frequently asked questions

​​How did I get into coaching?

I am lucky enough to have started my career with a decade in the creative industries. I got to write for the Guardian, broadcast on the BBC and play as a session musician with Passenger. ​​I then released four acclaimed albums and performed at the Pompidou Centre and Royal Albert Hall as one half of Grasscut.​

​​​

I went into higher education to help others have similarly rewarding experiences and avoid some of the mistakes I'd made myself. I soon realised that I loved helping people to learn. I also realised that Oscar Wilde was at least half-right when he declared: nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. We learn by doing and by reflecting on that doing. Slideshows are no match for actual experience. 

​​​​​​

Over time, I came to understand that my role wasn't to give answers - it was to create the conditions in which people could find out answers for themselves. At some point, I realised I was coaching. 

​​​

Why is coaching effective? 

In one sense, coaching is strikingly simple. Coaches help clients define goals and break them into manageable steps. And they hold them accountable for actually taking those steps by asking powerful questions and listening carefully to the answers. That's it. 

​​

The results, however, can be spectacular. 

​

I have experienced this as a client: I am lucky enough to have been coached by Jonathan Passmore, and the results were transformative.

​​​

I'm happy to say I've seen it in clients too. One, for instance, had spent a decade and a half in an organisation he despised without applying for anything else. After three sessions, he was landing interviews for new jobs. 

​​​​

Another was regularly working until after midnight. Within a couple of months, she had regained work-life integration - and overcome a fear of public speaking into the bargain. ​​​