1:1 COACHING FOR INDIVIDUALS
As the name ‘The Naked Confidence Coach’ suggests, we don’t need to dress anything up here - so let’s speak plainly.
At some point in your leadership life, you’ve had the confidence, you’ve had the drive and you’ve had the edge to make an impact both in your career & for the companies you work for.
But now, for whatever reason, you’re feeling the pain & pressure of your position.
- Could it be Imposter Syndrome?
- Could it be that you've simply lost your path, your confidence and the spark that once lit the way for you as a leader?
Whether it’s your Mindset or Skillset, you’re shrouded in doubt and lost within limiting beliefs around your leadership (and around your career in general).
So let’s start stripping things back with some tailored professional coaching, shall we?
“I would highly recommend Kirsten as a coach. She is a passionate advocate for all of her clients as well as having great expertise in the female psyche (in particular). She helped me unlock problems and areas of my life I would not have thought to tackle without her, which in turn has given me a significant boost to my career and personal life.”
- Victoria Buxton-Helyer
Deputy Director of Communications – Kent & Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership
GET YOUR QUIZ ON
then let’s start stripping off!
Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in over 15 years of a successful leadership & coaching career, it’s that people love a good quiz.
Take mine here, and get deeper under the skin of whether your leadership losses are down to your mindset or your skillset. The results of the quiz help paint a picture to see what us working together could look like for you – because I don’t offer a one-size-fits-all outfit for my coaching.
GET YOUR QUIZ ON
then let’s start stripping off!
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in over 15 years of a successful leadership & coaching career, it’s that people love a good Quiz.
Take mine here, and get deeper under the skin of whether your leadership losses are down to your Mindset or your Skillset. The results of the Quiz help paint a picture to see what us working together could look like for you – because I don’t offer one-size-fits-all coaching.
Hi, I'm Kirsten Goodwin
I’m an expert in helping struggling, professional women banish their Imposter Syndrome and build the Mindset & Skillset for leadership success. I do this by helping you get rid of your mindset gremlins, and plug your leadership skill gaps, so you feel confident, capable & respected in your role.
Because I’ve been there – waking up in the middle of the night worrying about the next day; feeling so overwhelmed you’re not sure you can keep going; stress levels through the roof; that horrible voice inside your head telling you – you are a failure, you aren’t good enough; and everyone can see it.
Nobody should have to feel like this!
Click on the video to find out how I conquered my demons and learned to thrive in my career with Naked Confidence™ !
PROUD TO WORK WITH
“Coaching with Kirsten helped me to change my internal voice as well as my outlook on my career. Kirsten helped me to see how capable I am. When I face a difficulty I now enjoy the challenge that is part of overcoming that difficulty. I am quicker to ask for advice when it is needed, no longer suffering in silence because I believed that asking for help was a sign of weakness. And I no longer question if I am where I am by mistake – my focus is on doing the best I can where I am while working towards the future career that I want.”
- Kara Minto Simpson
Policy Manager, Home Office
Find out how these wonderful women discovered their Naked Confidence™ with me!
Want to find out more?
Download my free Coaching Brochure to get more information about how my tailored coaching can take you from ‘out of your depth’ to ‘unshakeable confidence’ – or skip the Brochure & let’s get down to talking!
It’s been a valuable, positive, life-changing experience for me.”
- Jacks Connor-Fox MBE
Senior Manager, Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), Ministry of Defence
But do you REALLY have Imposter Syndrome? Watch this video to find out!
WHAT DOES KIRSTEN'S COACHING
feel like to you?
Jemima's journey to true self belief
When Jemima first started working with me – after moving into a new, bigger role at work – she felt completely crippled by self-doubt. By the fear of needing to do everything perfectly. To always have the right answer.
She was convinced she was not confident or capable enough for her new role and was petrified of a) being found out and b) stepping down – or worse… getting managed out.
And the main reason she was struggling?
Her negative inner critic. That terrible voice inside repeatedly saying to her “you’re not good enough”, and completely blocking who she was capable of being & what she was capable of achieving.
