Writings and insights curated around relational themes. A collection of selected examples of relational writing and insights captured from different points of my research journey.
The works of others – and experiences of participants, who shared their experiences so generously have expanded my thinking in ways more than I can count.
Book: ‘Values and Ethics in Coaching’
Winner of the Coaching Book of the Year 2017 Award, from the Henley Centre for Coaching. The book is the first complete guide to exploring values and ethics in coaching. It guides readers through the responsibilities of coaching practice, and helping people recognise and reconcile common ethical dilemmas and choices.
Part I explores the theory and research underpinning ethical coaching practice and invites you to examine own personal and professional values.
Part II delves into the key ethical considerations in the coaching relationship, including contracting, confidentiality and understanding boundaries. It explores each issue in depth and offers implications and suggestions for practice.
Part III examines individual professional contexts, including coaching in business, sports and healthcare with real life examples and reflections from practising coaches.
Doctoral Research
This qualitative study engaged 12 healthcare leaders, from a range of contexts, to explore how leaders identify with public engagement. The leaders reported how public engagement led to a level of collaboration and genuine relationship that has hitherto been under-reported and relational leadership is discussed as a perspective. This study contributes to knowledge about how leaders recognise the importance of public engagement. The study investigates how relational methods are used in public engagement and help leaders to understand themselves, and others, and how this improves the wider range of leadership relationships in their given context. By recognising both the linguistic and non-linguistic ways of identifying with public engagement this study provides new insights for building relational practices. The research identified what motivates leaders to be collaborative with the public, how leaders identify with public engagement and conditions needed to support collaborative practice. The concept of self-identity is offered as an example of reflexive bricolage; a process of re-visiting experiences through a variety of lenses to form holistic understanding of self in professional leadership and public engagement practice.
“Alice ....peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures and conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations? ”
Where my writing came from.
Seasons for Grief (Hawley, 1997) reflects the deeply personal experience of coping with the death of a child. This article marks my first publication. It describes the tragically short life of my first son Ben. I recall the anguish that led me to write a booklet for parents caring for a sick baby.
Reflecting on my experiences was formative to my practice, guiding me to work especially in ‘engagement’, ‘leadership’ and ‘change’. I became interested in how the cultural and behaviour changes that are needed to effectively embed collaborative ways of working in every day practice might be achieved. Over time health policy has increasingly emphasised public engagement as a lever for quality improvement. It marks a shift, away from ‘doing to’ people to ‘doing with’ people - changing relationships. Well publicised national inquiries into failings of care illuminate that top-down leadership have failed to achieve this cultural change. Defining what is needed remains problematic and this situation led me to my doctorate study.
“Tell our story...That way, I’ll always be with you.”
Click here for a further list of publications and insights.
Click here for quotes that have inspired my work.