My ‘Why?’ and Peer Advisory Groups

Background evolution

My coaching practice has evolved steadily over more than 20 years of organic growth as clients have taken me with them as they moved on to new roles and new organisations.

• Coachees have engaged me to support them in their new roles and introduced me to their new organisation’s learning and development sponsors
• HR professional clients have sponsored me with new coaching projects within their new employers

Much of my ‘Why? – my ‘purpose’, ambition and capability, has evolved in parallel, driven by the insights that have been revealed through these experiences.

Client's growth

My coaching ‘span’ has extended from ‘first-time managers’ to supporting leaders of professionals, progressing to senior and then into strategic leadership roles. Whilst rising through the organisational hierarchy, my client’s backgrounds also widened into new sectors.

My insights

I recognised that my own learning and experience was growing ‘in step and just ahead of’ the needs of my most demanding clients.

Client’s themselves also provided supporting insights, evidence and stimulus, for example:

• senior leaders opened up about the isolation they experienced which revealed uncertainty at a time when they needed to be the most decisive
• how inspiration was created through simply sharing the story of another client in a similar dilemma

Perhaps one of the most significant insights was the realisation that my ‘added value’ was more than just the one-to-one conversations that had been the core of my coaching and mentoring support.

I sensed that my clients needed to talk to others in similar roles and situations, to gain reassurance, to share their career expertise and life experience, to share learning with others, under conditions of confidentiality, trust and non-conflicting interests.

I had often wondered what ‘coaching impact’ could be achieved if I were able to bring my clients together.

An emerging model

I realised that I had access to a unique and underutilised resource that I could make available across my network. My unique ‘added value’ is the connections that I make between my clients, to bring individual senior leaders together from diverse organisational backgrounds.

The model has evolved into a board-like structure providing a confidential, collaborative forum for business and personal development– where everyone behaves as a truly independent, non-executive director to the other members.

I also continue to support my peer advisory group members with individual coaching and mentoring.

Today these are the drivers – My ‘Why?’ - behind our Peer Advisory Group initiative.

There is more information on our website.

A challenge:

What would be the crucial dilemma, issue or decision – business or personal, that you might be prepared to share, in confidence, with a trustworthy, collaborative, independent team of like-minded fellow leaders?

What potential solutions do you think they might identify?

Would you like to put this to the test?