NEWSLETTER FOR JANUARY 2008

Coach of the Month - January

Name

Paul Pinson

Company

Brightspace www.bright-space.com

Background

Business, theatre, business & theatre…in that order.

After initial qualifications in Business Studies I started out in the insurance industry. After 5 happy and challenging years I followed my passion for the arts and left to take a degree in theatre. On graduation I joined up with Jimmy Boyle in Edinburgh and started a theatre company called Boilerhouse. Nearly 20 years later and the company still exists. As Artistic Director I’ve had the privilege of creating some unique productions in a range of extraordinary locations both local and international ranging from a Pacific oceanfront to the Formula 1 circuit in Monaco, and include the largest ever single audience for a Scottish theatre company Throughout this period I’ve been fortunate to lead and work with some diverse and wonderful teams.

About 7 years ago I was asked to be a business mentor with Business Gateway and that started a parallel journey into the world of personal development. I decided to downsize Boilerhouse and in 2006 I started Brightspace which now takes up about 80-90% of my time, with international projects for Boilerhouse occupying the other 10-20%.

What Inspired You To Go Into Coaching?

My work in the arts has always centred around the creation of new work, almost all of which has been devised; i.e. we start without a script and write and create the whole production together as a team. Fundamentally underpinning this artistic work is a belief in human potential and the need to place ourselves in those situations where great growth, discoveries and learning can happen. My other fundamental belief was in the power of storytelling: i.e. we make sense of the world through stories. As a theatre-maker I was simply a storyteller.

When I started mentoring people I discovered that these same beliefs were both transferable and appropriate. I also learned to value my experience as a creative leader, my emotional intelligence, and how my aim had always been to empower my teams, build capacity, and to ultimately write myself out of the process (after all as a director you’re not involved in the “delivery” – I’ll never be on stage with them). These qualities helped inform this initial mentoring work.

As time progressed I realised how much I loved working one on one with people, supporting them with their own growth. I also felt I was learning more and growing more by doing this than I was in my theatre work. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved the artistic work I’ve created but somehow the mentoring felt more connected with the personal difficulties and triumphs of peoples’ lives – the everyday stuff. This felt real and connected.

So I started to investigate the world of mentoring and coaching and how I might enter it. As I mentioned above I decided to cut back on my theatre work and started the Executive Coaching PostGrad at Strathclyde University.

Key Qualifications & Training

HND Business Studies
BA (HONS) Drama & Theatre Arts
PostGraduate Certificate in Executive Coaching

Specialist Areas of Coaching

One on one coaching with business owners and senior managers.
Workshop design & facilitation on a number of subjects (inc influencing skills, presentation, visioning, managing self and others, etc).
Motivational speaking on leadership.
Coach training.
Mentoring small to medium scale businesses

Greatest Coaching Moment

I hope I haven’t had it yet!

What Is Your Vision For Your Coaching?

To get better by continuing to grow and learn.
To get better at fulfilling the needs of my clients.

I enjoy all the different aspects of my work - they all positively contribute to each other. I want to develop this range of work and to keep saying yes to the different opportunities that come my way, particularly those situations that are new and challenging.

As I gain more and more experience I’d like to keep developing my ability to be totally in the moment with my work and respond to whatever my clients present to me in whatever setting that might be.

Philosophy

With the failure of traditional leadership and traditional hierarchies we will all have to take greater responsibility for our actions. Coaching brings people to these higher levels of awareness and responsibility. As coaches we are in the only industry solely focussed on these issues. Simply put (and borrowing from John Whitmore) – if we help people get happier then the planet gets happier.

Contact details

Telephone: 07815 057766

Email: paul@bright-space.com

Web: www.bright-space.com

Client's Corner

Sheena Greco, Edinburgh Council

Edinburgh City Council "We have begun to 'create a coaching culture' in the Children and Families Department following our successful CFM coaching programme for all senior managers last year. This coaching ‘pool’ is taking coaching skills forward by coaching aspiring leaders, coaching other coaches, developing and delivering training for colleagues. In addition, every leader participating in our leadership CPD programmes, from aspiring to senior level, is offered a coach.
We have seen benefits to both coach and coachee - the majority report both enhanced job satisfaction and a reduction in stress levels. Our next proposal is to offer one-to-one coaching to all 9,500 of our staff!"

Course Dates

ILM Level 5 VRQ Diploma
Venue - Stirling Management Centre
30th September 2008
29th October 2008
26th November 2008
» Download Brochure For Full Course Details
ILM Level 7 VRQ Diploma
25th Jan 2008
26th February 2008
2nd April 2008
29th April 2008
» Download Brochure For Full Course Details
Cert of Professional Development
Venue - Stirling Management Centre
25th August 2008
15th September 2008
6/7th October 2008
3rd November 2008
8th December 2008
» Download Brochure For Full Course Details
Post Grad Cert in Exec Coaching
Venue - University of Strathclyde Business School
Module 1
3/4th October 2008
21/22nd November 2008
Module 2
16/17th January 2009
6/7th March 2009
Module 3
15/16/17th May 2009
» Download Brochure For Full Course Details
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