Peter Ratcliffe, Head of IT, Sharp Business Systems UK Plc

 “I am an IT professional with 29 years’ experience in the industry, having developed my career from a hardware engineer to the Head of IT. In my current role I am responsible for the IT systems, application development, Information Security (ISO27001& GDPR), buildings facilities for 12 UK locations, environmental management (ISO14001), health and safety and the car fleet.

Coaching was offered to all members of the leadership team as part of their ongoing personal development programme, as I am always willing to learn new skills I embraced the opportunity.

My own perception prior to starting the coaching program was that I was a good leader but lacked confidence and assertiveness in certain interactions with my peers in the leadership team. There was also a question mark over the effectiveness of my relationship with my line manager, the managing director.

Sandra was recommended to me by our HR Director, she made the initial introductions and set up a compatibility phone call between myself and Sandra. The initial steps with the coaching process were to carry out a 360 degree review of my management and personality style, strengths and weaknesses. This process was very enlightening and gave both myself and Sandra a clearer view of the perception of me as a leader.

The most interesting lesson from this review identified that by striving to be perfect, I was affecting my team members by never saying no to anyone and taking on too much work. The first lesson therefore was finding ways to say no, understanding that it is OK to not always be perfect and that getting it wrong sometimes is normal.

Through the coaching process we also established that I am able to present reasonable and assertive arguments but I had an inbuilt fear of causing offence or upset to others. Through the coaching we discussed scenarios and situations in which that had occurred and came up with methods and strategies to deal with this. As a result I was able to assert my position when challenged by my peers.

To help with the relationship with the managing director we mapped out the communication styles and personality traits of the MD against my own. We looked at ways in which I could more effectively manage communication and relationships both vertically and horizontally. The result has been improved communication and relationships at all levels.

The timings and duration of the sessions worked well for me, it can sometimes be a challenge to work on some of the objectives and targets set during the sessions but you have to make a personal and professional commitment to making it happen. Having the sessions in an offsite environment frees you from any distractions and for me it made me feel that I was going to something rather than just another meeting.

I will continue to use the lessons and strategies learned in the coaching program to build on the successful platform it has created. I would thoroughly recommend professional coaching and in particular Sandra, it may be very challenging and take you out of your comfort zone but if you see it through you will reap the benefits.”