Ellie Highwood – Leadership, Career and Personal Development Coach
Coaching academics and researchers to navigate work, life and leadership
Last week I took part in a coaching supervision session (something we coaches do to bring and discuss aspects of our coaching practice with other experienced coaches). We spent quite a bit of time thinking about space, which sent this former physicist immediately into a thought train of space-time continuum and parallel universes in one… Continue reading Coaching space
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
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
"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?
This is a really difficult one, but just like other parts of life most coaching partnerships need to end eventually. But how do you know when that is? Sometimes, it's clear in the sense that the coaching was aimed at a very particular challenge or issue and the coachee has reached their goal, made progress… Continue reading How do you know when to end coaching?
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
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
So you've signed up for, or are interested in, a coaching session. But what does that actually mean? Do you need to do anything in advance? Will the coach ask me weird questions? Will I end up discussing my childhood? Will I be given lots of homework? All of these are questions I have been… Continue reading A Coachee’s guide to….. a coaching session
I advertise leadership, career and personal development coaching, but what does this actually mean? Coaching has a chequered past. Back in the mists of time, coaching was usually interpreted as being used to develop specific skills – especially sports skills. It has also been viewed negatively as something that is suggested to correct a problem,… Continue reading A Coachee’s Guide to….. Coaching
It is often difficult to find the time to think properly. It can feel like a luxury when there is so much going on in our lives. Some people use journal writing, others art, or music. Coaching is about giving you the time and space to do your best thinking. Your thoughts about your issues will… Continue reading Thinking
Ellie Highwood - Leadership, Career and Personal Development Coach 