My Executive Coach blog

My sincere thanks to all my clients for your trust and confidence in the coaching process. May 2025 be a successful and fulfilling year for us all, I’m very much looking forward to working with you.

I was working with my coach recently and the conversation landed on the power of trust within the coaching environment – and also within the broader organisational context.  The obvious place to start delving into trust models is with David Maister’s trust equation as it’s one of the most famous in the business world. It’s […]

Early in my career, I admired a leader who communicated clearly, made confident decisions, and earned everyone’s trust. An impressive, likeable, consistent, confident leader with their own distinctive style who triggered for me how I wanted to show up during my twenty years in global management roles. So, what strengths do great leaders have?  There […]

National Enterprise Day is today, 17th October and there are so many wonderful events being held today to promote, encourage and stimulate female entrepreneurship across Ireland.  As an entrepreneur myself, I am very keen to encourage and support women to claim their entrepreneurial identity and own how they want to be seen professionally.  The journey […]

A lot has been written recently about mindsets and how they influence our behaviour.  Each of us has a unique mindset, which although these may be deeply ingrained, can evolve as we grow and learn from our experiences. This concept of being a change agent in our own lives is key to my coaching philosophy, […]

Mentoring for Change, A Catalyst for Sustainable Transformation The speed of political, societal, economic, and technological changes presents opportunities and challenges to our professional practice as well as to the mentees who look to us to help navigate a path. Our mentees look to us to help them navigate a path, they expect us to […]

An area I’m particularity invested in, and supportive of, is supporting women entrepreneurs.  I work with a number of women entrepreneurs who are starting or developing their own business.  The decision to start, build or grown their entrepreneurial ventures is always a difficult path but one that is ultimately not a choice at all – […]

It’s been a while since I recommended a few books and seeing as we are slipping into the summer months, with the possibility of having more downtime, here are a few suggestions that may pique your interest.  ‘Why we sleep’ by Mathew Walker. This was suggested to me by a coaching supervision colleague and I […]

I’ve been working recently with clients who have undertaken the goal of maximising team effectiveness within remote and non-remote working environments.  One of the key findings for these leaders is the ability to manage polarities within their teams.  Polarities are everywhere because we live in such a complex world, for example work / life balance, […]

My thoughts this week have turned to reflecting on amazing stories that have been shared with me recently.  Stories of resilience and pain and challenges and self-doubt.  Stories of change and transformation.  In a world that focuses on ‘big breakthroughs’, the truth is that change actually lies in the small, slow, tedious steps of showing […]

Critical Issues, Challenging Perspectives! This year’s conference is an intimate event for in-depth professional connectivity, with final numbers capped at 300 to ensure everyone has opportunity to attend and engage in the seven key-note presentations and follow-on round table discussions and networking. Join us for: 👉Two and a half days of shared learning and connectivity […]

As March is Women’s History month and today, 8th March, is International Women’s Day, take the opportunity to connect with events in your community, your company, your network to unlock even more of your potential for 2024 by being surrounded by all the amazing women who have moved beyond  ‘empowering’ and ‘celebrating’ women but who […]

The Jim Madden GPA Leadership Programme for 2024 has kicked off this month and it is with great pride and pleasure to be part of this impactful Leadership Development initiative.  The program establishes a learning pathway for both male and female players who wish to develop and expand upon their leadership qualities to become real […]

A hugely influential mentor and coach once said to me that any sense of certainty, in coaching or in business, is an illusion.  This stayed with me over my career as I led global teams in various sectors, working with and for my clients.   Now as a coach, no matter what model I use, I […]

Changing Reality ~Virtual ~ 5th March 2024 The realities of coaching, mentoring and supervision are changing rapidly. Change is not only something we have respond to, but also something we can create through our professional development. This conference programme will take participants on a journey through different ways to engage with research and show how […]

My sincere thanks to all my clients for your trust and confidence in the coaching process. May 2024 be a successful and fulfilling year for us all, I’m very much looking forward to working with you.

As a follow on from National Enterprise Day and the wonderful events I attended, I was struck by the number of women I met who said they still lacked self-confidence professionally and that they struggled with imposter syndrome.  Not a new topic but one I was surprised to hear, especially as the audience was full […]

National Enterprise Day is today, 19th October and there are so many wonderful events being held today to promote, encourage and stimulate female entrepreneurship across Ireland.  As an entrepreneur myself, I am very keen to encourage and support women to claim their entrepreneurial identity and own how they want to be seen professionally.  The journey […]

Looking forward to the kick off of DCU’s Structured Mentorship Program this year and the superb support from the Alumni team in promoting engagement within the global DCU Alumni community.  As I have been mentoring within corporate and start up organisations for over two decades, I strongly believe that Mentorship Programs are an L&D focus […]

FPAI, in association with Enterprise Ireland and FD Technologies, hosted #FinTechNation 2023 on Friday September 15th in the Marker Hotel Dublin.  Dara Calleary, T.D., Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation spoke at the event that was well attended by professionals from the Financial Services sector including domestic and international banks, fintechs, tech companies, legal and advisory firms, […]

