Student name: Rebecca Green

Course: MA Coaching graduate

It’s been almost 5 years since I started my Masters journey at CLL. In that time, I’ve grown as a coach, as a person and as a leader. That’s quite a statement I know, but I honestly believe that studying for my MA Coaching enriched my life in so many ways.

Firstly, it gave me the knowledge and frameworks to understand why I do what I do. By no means a ‘traditional’ coach, I’d called myself everything from a facilitator to a consultant and no label seemed to quite fit. Defining my coaching style, understanding the drivers and motivations behind my coaching ‘way of life’ and understanding the theoretical knowledge that underpins the practice helped me to realise if there’s one thing coaching is not, it’s a label.

The value of teaching, theory and reflective practice combined enabled what turned out to be a three year journey for me alongside work to be an enjoyable one too. I was worried about studying and working but I quickly realised how the academic and practice worlds compliment each other. I’ve been able to draw out coaching experiences from my day job ever since – I’m still not a full-time coach, but coaching is what I do.

CLL was a really supportive environment for me. My course directors, tutors, supervisors and wonderful cohort kept me focused and confident I could succeed whilst pregnant with my first child. They supported my maternity leave and kept me informed whilst I was away. They were also incredibly patient as I worked my way through my rather large conceptual mind map of paradigms, theories, philosophies and ideas and tried to connect the dots into a different way of thinking about coaching practice. This culminated in my dissertation on Art Based Coaching as Next Generation Coaching Practice – where again with the support of my supervisor and my cohort peers who had completed their degree the previous year, I manage to get a distinction. This was something I thought I’d never do. I’ve recently been diagnosed with ADHD and many times have thought back to CLL and wondered if I’d studied anywhere else, would I have seen it through to the end.

The MA Coaching is challenging. It is thought-provoking and deeply reflective. The biggest thing I learnt was that being a good coach is about embracing all of those things. That is what has impacted me the most – far beyond the qualification. As a leader in a corporate setting, my learnings from the MA have made me more self-aware, always stop and reflect on my experiences against the wider context, understand individual differences and team challenges in a different way and see that the situations that challenge me the most (as a coach and an individual) are the ones I need to take notice of, as there is something to learn. Aside from the personal development, my knowledge of coaching theory and practice reaches far beyond the coaching world and into my everyday interactions at all levels of the business I operate in. If you’re looking for growth as well as credentials, you’re in the right place.