And this is what Jemima learned to do – as well as learning tools to improve her productivity & efficiency. And as a result, she is now:
- speaking up in meetings, where before she was silent and stressed, feeling like she was letting herself down;
- proactively shaping her work, and leading her team, where before she was passive, failing to step into that leadership role and mindset;
- effectively managing her relationships with colleagues (even the difficult ones!), where before she would lie awake worrying about how to deal with them;
- no longer fearing not knowing the answer, even in front of her boss – where before, this used to make meetings a minefield.
And most importantly of all, because she was finally feeling confident in herself, she put herself forward for another promotion – and she go it!
"I FEEL A HUGE SENSE OF EMPOWERMENT."
“I’ve learned I have the ability to choose how I feel, and how I see my role and career. I now feel a huge sense of empowerment, and I’ve noticed a huge improvement in my mental health. Plus, as a result of Kirsten’s coaching, not only did I put myself forward for a promotion this summer that I would otherwise have let pass me by – but I also got it! Kirsten helped me see I could do this, and enjoy it along the way.”
– Jemima Leathwood-Hill
Principal Content Designer, Zalando
YOUR COACHING SATISFACTION GUARANTEE
I promise...
- You can have a full refund at the end of the first session if you decide coaching with me isn’t for you
- A personalised coaching journey tailored to you, your goals, and your available time and energy including family or other commitments - no coaching by rote here, which can adapt during the process if your circumstances change
- To be your cheerleader, in your corner and on your side completely, until you have learned how to develop your own inner cheerleader
And last but not least, I am a professionally-trained & accredited coach, registered with an appropriate supervisory body & the Information Commissioner – so your secrets are safe with me!
Any questions?
This is an opportunity for you to get clarity on where you are right now, and the best path forward.
If I think I can help you, and you would like to know more I can talk you through the packages available so we can see which is the right fit for your needs and budget.
I want you to succeed, so it’s not in my interests to persuade you into coaching that isn’t right for you – so there’ll be no hard sell, promise!
At the very least you’ll walk away with insight & understanding into exactly why you’re feeling the way you do, and what I recommend that you do about it. Whether you make those changes with me, or at all, is entirely up to you.
To book a Leadership Confidence Breakthrough Call, click here and it will take you through to my client portal. There you’ll be able to see my calendar so you can choose a time that works for you; enter your email address and name; and then fill in a short questionnaire to help us make best use of the time on your Call. And then it’s booked! You’ll receive an email confirmation, and then an email reminder the day before our session. If you get stuck or have any questions during the process, please email me and I’ll be happy to help!
Each session will have a particular focus, as part of your overall journey of transformation.
I use a combination of practical, logical, emotional and unconscious tools to help you get clarity and Naked Confidence™ in your career: transforming that negative internal voice into an internal cheerleader & unrooting those limiting beliefs; plugging those dangerous skill gaps; and helping you springboard to success using your strengths.
Each session lasts 75 minutes, and takes place over Zoom ideally every fortnight. (It is helpful for sessions to take place at that frequency to sustain momentum.) There will usually be homework! Either additional worksheets to complete before our next session, or tools or techniques to practice in between.
By the end of our journey together, you will have discovered that Naked Confidence™ that you’ve been missing, and feel able to move forward in your career with that incredible self-belief you’ve been missing.
It is then possible to book further maintenance sessions – what I call Ongoing Nurture Sessions – to help you really embed these changes going forward (these can take place monthly).
I have a range of packages available, at different price points. The one that’s right for you will depend on your goals, and your budget. During a Leadership Confidence Breakthrough Call, we would discuss options, and agree the best way forward.
Packages range from £497-£9,000, and can be paid for in full up-front, in instalments, or in monthly direct debits, depending on what works best for you (my client system makes it very easy, and you’d agree this with my Business Manager when she sets you up as a client).
Many of my clients get support for their coaching from their organisations, either in full, or in part. I can provide you with a one-page proposal for you to use in your internal negotiations, drafted specifically to demonstrate the benefits of you having coaching with me to your organisation. My client system makes these joint payments very easy.
