Smart Thinking
The Smart School Blog

X E-mail: info@thesmartschool.co.uk Info: Nick Bolton is founder of the Smart School and now heads up the unique Rapid Results Business Coaching programme.Posts by the author (17)

Interview with Paul Kensett, trainer and mentor

You’ve been a mentor with the school for over a year now Paul, what do you enjoy about working with our coaches?

As a mentor with the Smart School I get a huge amount out of seeing people develop from the very start of their coaching journey. Helping them along the way with the nitty gritty of the coaching process and watching them move on to achieving fantastic results in their life and creating dynamic careers where they are able to do what they love!

What are some of the most common challenges trainee coaches come up against and what advice do you have for them?

When you start out there may be tendency to want to do it all at once – the trick to learning what the Smart School teaches is that in between the modules the training will “sink in” and before long (and in my experience) you no longer have to think about what you are doing but just “know” what to do!! effectively and passionately. It isn’t about being perfect and knowing that it is absolutely ok to not know what you are doing at the beginning stages – thats where learning happens and trying it out is by far the best approach. In my experience with the amount of models, techniques and practical opportunities when you are going through the course you will find your own rhythm when you help others and learn what works best for you.

As a mentor, what do you see are the common traits of someone who gets the most out of the Diploma in Coaching? Read more

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X E-mail: info@thesmartschool.co.uk Info: Nick Bolton is founder of the Smart School and now heads up the unique Rapid Results Business Coaching programme.Posts by the author (17)

Interview with Anna Murrell, Founder of Pink Matters

What drew you to coaching, Anna?

I have always felt the urge to do something which made a difference to peoples’ lives. It was important to me to choose professions which were people focused but I always knew that I wanted to help others on a deeper level. If I could make a positive change in someone’s life and allow them to find more happiness as a result, then that to me was a job which was really worth doing. Coaching was the missing link that I had been looking for.

What’s your professional background?

I originally trained as a teacher and taught in a number of inner city schools in Leeds.  I then moved into the field of Human Resources and worked throughout London and South East as an HR Professional for over 12 years.  I think the combination of those two professions naturally moved me towards coaching as an option. Read more

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XClaire Beegan E-mail: c.beegan@gmail.com Info: With a background in management and training, Claire Beegan provides a wealth of professional knowledge, skills and experience to her role as a trainer, mentor and coach with the Smart School. During a highly successful career in property management, she worked in some of the most prestigious business developments in London and was considered a ‘mover and shaker’ in the industry. Claire’s passion as a manager was in shaping organizational culture and empowering individuals and teams. As such, she was responsible for creating and delivering training programs to define strategy and vision, support and motivate employees, and achieve excellence within the workplace. Claire developed an unswerving faith in the potential of people to grow in exciting ways – given the right environment. It was her love of empowering others to “be the best they can be” that led Claire to develop a new career. For most of her adult life, Claire has been on a personal journey of self-discovery and awareness and this spiritual connection underpins everything she does. Coaching – with its focus on personal growth and positive change –was a natural fit. Claire runs a private coaching practice and specializes in working with busy professionals who want to re-connect with their passion and purpose in life. Her coaching style weaves approaches in personal development and spiritual awareness with coaching clarity to achieve powerful growth and transformation. As a trainer and mentor, Claire is passionate about the benefits of coaching skills for all. She is a dynamic and engaging trainer who finds that the training environment provides an exciting platform in which to facilitate growth and change in others. Claire runs a meditation group for coaches and is widely recognized as an exceptional transformational public speaker.Posts by the author (4)

Desperately Seeking Solutions

Picture the scene… Client comes to coach with a goal they wish to fulfil or challenge they wish to overcome. Coach asks questions to clarify goal, identify options and create a way forward. Client has a few ideas but then becomes stuck. Coach becomes stuck too… Sound familiar?!

It’s a common concern of our new coaches… “I didn’t know where to go next”, “I didn’t know how to help the client”… At the heart of these statements is usually a desire to get the client towards a specific result or solution.

The most valuable piece of advice I can offer to new coaches, is to let go of the idea that you as a coach have to come up with the solution, and allow your client to explore and discover it for themselves.

Here are three ways you can help your client on their journey… Read more

Filed Under Transformational Coaching

X E-mail: info@thesmartschool.co.uk Info: Nick Bolton is founder of the Smart School and now heads up the unique Rapid Results Business Coaching programme.Posts by the author (17)

Coaching to help young people into lasting employment

It’s well known that young people are finding it increasingly difficult to find employment in today’s economy; particularly employment that engages them both mentally and emotionally.

And so we are really delighted to be working in partnership with the voluntary organisation, the London Early Years Foundation to support a group of 21 young apprentices.

The LEYF are training these apprentices in nursery education skills and as they progress through the training programme, each apprentice attends one full day’s training per week and works in a nursery putting their new skills to practice for the remainder of the week.

To help the apprentices stay on track, the Smart School has arranged for 11 coaches who have been through our life coaching course to work with them once per fortnight for four months.  We’ll then evaluate the impact of the coaching on issues like retention, course completion, personal confidence and their sense of direction.

This is a really exciting project which we hope will go towards making the case that any serious education programme for young people struggling with day to day life issues should include coaching.

I’m thrilled to be working with the LEYF on this and look forward to seeing some amazing outcomes for the apprentices.

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X E-mail: info@thesmartschool.co.uk Info: Nick Bolton is founder of the Smart School and now heads up the unique Rapid Results Business Coaching programme.Posts by the author (17)

Interview with Jeremy Hill, Founder of Japan Connections

What drew you to coaching, Jeremy?

I first went to Japan as a junior diplomat in 1979 and fell in love with the country. I was keen to return but as the years went by, I thought that with my knowledge of the language fading and my experience of the country and culture becoming a distant memory   my chances of returning were slipping away. However, my employers started a coaching service and I was one of the first to take part in the scheme. My coach helped me to really believe in myself again and to make the changes that I needed to get back to Japan again. Also as an occupational “mentor”  I was able to help a colleague make some changes in his life to get his career going in the way he wanted. So I suppose it’s from having seen coaching and mentoring in action that really made me want to take the leap in to it becoming a major element in my new life.

What’s your professional background?

I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school, but I knew I wanted to travel. A job working for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office would guarantee my being able to spend a lot of my life overseas whilst I decided what I really wanted to do. As well as working in central Government in Whitehall I have been in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. But as you now know my passion lies in Japan ( not least because my wife is Japanese), and at the end of my second tour of duty there decided to take early retirement from Government service in December 2010, and to plan a second career based in Tokyo. So what did I actually do in the Foreign Office??? I’m still bound by the provisions of the Official Secrets Act, so that will have to go un-answered! Read more

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