After following Steve Allman on LinkedIn for a year or so and enjoying his relevant and funny posts, I decided to bite the bullet and book in a coaching session before starting a new job role - my second charity leadership job.

I wanted to start as I mean to go on, and talk through some areas I didn't feel as confident about. From the start of our session, I felt comfortable and able to be open/honest. I'd informed him in advance of my accessibility needs as a deaf person which he had prepared for and checked that everything was ok (lighting/picture/ sound quality etc).

I felt listened to and understood throughout. Steve's questions were insightful, and were a real eye opener as to some of my thought patterns. He provided useful analogies, tips and strategies and positive feedback which left me feeling much more confident and ready to get started in my new role.

He has the knowledge, experience and insight to understand and comment on the unique features, challenges and benefits of working in the charity sector.

As I'm self-funding sessions, committing to a package wouldn't have been right for me so it was great to be able to book a one-off session - although it won't be my last!

Claire Baldwin, Joint Senior Manager, Manchester Deaf Centre

I’d been following Steve Allman on LinkedIn for a while. His posts were funny but also brutally honest about leadership life in a charity. I bit the biscuit and have just completed 6 months coaching. I thought I had a big question about my future - I felt I couldn’t cope being a parent and a charity CEO and was doing neither well. Turns out I needed to address my exceptionally unhealthy work ethic, pace and boundaries. Fast forward 6 months and this so-called biscuit guru has got me to the point where I can mostly coach myself. I’ve also got a stack of practical tools to help me manage myself and others better. The most important lesson though was that you can’t have a home brain and work brain. Something I’d convinced myself was possible. I had not addressed some personal life stuff and it was influencing all my relationships. I was second guessing my own gut instincts and obsessing about the perceived impact on others putting my own feelings, time and happiness last every time. And the harsh reality is that there are those that will take advantage, even in a charity. I never thought I’d have a coach let alone one that made me both laugh and cry in the same hour, Being a CEO can be lonely, the sense of responsibility you have for your team, beneficiaries and community is intense. It’s rare anyone checks in on you. Steve has been in it, seen it all and reads between the lines like no other person can. Having space and time to be listened to, supported and guided is game-changing. To all those charity CEOs or leaders out there, get a Steve. Lucie Muir, CEO, Wildscreen

I have been working with Steve over the last 6 months and would definitely recommend him to coach you.  Steve’s open and honest approach, along with his fantastic sense of humour really added to our sessions.

His ability to grasp the complexities of the situation that you are working within and the trials that we often face are immense and have really supported me through some demanding and challenging times to get to a place where I truly understand my own strengths and weakness and can adapt to the situations I encounter. 

I now am clear about my own expectations; I learned a lot about myself and admittedly it was not always easy.

There were some difficult conversations/ challenges to overcome, yet Steve handled those sessions face-on but with kindness, compassion and sensitivity.

Michelle Ford, Chief Executive, FCS Talking Therapies