If you have any questions about this, please book a Leadership Confidence Breakthrough Call and I’d be happy to help, no obligation/ no pressure.
You will get results even from the Leadership Confidence Breakthrough Call – one client was so inspired just after this Call that it helped her get a new job. And the results will continue arriving from each session: learning a life-changing tool; discovering a transformational insight; developing a career-changing plan. But exactly how long it takes you to get to where you want to go is hard to predict without understanding your specific circumstances. It will depend on how severe your blocks are; whether you have Mindset gaps AND Skillset gaps; and it will also depend on how much consistent action you take during and between sessions. We can discuss all of this on a Leadership Confidence Breakthrough Call – I will let you know what length of coaching package I think you would benefit from, depending on your specific situation.
Coaching sessions last for 75 minutes (I found 60 minutes too short – you didn’t have enough time to review progress, do the work, reflect on the session, and discuss next steps! And I found 90 minutes too long – it got tiring for the coachee and they started to lose focus.) Usually we will meet fortnightly: this gives enough of a gap for you to process your learnings, and practice your new tools; but is close enough to ensure momentum is kept up. Sessions will take place during the working day, usually in the afternoon. Depending on you and your goals, there is likely to be some form of homework in between sessions – whether that’s completing a short worksheet, or practising a technique you’ve learned. You will make better progress if you are able to do this homework, but I know life is complicated and if there’s a week where you’re away on a work trip, or there’s a massive deadline, we can work around it – just let me know.
The definition of Imposter Syndrome that I like best is a persistent feeling of being unworthy of one’s status or success.
This can be something you’re consciously aware of – you recognise that you have these thoughts that you’re not good enough, or that you’re going to get found out any minute. Or it can manifest unconsciously – you don’t recognise these thoughts, but you do find yourself overworking to prove yourself, struggling with perfectionism because of fear of failure, or procrastinating because you’re scared nothing will ever be good enough.
You can find out a lot more about Imposter Syndrome, where it comes from, who gets it, the 5 different types, why it’s bad for your career, and what to do about it, in this podcast.
Noooooo! There is a school of thought that says Imposter Syndrome makes you try harder, it keeps you humble, it has to be good for you. This makes me so angry.
Imposter Syndrome makes you second guess yourself, and adds more pressure (when you don’t need it). It makes it much more likely that you’ll make a mistake or end up in perfectionist analysis paralysis because you’re so terrified of failing. And it could even result in burnout (like it did for me). How can something which is undermining you so badly be in any way good for you?
Naked Confidence™ is deep, unshakeable self-belief, no matter what is thrown at you, or what you’re reaching for in your career.
Your confidence can get battered by those terrible limiting beliefs and that undermining inner critic.
It can get shaken by fears about whether you are actually good enough at your job.
But once those are all stripped away – once you’ve built your inner cheerleader & you’ve developed the skillset to succeed – what’s revealed is your Naked Confidence.
And that’s what I help you build.
So that you can then use it as rocket fuel to power you to succeed in the career of your dreams.
Empowered and resilient, balanced and courageous, confident and capable.
How good does that sound?
After my academic career (two degrees from Oxford University) and then my Civil Service career (a decade operating at senior management levels in the Foreign Office, Cabinet Office, Home Office, and then in the National Crime Agency), I retrained as a coach.
I chose to retrain with Dr Phil Parker to achieve a Clinical Diploma in Coaching, Hypnotherapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. When I was researching training providers, I took taster sessions to assess the benefits of different organisation’s coaching training. Dr Phil is a world-renowned coach, and is the designer of the Lightning Process, which cured me of my chronic fatigue, so I knew the effectiveness of his tools and techniques in that field. Dr Phil Parker’s coaching training was the only one that I felt approached coaching with an understanding of neuroscience at its core. And crucially, I experienced how effectively his tools could tackle underlying limiting beliefs when he cured me from being a “late person” to being an “on-time person” in just 20 minutes, after I’d been struggling with it ever since my teenage years. I wanted to make sure I had the best possible tools to help my clients achieve their goals, and I know from personal experience that unless you resolve the unconscious blocks, you won’t get there, so I chose to train with him. (And seeing the incredible results I can get for my clients using these tools, I’ve not regretted it once!)
