Leadership coaching for business owners & senior managers

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

John Whitmore, in Coaching for Performance, says, "Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them."

Coaching assists a client, often called a coachee, to bridge the gap between where they are now, to where they would like to be far more effectively than if they worked alone. It's an interactive process, a relationship between the coach and the client, that allows you, the client, to discover your own solutions and plan of action.

Coaching is extremely valuable for executives, leaders and senior managers who wish to improve, stretch and grow their personal performance and through this the performance of their function, team or business.

Coaching will give you tools and techniques you can use for a lifetime in both your personal and business worlds.

There is a big gap between "knowing" and "taking action" that is "knowing something" and "doing something" with that knowledge. We often know what we need to do but find we are prevented from taking action and moving forwards. These are known as blockers and come in many forms. A coach can help you identify your blockers, the things that are holding back your progress and help you overcome them to create action and traction towards your goals and aspirations.

The reason coaching works so well when you have a coach is because of the relationship between "process" and "content".

In a coaching conversation the coach will take care of the process, that is the structure of the conversation, the route map, the journey the questions, the observations. You, as coachee, can then purely focus on the content, that is the answers to the coaches questions, the solutions, the feelings and revelations. A trusted coach will hold you to account and ask those questions of you that you might otherwise avoid answering if you were to ask them of yourself.

When we coach ourselves it's really hard to effectively focus on process and content simultaneously, our minds aren't wired to do this well.

Coaching is normally carried out either face to face but can also be carried out over the telephone, or via Zoom or Teams with timescales to match the requirements of the individual or organisation sponsor.

Whilst it can absolutely be done as a one off, it is most effective when taken over a series of sessions.

The Coaching package consists of

1 hour - chemistry session - to explore your needs and agree if we are a good match for working together
Harrison Assessments Paradox and Traits and Definitions reports to raise self awareness and assist in creating practical step by step action plans to reach your goals
6 x 2 hour coaching sessions (which can be extended as required ) utilising NLP, various development tools and techniques and Powerful questions

Change the way you think = change the way you behave = change the outcome

Successful businesses have great leaders that inspire their teams to deliver outstanding performance, they never settle for second best seeking continuous improvement..... and that includes in their own performance.

Coaching is a great way to stretch and grow the performance of high performing Leaders and their teams.

Tony Robbins, leadership guru, says “the biggest strangle hold in business is the mindset of its owner”

Our mindsets and belief systems create our behaviours and ways of operating. Sometimes these are helpful to us and some times much less so.

Our outcomes and impacts are the results of our thinking and behaviours.

Leaders in business are extremely busy and often juggling many hats. This can sometimes lead to overwhelm, self-doubt, limiting beliefs and mental blockers that keep you stuck.

By acting as your sounding board and holding up the mirror for you, so to speak, a perspective that can sometimes be difficult to gain for yourself, I can help you to achieve those AHA moments that will establish the key measures of improvement and allow you to find new opportunities to help guide you through your challenges and periods of change by building on what is already there within you.

Coaching can help you to move forward with positive mindsets and changed behaviours.

to make the step up from being a manager to leader

to identify and address existing knowledge, strengths and skills gaps

to increase your own self awareness

to learn the people management skills and behaviours necessary to become a confident and inspiring leader of people

by utilising an external objective confidential sounding board and challenger

help one of your team improve an area that is holding them back – like self-confidence, self-esteem, work life balance or personal impact

to achieve your next career move

in times of transition such as starting in a new role or when facing challenges in a current role.

and much more!

Working together we will address the topic that is most important to you. You might choose to focus on a current challenge or possibly a new opportunity for example a new job or promotion, wanting to be more healthy, a career move, a personal challenge.

We will never tell you what you should be choosing and if you are not sure then we have great tools to help you identify your priorities and goals.

If you have thoughts like these, give me a call to see how Coaching can help

I’ll never be good enough?
This is as good as it gets?
I’ll never be a top performer.....
I feel so overwhelmed
“if only…..” or “I wish I could be more like…….”
I can't possibly do that.....

