Coach Spotlight: Coach Tracy

This week, we welcome Coach Tracy to our BOLDLY Coach Spotlight! A seasoned executive coach with a specialization in guiding senior executives through leadership challenges and workplace parental leave planning, Tracy brings a wealth of experience to our platform. Originally hailing from the UK, she has resided in Bahrain and Hong Kong for several years before relocating to Auckland in 2020. It's great to have you here Tracy - let's begin!

1) You've lived in Bahrain and Hong Kong before settling in Auckland, what is your favourite thing about each location?

In all of the places I have lived, my favourite thing is the people. I love getting to know and understand different cultures and the things that make them unique.  My favourite thing about Bahrain is the way the extreme heat greets you when you get off the plane. In Hong Kong, it is the vibrancy and energy you experience when you take a stroll through the wet markets. In New Zealand it is the chance to spend long sunny days at the most beautiful beaches.

2) Can you tell us a little about your pets or hobbies?

I love to read, mostly non-fiction, I have recently taught myself to play the piano and to keep me moving and active I do yoga. Our very fluffy, long-haired black cat is called Boots – we rescued him when he was a baby and his favourite thing is to be groomed or cuddled in a warm towel on a wet day. He is extremely well behaved, and we call him our dream 3rd child. 

3) You worked for over a decade with British Airways. How has your experience in the aviation industry uniquely shaped your approach to executive coaching, and what specific insights or lessons learned do you incorporate into your coaching practice?

I loved working in aviation in a leadership role and it was in many ways like any large business; complex, challenging, dynamic and exciting. It gave me an extensive grounding in senior leadership and big business challenges.

Understanding the enormity of the scope within large businesses helps me as a coach to understand the landscape my clients are navigating in their challenges. I have walked in similar shoes, I understand how it can be.

4) How do you define success in executive coaching?

There are several tangible measurements I often consider. Defining firstly, what you want coaching to support you with and secondly, how will you know when you get there are the cornerstones. You can then measure your progress by rating at the outset where you rank against your goals and do the same mid-engagement and at the end. I also measure my success as their coach with 2 things:

1) Has there been A shift

2) Has transformation occurred? (however small!)

5) What steps do you take to align executive coaching within an organization's values, goals, and existing culture?

It is important to incorporate the HR teams / the people managers and any other stakeholders into the coaching process to embed from the outset and ensure its success beyond just the coaching sessions themselves.

I typically have tri-partite meetings to begin the engagement with coachee and manager to get a clear picture, set our confidentiality parameters and set the coachee up for success. I do the same at the end – how did we do versus how we said we’d do and what more is to be done. This contracting helps to hold everyone accountable to their roles in the coaching engagement and creates a structure for the coachee to embed the coaching learnings insight in the future too.

6) How do you approach coaching executives who are facing significant organizational changes or transitions?

The same way I approach any client. With compassion, support and at the right moment – challenge. I listen to what is at the heart of their concerns and we go straight there. The context is much more important than the content and this is where I try to focus. Often this gets much faster results.

7) What are some of your strategies for addressing resistance or skepticism towards coaching from employees or leaders within an organization?

If I sense skepticism I address it directly. Its ok to be skeptical. We unpack why it is there and what coaching would need to be and do in order for them to not be skeptical. By encouraging their curious side rather than justifying why coaching is amazing (also true!), we rapidly build trust, lay the framework for a truly authentic safe relationship and get some great work done.

8) You have extensive experience coaching senior executives, how do you adapt your coaching approach considering their unique challenges, responsibilities, and organizational impact?

I aim to meet every client with curiosity and a beginners mind. While I have been a senior executive, and coached senior executives, every person and situation is unique. However, I do feel that many executives prefer a coach who has also been at a similar level, so my previous experience definitely helps to fast track my empathy of their position and their role in the organisation.

9) How do you keep up with industry trends and best practices in executive coaching?

I love to invest in cutting edge learning / training programs specifically for coaches. I do this typically every 12-18 months. Recently I have done Neuroscience and the Power of Presence and both were incredibly valuable.

10) Finally, what unique qualities or strengths do you possess that differentiate you as an executive coach and make you a valuable asset to potential clients?

I feel that deep listening is my super power. While I am listening, I am also sensing what is going on for and with my clients. I interpret this and play back to them what I am hearing. It is my experience (and incidentally, what neuroscience says) that transformation cannot begin until people feel that you ‘get’ them at a fundamental level. Until they feel seen and understood. THEN, we can talk about ‘actions’ and only THEN are people motivated to act.

Thank you once more, Coach Tracy, for joining us in this week's BOLDLY Coach Spotlight! To schedule your complimentary 30-minute chemistry session with Coach Tracy or to delve deeper into the range of services we provide at BOLDLY, visit www.boldly.app or reach out to us via email at connect@boldly.app

About the Author:

Lisa Singh is an Australian, living with her family in the beautiful South Pacific. As Coach Business Partner Lead for BOLDLY, Lisa's team screen and onboard coaches onto our global marketplace, then enable the matching and engagement process so that coaches can do what they do best: deliver exceptional coaching journeys to our coachees. Lisa is a trained nurse, and her role with BOLDLY she loves meeting top coaches and promoting their work for a win:win. Connect with Lisa .