Leading in Practice

Tag: accreditation

  • Finding a New Professional Home

    Finding a New Professional Home

    I’ve spoken before about the unexpected feelings I experienced earlier this year after cancelling my nursing registration.

    After more than 20 years in nursing, it wasn’t about no longer paying an annual fee or removing my name from a register. Nursing had been such a significant part of my identity for so long that letting it go left me feeling a little bereft.

    I don’t regret the decision. My career has taken me in a different direction and I knew it was the right time.

    But it did make me realise that there’s real value in belonging to a professional community.

    Finding the right fit

    As my coaching journey has developed over the past year, I knew I wanted to become part of a professional body that reflected the way I want to practise.

    There are several excellent coaching organisations, each with their own strengths. After spending some time looking into them, I chose the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC).

    What drew me to the EMCC wasn’t just coaching.

    It was coaching and mentoring.

    The more I coach, the more I’ve come to appreciate that leadership development rarely sits neatly at one end of the spectrum. Sometimes people need the space to think their own way through a challenge. Sometimes they benefit from drawing on the experience and perspective of someone who’s been there or walked a similar path.

    Being able to move thoughtfully between coaching and mentoring, whilst being clear about which approach I’m taking and why, has become an important part of my own practice.

    That philosophy felt like a natural fit with the EMCC.

    Learning never stops

    Joining the EMCC has already been really beneficial beyond membership.

    I’ve attended webinars through both EMCC Scotland and EMCC UK, connected with other coaches and mentors, and continued to build my knowledge through ongoing professional development. I actually met someone on one of those calls who invited me on to her podcast which was really nice.

    One of the things I enjoy most about coaching is recognising that there is always something new to learn.

    Every coaching conversation is different and everyone brings different experiences.

    It’s definitely keeping my brain active!

    Accreditation

    Following my ILM Level 7 Diploma for Executive and Senior Level Coaches and Mentors, I was keen to pursue professional accreditation.

    Receiving the diploma demonstrated that I’d successfully completed the qualification.

    Accreditation felt like an important next step for me.

    For me, it represents a commitment to practising ethically, continuing to develop professionally and holding myself accountable to recognised standards.

    There are four levels of accreditation with EMCC Global and because my qualification aligns with the framework, I was able to apply for the third level – Senior Practitioner . It was reassuring to see that my years of leadership, supervision, mentoring and coaching experience were recognised alongside the formal qualification. The fourth and final level is Master Practitioner so who knows what the future might hold!

    I did discover, slightly too late, that I’d completed considerably more paperwork than I actually needed to…

    Typical.

    Still, I’d rather be over-prepared than under-prepared.

    The accreditation team were incredibly helpful throughout the process and it wasn’t long before I received the news that my application had been successful.

    What it means to me

    Receiving my accreditation isn’t the end of anything.

    If anything, it feels like another beginning.

    Just as my nursing registration represented a commitment to lifelong learning and professional standards, my EMCC accreditation feels like the next part of that journey.

    It gives people confidence that I’m committed to coaching ethically, engaging in regular supervision, maintaining my professional development and continually reflecting on my own practice.

    Those are things that really matter to me. Not because they’re requirements, but because they represent the kind of coach I want to be.

    Looking ahead

    Alongside receiving my accreditation, I’ve also been putting the finishing touches to my coaching website.

    The professional photographs are now in place (I’m pleased to report I’ve finally managed to look like someone who’s approachable rather than investigating a crime scene) and I’ve added more information about my coaching programmes and how people can work with me.

    Looking back over the past year, quite a lot has changed.

    From completing my coaching qualification, introducing coaching within my organisation, establishing Leading in Practice Coaching and Consultancy Ltd, and now achieving EMCC Senior Practitioner accreditation.

    Each step has reinforced something I’ve believed for a long time.

    Leadership is never finished. Neither is learning.

    Onwards we go, from registered nurse to accredited coach!

