You may have come across the idea of a ‘coach’. You’ve certainly seen sports coaches too. But what does it actually look like to work with a coach on personal development?
Different coaches have different styles. It’s why it’s important to find someone that you feel will genuinely help you. Like any profession, unfortunately there are coaches which give it a bad name. It doesn’t take long to find get-rich-quick schemes or people who get their sales by pressuring people into paying for something that isn’t right for them.
I take the time to speak with people several times before even looking at the idea of a client relationship. Coaching is a personal, transformative experience, and you would only want to do that with someone you can genuinely trust and you think can genuinely help you. If I believe I’m not that person for you, I’d much prefer you find someone else who will fit what you’re looking for.
Tag: #career
If you want change, you need to want something new
When we want to change something, it can often be hard to figure out what we want to change. The easy part is to say that whatever we have right now is not working for us, and that we need to shift this into another thing. But the harder part is deciding what this new thing we want to do should be.
The focus can quickly become on how bad everything is right now, and therefore the change is needed to fix things. Change in of itself becomes the solution, whatever that change might be.
Whilst this is perhaps a good starting point, most of the time it is not enough to want change for change sake.
My reflections three months into a job transition
Moving to a new job is a stressful time, though particularly so when moving to a new sector or shifting career. For me this was also combined it with moving countries, as well as having to do so during the pandemic which just made everything more complicated.
So I thought I would share some early reflections of what helped me settle into my new role, and the pitfalls to avoid when shifting careers, based upon my recent experience.
What it’s like to work in Government
I’ve been working in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in the UK Civil Service for the last four years. I have been based in Whitehall, at 1 Victoria Street, close to the Houses of Parliament.
It’s been a fascinating journey since I’ve joined BEIS. I’ve had the fortune of moving around a few different positions and gaining a wide range of experience in a relatively short amount of time.
I have particularly enjoyed being in BEIS – as far as government departments go, I find the atmosphere welcoming in particular, and the remit is very broad meaning there are plenty of opportunities to move internally and try something new.
I don’t do enough to acknowledge my achievements. Do you?
Today is the last day in my current role before moving to a new, exciting job on Monday.
And yet, I’ve spent very little time celebrating everything I’ve achieved in my current role, nor taken much time to celebrate finding gainful new employment.
Four uncomfortable truths about starting your career
Many of us have a very difficult time making sense of our careers and the wider job market. Often this starts with applying to hundreds of jobs, getting a handful of interviews to finally landing that role, which quickly turns out to be a dead-end.
Why are our experiences of the workplace so much worse than what we expect?
Unfulfilled by your early career? Ask yourself four questions
I’ve spoken to many friends and contacts about starting a career in the modern world. Often it is filled with angst and disappointment. If you are currently feeling unfulfilled in your early career, here are some questions to ask yourself