As the General Manager of Facilities at Barclays Bank headquarters in Canary Wharf, Christian Bauer was in charge of ensuring that a building with 32 floors and 12,000 people ran smoothly from start to finish each day. He was invited to a coaching session with Alan Denton of the results Centre, along with other executives in the company.
What follows are Christian’s thoughts on how coaching with Alan Denton from The Results centre allowed him to discover his true abilities.
“I am very grateful to Barclays for giving me the opportunity to meet Alan Denton and for putting their resources into my development through coaching. During my time at Hilton (Christian’s previous role), I had many opportunities to take part in coaching programmes, but meeting Alan was quite unique.
The Results Centre Approach
Previously, I had been prompted when the coach wanted to guide me to a particular place. I suppose the quicker they got there, the better for them. Alan is quite different in his approach.
He gives you a lot of space to think for yourself. He brings out your thought processes and your feelings about what you actually do – because in the end it’s all about discovering that you are able to do what you want to do to the fullest of your abilities
Christian’s Empowerment
I found my inner strength and I really discovered the abilities and the directions that I wanted to go in for my future career. The end results after the coaching have been amazing; with far less fear about failure and with real enthusiasm to make it work.
Having an exceptional coach like Alan gives you confidence in yourself. It reassures you that you are on the right track. He makes you focus on the end result and by doing so, he helps you overcome the challenges that you are facing in your job. He helped me to think deeply about myself and my abilities – and the expectations my employer would have after the coaching was completed.
The Results Centre Factor
If I were to compare my previous experiences of coaching with Alan’s coaching style – I would say there’s simply no comparison The coaching that Alan provided is so focused and so helpful. My experience with other coaching sessions was that there wasn’t enough time for reflection and it always seemed rushed. Alan actually discovers what you really want to do, what you are capable of and if you are the right person for the job! You discover if you are a good fit for the employer and if the employer a good fit for you – that is the real value of business coaching.
The main thing I’ll take away from the coaching sessions with Alan is to be much less fearless about my own capabilities and abilities and to have much more faith in myself.”