Student Story: Katie

Katie Hodgson initially took the Foundation in Coaching Practice programme just to improve her mentoring skills, but came away convinced she wanted to coach professionally.

Current organisation and role: Business mentor and coach
Organisation and role before starting the course: General Manager Supply/Demand Excellence at Shell
Programme level: Foundation
Previous education: degree-level

Transformational way of learning

“I was surprised how much you could learn by doing rather than by having theories thrust at you – it’s transformational. But it is essential you are open-minded. You need to be honest with yourself, willing to try something that you think won’t work, because it might. And even if it doesn’t, that doesn’t matter, because you’re finding out what works for your own individual coaching style.”

Developing a clear coaching style gives you results

“Since completing the course I’m willing to call myself a coach, which is a huge change because I wouldn’t have used that word before. I now love coaching and I want to be able to spend a significant portion of my time doing it. The programme has made me convinced that a coaching style will lead to greater success in whatever you’re doing. I’m absolutely convinced having a clear coaching style gives you results.”

A very personal approach

“i-coach as an organisation feels like they are interested in the individual, instead of trying to get hundreds of people through the door. It’s very personal and you get a lot of quality attention, and I think that’s a real strength. It’s not a cookie-cutter approach; instead you have an adult responsibility to get out of it what you put into it. I like to be pushed, but I want to choose which path to be pushed down, which is what you get. There’s a real community with the faculty and the cohort, so you never feel like you are being told what to do. It’s about sharing experiences and sharing learning.”