Hi, my name is Sian Thurgood and I am the Director of Student Experience at City St George’s, University of London.

Coaching is a useful tool to have as a manager and leader and the Level 5 Coaching for Professionals course at Bayes Business School has already helped me think about how I use it in my day-to-day role. After completing the programme, I plan to continue my practice and think about how I may incorporate coaching into my longer-term career.

How I first Discovered Coaching

I first encountered coaching when I was first put at risk during a restructure early in my career and it was transformative. It helped me reframe the experience as something I had agency in and had choices about and I went on incidentally to get promoted in the restructure.

I have accessed coaching support throughout my career and have found the space to think and work through my own solutions as invaluable.

Developing as a leader through coaching

Later in my career I took the opportunity to do the Institute in Leadership and Management L3  in coaching with City Lit when I first became a senior leader at another organisation. It was a good reminder of how to use coaching in everyday management and leadership, and that increasing my self-awareness and awareness of the organisational structures are useful in delivering my role as a leader.

I always said if there was the opportunity in the future to do the Level 5 Apprenticeship, I would take it, and I have! The timing of this programme couldn't have come at a better time, as we go through a period of significant change in the organisation and taking a coaching approach and embedding it in the workplace at CSG is really important.

What the programme has been like

Building on my earlier experiences of coaching and leadership development, the programme itself has been a real opportunity to deepen my practice.

It has been a real mix of interactive group teaching, where we have benefitted from being taught by an experienced coach with guest experts, hands-on coaching experience through coaching real people, and the opportunity to interact inside and outside sessions with an engaged, supportive and committed cohort with a wealth of experience and commitment to learning.

Having a coaching partner has helped keep up motivation and learning. The apprenticeship team have also helped keep us on track with our portfolio and preparation for assessments.

Learning new techniques and putting them into practice

My highlight has been the opportunity to learn new coaching techniques and then apply them in practice, such as the well-formed outcome, ladder of inference and Johari Window, in a safe space and then take them into my coaching practice.

This has increased my confidence in my coaching conversations and helped me be more intentional about how I support others to think and find their own solutions

Challenging my leadership approach

The course has been really useful in challenging my approach to leadership, and assumptions and short cuts that have built up in my practice, and reflecting on how I can use coaching in wider working life – for example, meetings as thinking environments, ensuring I actually listen and take on board feedback, and making sure I check my assumptions.

The biggest impact has been a check that my values align with the organisation and addressing any incongruence to make me more effective in my role.

The personal impact

On a personal note, a reminder to really listen and to give people space to think without interruption or agenda has deepened my appreciation for friends and family and helped me recognise underlying values and beliefs.

My recommendation

I would recommend this programme to anyone wherever they are in their career and whatever their aspirations. It will challenge yourself and also help you unlock your potential.

If you are considering developing your leadership or coaching capability, I would strongly encourage you to explore the programme and speak to others who have completed it.

Find out more about Bayes Level 5 Apprenticeship in Coaching