Every assignment is subtly different and each is customised to match the needs of my clients. There are however three broad ways in which people choose to work with me:
Maybe your business is going through a period of significant expansion with new challenges and opportunities. Perhaps you are considering opening an overseas office or moving into a new business line, maybe you are experiencing some significant challenges in the area of sales or top team motivation. You want someone who has ‘been there and done that’ to work with you and to support you in creating a well formed plan of action around this goal or opportunity.
Together we create a picture of success and a plan of how to get there. This type of assignment is comparatively easy to define, track and recognise when achieved.
‘I first met Piers Fallowfield-Cooper in the early fall of 2006. We sat down over a cup of coffee at my local Starbucks to discuss my aspirations and goals. As I later discovered, I was being interviewed and appraised as much as I was sizing up Piers. In the end Piers chose me as much as I did him. Through the course of six coaching sessions, Piers helped me, in a very unconventional way, become a more effective presenter and better manager of people. His method is an ‘inside-out’ approach which carefully determines what makes his clients tick after which he tailors a programme to leverage their greatest strengths. Piers shows his clients how to ‘be themselves’ in a most powerful and effective manner.’
There are other occasions when you are ready to step up to the next level – feeling there is more that you want to achieve in your life – probably both personally and professionally and choose to work with me on a developmental journey that can best be described as ‘mentoring’.
This type of assignment begins with the creation of a personalised off-site ‘deep dive’ retreat. Here we explore the possibilities, opportunities and choices that are available personally and professionally at a strategic level. Once these real choices have been discovered, explored and refined we create a plan of action. Our retreat is followed up with regular face to face meetings to review our progress making adjustments as new information and insights develop. A developmental programme of this type will typically last for twelve to eighteen months.
‘There are moments in everybody’s career when fundamental changes are required to push beyond our own limits. Piers has an extraordinary ability to guide you through the journey needed to reach a new level. With acumen, intuition and refreshing wittiness, Piers can be instrumental in changing forever your perspective on your career and kit you out with an empowering clarity of mind.’
The third way clients engage with me is in the role that could best be described as ‘trusted advisor’ – where the value of having an impartial, unbiased voice to challenge, support and encourage is highly valued.
As Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP group said: ‘I think everybody in business needs to have somebody who doesn’t have an agenda – somebody you can talk to, off the record, for open and transparent advice’.
Here we meet in both a scheduled, regular way and also on an ‘as needed’ basis – such as when events unfold and need examination and possible action. Interestingly most of my trusted advisor relationships began with either a project based or developmental assignment that has evolved over time.
‘I have worked with Piers for just over a year now, having done the rounds of management development: psychologists, coaches, trainers. I was at a point where I didn’t want any more management theories or coaching on how to manage other people. Being in the top spot is lonely; I needed someone whom I could trust, who could listen and advise and someone who would tell me what they saw in my world and how it really looked. I like to work with clever people and be stimulated by things I haven’t come across before. I also wanted someone who would give me their opinion straight if I asked for it!
In the past year I have discovered a lot about myself and it has impacted positively, not only on my career, but also on my personal life. I have loved working with Piers – he’s clever, funny, usually hits the nail on the head and best of all, actually understands what it’s like to do the job, with all its stresses and pressures. He has helped me to understand what’s going on around me, formulate the best responses, but most of all he has helped me work out what I really want and how to get it.
Piers is always there when I need him and I don’t know how I would manage without him. I would recommend him without hesitation.’
Now that you have a clearer idea of how I bring value to my clients and are ready to arrange an exploratory discussion contact me or find out more about me…