One element of my job that I love is coaching people. The chance to get to know someone, to help them unlock their potential and – if I’m mentoring too – to share some of my experience and knowledge. It’s interesting, satisfying and often fun.

People come to me for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes they’re preparing for the next step up. Sometimes they’ve already moved up a step and want a helping hand to guide them through. I’ve coached people who wanted to branch out in a new direction, clients who’ve wanted to regain enthusiasm for their jobs, people who were struggling with a big project or a tricky work relationship, and people looking for new ways of working.

All these people had something in common – the answers were within themselves, they just needed the time and space to talk through the issues.

Work is hectic and people rarely get the chance to step back and assess things with someone who doesn’t have an agenda or a vested interest. A coaching programme is a series of structured conversations. The aim is to encourage understanding – of yourself, others and the situation you find yourself in; during the sessions, you generate options and determine your actions.

Some people are surprised they’ve been selected for coaching and suspect that it might be a negative comment on their performance. In my experience, a company is unlikely to invest in someone they think isn’t performing well. It’s usually the case that they want their employees to reach their full potential, and they see coaching as a way to achieving that.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have been coached by some fantastic people over my career, and I’ve got a lot out of it. If you think coaching could be what you need, contact us at hello@houghbellis.co.uk and let’s talk.

Sue Fox is a qualified coach and mentor and the author of the chapter on housing association communications in the book “Promoting Property”, published by Routledge.