Becoming more mindful at work was the theme of an inaugural master class for coaches qualified through an Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) accredited in-house programme offered at Leeds Metropolitan University or NHS Leeds.

The event on 15 September was organised by Leeds Metropolitan University as part of its initiative to develop a band of what it calls “super coaches”, who as well as being trained to coach on the in-house programme, are offered ongoing CPD and supervision.

“This is based on my experience of both being and supporting an internal coach, and realising that this can be a lonely place, particularly in an organisation of over 3000 staff,” said Leeds Metropolitan University people development manager Kathy Ashton.

When Ashton joined the university, rather than running annual coaching programmes as she had done at her former employer Leeds Partnerships NHS Foundation Trust, she decided to run just two in-house coaching programmes initially, developing 22 in-house coaches.

“I decided this number was sufficient whilst I assessed the feedback of the coaching provided. I have since focused on developing these coaches into ‘super coaches’ – by this I mean offering ongoing CPD and supervision to the qualified coaches.”

The university’s coaching offer has undergone a number of changes since Ashton was profiled in the magazine in 2009 (http://www.coaching-at-work.com/2009/01/02/sporting-chance). It has a new vice chancellor and now has six instead of four faculties. Ashton said the changes have prompted its workplace offering to be defined as ‘coaching for transition’.

“This has been targeted towards staff who have undergone organisational change, are new into role or who are moving towards early retirement or maternity leave,” she said.

Some 140 staff attended the inaugural event, which was also open to leaders who have completed an ILM leadership qualification. Ashton said: “Leeds has a raft of ILM alumni across three sectors (NHS, higher education and voluntary sector), all of whom have participated in an identical ILM coaching and leadership qualifications, and I was keen to bring them together for some shared learning and networking opportunities.”

Margaret Chapman ran the master class on “Leading through difficult times using mindfulness and emotional intelligence” in response to delegates requesting more input on EQ.

“Margaret spoke of the ‘leadership tsunami’, identifying the need to engage employees to deliver more, with less. This is particularly pertinent within the higher education sector currently with the rise of student fees in 2012 and the expectations students will have because of this; as well as a reduction in many budgets.”

“Margaret covered the theory of mindfulness as well as the links between EQ and mindfulness. There was plenty of opportunity for delegates to practice ‘being mindful’, to notice and accept what is happening ‘right here, right now’. Feedback from the event indicated that some had got a lot of personal gain from this practice,” said Ashton.