About Barbara Bates

As an Accredited Executive Coach with the Association for Coaching, I work mainly with experienced professional people who are under pressure or facing significant change in their work or lives. I provide the space to step back, think clearly about what is happening and what matters, and decide what to do next. My approach draws on many years of professional and life experience, alongside my interests in wellbeing, positive psychology, mindfulness and the insights of neuroscience.

Alongside executive and personal coaching, I am a Registered Health Coach with the UKIHCA and an accredited Harrison Assessments Professional Coach. I use Harrison Assessments where appropriate to help people understand their strengths, preferences and development needs, and I am also developing my work with Harrison Career Navigator for people considering career options and change.

My varied career and personal experience means I understand professional responsibility, organisational pressure and significant change from the inside, not simply as coaching concepts.

How I got to here

It's been quite a journey - my love for coaching developed out of my work as an ICS and NVQ Management Assessor. I found I really loved coaching and seeing the difference it makes to people, and a well-timed redundancy in 2011 gave me an opportunity to use all my experience to pursue my own business in coaching.

Earlier in my life, after a degree in English at Newcastle University, where I also studied Latin, Greek and Linguistics, I worked for a year in Edinburgh University Library, with a view to a career in that field. Although I enjoyed this I felt I needed to complete my education... and my next step certainly completed it!!

I got a job as an auxiliary nurse on a female orthopaedic ward and then trained as SRN (State Registered Nurse). Once qualified I went on to work for a large local authority in residential management of homes for older people, where I later undertook Health and Social Care assessment and verification.

I’ve coached people in a number of management roles within a large local authority setting, as well as on a personal basis.

I’m really interested in Positive Psychology, Mindfulness, and their application to coaching, together with the emerging insights from modern neuroscience.