mark solomons – coaching for performance solomons – coaching for performance! mark solomons is...
TRANSCRIPT
Mark Solomons – Coaching for Performance
Mark Solomons is an experienced facilitator and coach, with a track record of coaching board directors and senior leaders within organisations. During an impressive corporate career he realised that the best way to get the results needed was through his people. Undertaking his own corporate coaching training as a senior leader he used this throughout the last ten years of his business career to deliver outstanding results for his team and organisation. When given the opportunity to move to use these skills full time he realised that this is where his passion lay and that he had a talent for supporting others to achieve their potential and the results they wanted.
Initially joining with David Hemery CBE, Olympic Gold medalist and current vice-chair of the British Olympic Association and his business partner Les Duggan he helped them found a new charity 21st Century Legacy. Taking leadership and coaching into schools to develop these skills in 11 – 14 year old students was both inspirational and continued his learning. David was initially a partner of Sir John Whitmore, who created the GROW coaching model and established the idea of coaching for performance within business. Mark has therefore had the privilege of training and working with pioneers in this important leadership field. Mark undertook the training of teachers in coaching and facilitation skills, running workshops of up to 90 staff and has subsequently been involved in coach training within business in his current role, as one of the two managing partners in Developing Potential, a high performance development company. He has worked with Olympians and Olympic teams and is currently working with Darren Campbell MBE, sharing 10 steps for organisational Gold medal winning performance. He believes in managing his own personal development and completed an MBA at the highly acclaimed Cranfield business school in 2002. His first-hand experience of performing under pressure and in developing and leading high-performing national teams to achieve their objectives in a FTSE 100 organisation gives him a real insight into business leadership. As Retail Director for Sainsbury’s Bank, he had accountability for the Bank’s financial and sales performance across all 800 stores and this, together with his understanding of what underpins high performance means he knows many of the challenges business leaders face everyday and the tools, techniques and strategies that can be applied for success. Yet despite his extensive knowledge, his skill as a coach comes from his questions and his ability to listen and pull the answers from his clients and develop their ability to think through things for themselves, find their own solutions and become their own greatest coach. His focus is to support an individual in raising their self-awareness while encouraging them to take personal responsibility for their mindset, behaviour, actions and development. These are the underpinning principles of his coaching and facilitation success. He is quick to build rapport and gain the trust of his clients and his pragmatic approach is to focus on solutions and gain commitment for action. While he is patient and approachable, he is also driven by his clients’ agenda and need to get results. We share below what a few of his clients have said about his coaching and finally a view from his immediate line manager from his last corporate role, the then CEO of Sainsbury’s Bank.
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Testimonials
“As a Director of a Business it is very easy to ignore your own skills and short comings. Then I met Mark and the experience has quite simply been life changing both on a professional and personal level. Mark has undertaken leadership development and coaching development with me, which has made an immediate impact on my business and personal life.
I have started on an eye-opening journey and I am seeing benefits in my business - to the extent that Mark is now working with both the other company directors and he has undertaken workshops for our management team.
The skills I am learning are developing my potential beyond my expectations and I am delighted with the outcomes already achieved. We intend to work with Mark for a long time to come and I know that I am undertaking a journey, which is exciting, challenging and engaging. If you choose to work with Mark you will not be disappointed - you will be amazed at the results.” Richard Burgess, Director Alan Blunden Ltd, a top 100 broker
“Mark's people skills enable him to work with individuals and organisations to improve their potential and achieve strong performance. I recommend anyone looking for help in training, coaching or development to talk to Mark.” Diane Burdett, Account Director, Cogent Elliot
“I found Mark to be a highly inspirational, enthusiastic and supportive coach. His inclusive style ensured he was able to get the best out of me and help me find the right solutions to achieve high levels of performance. His approach was high support and high challenge and he is an excellent coach and mentor, something I still value to this day.” Gary Paterson, Bank Santander
“Mark is an outstanding coach. He is supportive and at the same time doesn’t let you off the hook. I am much more aware of my own values and behaviours and what I needed to change to achieve the results I wanted. His ability to ask the right questions and challenge you to find the solutions has helped me to get where I wanted to go.” Geoff Howard, Ernst & Young
“Mark is an outstanding individual. He is passionate about what he does, dedicated and focused on the outcomes and an excellent people manager – an extremely good leader who knows how to get the best out of everyone he works with – including me!” Tim Pile, CEO, Sainsbury's Bank