We had an insightful and informative day at the Tech Connect conference today.  The events focused on the AI & Future Technologies and how this will trigger Innovation and sustainable Digital Transformation – for every industry.  The key takeaway for me was how AI and Chat GBT is influencing social media trends and digital marketing […]

As you may know, our 2023 Conference ‘Coaching in the New World of Work’ takes place on Thursday 16 November in the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin. We’ll be exploring how we as coaches can support our clients to navigate the New World of Work across areas such as teamwork, collaboration, communication and wellbeing. […]

The word ‘listen’ contains the exact same letters as the word ‘silent’.  Now, isn’t that interesting. When a coach works with a client, guiding them through the conversation with powerful, exploring, open-ended questions, and uses the client’s own language to reinforce their goals, outcomes, plans, this is what it referred to as active, or “Level Two”, […]

Perseverance. Persistence. Resilience. Trending words right now.  Ones I hear on a daily basis from all my clients.  But what do they really mean and how relevant are these traits in our day-to-day professional challenges? Very interesting take on what makes us ‘gritty’ and how related this is to the relentless drive for Talent Acquisition […]

Thanks to Arron Graffin,Player Development Manager at the GPA for an inspiring networking event at the first ever GPA Business Forum.  Especially insightful was the keynote speaker Liam Sheedy and the panellists Niall McNamee, Fionnuala Carr and Dean Siney for kindly sharing their learnings and journeys establishing their entrepreneurial businesses – wishing them every success for the future. #NetworkingForSuccess#Business #GPA #Network

EMCC Global Conference was hugely informative and reassuring, First face to face meeting since the pandemic, where Human Capital Development was our leading theme. So inspired by the discussions around team development in in the face of adversity, rapid change and business disruptions.  For me the key takeaway was trust: building trust, enhancing trust and […]

The topic of the moment seems to circle around how to build high performance cultures in today’s challenging business environment where performance is critical to individual and team success.  When I’m working with clients, this is one of their main concerns: how to drive success and achieve KPIs and quarterly targets while maintaining a culture […]

It was emotional and inspiring to watch as former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern gave an emotional farewell to parliament last week.  She announced she was stepping down and retiring from politics earlier this year, after five and a half years in the role – a time that was turbulent and challenging as she […]

Today, 8th March, is International Women’s Day.  A global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.  Whether it is deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to achieve the recognition they deserve, whether this is from their managers, peers, colleagues or society.  This year is even more poignant as news […]

The Jim Madden GPA Leadership Programme has kicked off this month and it is with great pride and pleasure to be part of this impactful Leadership Development initiative.  The program establishes a learning pathway for both male and female players who wish to develop and expand upon their leadership qualities to become real leaders in […]

January has been a month filled with plans, goals and renewed determination to make change happen.  I’ve been fortunate to work with a group of talented young professionals in workshops this month and they are inspiring.  Although I’m adverse to labels, they have unofficially identified as ‘high achievers’ and when asked what are the traits […]

May 2023 be a successful and fulfilling year for us all

Recently I’ve been working with a number of clients who are on the cusp of C-Suite roles or the move is on their career path in 2023.   There is unlimited information on what leadership skills are ‘critical’ and how to acquire them.  Our Inbox’s are bulging with invitations to leadership training courses, programs, discussions and […]

Congratulations to all who contributed and attended the EMCC Global Research Conference last week – what an amazing event, with phenomenal speakers that included Professor Jonathan Passmore, Alison Mitchell, Dr Riza Kadilar, Nathalie Lerotić Pavlik, Dr Lise Lewis, Dr Suzy Green and Professor David Clutterbuck, Dr Travis Kemp, Professor David Lane and Dr Michael Cavanagh […]

Marshall Goldsmith’s axiom “what got you here won’t get you there” rings in my ears most days as I operate as an executive coach within a constantly changing business environment.  On a global level, the turbulence of worldwide crises – environmental, social, financial, conflict – is layering an undercurrent of anger, fear, grief and guilt […]

As the DCU Mentorship Program ends for this academic year, we look back on the benefits to both mentors and mentees of participating and contributing to this purposeful initiative.  Huge appreciation to all at the DCU Alumni Office for supporting and promoting engagement within the global DCU Alumni community and the current DCU undergraduate students.  Already looking […]

The EMCC Global Research Conference is nearly here, so book your place for 8th September 2022 for this virtual event where the theme is Celebrating and Flourishing: A Dialogue Between Research and Practice in Coaching, Mentoring and Supervision.  This promises to be an interactive, knowledge exchange dialogue with panel discussions, drop-in sessions and thought leaders […]

I’m fortunate to be part of DCU’s Emerging Leadership Programme, which aims to inspire the next generation of leaders through a diverse schedule of innovative professional development initiatives.  It’s so interesting to hear from these emerging leaders of the importance of thinking strategically and having solid goals while keeping the plan flexible and adaptable, especially […]

What a welcome return of Dublin Tech Summit (DTS), two days of tech innovators, influencers and entrepreneurs globally, highlighting the capabilities and creativity which form part of a wider tech ecosystem with a superb session for women in technology to meet in person, make connections and network with Tech thought leaders.  Amazing to be back!

