Leadership Coaching
What is coaching?
My job is to partner with you in your leadership development journey, helping you unlock your potential and maximize your performance while focusing on the future. This process is more about guiding than teaching, often utilizing open and incisive questions, reflection, challenge, and various tools to facilitate personal growth.
The core belief is that ‘the mind that holds the problem, holds the solution, [and] probably the best one.’
This approach differs from mentoring, where a mentor typically shares their direct experience after having ‘walked the walk.’ It also stands apart from therapy, as a therapist usually supports you in healing your past, whereas I focus on professional coaching to enhance your future success.
What I do
I am a business and life coach, trained by the UK’s leading coaching training company, Barefoot Coaching, and accredited by the International Coaching Federation.
I provide a range of professional coaching services to help the people I work with to move forwards in their lives, specialising in:
- Leadership development
- Career transitions
- Confidence building
- Personal growth
- Avoiding burnout
- Improving performance
- LGBTQIA+ coaching
How I work
My approach to professional coaching is authentic, relaxed, informal, and caring, focused 100% on the needs of my clients. I’ll hold the process and help the client understand and develop their goals, particularly in the realm of leadership development.
I’ll create a bespoke programme of work (usually starting with 6 – 8 sessions), tailored to helping my client make progress towards those personal growth goals.
My aim is to help people grow and blossom into the best version of themselves. I’ll bring energy and fun to the sessions and assist clients in exploring their thoughts, creating ideas, unblocking situations, and moving forward.
Change can often seem scarier than it is in reality, and having support through professional coaching can be invaluable.
Testimonials
Philippa Buckley, CEO bibic
Chris has been working with one of my senior leaders for several months, and wow, what a transformation in terms of leadership development. The primary goal was to enhance skills when engaging with corporate individuals, and coming from the charity sector, this was essential for our business training arm's growth to secure future income.
He has supported in numerous ways, including boosting confidence, sharpening focus, learning to ask the right questions, and fostering a more strategically minded approach. The personal growth I’ve witnessed in this individual in such a short time is remarkable, and I am grateful to Chris for uncovering the skills we knew she possessed.
Chris has executed his professional coaching in a truly impactful manner, adapting to meet the specific needs of my colleague. Alongside the incredible learning experience, she also reported having a lot of fun. Every single session brought her joy, which was evident in her voice during our updates on her progress.
The opportunity to learn new strategies and practice them in a networking environment has proven invaluable, and we are thrilled with the progress made. I would absolutely recommend Chris as a coach and will definitely look to utilize his incredible skills for the development of my small team’s future.
Managing Director, Not-For-Profit
'I think that Chris's coaching saved my not-for-profit business.
As a social entrepreneur and founder, it's always easy to get sucked completely into your business and experience burnout. That's where I found myself three years in—despite achieving great success with my start-up, I was on the verge of giving it all up. Faced with tensions and challenges in the business, alongside my responsibilities as a mother of two, I was overwhelmed with self-doubt and stress. I definitely could not see the wood from the trees. In trying to do it all, I had lost my sense of self, feeling a deep sense of shame as if I had failed on all fronts.
With his supportive approach, Chris gently guided me through my journey of leadership development, helping me rebuild my confidence not just as a business leader but also as an individual.
He took the time to understand my world and instinctively knew what I needed: a super curious listener who made me feel truly 'held' and validated. He introduced me to valuable tools and techniques that facilitated my personal growth, allowing me to explore my personal values, strengths, blind spots, and leadership styles. Working with him helped me appreciate my abilities, opinions, and achievements, significantly boosting my assertiveness in a way that feels authentic to me.
My professional confidence has increased 100% since I began working with Chris. I'm now dedicated to advancing the business I love, but with a more pragmatic and boundaried approach—much more sustainable! I'm focusing on the tasks I excel at and bringing in the right people who share my values to help elevate the business. Best of all, this transformation has made me feel happier and more fulfilled. I know this will positively impact the beneficiaries we support in the long term (and my family appreciates it too...).
In addition to his impressive practical knowledge and expertise, I’m especially grateful to Chris for being such a wonderfully good egg. If you get the chance to engage in professional coaching with Chris, take it while you can 🙂'
Managing Director, Major Media Organisation
My time with Chris has been instrumental in bringing clarity and understanding to a developmental fog. Through insightful discussion and perceptive observation, Chris empowered me to articulate a clear and actionable development plan for both personal growth and career advancement.
Despite a successful corporate career in media, I felt a growing restlessness as my overactive mind sought more. Chris' calm, reassuring coaching and insightful frameworks unlocked a deluge of (sometimes surprising!) ideas that we were able to order, sort, and analyze, creating a tangible action plan that serves as a 'bridge' between my current situation and the potential tomorrows in my leadership development journey.
I now feel confident and assured in both my short and midterm next steps and am excited about the future. Thanks, Chris.
Senior Digital Content Leader, Major Media Organisation
I worked with Chris during a significant period of transition in my career, which I found quite high-stress, but it led to some monumental developments in a relatively short time. Chris played a crucial role in my leadership development by helping me unlock and explore my unique strengths as a leader. He assisted me in building a manifesto that represented my core values and worked with me to understand and reframe a variety of limiting beliefs that had been with me for a long time. The professional coaching I received from Chris has had a profound impact on my personal growth, and I still refer to the insights gained from our work on a daily basis. It has been immensely valuable for both myself and the business I work in.
Serial Creative Entrepreneur
My sessions with Chris Kerwin have been invaluable for my personal growth and leadership development. Of course, it helps that he has extensive experience in my professional field, so I felt supported on the more specific questions I had. Even without that, he is a dedicated and patient coach who excels in professional coaching.
Chris is laser-focused on finding the best way to support individuals. His enthusiasm for coaching and mentoring creates a wonderful atmosphere; it’s clear that he has found joy in his profession, which in turn helped me feel I had the permission to seek the same.
The sessions felt like he had both tried and tested tools, along with an enviable curiosity for finding additional supportive words or exercises tailored for me as an individual. I would - and have - recommended working with him and would gladly sign up to work with him again.