The best way to get proof of my results is to see what my clients say. I’ve got over 40 Recommendations on LinkedIn from happy clients who testify to the transformational impact of my coaching, plus you can watch some videos on my website so you can hear from them directly. Plus if you’d like to speak to someone personally, I have some former clients who are happy to be contacted.
There is a fabulous joke: how many coaches does it take to change a lightbulb? The answer – only one, but the lightbulb has to really WANT to change… And this is true – you will only get the same transformational results as my former clients if you put in the work like they did. But if you do, I know these tools will work for you too.
I am trained in hypnotherapy techniques, and will use them with a client if I feel they would be helpful, and if that client is happy for me to use them. However, it’s worth noting that this is nothing like stage hypnotherapy – you won’t be under my control, I can’t make you bark like a dog or eat porridge and think it’s chocolate. (If you want to find out more about stage hypnotherapy and how it works, Derren Brown has written a fascinating book called “Tricks of the Mind”.) When I use hypnotherapy it involves helping you into a more relaxed state so we can then work with the unconscious mind through guided visualisations, recalling memories, or projecting into the future. You are aware of what’s going on at all times, and are able to stop what’s happening whenever you want. I’ve only ever had one client that didn’t enjoy these techniques and find them enormously helpful – so with her, we didn’t use them but used other techniques instead. I will only do what you feel comfortable with!
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (or NLP for short) is a development framework where you look at the language we use, and how they are affecting our beliefs. There is a fabulous quote by Russ Kyle (a fellow coach) who says, “watch what you tell yourself, you’re likely to believe it”. And if we can learn how to recognise what we’re saying to ourselves and learn how to change it for the better, it can have an enormously positive impact. This is another part of my toolkit, as with hypnotherapy, and I will use it with clients when I feel it is going to help them achieve their goals. And from personal experience overcoming my own Imposter, I know how incredibly powerful these techniques are. But as ever, your journey is unique, and I will not force you to do anything you don’t feel comfortable with.
What’s your first childhood memory? Trying to stop my baby sister from crying by showing her my animal pyjamas (helping people started early!)
What keeps you going? Tea, decaf or herbal, about 8 cups a day. And seeing my clients getting life-changing results!
What would you do if money were no object? I’d definitely continue coaching – it’s a passion & a mission, not just a job! But I’d probably also hire a personal yoga teacher.
The Economist or Heat magazine? Heat magazine! Love it – my post-lunch treat (little sit-down + Heat + tea)
What talent or skill do you have that is surprising to others? I can touch my nose with my tongue, and I can say “that was delicious” in Thai.
What are you most proud of? Overcoming my terrible mindset gremlins – Imposter Syndrome, perfectionism, “not enough-ness”, the Tyrannical Should – which cured my chronic fatigue.
Favourite joke? How many coaches does it take to change a lightbulb? One – but the lightbulb has to really WANT to change.
What is your superpower? Empathy – it’s magical, being able to build trust and connection even with someone you’ve just met. It’s what makes transformational change possible.
Podcast, video, or book? Book every time – my favourite way to relax, and my favourite way to learn.
What’s your favourite song? One Day Like This by Elbow – so incredibly uplifting. I saw them live and when the chorus kicked in, confetti rained down – it was a magical moment.
You are the right client for me if you are struggling in your job. If you’re exhausted by the mental and emotional pressure you’re putting on yourself to succeed in your career. Or you’re feeling out of your depth and overwhelmed. And if you know you want this to change – and you’re willing to make an effort to achieve that change! Sadly I can’t wave a magic wand and make it all better – I wish I could! But I do know that if you want to change, and you’re willing to take action, then I can help you. This stuff works.