FAQs

Your questions answered

What is coaching?

The term ‘coaching’ is a broad one. It can include career coaching and life coaching, but in the business world it usually refers to executive coaching.

Coaching uses techniques of facilitation and questioning which encourage the individual to explore issues, weigh up options and overcome challenges.

For organisations, coaching is a valuable tool that helps support and develop your people, improving both performance and potential.

For individuals, coaching helps you to stay in charge of your career and your professional development.

A coach may offer advice and suggestions based on their own expertise and experience, but their role is not to recommend a course of action, nor to take action on your behalf.

What is maternity coaching?

Maternity coaching isn’t about antenatal classes or childbirth. It’s a well-established area of executive coaching, specifically linked to a current or recent maternity leave. It can also be very useful to women who have a young family and are juggling the challenges of family life with a demanding career.

Maternity coaching helps women to prepare for this life-changing event, on both a practical and emotional level. It gives women the chance to discuss their concerns and options in confidence with an independent, experienced and objective person. The coach partners women through the transition from “working woman” to “working mother” – from pregnancy and maternity leave right through to the return to work and beyond.

My coaching programmes are all tailored to each individual, but you can see a sample here.

What are the benefits of maternity coaching?

Maternity coaching ensures that women use, rather than lose, their potential. That’s good news for them, and good news for their organisation.

For organisations, maternity coaching is a proven aid to talent management, helping you to retain your key women and get the best from them. By supporting them before, during and after their maternity leave, it helps them to re-engage with work successfully instead of returning reluctantly. This saves you huge amounts of money in recruitment and training costs, in lost expertise and contacts, and in lower performance levels. It’s also excellent PR and makes you more attractive to potential new hires.

For individuals, maternity coaching guides you through this momentous and potentially difficult life change. It’s invaluable to have this consistent, knowledgeable support throughout pregnancy, maternity leave, the return to work and beyond. Without agenda or judgement, your coach will help you work through any emotional and practical problems, clarify your plans, return to work confidently and take charge of your own career.

What topics will we cover?

You can see a sample coaching programme here, but one of the key differences about my coaching service is that it’s fully tailored to each individual. I know that everyone’s circumstances and concerns are different, so I want us to focus on the things that matter most to you. I can also suggest issues or topics you may not have thought of.

Is it confidential?

Entirely. The coaching takes place in complete confidence and all our conversations will remain strictly private between the two of us. To make sure that the coaching works in the context of your organisation, I’ll usually liaise with the HR Manager who is responsible for managing your maternity leave – but this won’t compromise your privacy in any way.

Why choose Vanessa Kingsmill?

You get a real specialist. Maternity creates unique challenges for both individuals and their organisations, so it needs specific knowledge and skills that generalists can’t offer.

You get a thoughtfully-constructed programme tailored to you and your needs – not an off-the-peg programme that’s run time and time again. Every woman’s concerns and needs are different, so a one-size-fits-all approach just won’t work.

You get a personal approach, not a corporate one. I work as an independent, so there are no unknown quantities – you know exactly who you’re getting.

Because of my background, I have a deep understanding of the personal and professional challenges – and a detailed knowledge of how to tackle them.

And as my testimonials show, I’m genuinely committed to helping women navigate this momentous life change. On a personal level, I’m friendly, warm, empathetic, approachable and quick to build a rapport.

As a coach, I’m informed, intuitive, professional and great at helping people get past their “roadblocks” to find a solution that works for them and their organisation.

If you have any questions I haven’t answered here, please don’t hesitate to contact me.