Baz Stokes - Double-certified team and executive coach with a passion for developing individual and organisational performance through asking better questions
Bio
I work with people who are curious, and who want to grow and challenge themselves. I help people ask better questions, because that's how you find better answers. You might work with me because you are at an inflection point: in your life, your career, your progression. You want someone to help you gain clarity about what comes next, to challenge you on your assumptions, to highlight blind spots or to add that added bit of confidence for a key moment.
As a professional military helicopter pilot, instructor, mentor and performance coach for over 20 years I am used to working in environments that are extreme in terms of their demands on people and organisations. I have worked with hundreds of military helicopter instructors from many countries, and with thousands of trainee pilots and crewmen to help them achieve their life's goal of becoming confident and capable helicopter operators.
I also work in UK Applied AI sector in a L&D and coaching/mentoring role, and have an innovation and organisational change background. I find the process of individual and organisational development fascinating and try to bring that deep curiosity about people and their thoughts/feelings into my work. If you are at a crossroads, or are facing a life change, then we can work together to ensure that you are asking the best possible questions of yourself and others to get the best outcomes.
I draw on elements from coaching, teaching, reflective practice, aviation, military training and my own broad personal experience to build an eclectic coaching philosophy which has EQ and empathy at the center, and could be summed up as Challenge, Curiosity, Courage. I love to work with stories and metaphor to help people understand why they think the way that they do, and how to harness that power in the way that best serves them in the future.
Working with me will sometimes be challenging but I guarantee it will never be boring!
Baz StokesCertified Coach
I work with people who are competent, capable, curious – and STUCK. Maybe doing the things that normally work for you aren’t working anymore. Maybe you don’t know where to start. Maybe you can see that next goal but the path is unclear - let's find that path together!
Experience
I have over 20 years of experience teaching and leading in high-tempo, high-functioning military helicopter operations in the UK and overseas. The ability to help people to get the most from themselves and their teams in circumstances of extreme pressure sparked an interest in helping to translate that maximising of potential into all elements of people's lives rather than just the aviation world.
In addition to thousands of hours teaching instructors and pilots I have also completed a Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching and another in Team and Systemic Coaching, both at Henley Business School. This academic underpinning anchors my coaching and mentoring practice and allows me to harness the various elements of my "specialist generalist" experience to draw parallels and connections across many different fields of human performance and learning. Improvement, development, empathy and understanding are central to my work both in coaching and other fields - I have worked with professionals across the government, tech, medical, care and corporate sectors but the one thing that all my coachees have had in common is a curiosity and a desire to understand themselves better.
Qualifications
I am an accredited member of both the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). I am accredited with the EMCC as a Senior Practitioner and Team Coach Senior Practitioner; with the ICF I am accredited as an Associated Certified Coach (ACC) and hold the Advanced Certificate in Team Coaching (ACTC) - these accreditations require the completion of hundreds of hours of certified coach training, supervision and mentoring in addition to rigorous examinations and a commitment to ongoing professional development. I also hold a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher and Professional Education.
I am certified to use Team Edge 360 and Hogan Assessments, and have experience in working with SDI and Insights.