It is one of my deeply held beliefs that coaching needs to go beyond the territory of merely supporting individuals in working towards their own personal goals and ambitions. In this session, we will explore the wider context in which coaching sits – the world we and our coachees live in.

If coaching is to have a real future, and truly to be of service in this world, then coaches need to acknowledge the global concerns we are facing, from environmental and political issues to questions of wealth inequality and poverty. Some of these questions may be uncomfortable territory for us, but they are the critical questions of the world we, and our coachees, inhabit, and we need to explore them in order to better serve our coachees and our world. It is increasingly clear that more of the same is not an option – human beings have to engage with fundamental questions about the assumptions we have made about how we live and work, and I believe that coachees have a very important part to play in these questions.

This will be a thought-provoking and stimulating conversation, offering questions and new perspectives about coaching and the world in which we do our work. Participants will leave, provoked and stirred to reflect on some powerful questions about our work and what it can serve.

Aboodi Shabi has been a pioneer and leader in the UK and European Coaching community since 1997. He was a founding co-President of the UK ICF, serving the profession at all levels internationally. He has worked with thousands of coaches and leaders across the world.

He also writes regularly about coaching, and is on the editorial board for Coaching at Work magazine. He has spoken at coaching conferences and chapters all over the world, and is an invited facilitator on mastery in coaching for various European coaching schools.

When we begin our coaching journey we often see it as a rigid process to follow – it might be using the GROW model, or trying to remember the Clean Language questions. And as we become more experienced, we start to develop our own style and use only those models that make us feel comfortable. (That’s why Coaching Connections is so useful in shaking us out of our comfort zone.)

But this session will take us right back to why we wanted to become a coach, and remind us of those rock-bottom, non-negotiable principles of good quality coaching whatever model we choose to use. We will be taking a look at ourselves and our motivations to be a coach, and practicing some of the basics with some coaching exercises.

Anita Pickerden has been coaching individuals and groups since 2004, and specialises in work life balance and older workers. She also works as an associate coach with Claire Jenkins on interview coaching assignments.

When working with coaching clients it is important to look beyond the level of the individual and take a view of the whole system in which they operate.  A client’s system is made up of a wide array of interacting elements that make up their life  These include personal, professional and organisational elements such as their family, their relationships at work and the culture they work within.  A systemic approach takes some, or all, of these elements into account and recognises that when working only at the level of the individual crucial information about the wider system may be lost.

As systemic facilitator John Whittington states:

“However well an individual performs and aligns themselves with their values, motivations and goals, the hidden forces that act in organizational systems will affect and often compromise their individual skills, talent and performance.”

A systemic approach recognises that there are hidden patterns and dynamics within a client’s system.  By working systemically as coaches we can support our clients in gaining awareness of these often unconscious dynamics and also to gain access to information and resources in the wider system.

As coaches if we don’t work systemically we are at risk of missing vital information which is held in the client’s system which may prevent progress and sustainable results for the coaching.  As Peter Senge writes in his book The Fifth Discipline:

“Business and human endeavors are systems…we tend to focus on snapshots of isolated parts of the system. And wonder why our deepest problems never get solved.” 

In this highly interactive session Nicky will help to answer the following questions…

• What is systemic coaching?
• Why is it important?
• How can we support our clients to become aware of and work with the hidden dynamics in their systems?

Nicky Lowe is founder of Luminate Development (www.luminate-coaching.co.uk) and as an APECS accredited Executive Coach supports executives navigate the challenges of leadership and organisational life.  Luminate was launched in 2006 and over that time Nicky has helped to improve the lives of literally hundreds of executives and always feel privileged that she’s invited by some of the world’s biggest companies to support their talented leaders. Prior to extensively studying systemic coaching Nicky used a person centred approach.  Her systemic training fundamentally changed her perspective on how she now supports her clients deal with the often challenging dynamics of organisational life.

Our popular “Coaching in Trios” session will include a mixture of practical coaching in trios (coach, coachee, observer) for those who wish to take advantage of a practical opportunity to learn through doing or observing, along with those who want to receive a short coaching session.

For those who prefer we will facilitate a networking opportunity, with the chance to chat in small groups about coaching topics of interest, including follow up to topics covered in the Coaching Connections programme.  Often members and guests find this an excellent way to consolidate learning from earlier sessions, make useful contacts and gain new insights.

The session will be facilitated by group leaders – Irene and Jayne.

Selling yourself and the services you offer can often be the most challenging aspect of establishing or growing your business.

In this workshop Nick will share some effective techniques which will help you overcome the barriers to sales, increase the number of successful presentations and win more clients.

This will be an interactive event and will cover a number of key topics including:

• What is selling?
• Important Skills for selling and overcoming fear.
• Making effective telephone calls.
• Lead generation and prospecting.
• Understanding the Buying Process.

Please come with an open mind and be receptive to learning some new skills to enhance your business.

Nick Banyard has an in-depth knowledge and understanding of sales, sales training and sales leadership and management having spent his entire career in sales. He has built his skill set and expertise through a combination of hands-on experience reflected through success in the roles he has held, and a self-disciplined approach towards personal development. As an award-winning sales leader, Nick has held a number of senior positions in the sales hierarchy as well as previously running his own successful sportswear business. An expert in recruiting, training, developing and managing self-employed sales teams, Nick is passionate about helping others achieve success in sales.

• More than 35 years’ experience in sales, sales training and sales leadership and management
• Over 25 years’ experience recruiting, training and developing sales teams
• Extensive experience in direct sales having worked for several global direct selling companies in various leadership roles including National Sales Director and Country Manager
• Twice winner of Business Unit of The Year Award
• Winner of the Direct Selling Association ‘Most Inspirational Direct Selling Company’ award
• Winner of European Vision Award recognising outstanding leadership and record-breaking corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme
• Recruited, trained and developed in excess of 3,000 self-employed direct sales personnel.
• Achieved success in B2B and B2C environments in customer facing and management roles
• Responsible for several successful business ‘turnaround’ situations achieving year on year overall sales increases of up to 40% and new business sales increases of up to 25%