Chris Allen

Christine is an L&D professional with a retail background and as such has real credibility developing and coaching senior Store and Area Managers. Having worked as an integral member of the Woolworths senior retail hr team she has been used to contributing to the overall HR strategic agenda. Design and delivery of stretching development programmes closely aligned to the actual and identified business needs have been extremely well received throughout retail.

Louise Bunting, Retail Field Manager

Chris is a committed & resourceful individual who looks for new opportunities or ways to improve what is already there. She is a strong team player & able to balance all points of view along with her own.

Iain Lewis, Group HR Director

I have worked with Chris on a number of projects over the last 8 to 10 years.

Chris is a proactive people development professional who has added both personal and professional value to a number of individuals across our business.

She has designed, developed and implemented significant value adding Personal Development interventions which have driven enhanced performances.

I would have no hesitation recommending Chris as a Development Professional and as a very supportive and caring colleague.

Andy Hogarth, Chief Executive at Helping Hands

I’ve known Christine for about 2 years, having originally met on a Neuro Linguistic Programming course run by ITS in Chiswick (Practitioners). We worked together on both that course and a subsequent one, coaching, and at all times I found Christine to be extremely confident and competent as an exponent of NLP. She is very empathetic with the people she coaches whilst retaining quite a challenging style. For me and those I have observed her working with this is hugely successful.

Ian Woodward, Development & Business Consultant

Christine is a highly effective coach and training facilitator. She builds excellent relationships with people and demonstrates a high level of emotional intelligence. She helps people to grow and to achieve their full potential. She’s happy to challenge people where required, she’s commercially focussed and a pleasure to work with.

Sarah Lane, Executive Coach and Team Facilitator

Christine is one of the most loyal, hardworking and talented people I have worked with in the field of development. Whatever the task, I knew that once Christine had committed to it, it would be done to the highest standard on budget and within deadlines.

Mark Thomas, Woolworths

I have worked with Chris on several key projects whilst at Woolworths. Chris has added significant value to all the key projects I have been involved in whilst ensuring that profitability is realised throughout the organisation.

She has actively developed several key members of my previous team who have progressed in to larger roles outside of the retail environment.

James Carroll, Head of UK People Services The Body Shop

Christine’s enthusiasm for people development along with her talent of being able to put together creative and inspiring learning solutions is an asset for any business. She really engages people with her facilitation and many people in Woolworths have her to thank for their development and career progression. Every time I worked with Christine I learnt something new and had great fun at the same time.

Richard Vallis, L&D Manager for HO at Debenhams

I thoroughly recommend Chris as an L&D manager, who has developed and delivered some great programmes. She is particularly adept at relating to individuals and using her NLP practitioner skills to support and coach them to high performance.

Julie-ann Alcock, Head of HR

Christine is highly professional, someone in whom you can always confide and someone who will give of her time and energy selflessly to help others reach their goals. Christine has a great sense of humour and is a valued team player who gets things done! Christine always displays tolerance when dealing with others and accommodates her style accordingly in order to build great relationships with others. A pleasure to work with!

Joy Griffiths

I first worked with Christine when she was relatively new to NLP, but her track record in personnel development was already well established.

Having worked with her several times I have seen how her coaching has been enhanced and expanded by her own continuing pursuit of excellence.

Aside from her experience, Christine is a wonderful person to know and you are in very safe hands when she is coaching you. Whether for business or personal reasons, this lady can help you move on and I have no hesitation in recommending her.

Angela Rutterford-Adams, Wondrous

I have had the privilege of working with Chris as a client and co/facilitator/coach over many years during her time at Woolworths. She is authentic, commercially astute and brings warmth and openness to her work. Above all her loyalty and professionalism to her organisation were always exemplary and a powerful demonstration of her integrity. Chris is an excellent coach and facilitator who is liked and trusted by her clients. She has a gift in giving others perceptive feedback on ways to navigate relationships to best effect and to be the best they can be.

