Have you ever noticed how where you are affects how you think?
And do the same old problems keep recurring when you’re stuck in the same old place?
When you need to explore and find some extra clarity and energy around critical issues and decisions, it can be a good idea to escape from your usual executive, urban, working environment.
At the same time you’ll be getting yourself physically moving, and breathing in some of the freshest air in England!
Combining a professional, confidential coaching conversation with a restorative walk on the beautiful chalk downs overlooking the Vale of Pewsey stretches both your mind and your body.
This isn’t just a friendly chat with exercise and stunning views. It applies a specific, professional approach within an ancient landscape that includes a range of features from which symbolic meaning and new thinking can emerge.
“It’s a great walk with a charming companion. But that’s not the point. The environment and Adrian make you think. Every time I’ve done this I’ve come back with a clearer idea of where I’m going and what I want to do with the business next. These are some of the most productive hours I spend each year.” RK, Partner, Management Consultancy.
You can choose to work on anything that’s important for you, for example:
- what leadership means for you;
- resetting your ambition and the direction of your career and life;
- challenges of promotion and change;
- how to change and have the impact you want with others;
- off-loading and untangling your thoughts.
As an experienced and accredited executive coach, I like to use highly ‘non-directive’ techniques in this outdoor environment. These help to encourage different thinking, access hidden resources in your mind and soul and shift your sense of what is happening in your life and career – and what could happen.
Natural environments like this have inspired some of the finest of human thinking and creativity: Wordsworth, Keats, Virgil, Nietzsche… You may not end up writing poetry or philosophy, but you will take away new perspectives, ideas and options and, hopefully, feel reinvigorated with a clearer sense of direction and potential.
I live in All Cannings, in Wiltshire, near Devizes, around ninety minutes’ drive from the Hogarth roundabout via the M4. There’s also a train option from Paddington to Pewsey. Most of my work takes place in London, but I aim to make use of my local surroundings on Fridays, and have worked with a number of clients using this approach successfully over recent years.
A typical plan for the day is…
By car:
- 10am: arrive All Cannings
- 10-11am: initial coaching conversation over coffee to understand and draw out the key themes on which you’d like to work;
- 11am-1pm: walk to, up and across the local hills, and back to the village. This 4.5 mile route includes the highest point in Wiltshire, a Neolithic/iron age ‘camp’, the Anglo-Saxon Wansdyke, and the Kennet and Avon Canal. There’ll be plenty of time to discuss, pause and reflect upon the identified themes;
- 1pm-2.30pm: traditional pub lunch at the Kings Arms – our local Wadworths pub – or a lighter option if you want to keep the healthy theme going!;
- Drive back to return home before the rush hour, continuing to reflect on what you’ve discovered and the options you’ve developed.
Or by train (might need to check these times are up to date after Covid changes!):
- 11.06am from Paddington to Pewsey arrives for pick up just after 12.00pm;
- 12.30pm initial conversation over a light lunch;
- 1.30pm-3.30pm walking and coaching on the hills;
- 4.25pm train from Pewsey arriving back in London by 6pm.