Brigid Has Extensive Experience of Working with Senior Teams and Leaders on Improving

Brigid Russell Executive Coach

As an independent executive coach and consultant, Brigid Russell works with a range of individuals in both public and private sector organisations on their personal and leadership development and career progression.

Brigid has extensive experience of working with senior teams and leaders on improving organisational, team and personal effectiveness. She is passionate about the impact of coaching in enabling individuals to realise their potential and to make a full contribution to their respective organisation. She has the Master Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching from the Academy of Executive Coaching. She is currently undertaking the Certificate in Coaching Supervision with the Bath Consultancy Group.

She began her career in health services management, working for six years as a manager of non-clinical services in mental health in London. After completing a full-time Masters in Business Administration at Manchester Business School in 1995, she joined the Hay Group in Manchester as a management consultant. She progressed to the position of Associate Director and business manager of the consulting team in Glasgow where she was responsible for leading the team (between 2001 and 2004) and developing the business in Scotland until leaving in 2006. During 2007, alongside developing her coaching practice, Brigid worked on a part-time basis with a university-based not-for-profit consultancy in the areas of team coaching & facilitation, development, action learning and assessment. Alongside her independent work, since 2008 she has also been part of a small specialist team in NHS Scotland which works across Health Boards on scoping and delivering leadership development.

Brigid has a MA in History from the University of Oxford. She was born and brought up in Oxford but has Celtic roots, with a family background in both the West of Ireland and South Wales. She moved to Stirling in 1999 and it has become her natural home. She is married to Jim, a musician and singer/song-writer. Their shared love of music and films provide a welcome distraction from work.

1 2 My approach to coaching

In essence, my view is that coaching is about enabling an individual to grow and to enhance their effectiveness in their context. Coaching assists “…those in leadership positions to develop the awareness, perspective, clarity of thought and emotional responsiveness to occupy their 1 roles authentically and creatively”. By providing space for reflection, coaching enables the individual to enhance their self-understanding of their behaviours, strengths and weaknesses, and their future development.

I see the coaching client as resourceful and my role as coach as helping the client draw on their resourcefulness in realising their potential.2 I work with the client as an equal; in essence, a co- 3 active coaching approach. Coaching is a powerful process for supporting and enabling a client to explore and resolve issues that are important to them. The context for coaching is that the client has the desire to change something. My role, as the coach, is to provide a structure to support and to challenge the client in working on their key issues. The impact of coaching is potentially long-lasting as it is centred on what is important to the client, i.e. on those things that are going to make the biggest difference to them and to their effectiveness in a role.

I work in a non-judgemental way and I hold values around mutual respect, trust, confidentiality and respect for diversity.

My coaching experience

I have coached individuals over the past ten years. In the last couple of years, I have coached over 30 clients drawn from a diverse range of roles and backgrounds. In coaching leaders in both the public and private sectors, I find some of the recurring themes include:

· Managing with integrity and honesty and staying true to values while being a leader within an increasingly challenging financial environment. · The transition from a professional expert into a leadership role. · Building resilience, emotional and social intelligence. · Handling the ethical challenges of a leadership role and balancing this with corporate governance, risk and innovation. · Influencing upwards within a highly politicised context.

Current and recent examples of my coaching clients are outlined below to provide a flavour of the range of my coaching interactions:

· A Finance Director in a NHS Trust who is concerned to develop her leadership style and broader impact across the Trust and the wider health and social care system

1 West, L. and Milan, M. (2001) The Reflecting Glass, Basingstoke: Palgrave, p.39 2 Rogers, J. (2004) Coaching skills: A handbook, New York: Open University Press, p.7-8

23 Whitworth, L., Kimsey-House, K., Kimsey-House, H., and Sandahl, P. (2007) Co-active Coaching, Mountain View, California: Davies-Black

3 · A senior Academic who is fulfilling a leadership role and is focused on achieving a better balance between the several (sometimes competing) aspects of her academic and leadership roles · A clinical leader who has taken on a national role in influencing and shaping the quality of services. The coaching has focused on helping her to make the transition from an operational to a more strategic role. · A Head of Department in a Health Trust who has been seconded into a Director role in a national organisation and is using the coaching for challenge and support in this transitional period for him. · A leader in corporate services within a University who is focused on improving and developing her leadership style and strategic impact and influence across the institution and beyond

Below I have provided excerpts from direct feedback provided by several clients:

“Relationships are important to me. My expectations have been met and more, Brigid you have been reassuring when I needed it, but you also have challenged me when it was required.”

“Having time out to consider and reflect on your development and the opportunity to discuss this with someone without judgement, has just been right for me, in building my confidence and articulating the skills that I possess. Being able to rehearse challenging situations with my line manager I found particularly helpful.”

“Brigid demonstrated empathy with, and understanding of, the barriers I was facing – on many occasions. She constructively challenged me when I was negative and defeatist. She also assisted me in achieving a positive outcome”.

“Brigid demonstrated exceptionally good listening skills, evidenced through regular summarising of the issues I had been discussing”.

“She encouraged me to think about my desired outcomes from forthcoming meetings / work and helped me to work through how I could influence such outcomes. Her style was really effective in this area as she pushed me to confront issues without it being obvious”.

I also fulfil the role as Co-faculty on the Practitioner Diploma in Executive Coaching with the Academy of Executive Coaching in Scotland, a role which involves me in the development, supervision and assessment of individuals who are seeking to improve their coaching practice.

4 Professional development as a coach

I strongly believe it is critical for me to carry on developing my own capabilities as a coach through continuing professional development, peer coaching and supervision. I commenced studies for the Certificate in Coaching Supervision with the Bath Consultancy Group in January 2014 (due to complete by Summer 2015). In November 2012, I graduated from the Master Practitioner Programme in Coaching with the Academy of Executive Coaching. It has also involved me in fulfilling the role as assistant faculty on an advanced coach development programme. The Master Practitioner programme leads on to a Masters in Coaching with the University of Middlesex which I plan to commence in 2016.

In November 2012, I was awarded First Prize in the Burditt Lectures (Academy of Executive Coaching) for my essay entitled “Coaching the person in the context of complexity and uncertainty”.

I meet regularly with a highly experienced coaching supervisor. I am also involved in group supervision with two other experienced coach colleagues.

In July 2009, I gained the Diploma in Advanced Executive Coaching with the Academy of Executive Coaching, accredited at advanced practitioner level by the International Coaching Federation. In April 2007 I was awarded the post-graduate (level 7) Coaching Diploma by the Institute of Leadership & Management. I am accredited to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI Step I & II) and Emotional Competence Inventory. In January 2008, I was awarded the Certificate in Workplace Mediation (at Distinction level).

I am a member of the European Mentoring & Coaching Council, professional organisation for coaching and, as such, I subscribe to and practice in accordance with the EMCC Code of Ethics.