Time to take stock….are you living the life you intend?

With the uncertainties in today’s workplace, there’s never been a better time to take stock and think through how to increase your chances of getting the job you've always wanted. The next chapter is down to you. Other people might shape it but only you can decide on the next steps.

As a career coach I can help you see new possibilities you may not have thought of. My style is to work alongside you, like a personal trainer, to help you to discover your strengths and transferable skills and help you to focus your efforts on what could be your most fulfilling next career move. 
 
My approach uses a ‘3S’ model:

• Self awareness: putting your career into the context of what’s really important to you, your motivations and aspirations
• Skills, strengths and achievements: what you’ve got going for you
• Selling yourself: where to look for new opportunities, how to market yourself; who might help your search; harnessing the power of networking

Together we can plan your strategy for a brighter future.

"Knowing I was being made redundant after 15 years, the prospect of venturing into the outside job market was very daunting and I'd lost confidence in my abilities. However, the 1:1 tailor-made support I received from Carole Appleby was invaluable. Her friendly and supportive coaching style guided me each step of the way:
 
- Helping me tackle a CV for the first time in many years, by encouraging me to think about my skills and experience I was able to put together a CV which had impact and sold my skills perfectly.
- Preparing me for interviews by helping me formulate succinct responses to potential interview questions and enabling me talk about myself clearly, with confidence.
- Coaching me in methods of negotiating an increased starting salary. 

I would recommend Carole to anyone in the same situation, she’s helped me through a very difficult and unsettling time in my career, enabled me to reflect positively on my working life and experiences to date, ensured my confidence has grown and equipped me with a range of skills to shape my future career. Thanks to Carole I’m excited about moving on to a new role and a new chapter – she’s is more than a career consultant, she’s a truly caring lady, a knowledgeable and friendly coach with a breadth of experience and a host of insight to share!"

Lisa Edwards, Financial Crime/Fraud Analyst, Derbyshire Building Society

Coaching is fast becoming one of the most important developmental performance-enhancing processes available, with people experiencing profound results.

My coaching approach is totally non-directive.  I understand - but don’t know everything about - your world and the issues you’re facing. You’re the expert there.  As your coach, my job is to encourage you to think in new ways, see new possibilities and develop a greater confidence in your own capability. That way you find your own solutions. And if they’re your solutions – you have the means and the motivation to move forward. You're in control.

Want to improve your performance?  Click here to see how coaching can help, along with some testimonials from people who have experienced it.

More about coaching: The sporting origins of coaching are well known. In a business environment, coaching is one of the techniques used to unlock peoples' potential to maximise their own performance.  It helps them to learn, rather than teaching them.  Coaching is a partnership. You are the expert on your subject area whilst my role is to ask questions to generate awareness and increase your understanding. Coaching can help both individuals and groups to deepen their learning and optimise their innate potential.  Both at the personal and an organisational level, through coaching, people experience profound results.

Carole Appleby is a Member of the Association for Coaching and operates in accordance with the Association’s Code of Ethics and Good Practice for ethical, competent and effective practice.   To view Carole's coaching profile - click here. 

"Coaching is an ongoing professional relationship that helps people produce extraordinary results in their lives, careers, businesses and organisations.  Through the process of coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance and enhance their quality of life."  International Coaching Federation

Because every person and every business is different, we don’t have any ‘off the shelf’ solutions. Blue Horizon offers both life coaching and performance coaching.

We will help you to identify specific areas where you want to make some positive changes, and then develop a programme to tackle your issues by:

• helping you to understand more about the issues, opportunities and constraints
• raising awareness about your own capability, enhancing your self-belief
• building ownership and commitment, allowing you to see a clearer way forward
• releasing your potential for higher performance, taking you from 'good' to 'great'!

“As a senior manager in the NHS I am already highly motivated, but felt I needed an added boost to enhance my leadership skills. It can be difficult to know where to go for very targeted, focused advice and coaching seemed like the best solution. Carole understood the issues I wanted to tackle, and came up with a range of tools and techniques which have helped me develop new skills, hone others, and sometimes take a different approach to be more effective in my role. The coaching sessions prompted me to think deeply about myself and my outlook, which has had benefits outside work as well as within.”

Glynis Alexander, Deputy Director of Communications and Citizen Engagement, NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent

"Coaching has helped increase my confidence and assertiveness in the workplace. It has also helped me recognise that I need to improve my work life balance, and ways I can do this. While coaching has been key to facilitating my development, you must have a strong personal commitment to implementing what you learn. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to progress in their career."

Lucy Davis, Acting Head of Communications, NHS Westminster

"The coaching I received from Carole helped me to put things into perspective and find practical solutions to the issues I was tackling. Her approach is a mixture of support and challenge. Carole is an excellent sounding board and during the time I was working with her I learned a lot, both about moving forward with with work challenges, and about myself too. I would thoroughly reccommend her."

Sue Dickinson, Inbound Supply Chain Manager, NHS Supply Chain