Simon H

Simon has a multi-industry (telecoms, chemicals, leisure and manufacturing) and multi discipline (general management, sales, leadership and operations) understanding spanning over 20 years, operating at the higher levels of organisations.

Experience

In 2008, he left the traditional corporate world to learn and completed a full time MBA course at Aston University. He subsequently setup his coaching consultancy, operating as a group facilitator and expert coach in both public and private sectors, and acts as a coaching supervisor to many independent coaches.

In addition to coaching, Simon is a co-founder of a marketing agency (Acema Marketing). This was partly driven by an interest in Marketing, but also a tension to balance technology, sustainability and business requirement. He also understands Artificial Intelligence, spending time in developing artificial coaching capability.

He loves the outdoors and in the last few years has completed the West Highland Way (Walking), Edinburgh to John O Groats (Cycling), Windsor to Sandringham via London and East Anglian Coast (Cycling), Canoeing Expedition in Algonquin (Canada) and climbing Mount Toubkal in Morocco. In the past, Simon has also been involved in Scouting. From sectional leader, through group leadership and finally to County Level Chair, where he was responsible for the governance of delivering safe scouting to 2000 young people and 800 leaders.

Expertise

Simon describes his ideal client as someone that already has an awareness about some of the challenges that they need to overcome.

Typically, these can be behavioural although he is noticing a more partnership coaching approach with leaders about strategy, performance, growth, capacity and capability. This is drawn both from his experiences, learnings and being able to flex his coaching approach dependant on the situation that faces them.

As a trained and accredited Coach, Simon delivers team, group and individual coaching to public and private sector organisations.

As a trained Coaching Supervisor, Simon also works with coaching supervision clients individually and also in groups.

Coaching style

Simon is easy to work with, he listens, offers the right level of support and challenge and is expansive in thinking.  Simon can hold big conversations and helps his clients to understand what they need to be doing.

Traditionally, a coach is described as non-directive. That is, it is about the conversation and questions that occur naturally and without direction.  However, he doesn’t shy away from challenge himself and some of his senior clients often use Simon as a sounding board for new ideas, organisational structures and capabilities, as well as communication suggestions.

Qualifications

Simon left the corporate world to complete a full time MBA at Aston University.  He not only gained a distinction specialising in “Leading people for competitive advantage” but also was awarded best student in the year.

Simon went on to complete a PG Cert in Business and Personal Coaching with Barefoot Coaching awarded by University of Chester and has also completed the training for Coaching Supervision.  He is registered with the British Psychological Society Testing Unit to administer Occupational Ability and Personality Tests.

Prior to starting work, Simon studied at Nottingham University where he gained a BSc (Jt Hons) in Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Coaching philosophy

By bringing the whole self into the coaching conversation, Simon has a belief that we have in ourselves the capability to achieve what we decide to work on given the right levels of support.  He believes that a client needs to take ownership of their outcomes and actions after a coaching conversation and should be equipped through the coaching conversations to enhance capability and outcome.

What this means is that there is no single model, nor pattern that he falls back on when working with clients.  He is eclectic in style, and expansive in thinking, working with the client to minimise the tensions and interference that obscure greater success.

He lives by the mantra of providing a challenging, safe, confidential and developmental space for his clients to grow.
Simon also believes in continual growth and learning for himself.  We never achieve true perfection, so we are always a work in creation – that is, Simon believes that we need to continually be exposing ourselves to new thinking, new interpretations, and new experiences.  These help him to grow both individually and professionally thereby helping his clients to do the same.