As for a lot of people, the pandemic was a reset and pivotal moment. I had just left a job where I had progressed well for over 8 years, culminating in being the Head of the Academy of Professional Development for The Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales. I had led and coached a multi-disciplinary team over several years, and extended that to our client base by taking an approach that empowered and enabled them to make informed decisions about their learning and development journey to progress in their careers. The lessons I learnt in my roles were invaluable, most notably being true to my values. I was and am passionate about helping people, and when I considered the opportunity to qualify as a coach, I could not resist the calling.
I could not have imagined how life changing a qualification would be, personally and professionally. I became a lot more aware of my words, actions and listening which immensely improved my interactions with family and friends. The qualification with The Coaching Academy was a game changer. Of the many organisations that offer coaching qualifications, I was drawn to The Coaching Academy due to their passion and desire to bring coaching skills to everyone.
The programme I chose was the Personal Performance Diploma, which had several interactive aspects to it. The live modules, peer learning, mentoring, online resources, assessments and customer support were first class. I qualified in May 2022, and have since continued to access The Coaching Academy's Coaching Conversations, CPD workshops, blogs, resources from my training days and much more.
A breakthrough moment in my training came with a pro bono client – a Head of Business Partnering who I coached through her new role. In one of the sessions, I practised the skill of being comfortable with silence, then asking a good question which led her to say, “Oh wow, I would never have thought about it that way!” That’s amazing” – she cried and said that’s a massive breakthrough. She then asked her boss to book more paid sessions once I qualified!
Just before I qualified, I began approaching people in my personal and professional network about my new career. I had not quite nailed my niche at this stage, so wanted to cast the net as wide as possible. My next breakthrough came with an accountancy firm who engaged me after several conversations. I was brought in to deliver training modules alongside one-to-one coaching for their management team and senior leadership team. This was both nerve wrecking and exciting – I spent days planning, rehearsing the training, preparing for the coaching sessions and didn’t sleep much!
Alongside, I joined peer coaching groups that had been created by qualified coaches from The Coaching Academy – that was immensely valuable. I could bounce ideas, share challenges and look for support to gain new insights and guidance.
The feedback from my first client was hugely motivating. The leadership team said they had their eyes opened and horizons widened with the coaching, so much so that they said the impact was being felt throughout the firm.
The management team also demonstrated mindset shifts from the coaching, the impact felt by the leadership team as they noticed the team taking ownership, initiatives and communicating to enhance relationships.
The most noteworthy difference was for one senior leader. He ran at 100 mph and often felt that the team did not engage with his energy and enthusiasm. I coached him over 6 sessions, and as the cog wheels began to turn, he also had this moment of AHA! When he changed his style and approach, he wrote to me and said what a difference it made, and the team were now fully on board with his ideas.
My favourite tool in coaching is DISC Personality Profiling. It has been a game changer for my clients – the simplicity and accuracy of the report that shows my clients the power of communication to build and enhance relationships.
I continue to coach based on the GROW model. However, as a fully trained coach I am comfortable with going where the client wants to go, adapting my style and approach to get the best outcome and output for the client. I believe, for myself, that this is where coaching is powerful. Clients appreciate the fact that I am there as a 50% partner, listening, challenging and supporting ultimately to enable them to raise their awareness. And every day and every client is different yet exciting.
I realise that I get energised in both group and one-to-one sessions, with middle management and senior leadership
Some of the main issues my professional clients bring to sessions are communication skills, relationships, workloads, managing their team and upwards, difficult conversations and finally work life balance.
The future is exciting! As I build my business (Chakra), offering and become clearer on my target/ideal clients and sectors, I continue to embrace and enjoy the journey. Each one day provides a learning – and that has been a key message from the training days and since qualifying.
To maintain momentum and learning, The CPD for Coaches provides great additional avenues and content, alongside business development through networking, LinkedIn and referrals. I have yet to obtain a further accreditation (like ACC from ICF) – and that is a goal this year.
In the next phase, I am keen to develop my skills in group/team coaching as that is an area I have been asked about. The SME business sector is where I believe I would have most success and impact. The rapid evolution of technology means firms are struggling to balance digitisation, its adoption alongside the people agenda. I have begun to coach owner businesses, which is a different ballgame to professional services firms. That has been both challenging and inspiring, and the feedback has been positive so far!
Thank you Dharmesh for sharing your transformational and inspiring coaching journey with us!
The Coaching Academy was established in 1999, and is now the world's largest coaching school.
In that time we have trained over 14,000 people to become life coaches.
We are accredited by the International Coach Federation and the Association for Coaching, and we're rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot.
