Fulfilling your potential

I have an unusual breadth of experience, know-how and connections, in both public and private sectors.

A Chartered Surveyor by profession, I ran my own property consultancy for ten years before entering Parliament in 2001. I served on the frontbench for over eleven years and was Minister of State for Business at the start of the Coalition Government 2010 and then for Housing in 2012.

On leaving Government I spent over five years as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy working with senior diplomatic and business leaders in nine countries. I stood down from Parliament in December 2019.

I have over ten years’ experience coaching and mentoring business and political leaders. In 2018-19 I undertook the Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching at Henley Business School, to strengthen my skills and training.

I adhere to the Code of Ethics of the International Coach Federation concerning professional conduct and conflicts of interest. This can be found at www.coachfederation.org

Before commencing work, I would expect to exchange emails to confirm our contract and your acceptance of my rates and payment policy.

Confidentiality is at the heart of any effective coaching relationship. As such what I discuss with the coachee remains between us.

The exception would be if anything arises from our conversations that leads me to be concerned about someone’s safety or wellbeing, or about a potential serious illegality. Any notes I make related to my coaching will be held securely and solely for my reference.

I prefer to meet the coachee in person at the start, to build our relationship, but I accept that this isn’t always possible.

I prefer face-to-face coaching but have become experienced with online sessions, which can often be more convenient or time efficient for busy clients. I operate on most common online platforms.

I believe it’s important to have a regular pattern of sessions to maintain momentum. I will also ask the coachee to make some preparations before a session to enhance the in-person coaching.

I usually undertake a chemistry session for free to ensure that the relationship with the coachee will gel.

I would then expect to have an initial, longer ‘deep dive’ session to establish the relationship and explore the situation as a whole. I usually ask coachees to undertake online tests to help identify personality types but am happy to discuss existing practices within any company or organisation.

I think its important to help the next generation and so am a mentor to several PropTech start ups, as their founders build their businesses. I can offer real estate, business and coaching experience, which proves a powerful combination.

I also mentor young professionals and entrepreneurs, including through the mentoring programme of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in the UK. Its rewarding to see young people gain confidence and know how as their careers develop.

The following testament is from one recent client

Mark and I have been working together recently where he has supported me over a difficult and sensitive issue at work. As a result of Mark’s support the situation has resolved and I have felt empowered to tackle people and situations that I would normally shy away from. In this sense, Mark’s support has been totally life-transforming.

Mark is able to get to the crux of the situation quickly whether that is in a face -to-face or telephone session. His expert questioning and genuine, compassionate understanding are key here. Mark’s warm, supportive and genuinely interested approach puts people immediately at ease. His skills in handling the power dynamic that could influence a coaching session are proficient - I felt no different talking to Mark than I would talking to any other (very able and committed) coach.

Mark’s Socratic questioning, chair work, SMART goal-setting and reflexivity are exemplary as is his ability to empathically listen. He uses these sensitively and genuinely- at no point did I feel that he was running through ‘textbook tools’ and the key to getting this right is that his choice of tools to use is always driven by the needs of the coachee at each stage of the conversation. Mark’s patience, diligence and empathy from beginning to end of any one session remain focused and totally genuine.

Mark’s coaching skills are exemplary and, having worked with other, experienced, Henley-trained coaches before, I can confirm that his expertise surpasses that of those. I cannot really find words to thank him.

K.A. London