made a lot of money and was exactly where he had wanted to be for the past ten years. However he had realised that this was not what he wanted to do with his life. The purpose of the coaching became to find out what Brian really wanted to do. Through weekly coaching sessions and homework exercises Brian eventually concluded what his life’s purpose really was. With that established the purpose of the coaching then became to find out how Brian could either minimise his involvement with his business or exit from it so that he could do what he really wanted to do.

Mike was MD of  the UK arm of a US company. Although the UK business was highly profitable, the company had decided to close it down and make all employees redundant. Over a period of two years Michael was responsible for selling the site and gradually shedding the workforce before becoming redundant himself. Dealing with the parent company was extremely political and challenging. To their credit the HR department of the parent company suggested that the company pay for coaching support for Michael. The purpose of the coaching became to provide support to Michael in this difficult and potentially stressful task until it was completed successfully.

Jim was a company MD. Although he was a very good MD and appeared to be very successful to the outside world, he was extremely unhappy. The purpose of the coaching became to find out why Jim was unhappy and to take steps to remedy it. Through weekly coaching sessions Jim was able to gain clarity on what was causing his unhappiness. As his self-awareness and understanding grew, he made some key decisions about what he wanted and began using strategies and tools learned during coaching. As he took control he reached a point where he felt much better about his life. In Jim's case it was not the business that was the problem, it was how Jim managed his thinking and his lack of awareness of his own needs.

Simon was in an unhappy marriage which was affecting all areas of his life including his ability to run his company effectively. His most immediate need was to have someone to talk to about what he was going through. Then using the coaching process Simon was able to first of all gain clarity on what was wrong with his marriage and come to terms with what was happening emotionally. Through reviewing the options he was able to decide what his best course of action was. I then supported Simon as he implemented the steps he had decided on. The outcome was that over a period of time Simon’s marriage greatly improved and he became much happier. Other areas of his life including his business benefited as a result.

Janet had received an offer from a larger company to buy her business. The proposed deal would involve her receiving shares as part payment and being tied into working in the larger company. Janet primarily wanted a sounding board to help her decide what her course of action should be. Through the coaching process she was able to decide what was the minimum she would accept from any deal and negotiate accordingly. Janet was eventually able to strike a deal and successfully sold her business.

Peter was running a business and was constantly stressed. Through coaching sessions we analysed this stress and what was causing it. Together we created an action plan to tackle the stressors in his life including steps to make him feel mentally and emotionally stronger. He implemented the action plan, embedding certain key changes into his lifestyle. His stress levels dropped dramatically and he became much more in control of his business and his life.

Case Studies

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Rob McDonald   Rob McDonald Rob McDonald

The client names and some details have been changed to protect confidentiality.