Meet Sally Walker - ACTP Professional Coach

In a nutshell, please tell me what you were doing before you signed up to the Diploma in Professional Coaching Practice (DPCP) programme?

I was a self-employed career consultant, having had an earlier career in international Human Resources

What made you decide to become a coach?

I wanted to extend what I offered to my prospective clients beyond advising them about their career and future path, to offering them a richer coaching experience enabling them to take greater control over their future life choices. I also wanted to feel confident offering Executive Coaching to those clients who take on new roles as senior leaders and who are looking for a thinking partner to work with.

Why did you choose Full Circle Global?

Full Circle Global were recommended to me by a former senior leader career coaching client whose opinion I highly respect. I was impressed that when I contacted Full Circle Global I spoke straight away with its founder Gillian McMichael who explained the content and structure of the programme really clearly and I also valued her strong links with the International Coaching Federation. Other coaching companies I contacted failed to get back to me.

Please tell me what you enjoyed most about the programme?

That’s a hard one, as it really has been all of it! I have particularly appreciated the pace of the programme, building up step by step with coaching practice, interspersed with theory and breakout rooms providing lots of opportunity for helpful collaboration with fellow course participants.

Did you experience any challenges along the way?

Yes in two significant ways. Firstly coaching proved more challenging than I had expected. Moving away from “advising” to “questioning” has been a big shift for me to learn to make and I’m working hard at that. Secondly, the course and the coaching that I received as part of the programme caused me to re-evaluate my own life and how I was showing up in my most important relationship with my husband.

Please tell me what life looks like now that you have trained to be a coach?

Work-wise I am now a career and senior leadership coach rather than an advisor and I feel much more confident about positioning myself as such and charging accordingly. I value myself more than I did before the course. On a broader, personal note I feel that I am learning to slow down as a result of this programme and engage in adult to adult conversations with friends and family. I feel much more connected to others and clearer about who I am as a person.

What has been your biggest learning about yourself and about coaching?

Slow down, ask first, seek to understand first and provide a warm, non-judgemental space for others to reflect, explore and grow

Finally, what would you say to anyone thinking about becoming a coach trainee?

I wish that I had done this course in my 20’s. Coaching is an invaluable approach to life – certainly in the way that it is presented with Full Circle Global – and is worth absolutely every penny. Get on with it!