  • Taking the Next Step

    Taking the Next Step

    I’ve had a couple of exciting coaching milestones over the past few weeks.

    A qualification was only the beginning

    Last month I got the news that I’d successfully passed the ILM Level 7 Diploma in Executive and Senior Level Coaching and Mentoring. A few days ago my certificate arrived which meant I could finally submit my accreditation application to the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). I’ll share more about that once I’ve heard the outcome.

    Meanwhile, coaching has become a regular part of my role within the organisation I lead. I’m continuing to coach colleagues from across the staff team and it’s something I genuinely look forward to each week. Having the opportunity to create space for people to think, reflect and develop is a real privilege, and I’ve seen first-hand the difference coaching can make to confidence, leadership and the way people approach challenges.

    One of the things I’ve come to realise after completing the qualification is that I’m keen to continue developing my coaching beyond my own organisation. The more people I’ve coached, the more I’ve realised that coaching is a skill that can only be fine tuned the more you do it. Every conversation teaches me something new and every client brings a different perspective.

    Taking the next step

    With that in mind, I recently shared a Declaration of Interest with my Board outlining my intention to establish a small external coaching practice alongside my role as CEO. It was important to me that this was done openly and transparently, and that the Board were comfortable there would be no conflict with my existing role or impact on the organisation.

    I’m pleased to say that Leading in Practice Coaching and Consultancy Ltd is now officially registered.

    Learning a different side of business

    I have to admit, it’s been quite enjoyable learning about an entirely different side of running a business. Whilst I have experience of leading a charity and all that comes with that, setting up a company has brought its own learning curve. Corporation tax, business banking, allowable expenses, Companies House… it’s a whole thing.

    I’ve explored what Business Gateway offers, attended one of their excellent ‘Meet the Expert’ sessions with an accountant (armed with a list of questions that was probably longer than his agenda) and gradually worked my way through everything I needed to understand. For now, my practice will be small enough that I’m going to manage my own accounts and bookkeeping. I actually quite enjoy understanding how these things work before deciding whether I need additional systems or support.

    Starting small, intentionally

    One thing I have been really conscious of throughout this process is protecting the work-life balance I’ve worked so hard to create.

    It’s easy, particularly when you’ve found something you’re genuinely passionate about, to convince yourself that because it doesn’t feel like work you can just keep doing more and more.

    I’ve been there before.

    During the early years of my career, I probably threw myself into work a little too enthusiastically and eventually had to have a word with myself.

    I don’t want to repeat that pattern.

    So this coaching practice will begin exactly as I’d hoped it would: intentionally.

    I’ll be working with a very small number of executive and senior leaders, completely outside my working hours as CEO. That feels like the right balance. It allows me to continue developing as a coach whilst protecting the time and energy that’s equally important to me.

    Building Leading in Practice

    In the background, I’ve also been putting together my website pages, refining my coaching programmes and thinking carefully about how I want people to experience Leading in Practice.

    One of the more enjoyable jobs was organising a professional photo shoot. I never thought I’d say that but I guess when you find a photographer who is brilliant and completely puts you at ease you have a very different experience.

    Most people know me through my work in drugs policy, which understandably doesn’t lend itself to many smiling photographs. Much of what I speak about publicly involves preventable deaths, stigma and the human impact of policy decisions.

    Hugely important conversations.

    But only one part of who I am.

    I wanted these photographs to capture the other side of me too.

    The person who’s always happy to talk.

    Who believes some of the best conversations happen over a cup of tea.

    Who loves being outdoors and spending time in the garden.

    The dog also made a surprise appearance. Whether those photographs ever see the light of day remains to be seen!

    A new chapter

    This feels like the beginning of another chapter.

    Not because I’ve suddenly become a qualified coach – coaching has been part of how I’ve led for a long time – but because I’m now creating the space to develop that part of my professional life with the same care and intention I’ve tried to bring to everything else.

    I’m excited to see where it leads.