How you will be supported

“My coaching sessions have been amazing.
I’ve always been apprehensive about talking with someone about myself.
I did not know what to expect but I did the preparation for the sessions,
which gave me time to think about things beforehand.
It was easy to talk to Colin and through this coaching process
I have been able to open up.”

“Colin is a very life affirming coach.
He listens carefully, so the sessions are very focused
on my agenda and can adapt for what is my priority.
He brings positivity, attention to detail and
insightfulness to his coaching sessions.
Through well thought out, and often challenging questions,
he enables me to identify what is important to me,
then helps to suggest actions that will help
to move me forwards towards to achieving my goals.
It’s a privilege to be coached by Colin.”

“I’m extremely grateful to Colin for the life coaching sessions with him.
I found his approach to coaching creative, flexible, and skilful.
He was empathic and intuitive in his questioning and listening
which helped me to find what I was looking for.”

“I would rate Colin’s sessions very highly.
He made it very clear throughout that it was not about him
giving me advice but more about enabling me to find my own answers.
He also made it clear that it was about future direction
and solutions, and not excessively mulling on the past,
and I found this to be very refreshing and rewarding.”

“You have a delightful, warm manner and put me at ease.
You listened really well giving me a sense of being heard.
The focus in sessions was good and you kept clearly to my agenda.
It was focused positively on the present and my future.
The sessions were challenging and did they stretched me.
The actions between sessions, were clear and agreed and helped me.”

“Colin gets me to explore experiences,
but always with care, patience and support.
As a result, I have revisited some interesting moments
and as a result have gleaned some positive truth from them.”

“I have found Colin relaxed, warm, friendly, and approachable.
This quickly encouraged me to let go of my inhibitions,
open up and be honest in a way I hadn’t with anyone before.
Colin made me feel comfortable, making it clear that it was
what coaching was all about, and I was not alone
in feeling unsure at the beginning, so there was
nothing to fear or be embarrassed about.
From the word go, I felt in charge of my own learning and my own destiny.
This empowered me and gave me confidence.
Crucially, however, Colin facilitated this, and provided
the direction I needed to get the most out of each session.”

“I would certainly recommend Colin.
He has a kind and caring manner.
He made me feel very comfortable and at ease from the first session.
I felt able to share my experiences and my doubts and hopes for the future.
He made me look at things differently and believe in myself
and this has improved my confidence, and given me clarity of thought.
From the first session, he made thought provoking questions and comments.
It often challenged me to think about things in a very different way
to how I had previously, often experiences I had had, and how I had reacted.
While at the time, I was unsure where this was going,
I felt held in a safe place and free to express my thoughts.
His ability to include ones faith in the coaching sessions, as well his way of
helping you through various life events, was extremely helpful.”

“Colin has been a great coach!
He made me feel at ease and safe in our sessions together;
he has allowed me to proceed at my own pace,
not pushing me beyond what I feel comfortable with
but at the same time stretching my thinking
and my view of myself and the future.
During the coaching we have focused on
a number of areas and used a mixture of methods.
These have included visioning what my area
of ministry might look like in 2, 5 and 10 years;
and using visualisation to identify where I am now
and what gifts I’ve been given.
The images that have opened up have been very vivid
and have stayed with me.”

“Colin’s dynamic, no-nonsense approach to coaching
was just what I needed at this time in my life.”

“Colin exudes confidence in both his coaching approach,
but also in his faith to see you as a client move forward.
Colin is very relational and will walk with you
to see the outcome hoped for realised.
It felt like Colin tailored what was needed to me as an individual.
He quickly spotted the gaps where I needed to get unstuck.”

“Colin has a friendly, open and professional manner.
I felt very comfortable in the sessions.
He led me through them step by step and asked lots of questions
which led me to really think about what I wanted to get out of the sessions,
and explore why I felt a certain way and directions of travel I could take.
I found his write ups and actions from each session,
which he emailed promptly, very helpful in reflecting on the session
and keeping me focused leading up to our next session.
I did find the sessions challenging at times as I was encouraged
to really reflect and consider aspects I hadn’t thought about before,
and which might be contributing to where I was at that time.
This was very helpful.”

“From my phone call to arrange sessions to the end of the final session,
I felt you were attentive, creative, flexible and you listened really well.
You seem to process my words quickly, assimilating and paraphrasing back
showing you had understood what I had said before offering
a question or exercise to get me thinking from another perspective.
Working on revisiting ‘Values‘ was such a good idea.
I enjoyed considering what the different words meant for me
and the visioning exercise you led in the session helped me
learn more about myself and what drives me.
I loved the way you went over what we had covered before in the sessions.
I need this to remind me what I chose to work on, where I started
and what I have changed, achieved and can be grateful for!
You gave me plenty to work with in between
and I felt motivated to do the work.”

“I have found Colin really easy to relate to; I feel heard and understood.
I always felt that I had a choice if I wanted to pursue a specific topic or method.
He is very good at asking probing questions that cause me to consider
different views of a situation, and this has really contributed to my progress.
Colin is very good at keeping me on track but also recognising those moments when I
gained insight into a situation, or more specifically, my thinking of or about a situation.
Often, these were key moments where changes happened, and I feel, Colin allowed space
and time for those insights to sink in and bring about the changes I hoped to achieve.”

“Having trained as a coach myself I was
aware of how powerful coaching can be.
But I was really impressed by Colin’s skilled manner,
and how he balanced being both compassionate and assertive.
Initially when I started receiving coaching
there was a lot going on in my personal life.
Colin had the insight to suggest postponing my sessions
and re-arranging them for a more suitable time,
when I could be more engaged in the process.
This was the right decision for me in relation to timing.
It maximised the impact once I was ready to be fully involved.
Colin listened really well and clearly understood what was
important to me and what resonated in relation to my goals.
His communication was clear, timely and articulate and
was always encouraging, focusing on my positive areas.
I found his time keeping excellent and he kept me well-focused
on the areas which we had initially agreed to spend my time on.
This was really useful for me as I have a tendency to go
off on tangents or get side-tracked.
He demonstrated clear working boundaries in
relation to use of time in my sessions;
staying on task and helping me to set clear and realistic
actions to complete between sessions.
Colin’s session summary notes were outstanding
and so useful to recap on what was covered
and the actions that I’d decided on.”

“I have found Colin to be flexible and accommodating.
He is always on time for sessions but has been understanding of my
occasional need to change our meeting times due to illness or work.
Colin manages to perfectly balance being professional and kind.
He is approachable and friendly, and creates
a safe space for honest, authentic sharing.
I feel that I am able to process things that may
otherwise hinder my achievement of my goals because
he challenges my misconceptions in a kind but honest way.
While change and growth can be uncomfortable, he has made me feel
that it would be achievable and safe to explore the opportunities.
It’s been very clear on what our working relationship would be like,
the commitment I’m expected to make, and how each session would run.
Each session focuses on what the current reality
of a situation is, and what can be achieved in future.
While past hurts and disappointments are not ignored,
they’re not allowed to shackle me or hinder my progress, which is refreshing.
After each session I get a list of actions which makes it easy
to understand what I need to do to progress my growth.”