ALEX AMEY

MY BACKGROUND

I was 20 when I completed my psychology degree and while I was fascinated by talking therapies, I felt that I was just too young to become a therapist. And so I went into Marketing, which I loved and as I climbed up the career ladder I discovered I also loved managing people too. I loved watching people develop, become more confident and find their own unique talents. I worked for numerous arts organisations, working with high workloads, small budgets, and dedicated staff. I was fascinated in workplace culture, how much it can vary and how much it impacts the way we work and the way we think. In 2016, I left a job that I had enjoyed for many years for no reason other than a niggling it was time for something new. It was a very difficult time with lots of uncertainty, lots of feeling lost. But eventually, I stumbled across coaching and the more I learnt about it, the more I loved it. I took on a coach myself and set out to find the most thorough and in-depth training I could. I have now worked with people from a wide range of backgrounds on varying different challenges and I love seeing people make positive steps forward in their lives. Here are just a few examples of challenges people have brought to me: 

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• I love starting new things but I never seem to follow through

• I want to be a better leader

• I want to leave my job but I don’t know what’s next for me

• My job is no longer challenging me and I don't see eye to eye with my manager

• I want to start my own business but my family life is complicated
  
  I also coach for Oxford University's Coaching programme and love working with clients on the challenges of academic life.

HOW IT ALL WORKS

"The quality of everything we do depends on the quality of the thinking we do first” Nancy KIine 

We think better when we think together. Most of us are fantastic problem solvers. Why wouldn’t we be? We’ve been solving problems our whole lives but sometimes we come up against that horrible stuck feeling and that we just can’t push through. That’s a great time to take a step back, look at things from a different angle, look deeper within ourselves, look again from another angle, try thinking a different way, until we find clarity and direction. The process of exploring will in turn unlock decisions on the best way forward. Give yourself the gift of time, space and attention and see what happens.

MY COACHING APPROACH

I’m often asked about my coaching approach or coaching style which of course is difficult thing to quantify but there are a few things that I can say… 

It’s all tailored around you. You set the direction and you set where you would like to get to. Most of my coaching sessions start with the simple question ‘What would you like to think about today?’ and we go from there. 

Some people love to be challenged and pushed, some people want a calm, quiet space to think and reflect. Some people find visually drawing things out really helpful, some people find that with talking alone we can unpick things and think more deeply. Together we’ll work out the best way forward. 

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There’s no preset programme that we follow. I am equipped with a tool box of exercises, models and approaches that can help us progress forward. We’ll draw upon what is most useful for you in the moment.

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What I don’t do… 

I do not offer advice as a part of my coaching. Why would I? You know yourself better than I do. My role as the coach is to help facilitate your thinking. 

I do not make grand claims about what we can achieve together. I do believe that remarkable strides forward can come as a result of coaching but that is dependent on your input and commitment as much as it is on me.