Georgia Parker – Manchester Based Life and Business Coach
This months coaching interview is a real treat. Georgia Parker www.cascadecoachingandtraining.co.uk has worked with some key Manchester businesses to help them achieve their business goals.
C. Hi Georgia and thank you for joining me today. Can you start by telling me a little about yourself and who you coach?
G. I’ve been working as a self-employed coach and trainer for the last 8 years. Most of my work is with organisations, working with senior executives, managers and leaders to help them improve their business, teams and themselves around work challenges. However we all bring ourselves to work, so I work as much with each individual that I coach as I do the organisation. I would describe my coaching style as person-centred, flexible in that I use a mix of tools and techniques and very much focused on their aspirations, issues and development.
C. In recent years there has been a big push on terms of businesses employing coaches to help them and their staff to move forward. What was it that made you choose coaching as a profession?
G. I was coaching whilst working for an organisation and loved the process. I realised I had been doing this for years informally in my work, supporting my team members, volunteers in the community and generally had a coaching style. So I went off and got qualified and took it from there!
C. Some of the best coaches I have met, have a similar story; at some point they realise that they have been coaching people for years often like you said Georgia, informally. As well as being a qualified coach do you use NLP and Hypnotherapy to support your clients?
G. Yes, I’m a qualified Master NLP Practitioner and Master Hypnotist. I use NLP on a daily basis with my clients. I also use the hypnotherapy for relaxation and wellbeing in group sessions, with guided visualisations for example. I like the freedom that my different training and qualifications have given me to tailor my approach to my client, as I use some CBT and stress management techniques too, as well as transactional analysis.
C. It sounds as if your well versed in a wide range of techniques. What do you consider to be the main benefit of a coaching session?
G. That very much depends on what the person wants out of it! Sometimes it’s simply some time and space for reflection and thinking and the best thing I can do as a coach is shut the door and protect my coachee from any interruptions whilst they use the time to gather thoughts and work something through. Sometimes someone wants and needs some immediate support with an issue. Other times coaching is part of a much bigger journey. Usually though it’s always focused on the present and the future, rather than the past, so it’s action oriented and about making positive changes.
C. I agree coaching is very ‘action’ orientated. What goals have you set for yourself? Did you achieve them?
G. Goal setting is such a powerful process, I use it every day without realising these days! I have some business goals that I use as a business plan and review and update month on month during the course of the year. I’ve achieved all of these since I started working in a focused way like this. Personally I have short and longer term goals and in recent years, they have been motivating and energising to work towards. Some are still to come to fruition and others have come and gone. It’s important to allow for life though too and remain flexible, open to opportunities and prepared to adapt to change.
C. Yes, some people believe that you have to set and achieve every goal you set yourself, but in reality planning is a great tool but you have to build flexibility into your plans. In your opinion Georgia, does coaching work for everyone?
G. No I don’t think it does. It works for many many people and the common denominator is that they want to make a change for themselves in some way. If you don’t want to, then it won’t work. Additionally, sometimes people need to do some work with a therapist or counsellor first and then come back to coaching and I have referred people in the past where I felt that their issues were outside the boundaries of my training.
C. I like that it shows how professional you are. The final question I want to ask you, is a question coaches ask our clients Where do you see yourself in the next 3 – 4 years?
G. Hopefully doing more of the same! I love the process of coaching. I love teaching coaching skills and supervising new coaches too. I hope that my blog, www.boathouseblogs.co.uk has grown and become a really useful and well used resource for practical tools and tips for self-coaching. That’s one of my current goals, to get that set up and share my experience as well as encourage others to share theirs for thinking, feeling, working and living better, being happier.
C. Its been a pleasure meeting you today and good luck with your blog and coaching business.
Georgia Parker is a coach, trainer and hypnotherapist with a successful business in organisational, team and personal development. She offers practical support for anyone who wants to think better, feel better, work and live better. The focus is around helping you be happier, whatever that may mean for you. www.boathouseblogs.co.uk or www.cascadecoachingandtraining.co.uk
Other People Who Read This Article Also Read:
Sponsored Adverts
Coach Yourself To Success; Reduce Low Self Esteem and Increase Confidence
Chris Delaney 