The journey so far -

along with some more Socratic wisdom.

So, Coaching?

“As a CEO, the best support intervention I ever received was from an external coach. And I figured that whenever I moved on from that role, with all of my knowledge and experience, the best way to help others in their journey was through coaching.”

Why was coaching so useful for you as a CEO?

"The coaching space was a neutral safe space away from the daily challenges and responsibilities of leading and managing both the organisation and a high performing team. The coach was there solely to support me. They had no other agenda - no politics, no internal competition and no envy. We developed a great relationship".

Why are you now a Coach?

"I have always been a coach. Even back shortly after I started my organisational career nearly 40 years ago, I used to take new recruits under my wing. I have been everything from the office junior to training manager to CEO to Chair of various organizations and my style and approach has always been collaborative and coach-driven. It was my natural next step".

Why 'Socratic' Coaching?

"When studying coaching, psychology and philosophy, and reflecting on my own leadership style I recognized that the best way to help people excel is not to teach them but simply to ask powerful questions in a safe setting.  Socrates was the master of this and his approach is often referred to as the 'Socratic method' which he used deploy in the Agora. 

The Socratic Coaching approach is to have full belief in the client, listen deeply, ask powerful questions to help sort the wheat from the chaff and thus provide clarity and direction for the client and their organisation. Socrates' 'wisdom' (and there's a longer story to that) was sought out by the great and the good - and indeed, the not so great and not so good! In many ways, he was the original 'executive coach'.  Hence, ‘Socratic Coaching’".

What can clients’ expect from Socratic Coaching?

"There are some basic non-negotiables that every client will receive, such as,

-  Full Confidentiality

-  Challenge but in a supportive fashion

-  A non-judgmental approach

-  Curiosity

-  Understanding.

But most importantly, the client and/or their organisation can expect to be in a better place than before they commenced working with us".

What is your typical approach?

"Whilst every engagement is different, they all generally start from the same place - Context!

It usually goes as follows;

-  We have an initial discussion with the client to identify the context - see what is going on for them and what is on their mind

-  Together, we (The Client and Socratic Coaching) identify an initial agenda to work on

-  If the coaching engagement is Individual, a series of subsequent one-to-one Sessions follow

-  If the coaching engagement is with a Group, a series of subsequent group sessions follow

-  The number or series of sessions is situation- and context-dependent.

We use the 'Socratic Coaching Framework' which has four main parts - Context; Vision; Planning; and Implementation. It can be extended to include a fifth part - Accountability - but that will onluy be for certain engagements. It is worth mentioning that Socratic Coaching is a bespoke service and it can go deep, so, availability is limited as we will only work with a small number of clients at any one time".

You say ‘we’.  Apart from you as founder, who else works with Socratic Coaching?

"Socratic Coaching has a number of very senior, very experienced business executives that have operated at a high level in different sectors who act as associates.  I involve those who can add value, depending upon the requirements of each client engagement. That will depend upon the sector, the role or team involved and the 'ask' from the client and the organisation".

What do your client’s say?

"Clients say they derive great benefit but don’t take my word for it – read some of their feedback":