Career Coaching for Academics, Researchers and Professionals

Getting established and staying ahead in any career requires many different skills.

You need to communicate, plan, influence, demonstrate vision. You need to lead while delivering on your own role outputs.

Sometimes you know you need to grow into a new role, a new project or maybe even a different job.

For Researchers, Academics and Professional Services staff, working hard probably isn’t enough, good results aren’t enough. Getting published, while essential for many, on it’s own it probably isn’t enough.

How do you get a permanent lectureship or promoted beyond that? And if you’re not on the tenure track, what other career choices might suit you?

Coaching can help you to develop new skills and see better options for progress inside or outside Academia.

When you’re ready to change, coaching works.

An organisation will invest in your development up to a point and your employer may fund your coaching. Beyond that, your growth is your own responsibility… you might fund it from a research or professional development grant or from your own funds – but the decision to grow is yours.

The researchers and academics who make the biggest leaps — in confidence, in influence, in the shape of their careers — are usually the ones who at some point decided not to wait for their institution to catch up with their ambitions. They invested in themselves.

That’s what coaching is. Not a perk your employer provides. A decision you make.

Some of the most important shifts in your career happen in individual work — recognising what’s holding you back, finding language for what you actually want, deciding what kind of academic or professional you intend to become.

That’s what coaching is for.

What do you want to achieve? Greater impact? Promotion? Some sort of work-life integration?

Working with a Coach you get more done. You hold yourself accountable for making decisions and taking actions. You make sure each day takes you closer to your goal at the same time as enjoying more of what you do, in and out of work.

We can arrange for personal coaching if your employer doesn’t provide coaching support.

Coaching takes place via Zoom — location is no obstacle. I offer structured 12-session programmes or a custom programme designed around your specific situation and goals.

If your institution doesn’t fund individual coaching, personal-pay arrangements are available.

To explore whether coaching is the right next step, the best starting point is a conversation. Call me on +44 7720 844760 or email me — no obligation, no pitch.

Who I work with

I work one-to-one with researchers, academics and university professional services staff who are at a point of change — or who know they need to get to one. That might mean:

• Moving into a leadership role and not feeling ready
• Wanting a permanent position and not knowing what’s blocking progress
• Carrying imposter syndrome into rooms where you need to show up with authority
• Deciding whether to stay in academia or leave — and on what terms
• Managing the pressure of a demanding role without losing yourself in it

These aren’t problems a workshop solves. They need individual attention, sustained over time, by someone who understands the environment you’re working in.

Why work with me?

I’m not a generic career coach who works across industries. I spent more than 25 years as a researcher and academic — PhD in molecular genetics, postdoctoral positions, Senior Scientific Officer roles, and ultimately a Senior Lectureship at the Royal Veterinary College. I know what it costs to build an academic career and what it takes to lead well inside one.

My coaching training is equally rigorous: I’m a CoachU graduate, certified NLP Master Practitioner, a OneOfMany certified coach and trainer, a full member of the Association for Coaching.

That combination — insider knowledge of the academic world and professional coaching practice — is what makes the work effective for the people I work with.

If you’re wondering whther this is right for you, email me — no obligation, no pitch, just a supportive conversation.

Where would you like to start?

We will work on your agenda. You might know exactly where you want to focus or you may want to try a few assessments to identify priority areas for our work together. I can suggest the best tools or resources for you.

We can work our way through a more structured programme where you will really clarify your personal values and motivators. These are the things that are most important to you – they guide your decisions and shape your path through life. Would you like to begin?

For example:

Leading From Expertise

This programme addresses the skills, attitudes and behaviours needed to develop your leadership style and blends personal with leadership development. Modules include:

• Leadership: Not just for Managers
• Owning your place at the table – What holds you back?
• Developing Professional Identity and Networks – Who do you want to be? What motivates you? What do you want to be known for?
• Communication and influencing skills
• Options: Personal Effectiveness, Supervision, Managing Pressure – which do you need most?

From Imposter to Empowered

You may be in a position where leadership – or the opportunity to lead – is before you and you wonder “Am I up to this?”.

You doubt whether you’ve really got what it takes – though your line manager probably believes in you and your potential. You look up that career ladder and wonder…

Do I want that role? Have I got what it takes? Can I learn the skills to do it well?

If you could turn down the voice of your Inner Critic, manage your Perfectionist, find courage and confidence to step forward…

When you complete this programme, you’ll hardly believe the changes, made with ease, while enjoying the journey.

You’ll see yourself, whole. Stepping forward into the opportunity. Owning, with a humble pride, the difference you make.

Important components of any coaching programme can include:

• Identifying personal/professional priorities
• Clarify your personal and professional goals or intentions
• Set fair and firm boundaries
• Prioritising time/life management
• Taming the Inner Critic
• Developing key communication skills
• Dealing with stress

This focus on personal growth and balance will produce measurable changes in your quality of life, professional performance and personal satisfaction.

My professional training as a Coach combined with many years personal experience within University and Research Institute environments as an active Researcher and Senior Academic gives me real insight into your complex needs.

But don’t just take my word for it, previous clients have said: