Alan Rapley

I've been an Executive Coach for over 20 years, and in that time I've learned that the best coaching isn't about me imposing a framework onto you, it's about creating the right space for you to think clearly and lead the conversation yourself.

My approach is person centred. That means you set the direction and I facilitate, asking the questions that open things up rather than steering you towards answers I think you should have. I'm not a coach who works to a rigid model or a fixed script. Every person I work with is different, so the conversation has to be too. What stays consistent is the discipline underneath it: we agree clear outcomes at the outset, we define what "great" actually looks like for you specifically, and every session works towards that.

A typical session is conversational rather than structured around exercises or worksheets. We might start with what's live for you that week, a decision, a tension, a pattern you've noticed in yourself, and follow that where it leads, while always keeping one eye on the outcomes we've agreed. It's rigorous, but it doesn't feel like a process being done to you.

I rarely see meaningful change come from a single session. The greatest outcomes I've witnessed, across two decades of this work including coaching Olympic athletes and business leaders, have come through a series of joined up sessions, where each conversation builds on the last and real behavioural shift has time to take hold, not just insight in the room that fades by the following week.

If you're looking for a coach who will hand you a template, this probably isn't the right fit. If you're looking for someone who will help you think more clearly about your own leadership and hold you to what you actually want to achieve, that's exactly what I do.