Emma Steenson - Executive Coach | Coaching for business owners who feel stuck

Emma’s knowledge, experience and understanding of the topic was hugely beneficial - alongside the encouragement and support to turn ideas into action.

The sessions allowed me to talk through areas that I felt I needed to improve or needed guidance on, giving me the opportunity to understand why I was having this thought and come to a reasonable conclusion of next steps, or simply if there isn’t a great deal I need to change. An example would be going through my long term goals and realising that it’s not all about the end goal, it’s the journey – the sessions allowed me to take a step back and realise the smaller steps I can take to reach each milestone, which will ultimately help me work to reach my longer term goals. This has been an important revelation for me as before I felt overwhelmed and achievements weren’t worth celebrating, but I’m now allowing myself to be proud of the smaller steps and to not take these small achievements for granted. Overall, the sessions have made me slow down and take stock of where I am, how I got here and where I’m going, instead of purely focusing on the ultimate goal which meant I wasn’t really ever satisfied.

I appreciated the opportunity to speak freely about how I see the options available to me. Your challenge to my current thinking worked well and helped me think broader about what I believe to be true in my current situation. It has made me consider how I will approach my future working life, and not panic into applying for familiar roles. A great session, thank you.

Emma guided me in a positive and constructively challenging way. There are two occasions where her guidance has really helped me to understand my strengths and limitations, and to question my initial thoughts in a positive way – e.g. on whether to become expert in an area of my charity’s work, or to seek others with that existing expertise to support and guide my decision-making. Emma is always very easy to talk with, and has a natural ability to coach, steering the conversation whilst allowing for the coachee to direct where the overall session is heading.

Emma put me at ease straight away. The chemistry was there which helped, and we seemed to get on well. But also, Emma has an open, calm and authentic style which helped me to show these qualities too.

Because of this, I felt the conversations were very honest and as a result I was able to unpick things that in most other environments I would not have been comfortable with. There was never any judgement given which further helped to put me at ease and facilitate some really in-depth discussions about my feelings, past experiences and where I want to be in the future.

I really appreciated the mix of asking questions to get me to come up with the answers PLUS the provision of some recommendations e.g books, speakers or practical tools to try. The balance was perfect for me as someone who like tangible actions after the sessions. One of which – the most helpful of all perhaps, was the time to reflect on the discussion, create next steps OR just to ‘feel my feelings’.

I was worried that coaching online rather than in person would be a barrier to establishing a relationship with Emma and being able to talk comfortably and openly. This was not the case at all – I think credit to fact that Emma came across as approachable, authentic and relaxed throughout.

I would come to the sessions for of thoughts on the different things I could cover, but Emma always made sure we had direction, and kept me focused on the red thread that went through everything I was saying. She’d ask me helpful questions to get me questioning the reality or ‘truth’ that I was stating, which helped to get me thinking different. She wouldn’t give me advice – she guided me towards my own conclusion, which was really empowering for me. The sessions felt structured, and that meant that where I’d come into them from a busy and often manic day at work, when we were speaking my attention was channelled towards solving a particular issue. She has a knack for making situations, problems or issues that felt complicated, feel simple, and easier to tackle. I felt I always left the sessions with a clear way forward and action plan.

What I enjoyed most out of the sessions were:

• Having the space to talk things through
• Use of tools to help clarify and prioritise thoughts
• Emma’s reflecting back and summarising key points that I’d made
• Emma’s warm style and approach were really helpful.

Something I have found throughout our sessions, not only in today’s were the practical examples offered – whether that be a recommendation for a podcast that addresses an issue raised or an excel template to use to help plan / work on a current project – were invaluable.

Also the general environment, being one of trust made me feel comfortable to be open with my current feelings / challenges.

The opportunity to talk openly and see things from a different perspective. Its good to have my perceptions challenged.

I found it really helpful to see my thoughts out in front of me. I really struggle to map out my thoughts and Emma came up with the approach of mapping some traits regarding what I value from a job out in front of me on excel. We then proceeded to go through and mark them all from low to high. This really made me realise why I was feeling a certain way and the stress surrounding it suddenly went. I felt empowered to come to this conclusion.

Every session I have had with Emma over the past few months has been extremely beneficial for me – so just another big thank you

Emma helped me to think through challenges and come up with a plan of action. The sessions have been very useful. Emma as a coach has listened to my preferences in our initial discussions and leads the sessions accordingly.

Emma is a first rate Executive Coach! Her calm persona, business brain, sense of humour, and facilitative coaching style really helped me to get to grips with some big challenges I was facing. I would wholeheartedly recommend her coaching support to others in or aspiring to leadership roles.

David Murray - Executive Director, Sustainability First

Emma is a fantastic coach who massively helped me work through professional challenges I was facing at the time, as well as supporting me in mapping out my career goals. Emma's easy-going yet direct nature enabled me to tackle each issue calmly and effectively. I always felt at ease with Emma and our sessions were always relaxed, even when discussing a tricky topic. I highly recommend Emma's coaching to any aspiring leaders, thank you Emma for your support!

Ronnie Tindall-Lea-Fosh - Senior Consultant, Demica

I benefitted hugely from 8 months of coaching support from Emma. It was a time of big decisions both personally and professionally and working with Emma regularly allowed me to forge a different way forwards than I might have anticipated. Emma and I developed a great rapport and I really trusted her and the process. In coaching sessions she pushed me to ensure we got to a clear outcome. I always knew the steps I needed to take as a result of our sessions. Leadership can be lonely but having regular time with Emma made it feel like I was building a support network. Emma quickly understood my context so we could work fast and make progress. Ultimately Emma ensured I was clear about my values and pushed me to come up with answers that allowed me to remain true to those values. Emma also offered some paired coaching to support success in a critical new relationship in my career. This was transformational for both me and my colleague. A year later from meeting Emma and in many ways due to the coaching experience, I’m in a new role, I know what’s important to me and how to balance personal and professional responsibilities and how to keep my values core to all I do. Thank you Emma.

Graihagh Crawshaw-Sadler - CEO, Now Teach

Working with Emma has been an invaluable experience that has truly transformed my career trajectory. Her expertise, guidance, and unwavering support have been instrumental in helping me navigate through various professional challenges and opportunities. From refining my CV to honing my interview skills, Emma provided personalised strategies tailored to my unique strengths and aspirations. Her insightful advice and encouragement empowered me to confidently pursue new career avenues, ultimately leading to tangible success. I highly recommend Emma to anyone seeking expert guidance and mentorship on their professional journey.

Chloé Clarke - Transformation Specialist at BT

Working with Emma was a really positive experience. She has a sensitive and gently challenging coaching style and used some great tools. She helped me explore motivations and options and I left each of our coaching sessions feeling clearer and energised. I'd highly recommend Emma as a coach.

Melanie Griffiths - Director at Cloudesley

I had a course of coaching with Emma at a pivotal time in my career when I was figuring out how to establish myself as a team leader. Our sessions were structured which helped push me to think deeper about what I wanted & think more openly about how to break down and address challenges I was facing. More specifically, Emma's coaching helped me when entering into pay rise conversations for the first time and gave me the confidence to understand and voice my value. The sessions completely sold to me the value of coaching, especially in those key career moments and I'd absolutely recommend Emma for our work together.

Rose Prinelle - Associate Director at Harvard