Heather Rayfield, Performance Consultant

Christine and I worked together as Performance Coaches on a coaching project at Morrisons to support the implementation of a new coaching framework. The project was high profile and the first of its kind in the organisation and Christine achieved some great results in a very short space of time with the managers she was coaching. I enjoyed working with Christine and always found her to be insightful, encouraging, collaborative and very wise. Highly recommended.

Bethany Rodgers, People Development Manager, University of Sheffield

Working with Chrissie was a calm and focusing experience. She is passionate about coaching others and brings her own experience to the development. Thank you! 😊

Neil Ashworth

Christine is an experienced HR professional and personal coach. She provided great input and development guidance to members of my team, helping them to grow considerably. Christine has a great style – creating effective challenge whilst building excellent rapport.

Lisa Howell, OD & Change Consultancy

Christine is an extremely professional, experienced executive and personal coach, leadership, team and organisational change and development specialist. Over the projects and organisations that I have worked with Christine, her wide range and wealth of knowledge, experience and skills are an asset to her. She can assess any organisation, team and individual situation with fresh, commercial and developmental eyes in a way that outclasses others in her field. Christine easily bespokes her approach and style to suit the cultural and personal needs and has long lasting impact and success. This is her strength, she can reach parts others would shy away from and sticks to the task in hand with dogged determination, never giving in on the assignment, project or individual until their needs are actualised. Christine is a pleasure to work with and learn from and would be an asset to any employer or individual wanting to transition their commercial, team or personal aspirations and goals.

Sarah Preece

I have worked with Chris in a number of roles within Morrisons and she never fails to impress me with her enthusiasm, positive approach and wealth of applicable experience. Whether it is taking a group of sceptical warehouse guys on a change curve course or sharing a scientific approach to recruitment and talent retention methodology, Chris has a great skill for understanding key success criteria, and delivering the goods.

She has a clear and easily understood method of delivery with a great questioning technique to ensure her message has been clearly grasped.

Coupled with her exceptional talent at getting to the root cause in any situation and a skill at leading a group or individual through the path of discovery, Chris is a huge asset to anyone looking at sharing a message or building key skills in their company.

Angela Brand, Mercedes Benz UK

I spent the last 12 months working with Christine, I can highly recommend the supportive nature of Christine’s coaching. The Harrison tool has been a game changer in understanding my own challenges in leadership. Highly recommend for any current leader or anyone new to a leadership role. Thanks Christine was a pleasure.

Mark Terrell, Management Consultant

Being an advocate of personal development and, in particular, self awareness, I jumped at the chance to complete a Harrison Assessment.

The report and subsequent feedback from Christine has been very useful, confirming some things I already knew and introducing new factors that I will be using to help me making better decisions going forward, Thank you Christine

Catherine Wenborn, Director, Vines Legal Ltd

Myself and my Co Director are currently working with Chrissie and U Transition in Management and Leadership Development. Brilliant content. An absolute must for professional people who are specialists in their field but have had no training in management and inspiring the best from their team. Looking forward to working with you this year Chrissie!

Mike Marshall, Managing Director, Eat Sleep Think

Chrissie has supported my business, my team, and myself for quite a few years. Through U-Transition she has helped me build better employees working with them to understand themselves and their roles within my business, eatsleepthink. Using her skills and techniques, Chrissie provided invaluable insights that helped my team to evaluate their individual strengths, challenge their weaknesses, and ensure they were self-aware and aware of their colleagues. This was extremely motivational for my entire team; it created camaraderie, respect and support, and overall constructed a very genuine feel to my business that connected all the way down to our clients. Honesty and openness with our clients have always been strong points of my business, but having it reinforced and recognised by Chrissie at a deeply esoteric level within the business that in turn, manifests itself outward as a core strength to clients was something that I never truly expected.

