For Universities

University life comes in many shapes and forms. And it's changing. Fundamental challenges for those working and studying in Universities often relate back to being connected to purpose, working in relationship and team, holding professional and personal balance, managing performance anxiety, and establishing effective habits.

Working with leaders, teams, academics, researchers, PhDs and students I bring an intimate understanding of university life, combining my experience as a former academic and as a professional coach who has worked with Universities across the UK and Europe. For over ten years I've been offering a portfolio of experiential, coaching based workshops, programmes, and training, in one-to-one and group settings.

A research leader seeking to enhance their strategy, a research team wanting to hold more challenging conversations, an academic trying find better balance, a contract researcher wanting to establish a clear direction, a PhD researcher seeking confidence to write - my approach is based on engaging with the relationship between 1) purpose, intention and vision, 2) everyday habits and practices, and 3) personal and team balance and well-being. All the while recognising the challenges of navigating institutional structures and balance with the rest of life.

My work with Universities is commissioned through four routes

Bespoke workshops and programmes - recent examples include group coaching for research leadership development; research team coaching to enhance working relationships; book writing support programmes; workshops and coaching for Researchers at Risk.

Pre-designed formats adapted to your context - I run regular workshops, sometimes supported with additional group coaching, around core themes such as, resilience, balance, well-being, confidence, motivation, creativity, working in relationship (and coaching skills). I also offer unique 'live coaching' events WriteHere, RightNow Retreats and Get Stuff Done.

Joining existing programmes - participants join my yearly Summer WriteClub (which can also be commissioned for cohorts), Pause with Purpose Days and Monday Morning Meditations.

One-to-one coaching - often commissioned by departments, institutes or research projects. Examples have included working with research leaders, academics seeking balance, academics wanting to make the most of sabbatical time, career building for contract researchers, PhD researchers struggling to complete.

People say ...

I'm delighted my sessions are regularly scored as ‘excellent’ and comments have included: “respectful, sensitive to needs of the group”, “fantastic, created a really safe atmosphere to expose the issues raised”, “excellent, very patient when dealing with quite a few of us, kept us on track”, and “exceptional – humane, forgiving, thoughtful and able to bring out the best in a diverse group.”

One of my favourite bits of feedback was when someone said to me informally, 'in meetings you can tell if people have worked with you, the whole atmosphere of the meeting and the way we communicate is different. It's changing the culture!'

“Invaluable in redressing work-life balance and getting to the core of what I want to achieve which is integral to improving my performance within my department and the institution.” (PI Development Programme, Lancaster University)

“Brilliant – engaging and friendly from the start. Made everyone feel welcome and valued” (The PhD Leader, Leeds University School, November)

“Will was excellent and really used a wide variety of experiential learning techniques that had a lasting impact” (Resilient Researcher, Manchester Metropolitan University)

Academic Background

From being a PhD researcher (1995-2000), then contract researcher (2000-2006) to becoming a Lecturer (2006-2013) I was a REF active researcher, well versed in the challenges of interdisciplinary and cross-institutional research. As a social scientist often working in collaboration with scientists in the field of water management, I had a reputation for developing high-impact research involving strong stakeholder involvement.

As a Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator, funding bodies included European Commission, National Research Councils (ESRC and EPSRC), UK Water Industry Research, Government Departments, Private Sector Companies, and Local Authorities. Two projects as Principal Investigator were evaluated as ‘Outstanding’ by the ESRC, one being awarded second place in the ESRC Celebrating Impact Awards (May 2013).

Passionate about student learning and resilience as a Lecturer, I engaged in developing group and experiential learning wherever possible. This was the focus of my P.G. Cert. in Academic Practice (2009).

As well as a list of journal publications and edited books, I co-wrote two coaching books with Jeff Gill - Your PhD Coach (2013) and Get Sorted! (2015) - and coaching materials for Vitae.

Coaching with Universities

While working as a Lecturer, I started delivering coaching programmes for undergraduates and PhD researchers, including offering peer-to-peer coaching skills programmes for PhD researchers, Contract Researchers and NHS Researchers. This led to some work with Vitae in outlining the potential of coaching for research. My first ‘commission’ from a University as a full-time coach was when, at the end of an exit interview with my Dean, she said, “Well, this is all very positive, can you come and work with our new junior lecturers?”. This went well and led to working across the whole university, offering group coaching-based programmes for contract researchers, for academics with permanent contracts, for academics on Fast Track scheme to Professorships and my work has continue to unfold since.

As well as running workshops for research institutes and departments, I find myself offering group coaching to writers, working with research teams and often being asked to work 1-1 with academic staff and contract researchers supporting them in their leadership roles, with writing projects or in finding balance in their work.

Sometimes I simply offer a place to ‘pause’ for those in higher leadership positions to take a step back, reflect and ensure they are working in alignment with their vision, purpose and intention.

I’ve also developed a suite of workshops for PhD researchers on issues such as confidence, motivation, focus, procrastination, being with your supervisor, and more which I continue to offer. Similar programmes were commissioned for early-stage NHS researchers by NHS R&D North West who I still work with, and most recently I’ve work with Vitae supporting Researchers at Risk from the Ukraine on the British Academy programmes.

My work with undergraduates has also continued, often offering live coaching writing workshops for supporting dissertations while I also led a voluntary coaching programme supporting Afghan female medical students (via the Linda Norgrove Foundation).

Find out more

I'm happy to share more details and have a conversation about what might work for you.

Let's have a conversation