Testimonials

The personal benefit I found from have a Stillpoint coach led me to enrol on their professional coach training programme and I feel that I have added a new dimension to my professional portfolio. In my work in education with a wide-ranging number of agencies and individuals, the coaching experience I have developed under the expert tuition of both Lynn and Ann has been invaluable. I would recommend Stillpoint Associates without reservation to any organisation or individual looking to improve personal growth and professional performance.

I employed Stillpoint to work with my already successful team because I knew what I wanted for the team and I also knew any change had to come from within themselves. The team is predominantly male, and comprised some people who got on easily with others, those who found this aspect more difficult and a couple of areas where there were real interpersonal difficulties.

Having done all different sorts of management and leadership training I was struck by Stillpoint’s very different approach. Through in-depth conversations prior to the training, they were able to create the context to which the team related. During the training they were spacious in the way they handled everyone as individuals, allowing each one of them, including myself, to find their way forward in their own way. They were extremely vigilant when we were undertaking the exercises and at no time was there any role play. Indeed if anyone tried that out, they were sussed straight away.

I was impressed with how different people were being with each other from day one to day two. It was not magic – and yet it had a remarkable effect. Each member of the team continued to find new ways of being which had an impact on how they approached and dealt with people. The follow-on coaching really helped and while the level of business success continued to grow, life within the team and their staff became much smoother too. This has had a dramatic effect on some people’s appraisals and definitely on the efficiency of our internal business relationships.

When I started looking for an organisation to work with my team I don’t think I articulated it as behavioural change that I was looking for – and now I know that was exactly what was needed. And the benefits are still to be seen over a year later.

Over the course of two days Stillpoint presented us with an interesting and challenging programme that caused us to look at ourselves both as individuals and ourselves as a team. They had designed the programme fully to our brief and, at the same time, proved themselves extremely flexible in accommodating ever-increasing numbers of attendees – all of which was within an agreed fixed budget.

They were able to quickly create a safe environment which became a crucible for creativity. All of their exercises and discussions were designed to ensure that there was no hiding place; and everyone’s contribution was held with the highest respect. This helped to generate some significant realisations, immediate changed behaviours and much food for thought.

We had some significant successes within the organisation immediately after the programme simply because we were prepared to approach things differently – and consequently we got different results.

Some people also received additional one-to-one coaching at a critical time – i.e. when they were required to apply for newly created posts. The change in these people was visible to everyone. Stillpoint are edgy trainers, daring to go where others avoid in the realm of human interaction. And it was well worth it.

I attended the Coaching for Conscious Leadership Programme in order to qualify as a coach, to give me a skill set that is wider than my current HR role – coaching & management development.

The programme taught me a great deal about myself including a better understanding of how I react in different situations such as when things are not going well compared to when things are going well. Becoming aware that I could control my view of what is happening – and help others change their mindset – was revelationary for me. I felt the change in how I was being from the first module. It was different each session and by the third module I was in a really good place.

The programme has had a huge impact on me at work. What I learned about myself and dealing with other people has aIlowed me to be more focused on what really matters and not let things/other people’s attitudes bother me. I particularly noticed this shift after Module 3 which aims to get you really comfortable in your own shoes so that you can focus on what matters.

I am conscious that I am still processing and deepening my learning. I know that my behaviours will continue to change. However my organisation has already benefited from sending me on this course. There are two or three people I am about to start coaching within the organisation: one post-maternity, one who is uncertain about their future and another who needs to build their self-confidence.

We have a long history with Stillpoint Associates of providing one:one Executive coaching for newly appointed and promoted staff to senior positions. Coaching has allowed them to find and bring out their authentic self as managers and to find their own particular style; to increase their awareness of the effect they have on other people, and hence their ability to hold difficult conversations.

We also wanted to create an unbiased and free coaching service for more junior members of staff whose needs often go unanswered. Teaching in further education can be stressful: the workload is often extremely heavy; auditing and inspecting is rigorous and demands to respond to change are high.

Stillpoint’s 3-module professional Coaching for Conscious Leadership Programme gave us the opportunity to move towards having professionally trained coaches in the organisation. The six-month programme provided a good balance between theory and the vital hands-on practice to ensure that although participants learn quickly, the learning and resulting change is fundamental and lasts. The inter-modular one-to-one coaching and participant mentoring helped participants to continue to learn and change on an on-going basis.

We now have an established Coaching/Mentoring Service and some key members have been through the fourth module, designed to enable established coaches to hone who they are as professional coaches.

We have found that however we use Stillpoint they really care and are meticulous in ensuring that the training context is aligned with what the organisation wants. They know that personal development work is the most ‘edgy’ of any training and are sensitive to creating and maintaining a safe and comfortable environment in which risks can be taken.

Their one-to-one Executive coaching service is non-formulaic which means that the needs of the client are truly addressed. We have found Stillpoint to be very flexible in creating a coaching formula that fits with our budget and our aims.

Ask them to deal with anything to do with ‘the human condition’ and they will deliver. They have helped us with a number of different staff development workshops which they have designed in conjunction with us.

Stillpoint has devised a first-class training programme which they delivered with such enthusiasm and skill – it was like being on an exciting journey of a lifetime. They enabled each of us to really feel the impact of first-class coaching techniques.

We have employed the services of Stillpoint Associates in two distinct capacities.

Lynn Hull of Stillpoint has coached – and continues to coach – managers and staff at the University. The aim of utilising one-to-one coaching is to empower each individual to reflect on their strengths with a view to developing an understanding of the impact they can have on their own and others’ performance.

Development of self-confidence and self-esteem enables the employee to have a greater understanding of the contribution they can make to the team and the organisation. This leads to greater impact and the achievement of individual and team goals, thus leading to improved performance. The impact coaching approach used by Stillpoint provides each employee with this development opportunity, even over a relatively short time period.

We also used Stillpoint to facilitate a team development event for a business support department of the University and participants were able to consider their personal impact on the performance of the team. Their interactive approach led to the achievement of a real sense of pride in each participant, and the motivation of the team was clear to see. The impact of the training is still evident some months later.

Stillpoint Associates have always conducted their business with the utmost integrity. We value their flexibility and their willingness to work with us rather than for us.

The balance of theoretical concepts with practical one-to-one sessions enabled each of us to put our new learning into practice using real life experiences. This was true experiential learning at its best. The building of learning between modules was superb with clear guidance and support from the tutors.

Stillpoint Associates were engaged to undertake a programme of work to increase the coaching capability of our management teams, predominantly senior manager level from a number of functions, including Finance & Commercial, Customer Collections, Sales and Marketing. These programmes have each been tailored to the individual requirements of the team concerned.

The feedback from participants has consistently been positive both in terms of own personal growth and, equally important, their ability to motivate their teams during periods of significant organisational change. However the impact that we value most has been how the teams involved have improved their performance through a shared understanding of their team goals and each individual’s contribution. This work has raised the level of communication, removed some of the distracting factors with the teams and enabled managers to focus on the important aspects of performance.

We are pleased with the impact of investing in a programme which works closely with the individual – to understand themselves and in so doing learn how to understand others. Our managers have found this personal approach to be different and enlightening. We see this investment as an important personal motivator in itself. As a result of individuals being able to apply the benefits in many parts of their life, we found that subsequently individual have become more engaged, putting in tremendous personal time and commitment to their development in the workplace, much more so than on other occasions.

We will continue to utilise their services for the foreseeable future and I would recommend them to any prospective organisation. Overall we found them to have made a significant difference to our businesses and believe them to offer a real return on our investment.