Coaching at Imperial
Imperial College has a pool of trained coaches who can offer coaching as a bespoke development opportunity for all College staff. In addition, coaching is provided to support all staff completing internal development programmes. The Coaching Academy was first launched in 2009 and was one of the first of its kind within the Higher Education sector. There is now a pool of around 50 coaches drawn from all over the College community and have a range of professional backgrounds and coaching experience. All coaches participate in ongoing professional development and coaching supervision to continuously maintain and develop their skills.
What is coaching?
Coaching is a 1-1 process that helps individuals think through their options concerning various situations they may face in the workplace. Coaching is a confidential and voluntary process involving up to 6 meetings over 3-6 months.
A coach uses a combination of observation, questioning, listening, and feedback to create a conversation rich in insight and learning for the coachee, who will develop a greater awareness and appreciation of their circumstances. They will also develop new ways to resolve issues and develop skills and strategies to feel empowered to take action.
Types of Coaching
Peer Coaching
Peer coaching is an interactive, collaborative process through which individuals of equal status support and facilitate each other in shifting their mindset and behaviours in a way that will enhance their impact and results.
More Information
Register Interest
To register interest in having a coach, please complete an interest form. You will be asked for further information about the topics you want to explore, which will help with the coach-matching process. Your assigned coach will then contact you to arrange an initial meeting to discuss how to take the coaching forward.
If you have any questions about coaching, please email staffdevelopment@imperial.ac.uk
Benefits of coaching
Common benefits people experience from coaching include:
- Improved sense of direction and focus
- Increased self-awareness
- Improved ability to influence and relate to others
- Increased personal effectiveness
- Increased resourcefulness/resilience, such as the ability to handle change
People with management responsibilities find coaching can:
- Help them handle the transition into a new role more effectively
- Enhance their ability to lead, engage and develop their team
Developing as a Coach
- LinkedIn Learning offers various courses for developing coaching skills and is available to all staff and students.
www.linkedin.com/learning - All leaders and managers are encouraged to develop their coaching skills as an effective tool for communicating with, and developing, their teams. Coaching skills are embedded within the Management and Leadership Development and the workshop Coaching Skills for Managers.
- College staff are also encouraged to join the internal Mentoring scheme, and training as a mentor can help develop the skills to enhance good quality conversations