In an era defined by disruption and complexity, building strong teams has never been more critical. Paula Brennan explores why team coaching is emerging as one of the most powerful investments organisations can make — fostering collective resilience, unlocking innovation, and enabling teams to thrive in turbulent times.
Elaine, like many, didn’t start her career intending to become a coach. But an early experience working with a coach left her fascinated by its power to transform thinking. “It wasn’t earth-shattering, but it opened my eyes. Someone simply listened to me and gently challenged my thinking in a way I hadn’t experienced before,” Elaine recalls.
When Ruairi McDermott first considered enrolling in the Level 7 Postgraduate Certificate (PGC) in Coaching and Mentoring for Leadership in Organisations, it wasn’t with grand aspirations to become a coach. Like many of us, life was busy, and the idea of adding a rigorous academic programme initially seemed out of reach. However, Ruairi took the plunge—and what followed was a transformative experience that not only redefined his career but also changed how he approaches leadership and collaboration.
We are now into the final months of 2024 and for many of us, this signals the budget round and thinking about our people strategy.
It will shortly be 2025 and many have a planning horizon up to 2030, anticipating what their people needs might be.
School leaders have a heavy workload, a myriad of tasks, duties and responsibilities. With that workload comes a whole host of challenges and barriers that get in the way of effective performance. Leadership development coaching is an effective counterpoint to support school staff towards growth and development.
Since joining WaterAid as Global Talent Manager in 2018, I have personally benefitted from flexible working. I work part-time — 3 days a week — and worked mostly from home long before Covid-19 came into our lives. This kind of arrangement has generally been considered the exception rather than the rule. But Covid-19 is a game changer and in the new normal, employees will have far greater expectations of their organisations to accommodate their flexible working needs to enable them to achieve an effective work-life balance.
Join this accredited PGC (postgraduate certificate) open programme this spring to develop your practical skills and gain a qualification as part of your continuing professional development. You will be part of a small group of like-minded individuals looking to become accredited coaches or mentors. Perhaps to develop your coaching and mentoring behaviours as a leader or manager, or to support your professional HR or OD role. Your tutors will blend initial face-to-face contact to establish your study cohort, with the convenience of virtual delivery thereafter.
Mentoring takes many different approaches. Walking Mentorship is an approach that harnesses the clarity of mind brought by walking in wonderful locations. In this guest blog, João Perre Viana Founder of Walking Mentorship, talks about what brought him to mentor whilst walking. He shows how to channel the resultant high flow of ideas and creative thinking. Continue reading
