One to One Coaching
"Julia has a good mix of being able to listen, digest and understand and relate to things. Has good EI and visualises things. Easy to talk to; is very well read. Anecdotes and stories really help and her style was great for me. Some of the key models I believe I will remember for the rest of my life!"
Finance Director
Food Manufacturing
"Again I cannot thank you enough for the work that you have done with me to reach this stage. It has been absolutely brilliant - thank you thank you. And if you would like an additional testimonial - look no further.”
Women’s Business start- up
"The best thing was getting a fresh perspective rather than going round and round. Enjoyed the challenge and its 2 hours of guilt free me time. I learned about myself that I am the same as everyone else! There are good reasons why I am like I am and I can control some elements and understand what drives my behaviour."
H&S Manager
"Julia has provided personal coaching to me for the past 2 years. I engaged Julia after a fall in my confidence following a difficult period with my senior management team at a previous employer. With the help of a 360 assessment Julia helped me identify some key areas to work on. Number one for me was building back my self confidence. Julia's confidential and professional approach gained my trust from day one and enabled me to be absolutely frank about my fears and what I felt. This enabled me to work through what needed to work on and also helped me see things from different perspectives. Julia introduced a number of new techniques for me to try and has a ready supply of reading and audio material on the relevant subjects.
Within a few months my confidence had soared and people were commenting positively on the change in me. I am convinced that my successful move to the City Council was in part due to the confidence and motivation that Julia brought out in me and Julia has continued supporting me here at Manchester to develop my approaches to different cultures and expectations.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Julia as an executive coach."
Director of Housing
Local Authority
"You don't need to thank me - I need to thank you. What you showed me helped me no end. You couldn't get a better test of what you do than that .I'm usually sceptical of this type of thing but you sold it to me. I think your approach is just right and really felt you took an interest in not just the material but in me as a person. Thanks a lot again and I will certainly recommend you to anybody who wants coaching. (In fact I've already mentioned "my coach Julia" to a few
people.)"
Plant Manager
Manufacturing
”I have been working with Julia for about 8 months and have found the experience both beneficial and helpful. Julia has always been extremely professional throughout the time I have worked with her and I can trust her confidence absolutely. Coaching was a new experience for me and Julia has applied a style that has been challenging and thought provoking causing me to reflect on different aspects of what I do as a leader. More importantly, Julia has helped to me reflect more on how I come across to others, causing me to think about my style and approach, particularly when seeking to influence. The sessions we have had together are what I would describe as 'quality time', with Julia getting me to tease through issues and seeing the options available, how they would play out to different audiences with a greater awareness of the emotional impact on others.”
Chief Fire Officer and Chief Executive.
"I found Julia’s style of coaching very suited to my personality. I feel that she is very skilled at drawing out the issues and helping you to address them in a way that is right for you and your personality. I’d like to thank you Julia because you have changed my life and helped me to gain that inner confidence and self belief that I have been searching for all my life!! Keep up the good work."
Head of Housing Strategy and Policy
Feedback from Supervisees
Below are lists of questions asked of supervisees about their experience of coaching supervision:
Q1: Together, how did you and your supervisor create a clear contract of?:
- Practicalities
- Roles
- Responsibilities
- Boundaries
- Joint-success criteria
A: Found Julia’s approach very organised, methodical and structured. She covers everything here.
B: Purpose of supervision explained fully from outset, including documents for background reading etc
C: Very thorough and clear contracting session where I was able to ask any questions. She went through these areas thoroughly. Julia does regular reviews by checking out that we’re still on the right tracks with the contract
Q2: Does your supervisor give feedback in a way that is?
- Clear
- Owned
- Regular
- Balanced
- Specific
A: Julia is very open and direct which was helpful and got us to come to the issues quickly and without any time wasted..
B: Julia is good at this. She always manages to find the right balance of support and challenge. I often feel challenged by Julia but always in a supportive and positive way. I believe this contributes significantly to my own learning.
C: The way that Julia gives feedback is refreshingly open and direct. For me, this is definitely one of her strengths and I really appreciate her style. It was one of the most helpful things about her supervision.
D: Julia is good at knowing when to stop me in full flow at which point, she is great at asking a challenging question or asking my permission to give me some feedback. The feedback I’ve received has been the backbone of my development.
Q3 : How does your supervisor set an emotionally supportive climate during the sessions, enabling offload of any personal baggage?
A: Julia is great at this! She is able to establish a great climate for supervision which builds on the good work done when establishing the initial contract
B: Julia is excellent at setting the tone and allowing me to talk about whatever needs to be talked about
C: She speaks to me as a fellow professional so I feel able to own up to concerns and issues without being made to feel that I ‘ought to’ know!
D: Real strength area. Rapport built quickly. Manner and body language conducive to opening up.
Strong feeling of “walking alongside” the supervisee
Q4: When difficulties or concerns are being raised by you or your supervisor, how much do you feel supported and are working collaboratively?
A: Julia works well intuitively and is able to draw out and articulate possible areas of concern and provides excellent support
B: I have the sense that Julia understands where I’m coming from. She has great empathy. She is very open and not precious about admitting to her own past difficulties. This enables me to open up even more – I never feel judged.
C: Julia is open about what she is thinking, enjoyed her questions and the right amount of challenge, and reflecting back
Q5: How much does your supervisor balance supervision to focus on:
- The quality of the your coaching
- The development of your coaching capability
- Support for you as an individual and coach?
A: Julia covers all these areas. She provides great support and has a “knack” of being able to pitch her input at the right level which is always appropriate and never intrusive.
B: I can be a bit of a ‘talker’, so Julia manages the balance of our sessions very well. I know that my coaching and my confidence have improved significantly since I started having regular supervision.
Q6 : Does your supervisor have the appropriate authority, presence and impact for their role of supervisor?
A: Julia’s willingness to be open about her own experiences as a coach including when things have not gone so well for her is really helpful. She is always willing to share and does not set herself up as an “expert”.
B: My supervisor recognises their own limits and can identify their own strengths and weaknesses as a supervisor.
C: Julia is very open about this and occasionally refers to her own supervision. Which is reassuring!
Q7: How does your supervisor assist in improving the quality of your coaching?
A: Very confident my supervision with Julia has led to better outcomes for my clients. This comes from Julia being able to provide timely advice and make constructive suggestions. Most of the time Julia’s advice is given when asked for. But occasionally she will offer suggestions unsolicited. I find this very helpful. a) because she always asks permission and b) She has been able to sense when it would be helpful to me. This is much appreciated. Julia also has a wealth of experience as a coach she is always willing to share. If she has not come across a situation before she will say so.
B: Julia has on many occasions raised points which have led to personal insights for me and I never come away from a supervision session without feeling I have learned something I can apply to the benefit of my clients. Julia picked up on my reflective style straight away and I am conscious this influences her approach in our discussions. I feel this is a great skill which contributes to my own learning.
