Interview with Joanne Ernst of ProjectManagerCoaching.com: an accomplished and experienced coach, facilitator and project manager. |
Coaching is a real buzz word at the moment, what is all the fuss about?
Coaching is an incredibly powerful process. Skilled, focussed coaching helps clients create results that matter – to the individual and the organisation.
It can cover a broad spectrum of issues from interpersonal skills, confidence and presentation skills to networking, work-life balance and management issues. The topics vary widely from client to client, the key part is that the measures of success are agreed at the beginning of the coaching relationship, that they have meaning for the client and kept in close focus throughout.
That’s all very well but really, how does it work?
Imagine having a confidential space in which to explore your ideas, having a sounding board for issues you are facing and having someone who absolutely believes in your potential. It’s your time for focussing on what really matters and you’ve got someone who wants to facilitate your progress.
They have a toolkit of processes and models that can illuminate your awareness, open up your thinking and challenge you. The coaching relationship is an intimate space, a challenging space and one where you are held accountable to your own great potential. It’s not for the faint-hearted!
What sort of people do you coach?
What drew me into coaching was, and still is, a great desire to assist people in achieving their potential. This is what drives me to coach managers, executives and project managers, to create a step-change in performance and help them achieve their potential.
There’s a simple equation that I love:
- Performance = Potential – Interference.
Great coaching helps remove interference such as limiting beliefs, lack of skill or clarity in certain areas; then people can perform at their peak. It creates results that matter.
What’s different about you?
As a director of my own company and associate of several leading learning and development consultancies, I bring over ten years experience as a project management consultant and exposure to a wide range of sectors. I have led and managed projects for companies from sectors as diverse as financial services, energy, culture and construction in the UK and New Zealand. I’ve coached project managers, senior managers, project directors and middle managers in financial services, manufacturing, professional services, public services and beyond.
But it’s not about that really, it’s about people. Whatever the sector I have a deep understanding of the management issues facing my clients, I have empathy with their situations and I love using my facilitation and coaching skills to assist them in making impactful changes.
Some six or seven years ago I cemented my instinctive style of coaching with the achievement of the prestigious Institute of Leadership and Management Level 7 Diploma in Executive coaching and Leadership Coaching. I guess I’m biased, but I really think this is the Gold Standard of Executive Coaching! It was an extensive program that really forced me to dig deep, to go far beyond the theories and techniques of coaching, and right to the heart of what I could offer my clients.
When I coach clients, it’s about creating performance improvement with tangible results – results that matter to both the individual and the organisation. That’s what drives me, I love seeing them get great results, overcoming obstacles that scared the heck out of them previously!
Beyond that, I think one of the things my clients appreciate about me is that I help them get calm and focussed – even it times of huge upheaval and pressure. This is just something that I’ve always done, even from childhood, it’s part of who I am.
If you’d like to explore whether my coaching might help you, please get in touch by booking a complementary Personal Strategy session and we can have a confidential discussion.
