Frequently Asked Questions

Anyone who genuinely wants to improve outcomes for nature through their profession or organisation.  These people are typically in these kinds of roles:

·       Environmental charity leaders and professionals

·       SME owners, directors and managers with sustainability ambitions

·       Sustainability professionals, program managers, strategists

·       Corporate sustainability leaders such as ESG or Sustainability Managers

·       Leaders and managers steering their functions to be more sustainable

·       HR Directors, People & Culture leaders

·       Organisational Development leads

·       Professional services firms delivering leadership development.

You may be established in your role, newly appointed or aspiring to work in this space.

A typical starting point for individual coaching is a series of six or ten sessions of 90 minutes each, spaced an agreed number of weeks apart, working on specific topics.  Fortnightly is a good cadence for many people if your schedule can handle it, as you see rapid progress and can remember where you got to in the previous session.  

You can do fewer sessions if your scope is quite narrow and easily dealt with, particularly if we’ve coached together before and you just need a top-up.

The fixed number of sessions is to encourage you to achieve your coaching goals within a reasonable timeframe and set you up for the future. If something new crops up, we can add sessions or start a new series.

It’s up to you. Fortnightly is a good cadence for many people if your schedule can handle it, as you see rapid progress and can remember where you got to in the previous session.

If you have a fast-changing situation or an urgent decision to make, we can meet more often.

If your sessions are monthly or longer apart, it will take a little more effort and accountability from you to keep focus on your progress.

• A commitment to attend sessions to further your goals and think about changes you would like to make.  This includes thinking before sessions about what you’d like to achieve or topics you’d like to discuss.

• Reflecting on topics between sessions and trying actions you’ve identified.  These often do not require separate time.  You might be observing or thinking about different things while doing your normal activities.

• Your input and feedback by completing occasional short questionnaires.  Typically 15-30 minutes at the start, middle and end of your coaching series.

• At the start, review and sign our coaching agreement about how we will work together.

Yes. 

I am likely to share many of your values, including intense care and respect for nature and people.

My purpose is to help people working for nature enjoy what they are doing and to be more effective at it, and I operate from a basis of respect, confidentiality, competence and authentic care. 

I am qualified to perform this work and have extensive relevant experience. 

I price my services fairly and provide at least equivalent value. 

I consciously manage ethics in complex situations.

If for any reason we couldn’t trust each other we would not proceed with coaching.

I like to provide a figure for you as soon as possible based on what you need. You will receive high quality at an affordable cost. 

Although I provide premium quality coaching and consulting, I charge at the low end of ‘high quality’ pricing.

That means you will get very good value for what you pay, and a valuable return on investment in achieving your purpose and your wellbeing.

• The rates are significantly discounted if you are a charity, a small business, or self-funding your sessions.

• The best way to get value from coaching is to buy a package of ten or six sessions, which is cheaper than buying those sessions individually, and gives you better outcomes.

• For coaching programmes or consultancy for organisations, investment varies depending on the outcomes required

• Based on your circumstances and what you need I will give you a firm cost in advance before we make any commitments.

• The easiest way to pay is by bank transfer when you receive my invoice.

In coaching, the agenda is led by you, supported by my questions and developmental methods to create a space for you to think, explore possibilities, generate options and uncover your insights and answers.  Your view of the world and what is important for you will be uppermost, not imposed solutions or my world-view. 

In mentoring, you are often tapping primarily into the expertise of someone highly experienced in a specific field who suggests solutions or provides advice from their world-view as the main basis of your discussion.

While I am highly experienced in various fields, I operate primarily by a coaching model rather than mentoring, because it is usually better for you in the long-term. 

However, if you prefer, we can agree in advance to pepper the coaching with a little mentoring based on my experience or thoughts when it is in your interest.  I invite your ideas and resources first before offering mine, and usually ask your permission before switching to mentoring mode.  I might offer and idea, information or another option.  You choose whether or not to accept that, based on what you know is best for you.

Coaching is future focussed, unpacking past events only enough to understand how they inform where you are going from here, what you would like to achieve and how to change things to create what you want. 

The agenda, and ‘what’s right’, is led by what you think works for you in your context, rather than pre-existing models of ‘normality’ being imposed.  

There is overlap between the disciplines, such as good listening and open questions.

I am trained in coaching for neurodivergence and the needs of neurodivergent people, and have ample experience of the nuances neurodivergence adds to professional life. 

I have ADHD and dyslexia myself (for example affecting verbals, future dates and times - despite roles as a project manager!) and for decades worked with IT people that have a higher incidence of neurodivergence. 

I understand the sensitivities, challenges and superpowers that neurodivergence brings to professional work, and have good experience of developing self-insights, work-arounds and using abilities as strengths. 

If your manager arranges coaching for you it does not mean you are underperforming.  As athletes do, many high performing senior people choose to have a coach because it makes them even more effective.

Coaching is a positive step that helps you expand your abilities, resolve problems and get the clarity to more effectively pursue what is important to you. In that sense it contributes to positive performance and is an indicator your manager and organisation believe your capabilities are worth investing in.

Coaching is not a substitute for a manager’s performance management responsibilities – it is complementary.  Coaching can helpfully improve the performance of individuals and the organisation through enhanced understanding, reduced stress, time out to think and plan, and intentional actions. 

Individual coaching is absolutely confidential, unless there is a legal or safeguarding reason that prevents this.  More details are on the confidentiality page (see the Approach tab)