elizabeth moyles

My Personal Philosophy & Approach to Coaching

I am a corporate and executive coach and my own instinct, experience and evidence to date tell me that this is a specialist area within the wider sphere of coaching. It is my belief that an effective executive coach needs to exhibit a breadth of skills, knowledge and expertise across a number of professional disciplines in addition to pure coaching skills' mastery. Why?

The complexity of the corporate world is evident in the demands, pressures and challenges which executives face on a day to day basis. It isn't uncommon for an executive to bring to coaching a diverse agenda and goals for achievement, including organisational change management, strategic organisational and management issues, leadership and top talent development, personal development, team and top team performance enhancement.

I am passionate about helping individuals, teams and organisations make a positive difference and soon realised that coaching was where I could help make the biggest difference in enabling individuals and teams to realise their potential and make positive changes in the results they achieved.

The influences to my coaching style derive mainly from the knowledge and expertise I have gained over many years in a number of professional disciplines. As well as having a strong contextual appreciation of organisational dynamics I have a passion for working with and understanding individuals. This enables me to be better positioned to support and work with the sophisticated themes which executives may present in any one coaching intervention.

I believe that coaching between a good coach and a willing and engaged coachee can transform not only the individual's performance but impact on organisational performance too by helping that individual realise their full potential.

My own personal belief is that people do not struggle learning new skills / new knowledge per se. Rather, I believe that people struggle to put the latter into practice as this means changing behavior. Factors such as stepping out of their comfort zone, disappointment stemming from poor results in the very early days, a lack of support or a champion - someone they can share their feelings of discomfort with, and a lack of an end-goal, are each significant barriers to changing behaviour and results permanently. All these are aspects I address when working with clients with the aim of enabling them to successfully translate new behaviours, knowledge and skills into 'habits'.

In describing my philosophy on coaching, I wanted to ensure it reflected my clients' perceptions. I asked my clients to describe my style and the words they used included the following; warm, open, inspiring, fresh and informal, optimistic, energetic, building on strengths, supportive yet challenging, intuitive, pragmatic, humorous, results-focused, strategic, and change focused.

I hope this has given you some insight into me and my style. I do look forward to meeting you and to working with you soon!