Dr Catriona McMahon

Qualifications

In addition to my medical qualifications, I hold the Ashridge Masters (MSC) in Executive Coaching, the Ashridge Coaching Certificate for Organisational Consultants and the Institute of Learning and Management Certificate in Executive Coaching and Mentoring (Level 7).  I am an NLP Master Practitioner / Master Coach and a Time to Think Coach and Facilitator.

About me

I am a physician and accredited Executive Coach (Ashridge Business School - EMCC Senior Practitioner equivalent).  I have worked in both the NHS (Anaesthetics/Critical Care) and the Pharmaceutical Industry and I am as passionate about health and healthcare as I am about personal excellence and career development.  In additional to extensive experience in personal, team and enterprise leadership in the pharmaceutical industry, I am also a Non-Executive Director for a large Acute Foundation Trust in the Midlands.  I have faced the challenge of transitioning from being the clinical expert into leadership into Board level management and I have a very current awareness of the reality of today’s NHS and Life Science Industries.

I mostly work one-on-one with my clients, though I also work as a Team Coach and Team Facilitator to help release the power of individual thinking whilst strengthening team coherency and creativity. 

I am a member of the EMCC, and as an Ashridge accredited coach I abide by the Ashridge Code of Coaching Conduct..  I participate in regular supervision as part of my ongoing professional coaching development.

Coaching process

I am first and foremost a Relational Coach and I believe that our experience is shaped by the quality of the relationships that we have with others.  By exploring the here-and now of our co-created reality, we uncover insights that reflect your experience of working in relationship with others.  We explore your strengths and areas for growth and development, co-identifying questions that cut through to what it is that you want and need to know.   My coaching style is flexible, as I modify my approach to suit your needs; and my willingness to explore and explain the theory behind the approaches I use means that the curious particularly enjoy my style.

As an Executive Coach, I support you as you explore your experience of your organisation.  I will encourage you to ‘see’ your workplace as a series of conversations and how you do, and can, influence and shape the direction and consequence of these conversations.

Or, if a less interventional approach is preferred, I work as a Thinking Partner, as a Time to Think Coach. Clients can contract to work this way from the outset or may decide at the start of a coaching session that a period of supported, high-quality thinking is required – often with astounding results. 

What can I offer you?

Feedback from coaching clients confirms that I support and challenge with empathy, using the experience of how I find us together to help inform how relationships may be forming and functioning in your environment outside of the coaching room.  Healthcare Professionals specifically say that they appreciate working with me as I ‘get them’ – where they come from, what has shaped them and the challenges/opportunities they face into today’s unrelenting healthcare environment. 

Clients who are returning to their organisations after a period of ill-health report that my professional understanding of their underlying health issues means that I have a holistic approach to working with them as they develop and implement their ‘return-to-work’ plan, whilst my judicious use of self-disclosure gives them the confidence to face their new futures, both personally and professionally. 

Finally, feedback from my Thinking clients say that I listen with full attention, authentic interest and great patience; and that they invariably generate and explore ideas that they didn’t even know they had within them.  Coaching clients find this technique a very refreshing and a (positively) disruptive alternative to a more traditional intervention-based coaching session.

Which region of the UK would you be willing to coach? All regions via skype, in person within a 50 mile radius of Milton Keynes

How will you be willing to coach? Face to face and Skype 

Who will you be willing to coach? Individuals

For what medical career stages are you willing to coach? Medical Students, doctors in training, staff and associate specialists, consultants, GPs and medical leaders.