Fiona Wilkinson specialises in working with leaders who are taking on new responsibilities, challenges or preparing for a bigger role.
Coaching style
Fiona finds the most impactful conversations happen when she asks questions and listens for longer. She comes alongside as a thinking partner, challenging from a real-world perspective to help surface better solutions.
Her job as a coach is to do 3 key things: -
· ask powerful questions to help the client think deeply about what’s on their mind;
· create a safe space to explore possibilities, practice new behaviours, and take calculated risks;
· shine a spotlight on the things the client cares most about.
Whenever it makes sense she likes to get out into the open air, encouraging clients to step away from their computers. Experience shows that a change of environment, open spaces, can be great for generating new thinking.
Background and qualifications
Fiona has spent her career working in big corporates mainly in sales, marketing and communications, most recently as chief communication officer at Visa, a board level role.
She is experienced in navigating complex, multi-national organisations. That means she understands the reality of dealing with competing commitments and interests, supposedly working towards the same goal; how to help a leader hold these complexities, and move forward.
She has been a coach for ten years. She is certified by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) at senior practitioner level; holds a Professional Certificate in Coaching (PCIC), and an MSc in Coaching for Behavioural Change from Henley Business School; and a Certificate in Mental Fitness Coaching.
Outcomes
As confirmed by academic research, coaching directly impacts performance and results because of measurable improvements in:
· self -awareness and self-belief
· alignment with corporate goals
· engagement with peers, teams and wider stakeholders
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Here are some examples of how coaching has made a difference to clients:
· A COO became aware of the pivotal role that he was playing in merger negotiations, and strove to balance competing needs of interested parties including the two organizations, the teams, clients and shareholders, as well as the regulators.
· A new Director experienced an improved working relationship with her SVP after becoming aware of the pressures facing executive leaders and adopting a more thoughtful approach.
· A new leader recognised that she did not need to do everything, leading to improved awareness of where she adds most value. Combined with new behaviours of prioritisation and delegation, this reduced her stress and allowed her to grow into her new leadership role.
What clients say
“I have learnt so much that I can use practically in my role. More importantly I now have a better understanding of my strengths and how to use these to add value whilst remaining the authentic me.” Director, FT 100 company.
“I feel like a lot of the work we did is really paying off and I’ve had some real success in terms of being more assertive about my value! It feels good!” CEO, Production company.
“I left the session with some specific actions to take, which turned out to be exactly what was required. I appreciated the challenge to get really specific with these targets, including the practicality of taking them in the time available. The session made me think about how I would act in the widest sense - preparations, behaviour, emotions, reactions, goals.” COO, global energy company.
“Fiona coached me on leadership and career development in 2019/2020, as I was the only female member of an executive team. Fiona came across as very professional and friendly. Fiona provoked my thinking but never made me feel uncomfortable. After each session I was able to see the problems discussed from a different angle and come out of the meeting with an action plan. She helped me perceive challenging situations more rationally and take things less personally. Fiona challenged me to step out of situations and see the positives. During the sessions I could voice any issues and ideas and explore opportunities that I had not considered before. As result I have hugely improved my confidence at work and have become more vocal in expressing my career goals”. S.H.
“Fiona helped me to assess my future plans, identify my strengths and areas where I could be behaving differently to be more successful. She gave me space to think through my goals and asked the questions I needed to be asked to help me find the right path. Our sessions led to me to uncovering insights about myself that have directly led me to have greater confidence to choose better working relationships and respond and communicate with clients in a more effective way. In the past year I have finally achieved some of the goals that I have been working towards for some time and I would relate a good deal of this success to the time I spent working with Fiona”. A.W.
Further information
Contact details
07710 096603
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