Huge congratulations to EMCC Global for such a superb event at the 28th EMCC Global Mentoring, Coaching and Supervision conference this week! Fantastic networking opportunities with coaches from all over the world, and a huge thank you to all participants and presenters – especially our Research Development Advisory Workgroup – humbled and proud to be […]

I am struck by how many times I have heard recently from my clients that they are struggling with being all things to their management team, their own teams and their clients.  These leaders are struggling with the expectations of all and commonly highlight feelings of personal failure in their performance.  One recurring concern is […]

Over the years, it’s quite possible you may have taken a psychometric test that collects information about you and assigns you to a neat box.  These tests are usually conducted in order to evaluate an individual’s maximum performance and more aligned to aptitude – such as skills, knowledge, abilities and job/academic potential. However, other psychometric […]

Today, 8th March, is International Women’s Day.  A global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.  Whether it is deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to achieve the recognition they deserve, whether this is from their managers, peers, colleagues or society.  This year is even more poignant as news […]

After the last two turbulent years, as leaders continue to seek new mindsets and strategies to manage and transform their teams within a challenging pandemic, a volatile present and an uncertain future, adaptability and flexibility seem to be gaining visibility as the most valuable qualities for effective leaders within leadership programmes.  This is driven by […]

I’m delighted to have completed my Mental Health First Aid re-fresh course with Mental Health First Aid Ireland.  I originally completed my First Aid course last year and felt that it enabled me to understand the background factors to be aware of when discussing mental health along with increasing my ability to helpfully discuss this topic […]

For many of us, January offers a chance to pause and reflect on the year we have left behind and to cast intentions and hopes forward to the year yet to be revealed.  We want to plan and shape our year to come, but we also have strong intentions on changes we want, and sometimes […]

The twelfth and final day of Christmas, January 6, was known in Ireland as Nollaig na mBan or Women’s Christmas or Little Christmas.  Traditionally it was a day of reward for women’s hard work over the Christmas season, and was a day off from all house work as traditional roles were supposed to be reversed in the […]

I’m truly delighted to have been included in the annual Dublin City University Voices Magazine this year and to have an opportunity to speak about my involvement with the DCU Alumni community.  Huge thanks to all at the DCU Alumni Office and Ross Munnelly for supporting and promoting engagement within the global DCU Alumni community. https://acexecutivecoach.com/https://www.dcu.ie/alumni/news/2021/nov/alumni-profile-angela-cooney DCU Business School #DCUAlumni 

I’m thrilled to be supporting the DCU Structured Mentorship Program this year and am looking forward to participating and contributing to this wonderful initiative. Huge thanks to all at the DCU Alumni Office and Ross Munnelly for supporting and promoting engagement within the global DCU Alumni community. https://acexecutivecoach.com/ DCU Business School #DCUAlumni #mentorshipprogram #mentoring #mentorship

If we have a compass, it’s easier to find our way In my experience, people engage in coaching because they are seeking to change something and that is why coaching tends to focus on our client’s goals.  However, as a coach, I experience how difficult changes are to make and to sustain for my clients.  […]

‘None of us is as smart as all of us’ – Ken Blanchard TEAM…Together Everyone Achieves More One of my favourite quotes of all time is “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito”, a quote that is attributed to the Dalai Lama.  I like using this quote […]

Exploring the links between purpose and impactful leadership What is the value of defining individual leadership purpose and how can we get clarity on how to translate this into actions that creates significant impact… The links between purpose and impactful leadership is an intrinsic part of every leadership course and something that I come across […]

The 10th Annual EMCC Conference is nearly here, so book your place on 30th September 2021 for this virtual event where the theme is inspiring diversity and inclusion.  Session topics will include burnout prevention and cure, building resilience and wellbeing, and leadership in a post COVID world.  Get your ticket on https://www.emccirelandconference.org/ And something else […]

Engage with EMCC Global Research At EMCC Global we believe in the power of co-operation, and as a volunteer organisation we build on the contributions of our members and supporters. There are a number of different ways you can engage with research, all of them benefiting both you and the community.  If you’d like to […]

Reading an intriguing book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It by Oliver Burkeman that was mentioned to me by a client.  It’s a curious take on the thriving and expansive industry that has grown up around goal optimisation and productivity and how we all are part of the endless list making and […]

When a coach works with a client, guiding them through the conversation with powerful, exploring, open-ended questions, and uses the client’s own language to reinforce their goals, outcomes, plans, this is what it referred to as active, or “Level Two”, listening. The art and science of active listening is listening with intention to truly understand what […]

Welcome to my blog, where I hope to share with you all the events, books, topics, questions and trends that I experience in my role as an Executive Coach. Lovely to have you with me on this journey!