It seems to me that academics have a particularly strong tendency for "academic" to be a dominant part of their identity. It goes beyond their professional identity and is far deeper. Not a problem, unless you decide that the "what" of doing the identity "academic" is no longer compatible with other things in your lives.… Continue reading What else can I do? Academics and identity
Category: coaching tools
A Coachee’s Guide to… Metaphors
Metaphors can be a powerful tool in coaching. I know to some people that sounds a bit of a stretch from the solution focussed coaching they may be expecting, but our lives are full of metaphor so it makes sense that it would be useful in coaching too. Now metaphors are highly personal, but this… Continue reading A Coachee’s Guide to… Metaphors
A Coachee’s Guide to.. Finding your strengths
Although we often think about strengths in terms of skills and tasks or activities that you feel you are good at, the broader idea of Strengths, or Character Strengths, comes from Positive Psychology. They are described as “built in capacities for particular ways of thinking, feeling and behaving”. Identifying your relative strengths and weaknesses can… Continue reading A Coachee’s Guide to.. Finding your strengths
What would you write to yourself?
"She manages to be a top quality student without being at all boring or a SWOT". Classic letter writing there from my undergraduate tutor to my prospective PhD supervisors. Today is World Letter Writing Day! What's been the most memorable letter you've received? The ones that stick with me are usually handwritten, and these days… Continue reading What would you write to yourself?
Wheel of Life Exercise
This exercise helps you to identify what you are most happy with and where you might want to make changes. The Wheel of Life exercise is a way to visualise all the different parts of your life and to balance up how you feel about each area. Start by drawing a circle-ish shape, then divide… Continue reading Wheel of Life Exercise
A Coachee’s Guide to….. Values
Your Values represent what is important to you in life. Knowing your Values can help you understand what drives you, what you enjoy, what inspires you and what you would like more of. I often use Values as a framework in coaching sessions where the coachee wants “something to change” or “something to be different”… Continue reading A Coachee’s Guide to….. Values
A Coachee’s Guide to…. Systemic Coaching
Sooner or later, within most of the coaching conversations I have with clients, the influence of things external to them comes up. Either this is the influence of family, friends, work, their physical environment, finances etc on the decisions and thoughts they are having, OR the potential influence of the work they are doing on… Continue reading A Coachee’s Guide to…. Systemic Coaching
Ellie Highwood - Leadership, Career and Personal Development Coach 