who is Rob Kemp?

Personal Ethos: "Too often we stumble along in life, unconnected with our deepest desires and aspirations. My approach in working with people is to be a lodestone where people can reset their compass and determine their direction.

I am supportive, nurturing, caring – but always challenging - the critical friend. If at any one time we can rationalise our position, justify our actions and envision our future (and what it will take to create that future), then we will be some way towards self actualisation. I believe in the boundless potential of the individual and recognise the barriers (mostly psychological) that prevent us from achieving all that we could be. Coaching is all about vaulting those barriers with a sense of defiance and purpose."

Rob Kemp, Monday 5th August 2007

My roles have been varied in level of seniority, from sales roles earlier in my career through first, second and third-line management to board and director positions.

My work as a coach started in 1996 with my first management role, and since that time I have been trained ‘in-house’ and by externally validated providers as a ‘coach-mentor’ (CIPD qualified 2005).

I value Coaching as a way to increase performance in any walk of life; a way to help individuals set meaningful goals, which are relevant for their context, and take positive action towards them – and by doing so achieving success in their chosen area. I believe in this, and have seen it work so many times and in many different contexts.

My approach to coaching is characterised not so much by the models and techniques used, but by the experience that I have had in using these models with salespeople, business managers, marketers, and sales managers over the past eleven years. The experienced coach knows when to ask questions and when to remain quiet, when to push and when to support, and importantly how ‘hands-on’ or ‘hands-off’ to be with the ‘learner’. There is a distinct difference between coaching, mentoring, counselling, managing and simply giving advice; the experienced coach knows how to combine some of these elements to help an individual ‘learn to learn’.

Coaching is all about discernible outputs (a change which can be seen, demonstrated, proven) – a good coach will always work with learners to determine what these outputs ‘look like’ – it is by these outputs that one can determine the success of a coaching intervention and lend some measurability to the investment.

The ultimate outcome of my coaching intervention is to bring the learner to a state of self-awareness such that they become their own internal coach, and in time can bring these skills to others.