As a Managing Director and team leader, I’ve always felt very supported by Chrissie, and she helped me better understand myself and, more importantly, my team. When you start a business, you’re never taught how to deal with people, and Chrissie helps you with that. Her six steps leadership development course, for example, was very helpful in tackling confrontational issues – not only with employees but also with clients (which I never expected), and it has helped me negotiate better, face up to my avoidance of confrontation and approach difficult conversations with, dare I say, excitement! The trepidation is still there, but having Chrissie’s method, guide and plan on how to deal with confrontation and tricky conversations turn the whole situation into something to enjoy rather than dread! Having Chrissie available for moral support when the going gets tough is like gold dust!

Thanks, Chrissie, for everything you’ve helped me, my team and my business to achieve over the years. You’re an invaluable asset for any business and business leader seeking guidance and support to help them better manage their teams, themselves and ultimately their business!

Heather Fawbert, Chief Executive, Fairplay

I am happy to write this testimonial for Chrissie Coates who has been working closely with two members of the core team here at Fairplay.

The two members she has been supporting started their working life with Fairplay as apprentices in Business Administration when they were teenagers. After a few years it became apparent that they both had the relevant attributes to go further within the charity and take on more responsibilities.

At this stage I called on Chrissie to offer the support and guidance from her ‘emerging leaders’ programme.

Over the past year, despite the current difficulties, I have seen both staff members grow and develop professionally and personally. They are both more confident with their decision making and in managing their staff teams.

I have no doubt that with Chrissie’s guidance they will become the most effective leaders that they can be and I am very grateful to her for sharing her knowledge and expertise.

I have no hesitation in recommending Chrissie to anyone looking to build an effective leadership team.

Ryan Cartern, Learning & Development Manager

I’ve worked with Chrissie for 18 months and couldn’t recommend her more. If you are looking to work with a very professional and approachable individual that coaches in a second nature, chrissie can help. I definitely look forward to the next time we work together!

Darren Shurmer, Project Manager

One of the best and most likeable leadership and personal development coaches I’ve ever worked with. Christine has been instrumental in delivering key talent development projects at Medivet. She is very patient and skilled at asking questions, playing devil’s advocate when necessary and supporting people to find the answers for themselves. She provides a safe space where you can rehearse difficult conversations, brainstorm ways to develop your team and improve your communication and influencing skills with senior leadership teams.

Keighley Bowen, Learning Partner at Medivet

I would highly recommend Christine Coates if you are looking for a professional coach or learning and development lead to develop individuals and teams within your business.

Having been coached and directly line managed by Christine within a team, I can say through experience that she has the remarkable ability to challenge people’s thinking, yet remain supportive throughout the coaching process. She provides unique opportunities for people to build their self-awareness, so that they can see their potential and grow in skills and confidence successfully over time. I would not have seen myself as a creative individual at all, or as capable as I am, without her professional support and guidance.

Suzanne – Business owner

I have had two incredibly useful coaching sessions with Christine which helped me to cut through some of the fears and self doubt that were getting in the way of growing my business. Christine took time to listen and understand what was going on for me and then identify what I hadn’t been able to put my finger on!

I came away from both sessions feeling more in control and focused on what I wanted to do to make my business grow.

I have no hesitation in recommending Christine as a coach – really fantastic.

Jayne – Private coaching client

I highly recommend the services of Christine Coates and U Transition Ltd. Christine’s advice and assistance were exactly what I needed to progress further in terms of my business and confidence. Running a small business singlehandedly is very daunting in terms of decision making, and it is very easy to lose focus. Christine really helped me progress. She listens to and takes stock of the issues in hand, and helps focus and prioritise. Not only this, she also helped me to think “outside the box”.

Alison – Private coaching client

I had got stuck with my life and could not think who would be the right person to help me. I decided to try a life coach although I was unsure what they did!

Chrissie helped me order my thoughts and see a way through, and then supported me so I could deal with them one by one.

Throughout the process Chrissie has been friendly and encouraging but has also challenged me in ways that enabled me to change. I have no hesitation in recommending U Transition.

