Stories

Graham Watt

I first found myself coaching when I was working as a team leader in a scientific consultancy. I realised that the conversations I was having with my staff were helping them to grow as people as well as professionally. That was the point where I decided to look around for ways to use conversation in my future career.

I signed up for an initial course in counselling – really just because it was available at very low cost at my local college. But as I was doing that and talking to the other people on the course, I became aware of coaching as an alternative. It sounded like a high octane approach with much more energy, using the power of conversation to help high flyers and people who were fundamentally successful get even better, rather than people who were having trouble just to live from day-to-day. That sounded much more me.

Shortly after I made that choice, I became aware that some of my colleagues had already completed coaching training with Coaching Development. I spoke to them about the course and instantly fell in love with it. I attended an introductory day, and the energy in the room blew me away.

I absolutely loved the PCS training. It was one of the best experiences of my life. The personal growth that I went through on that course astounded me - although it took place over a short space of time, really. I found the journaling aspect of the course demanding, but also very useful, to write down the deep thoughts, fears, and shame as I worked through it all. I had started keeping a learning journal during the counselling course, but that experience did not in any way prepare me for the depth of self discovery that occurred during PCS. I also really enjoyed the energy within my cohort. We became firm friends.

After the PCS, I returned to my day job and did a lot of coaching in government. After about a year, I returned to study Developing Mastery. Starting that, I thought I knew how to coach and that it was just going to refine my skills. I was totally wrong. Developing Mastery dismantled my approach to coaching and rebuilt it with a much deeper understanding of the actual mechanism. It is without any doubt the most valuable training I have ever had.

I need to say some words about the support that I have received from Isy, from Colin and from my fellow students. It is tremendous. I have been through dark days, deep valleys of self doubt, as well as the occasional glimmer of actual competence. But the encouragement, support and belief that the people around me have demonstrated has been absolutely wonderful. I am very grateful to you all for getting me to this point. There must be something in this growth mindset business!

My approach to coaching is fundamentally person centred and existential. I believe that we can learn a great deal from the things that are going on in our physical and emotional selves, not just our intellect. I help my clients to tap into that broader intelligence, hear the messages, and decide how to use that extra information.

I started off my coaching practice focusing on people who have been in technical roles for a number of years and then transitioned into leadership. Some people do this by getting promotion, others just by being seen as experts in their field. I called my initial programme Leading Scientists, but I knew there was something more. I seem to have an affinity in working with minorities – a lot of my early clients were black women. I'm now introducing an offer specially for gay men. We have grown up with a history of shame and prejudice against us, largely from our upbringing and through internalised homophobia. We carry a tremendous weight from that shame. My job now is to help my gay brothers to put down some of that weight so that we can use the energy we release more productively. I describe this as ‘helping men to rediscover the light of their heart’s truth, and to let it shine bright in the world’. We were born to be fabulous – let’s spread those rainbow wings.