LEADERS IN EXECUTIVE COACHING
Sample Profiles
The following pen portraits demonstrate the kind of service that we can offer:
Chloe is a very beautiful girl, softly spoken, and wearing interesting and slightly unconventional clothes. She came to us because her parents were very worried about her. Chloe's profile >
Alex had everything...very bright, well presented, with an Oxbridge degree and three years experience in an International blue-chip organisation. She came to us after a ‘gap year’ spent travelling following the cycle ride. Alex's profile >
Patrick was not surprised to get mediocre A level results, and be turned down for an Economics degree at Manchester. He managed to ‘persuade himself’ onto a comparative Religion course at the same university. Everyone asked ‘what on earth will you do with that’? but he went ahead. Patrick's profile >
Paul travelled around South America, arriving back in the UK shortly before the start of his first term at Oxford. He had changed in many ways, and was much more independent than the boy that had left home. Paul's profile >
To get more information about our portfolio of services or to reserve a place at one of the seminars, please contact Charlotte Gaudiano on 020 7478 3109 or email charlotte.gaudiano@praesta.com.
Chloe is a very beautiful girl, softly spoken, and wearing interesting and slightly unconventional clothes. She came to us because her parents were very worried about her. She had dropped out of a degree in Anthropology at Durham University, where she had gained a place from a girls C of E school, at one of the oldest, and most prestigious colleges. Her confidence had been shattered by the experience of the first few weeks in this environment and she was convinced that university was not for her. She had decided to take a job in a local nursery school, and seemed to have lost all ambition.
In a very safe environment, we encouraged her to review her experience of growing up, her education, and her gap year, much of which she had spent with family in Norway. We looked at what environments and tasks had been productive for her, and what sort of people were good for her. Themes emerged. She was very hardworking, but easily intimidated by really intelligent people, especially articulate ones. In her personal relationships, she was rarely the dominant partner, and she had not had any experience of competing with ‘show-off’ boys in her rather protected school. She had a ‘fuzzy and warm’ picture of what she hoped to achieve in life, which included ‘something creative and not boring’, with people working harmoniously in pleasant surrounds. She wanted to have a good relationship, and her own children, but not for sometime. In the meantime she wanted to be happy, and be liked.
Her real interest lay in Art & Design, especially to do with textiles and clothes, and she loved communicating this creativity to children. Because she had good A level grades (AAB) she had felt that she ‘should’ do a ‘proper’ degree. After our sessions, she gained some work experience with a designer, continued to work in the school and then embarked, very successfully upon a foundation course. Now in her second year of a degree in Fashion Design she is academically brighter than many of her contemporaries, and has felt able to ‘relax and enjoy’ the course. She is much more confident, and expected to do very well. She now hopes to work ‘behind the scenes’ in the fashion world until she has a family, and then to train as an Art teacher.
Alex had everything...very bright, well presented, with an Oxbridge degree and three years experience in an International blue-chip organisation. After 2 years as a graduate marketing trainee, where she had done very well, attracting the attention of some key business leaders, she had accepted her first ‘real job’, supporting a major brand. From the start she did not enjoy this feeling that she had become a ‘number cruncher’ with little scope for her undoubted creativity. She had a disappointing performance review, and decided that she was in the wrong business. She threw her energies into preparing for a charity cycle ride on the other side of the world, and gave 3 months notice to her employers. They tried to persuade her to take unpaid leave, but she declined the offer. She came to us after a ‘gap year’ spent travelling following the cycle ride. Very anti big-business, she had conflicting values - wanting status, money and recognition, but also something ‘worthwhile’, working with like minds, and gaining ‘intellectual bounce’.
We reviewed her experience, and discussed how she had (or hadn’t) made decisions in the past. She began to realise that, although she had worked (reasonably) hard, things had almost always gone her way and she enjoyed being the ‘clever one’. Gaining an understanding of what is expected within apparently ‘glamorous’ jobs was a key part of our discussions. It was important for her to understand what she was prepared to compromise to achieve something that she would be proud of. She is now working very successfully as a partner in a small independent consultancy that advises big businesses on corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Patrick is the only son (he has two sisters) with an American father, and an Irish mother. His father works for a major bank, which he does not enjoy, and his mother works (for very little money) in a school, which she loves. At school, Patrick gained a good range of GCSE’s, but did not enjoy the 6th form, found some of the restrictions of school constraining, and wished that he had gone to the 6th form college. He didn’t go into school everyday, and was not surprised to get mediocre A level results, and be turned down for an Economics degree at Manchester. He was sure that he would enjoy university life, however, and managed to ‘persuade himself’ onto a comparative Religion course at the same university. Everyone asked ‘what on earth will you do with that’? But he went ahead.
The course was very broadly-based, and he enjoyed it, worked hard, and did well, achieving a high 2:1. He spent 6 months at an American university, and had a ‘brilliant’ summer working as a camp counselor. In his final year he had applied for all the major recruiters in the Finance sector, and had been invited to a handful of interviews, but had not received any offers. Living at home, and working in a local shop he was very cynical about the value of his degree, and talking about taking a years’ contract at an American camp, and then ‘going travelling’.
From discussions, and analysis of some of our exercises, it became clear that he was not really interested in his ‘chosen’ career area, but saw the whole world of work for men as a necessary evil. He did not expect to enjoy himself if (as he wanted) he would eventually be in a position to support a wife and family. In interviews, he was obviously sending out a series of unconscious negative messages.
We looked at all the things he was good at and enjoyed, and a strong ‘people/caring/problem-solving’ theme emerged. But he was also ambitious, and wanted to do something that would provide good rewards. His knowledge of career options was very limited and he assumed that ‘enjoyable’ jobs must be poorly paid, or insecure. He was also proud of his degree, and wanted to be credited for it.
We helped him to look at all the positive things he had to offer, and to explore a range of occupations that may suit him, together with a ‘toolkit’ of personal marketing skills and communication. He is now in the second year of a Management Training Scheme with an International Hotel Group, and is currently enjoying life in Bermuda.
Paul, the only son of very successful parents had enjoyed life at a leading London Independent School. He loved competitive sport, and was a popular student. Several years running, he won the English prize and it was generally assumed that he would go to Oxford and have a brilliant career.
Sure enough, he gained a deferred Oxford place, and began to plan a gap year. He worked in his fathers’ (Accountancy) firm for a few months, and then participated in a very well organised charity project in Perth. With friends from the project he traveled around South America, arriving back in the UK shortly before the start of term. He had changed in many ways, and was much more independent than the boy that had left home.
Oxford was rather a disappointment – he was critical of some of the traditions of his College, and unhappy with some of the teaching. Increasingly, his interests shifted from the academic to the outside world. He became very involved with Amnesty International, and joined several political societies. Upon graduation (with a 2:2) he went back to South America, and spent the next three years travelling and helping with a selection of NGO projects. Now back and living at home, he felt ready to ‘get started’ but had absolutely no idea of what he wanted to do. However, he felt sure about what he didn’t want.
In discussion, it emerged that Paul felt that he could not ‘live up to his story’ of expected conventional success. At school, he had been envious of boys that came from more relaxed, usually less wealthy family backgrounds, where there had been discussions about world events and social issues. He felt now that, although he was good at English, he should have done a different sort of degree, and gone to a more socially mixed university. Some of the (relative) deprivation he had endured during his time in South America was one way of ‘proving' that he wasn’t just a privileged middle-class boy.
We looked at all the skills and knowledge that he had gained at the different stages of his life, and considered how to use them in a productive way. He decided to go back to university to do a Masters in International Development, which he loved. Upon graduation, he has joined a major NGO, and is directly involved in several projects in South America.