Anna – Head of Audiology Careers

Chrissie is one of those rare individuals who quietly has it all. With a commercial mindset born and nurtured in one of the biggest retailers of its time and an ability to lead, inspire, hold to account and engage a team, Chrissie was and always will be my go-to person when I need a leader to step in, harness the capability of the team and deliver results. Chrissie brought clarity, focus and at the same time a huge positive and personal impact on the team she directly lead, as well as many individuals she worked with. With an enviable natural coaching capability, commercial acumen, integrity, a firm but fair stance when needed, but most of all a true passion for individuals to achieve their true potential, I recommend Chrissie irrespective of whether you need someone to step in; develop and allow that penny to drop; individually or group coach your managers and leaders.

Amy – Senior Digital Learning Specialist

Chrissie is the definition of an inspirational leader. Coming into Medivet with a fresh set of eyes she helped shape the start of our career pathways. She has a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of learning and development and empowered us to own and deliver projects across such a rapidly growing business. Her coaching and mentoring skills are second to none. Her approach is non-judgemental, encouraging and I really feel she’s helped me develop on a path to hopefully being a leader myself one day. I think any of us would snap up the opportunity to work with Chrissie again in a heartbeat.

Sally – H&S Advisor, Chesterfield

Our company use the online health and safety training services that U Transition offer to make sure out business is compliant with health and safety regulations. There is a wide range of training courses available that are both extremely time and cost effective . I also believe that there are other services the U Transition offer that would be of benefit to me in the future. Christine is very professional and knowledgeable yet friendly and approachable at the same time. I’m happy to recommend her.

Karen – Private coaching client

Christine has been amazing. Exactly what I was looking for. She is very professional, yet very warm and friendly. Highly recommended.

Julie – Head of Client Development – Commercial logistics company

Christine’s coaching services couldn’t of come at a better time in my life. Trying to juggle a senior role involving long commutes across the UK, whilst to trying to maintain a family home with 2 young children was proving to be a challenge and was really starting to affect me emotionally & physically, with confidence levels at an all-time low. Christine’s ability to structure the sessions and tailor the coaching techniques to my circumstances has contributed positively to the way I think and manage day to day situations in all aspects of life. Her warmth and sincerity made me feel at ease at all times enabling me to confidently open out about how I feel. Reflecting back from where I started, through this process I have become a much stronger individual, mum and wife. Recognising what’s important in life and managing situations rationally. Christine has truly had a positive impact on my life and I am so glad I have had the opportunity to work with her. I would highly recommend her services to anyone looking for personal or professional direction and support.

Lee Metcalf – Engineering Project Manager

Timing is everything! My coaching experience with Christine came at the right time in my career. We set goals early on in the process and kept them in our sights as we engaged on the many issues that popped up along the way. Christine timed the coaching perfectly to enable complete success of my goals supporting with the many tools and experience she has.

I have walked away from our engagement with a treasure trove of skills that will drive my approach for a long time to come.
Christine Coates gets my highest recommendation as a professional coach and mentor. Her unique ability to recognize, understand, and explain complex business relationships has revolutionized my thinking, and most importantly, my confidence and actions.

I name Christine as one of the top contributors to my success and the fact that I enjoy my current role today.

Thank you Christine.

Lucy – Head of Customer Experience – Logistics Company

Christine has been a great support and challenger to help me better assess projects and plan for their successful delivery, identify the different needs of stakeholders and how to better communicate and influence them. Through focused coaching sessions we have identified new approaches and techniques that have helped me to be more effective at work.

Sue Featherstone – Leadership development consultant & trainer. Experienced executive coach│ Team coach Supervisor

Great to work with such a talented consultant, you bring a real professionalism to your work. You build great rapport with all levels in a business which translates into engaging delivery that meets the needs of your client.

Managing Director – Blackshaw Howell Consulting

Susie Woffindon – Experienced FMCG Supply Chain / Operations Manager

I have recently worked with Christine on an individual basis and in group sessions. I have found her to be engaging and effective both facilitating a session with a number of strong minded individuals and in one to one discussions. She displays a high degree of professionalism at all times and has an open questioning style which enables her to get to root cause. When talking through solutions her experience means she is supportive, and she can suggest a large number of tools and techniques to get the best from any situation. I have benefited from my time working with Christine and am happy to recommend her.

