Update

Hi everyone,

Thought we would share an update with you all on how things have been going over the past few months. 

Firstly a few congratulations are in order to Krishna Ruparelia and Penny Bayley for achieving the ILM Level 7 Certificate in Executive Coaching and Leadership Mentoring!  Elsewhere, Gill Diggles has followed on her success with this qualification to achieve the BSC Coaching and Mentoring Supervision Award.  Shelagh O’Leary has moved onwards and upwards into a new role at Head of HR and Organisational Development at Yorkshire Ambulance.

We’re delighted to have been some part of your success and wish you all the best for the future.

We have had a busy Summer, amongst other things applying for re-approval with the Institute of Leadership and Management; preparing to deliver their new range of courses.  Many of the courses we had been running previously have been updated with slightly new criteria, and re-named to reflect this. 

We are excited to say we passed their rigorous assessment criteria with flying colours and have unveiled a full new range of Coaching and  Mentoring  courses, as of this Autumn.  We are particularly looking forward to running the new Level 2 Award in Mentoring for Young Learners which we hope is a good step towards helping the next generation realise their goals.

The new courses we are now approved to deliver are:

Level 2 Award in Mentoring for Young Learners

Level 3 Award & Certificate  in Coaching

Level 5 Certificate & Diploma in Coaching and Mentoring

Level 5 Certificate & Diploma in Action Learning Facilitation

Level 7 Certificate & Diploma in Executive Coaching and Mentoring

Level 7 Diploma in Executive Coaching and Mentoring

Endorsed: Coaching and Mentoring Supervision Award

Endorsed: Executive Coaching Award

Our sister company The Development Partnership have also been reapproved by the ILM this year, and will be running a carefully selected range of leadership and management courses.  You can see these on their trendy new website here:  http://tdp.eu.com/qualifications

We have had a hugely successful time in the UAE this Autumn, delivering the ILM Level 3 Award in Coaching to teachers and school leaders, as well as introducing the Level 7 in Executive Coaching and  Mentoring to the UAE for the first time!

We will be building on this success and continuing to offer and deliver these courses in the UK and UAE in 2013.  The Level 5 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring will be commencing in late January this year, and the Level 7 Certificate will run from early February.

Best wishes,

British School of Coaching

BSC Bite-Sized Coaching

BOOK REVIEW: Martin Hill

“Coaching and Mentoring At Work – Mary Connor and Julia Pokora (2007) Open University Press, McGraw-Hill Education

I am always sceptical to read the marketing blurb on the rear of books- especially when they claim to be able to meet the needs of a myriad of different potential audiences. This book is described as “essential reading for coaches, mentors, clients, managers, leaders, professionals, HR specialists, trainers, consultants and students.” I am delighted to say that I think that this claim is entirely justified. It is relevant for experienced practitioners and also provides a great framework for new practitioners and students.

The book is written in an accessible, easy to understand style and is crammed full with practical examples and tips. The authors even reserve a chapter for one of the key characters in any coaching or mentoring relationship – the client. This is one of the few coaching and mentoring texts that address the position of the client and sets out the factors that clients should bear in mind when deciding whether to embark upon coaching or mentoring and suggests how best to prepare themselves to get the best out of that experience, as well as highlighting some of the standards and behaviours that they should be expecting from a coach or mentor- a useful chapter for the practitioner to reflect upon their own practice to ensure that they are meeting these expectations and standards.

The book considers the similarities between coaching and mentoring and one of the key arguments of the authors is that “a learning relationship is central to both coaching and mentoring, which are more than just a set of activities or skills.” It also highlights the differences between the two disciplines, albeit the majority of the book focuses on the common elements.

The structure of the book prompts reflection and learning opportunities for the reader- reinforcing the reflective learning discipline that is a prerequisite for the wise practitioner! I found the chapter on contracting to be a practical and comprehensive guide which addresses the key factors that one encounters in reality – a book that addresses the practitioner elements as well as the subject theory.

The main model that is advocated by the authors for both coaching and mentoring is Dr Gerard Egan’s Skilled Helper” model-once again the authors approach this with a winning combination of theory and practical application. Two chapters show how the model would apply to a coaching scenario and a mentoring scenario. The authors also highlight other models commonly encountered in coaching and mentoring. 

The authors also provide a comprehensive guide to tools and techniques that will support the successful implementation of the model – twelve tools and techniques that are succinctly described and the pros and cons considered. 

This book will be one of the “default” texts that I turn to in my coaching and mentoring practice, and also in my role as manager and leader. It will be one of the texts that I will recommend for my ILM Level 7 candidates as a good “foundation” text.

Martin Hill LL.B (Hons), FInstLM, AMAC, EMCC Member

Faculty Member

Programme Director for ILM 7 Coaching & Mentoring Courses

British School of Coaching

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