Wheatley Solutions is a software company providing complex metering solutions to the UK utilities industry. As Marketing Manager and part of the senior management team at Wheatley I have a hugely varied role that requires me to be many things to many people to keep the business running smoothly. My work with alitus is a really important part of keeping my focus in the right place, so that I can effectively balance the many different demands of my job (and my life) and know that I’ve done my best.
To do this I meet with an alitus coach for 1:1 sessions four to five times a year and have done for five years now. These sessions with Ken are a vital part of how I work – allowing me the time and encouragement to think about what is important and how I can make a difference in all sorts of situations and decisions. I can feel overwhelmed with the scale of a problem at the beginning of a session, only to feel excited about tackling it at the end!
Coaching isn’t all about solving problems however, I also appreciate the discipline it gives me to set goals and create plans. This works for both my professional and personal life and alitus coaching has given me the confidence to do and achieve things I never thought possible before. I now thoroughly enjoy public speaking, I have taken on responsibilities for corporate compliance, sales pitches and contract work, and there are times when I can apply what I have learnt in coaching to help others in the workplace too.
I am naturally someone who is very last minute in everything I do, but my coaching sessions are an exception to this – I find myself planning for what I want to discuss, making notes in between sessions on the progress I am making, what I am finding hard and what I am proud of. Just 90 minutes a few times a year is enough to make me remember who I am, what I am good at and what I want to achieve. It isn’t an indulgence to do this – it is liberating. Coaching is a safe place that allows the simple (yet initially very difficult) act of saying out loud what you want to change and why. And in saying it you find a solution and make yourself accountable for making it happen.