Dorothy Williams – Manager Yogurtland Australia

Christine is an excellent team leader and team player and always leads from the front. She has a fantastic eye for detail, also, she is very commercially aware and has a real strength in data analysis.

Christine has the ability to think outside the box and has proven herself to be reliable, industrious and loyal. Also totally supportive to those she works with.

I consider her to be a real benefit to any organisation she joins.

Meg Moore – Leadership Development Coach

Chris is extremely knowledge in the field of learning and development and shares that knowledge freely with peers and delegates in her sessions.

Chris is easy to do business with, straightforward and acts with integrity at all times.

She always goes above and beyond what is asked of her and delivers work of an impeccably high standard.

Chris is a class act!

Complete a 20 minute online SmartQuestionnaire™ and receive a full personalised 19 page report (overview and Individual Competency Reports providing a comprehensive understanding of an indiividual’s attitudes and behaviours that impact his/her level of the competency against each of the four areas.

Online course This course will introduce the concept of emotional intelligence and look at how you can use it in effective and meaningful ways. It will examine the difference between emotional intelligence and IQ and dispel some of the myths surrounding emotional intelligence. It contains a section on the advantages and disadvantages of using emotional intelligence and considers the biological purpose for emotions and how best to manage them.

it will highlight the role played by emotions in the workplace and provide practical advice including tips for using emotional intelligence to deal effectively with emotions in situations that can arise in the workplace.

Target Audience

This course is aimed at supervisors and managers that want to develop more effective relationships with members of their teams. The course can be a great starting point for people new to their leadership role as well as more established managers that want to enhance their skills. This acts as a great introduction to the subject and covers the key concepts and theories relating to emotional intelligence.

CPD points: 2

Modules:

What is Emotional Intelligence?
Understanding and recognising emotions
Emotional Intelligence at work
Tips for dealing with emotions at work
Duration: 50 minutes

Price: £137 + VAT (164.40)

Leaders often… • do not fully understand what leadership competencies actually mean • are not aware of how their behaviours impact others • believe their own strong characteristics are strengths, when in fact some are actually "de railers" • do not know how to adapt their behaviours in different situations to improve leadership effectiveness Leadership deficiencies do not show on your balance sheet, but dramatically impact it by… • creating disharmony and costly employee turnover • causing employee conflicts which hinder the organization’s ability to compete • damaging your company’s reputation, thus making talent acquisition more difficult • stifling innovation, creativity, and employee engagement • failing to establish internal talent pipelines by hoarding and suppressing talent

Leadership competency reports provide actionable roadmaps that enable leaders to deeply understand their own behaviours as related to best practice for either senior or emerging leaders. If your organization already has their own unique leadership competencies, our 175 Harrison traits can easily be incorporated into a custom formula that measures your individual leaders against your company's leadership competencies.

Price: £72.00 (£86.40 )

Complete the Harrison Assessment and receive a 45 minute debrief on your Paradox and Traits and Definitions reports.

All of the Harrison Paradoxes relate to leadership and have a great impact on the organisation which can either create a positive culture or a dysfunctional culture. For example, self-confidence can be a great strength for a leader but if it is not balanced with considering other ideas, self-confidence becomes dogmatism which stifles innovation and causes employee turnover. Conversely, leaders who are receptive to different ideas without having confidence in their own views will lack clarity and decisiveness which leads to confusion amongst the team.

Traits and Definitions

Shows all the traits and trait definitions in order of the applicant's score in to each category. Listed in order of the highest score (optionally highlights traits related to a job)

Paradox Graph and Paradox Narrative Reports

Shows the dynamic relationships between the two traits of each of the 12 main paradox pairs. Enables the analysis of paradoxical behaviours (optionally highlights traits related to a job).

Price: £99 + VAT (£118.80)

Further coaching sessions will help you explore each of the Leadership paradoxes in more detail and identify strategies and techniques to improve personal performance and the address the mindset blockers that get in the way of success.

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