Liz McKechnie – Executive Coach
Executive Coaching
General Coaching Experience and Background
As a coach, I have a practical client centred approach and my style is empathetic, and intuitive. I enjoy working with a wide variety of clients from from media and pr, to legal and financial backgrounds, and the public sector.My coaching clients include senior executives from The Arts Council, The Football Association, Lego, Partnerships UK, Borkowski PR, Lloyds, Merrill Lynch as well as well as many private individuals.
I am particularly interested in looking at individual branding, personal impact, and leadership style as part of a journey into professional effectiveness and personal fulfilment. I also specialise in one to one coaching for presentations, interview skills, behavioural change and body language.
The point
If coaching is about identifying, pursuing, and realising a goal, I like the idea of holding a goal with a very light touch. That way it can move as we learn and grow towards the ultimate goal of being the best that we can be.What I do
My style is to be genuine, honest, and present in the moment. I will listen reflectively to help clarify and amplify your experience and meaning. My questions, responses, suggestions, and challenges will be to support you in your personal journey and to aid you as you find the most appropriate path to your goal.Some questions I might ask
What do you believe? Is it always true? How does it serve you? What do you fear? Who are you really? What stops you being who you are? What do you want? What stops you doing it? Are you ready, willing, and able to change if you need to? What small change can you effect immediately that will have an impact?Values and Beliefs
The guiding light is our value system that monitors what "the best" might be. Anything else is simply a script we have written for ourselves – a moveable goal along the way, or a belief that can be changed if we are ready, willing, and able to do so.The script
Recently I was asked to give a talk on the subject of leadership. I had planned my presentation and felt happy with my script until I listened to the highly engaging speaker who had the slot before me. His subject was dreams and the value of steadfastly pursuing them. He had decided to be married by 26 to someone younger than 25, to have children by 30, to run his own business by 35 etc. Here was a man who had written a life script for himself and depended on controlling it. I asked him afterwards what would have happened had he fallen in love with a woman of 27 when he was 26. He said it wasn't an option.The trouble with depending on control is that life has a habit of not obeying your rules. Fortune hasn't read your script. You can miss out on things (work life balance for example). At any moment chaos can wreak havoc – what happens then? It worried me so I took the opportunity to tell a story about a Ferrari.
Serendipity
I was making a short film a while back – on a pretty tight budget. Each day's shooting was meticulously planned in a strict shooting script. We had worked out the best possible use of the precious resource of our time to get the project completed by the deadline. In the original screenplay there was a scene where we needed a red Ferrari against a backdrop of building works and scaffolding (the metaphor was building a financial pyramid). We had scrapped the idea as we had no budget for the car. The scene had been cut. However as we walked up Tottenham Court Road, camera in hand, heads down ready to quickly shoot a fairly mundane travelling scene, I happened to glance to my right. And there it was. A red Ferrari parked right in front of a pyramid of scaffolding. Our schedule went out of the window. I called everyone back and with the help of a Ferrari owner from Heaven the ensuing scene became a strong motif in the final cut. I may never have seen it if I hadn't looked up at the right time.The movie of our lives
If the goal is to make the best movie possible of our lives then surely it makes sense to be sensitive to the opportunities presented to us along the way so that we can grab them as we see them. This means we have to be alive to serendipity, to be open, flexible, and brave enough to change tack. If and when disaster strikes we have the resources to manage it, to learn, and continue to grow.Back to Executive Coaching
Executive Coaching
Call us on 020 7226 1877 for further information.Read Liz's Words of Wisdom Articles below
Short rants and other interesting stuff from our very own experts. Read about issues Liz McKechnie is always banging on about to our delegates.
Adapted Behaviours
Human beings are pretty resourceful but will our various behaviours always be as useful to us?
Balloons- Communication and Assertiveness
We all have an invaluable tool for effective communication and people management.
A Shaggy Dog Story - Motivation and Team Building
Do we know the reasons why we believe and behave the way we do – or is it simply the way it has always been?
Guinea Pigs and Eagles - Presentation Skills
It's easy to feel like a guinea pig when what we seem to facing is a bunch of hungry eagles. Lunchtime?
Follow My Leader - Leadership
If we make an active choice to lead or follow, then we are leading as we are choosing to dominate or empower.
Personal Branding - What It Says On The Can
When I sold my last house it went pretty quickly. Actually it went within half an hour.
Executive Coach
