Annette Cairns

I had the pleasure of receiving a course of six coaching sessions with Annette from June 2020 to November 2020. I am part of the senior leadership team at a private hospital. My line manager (Hospital Director) felt I would benefit from some coaching sessions to help with some objectives highlighted in my PDR. Annette was known to us as she used to work for the same hospital group; we felt she would be useful to me as she knows the industry and our particular working environment. I had also participated in many courses that Annette had delivered over the years and I always came away feeling inspired and engaged by her messages and teaching style. Annette started the sessions with some fact finding about what my current challenges were. I shared with her recent examples of where I had found situations difficult. She flipped the scenarios on their head a got me to look at how my behaviours and perceptions were influencing the difficult situations. She coached me on some techniques to help identify my triggers and become more aware of how I was contributing to the difficulty. She helped me develop a toolkit and process to ensure that I could deal with my emotions and reactions towards a situation to help steer the outcome. She also helped me with techniques to deconstruct and relieve the anxiety that I would feel in anticipation of difficult conversations or situations, helping to build my confidence and prepare appropriately. Annette’s experience and insights into NLP were really helpful here as she would challenge me on the language I was subconsciously using and how this could be a hindrance to the outcomes I was trying to achieve. Annette always creates a ‘safe’ environment to speak freely and without judgement, which allows you to get more from the session. The benefits of working with Annette are that she appeals to my ‘yellow’ (insights) style. Her positivity and upbeat approach help to keep me engaged and inspire the creative solutions that I am always keen to explore. My equally dominant blue style can sometimes be a bit conflicted by the lack of structure that ‘going with the flow’ brings…something that Annette manages to address and balance well. As this was my first experience of coaching, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was great to address issues that were current and relevant, which is what Annette used as a starting point as I wasn’t sure where to start in terms of what I wanted to achieve from the sessions. I knew I needed some help, but wasn’t really sure what that looked like, which is probably why the sessions felt less ‘structured’. It’s comforting to know that coaching can be used and work for a wide variety of my potential needs; whether more ad hoc, or to achieve a specific objective. All of my sessions were via Zoom due to the Covid pandemic, but Annette has clearly worked hard to adapt and not allow this to be a barrier. I do however look forward to working with Annette again when we can meet face to face.

I have to admit I wasn't a fan of the need for a coach but that changed after our first session. Annette's approach was fantastic and I have gained so much from our sessions as she skilfully guided me around clarifying my own concerns and identifying solutions. I cannot recommend her highly enough and enjoy our continuing sessions and reaping the rewards of my increased productivity and clarity of thought.

Annette is friendly, intelligent, witty and wonderful to work with. She is able to identify different ways of working with different individuals; she is a not a ‘one size fits all’ coach. I enjoyed working with Annette as she asked the tough questions while at the same time being compassionate and empathetic. She asked me to consider situations within different contexts, opening my mind to interpretations beyond my initial observations. Our conversations allowed me to clear my mind and make better decisions that has had long term positive impacts on my career. Hospital Director.