Coach in the Spotlight - David Hare

What brought you to coaching?

A mid-life crisis in 2005! I had just lost a well-paid, high-status, globe-trotting job as PR director for a multinational logistics company. One minute I was on a private jet to a board meeting and three months later I was scrapping around for bits of freelance work. I was wondering what to do next and was frittering away my severance package when I stumbled across coaching online. I have since learned that, as the Chinese say, ‘a crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind’!

What inspired you to want to become a Coach and why with The Coaching Academy?

I had a session with a coach where I was able to identify that I had two clashing values causing my career indecision – freedom and belonging. It took my breath away when my coach asked me: How can you belong freely? The free ‘introduction to coaching’ weekend was very inspirational. I still recall with fondness the warmth and wisdom of the trainers leading the course and in the last 12 years the answer to the question of belonging freely has unfolded very naturally – I now have loads of freedom as a self-employed coach.

What has been the most rewarding part of the training/journey?

Meeting like-minded people who want to make a valuable difference in the world. Starting my Buddhist personal development blog which recently became a book published by Penguin Random House – The Buddha in Me, the Buddha in You, a handbook for happiness. The words of my Coaching Academy reflective essay were the seed for the 288 pages that became my book, because a Buddha is just someone who gets how life works and the enlightening Life Coaching Diploma was a huge part of what I have discovered so far about life.

What did you have to consider whilst qualifying?

How to get a return on the investment! A couple of my close friends were sceptical and were encouraging me to dive back into a full-time corporate PR job. I’m happy to say that the investment I made has come back to me at least 25 times over! Even if I’d never earned any money from my initial investment it would still have been worth every penny in terms of what I learned for my own life and relationships. And to finish a book (starting is easy), launch my blog, find a literary agent and land a major publisher which was a six-year journey with loads of massive obstacles (mostly my own limiting beliefs…) which I could never have overcome without using coaching techniques on myself.

Where are you now? How are you using your coaching skills?

I have a very fulfilling coaching practice with private and corporate clients across the UK and the world. I now trust my intuition much more than I used to; when I look back at the sessions I did as a trainee, my approach was quite ‘clunky’ – systematically using GROW for example, whereas now I realise that there is much more to a session than always following a text-book technique. And many more doors are opening for me now that my book is on Amazon and on the shelves of shops like Waterstones – I had visualised that happening for so many years, so to see it come true has been amazing proof of the power of being coached.

What is your coaching niche and why did you choose it?

I don’t really have a defined niche and will coach anyone with an open mind, a seeking heart and the determination to ‘do the work’ between sessions. To begin with I mostly had people from my own professional background – PR and logistics. Then during the recession I had a lot of start-up business owners coming to me. And more recently I’ve been working with people from the film and theatre industries in London and Hollywood. Since my Buddhist blog started gaining a worldwide audience I’ve also attracted more people who are looking for deeper spiritual meaning in their lives, though of course I coach people of all faiths and none. I have recently realised that all clients, whatever problem they ‘present with’ are ultimately looking for self-expression and authenticity.

What is the best thing that could happen to your coaching business in the next two years?

It would be to sell 250,000 copies of my book in 20 countries across the world! Leading to TED talks, appearances on Oprah and loads more clients in the USA.

What is your favourite coaching question?

‘If you knew in your heart that your life was a precious treasure, what would you do next?’ Because happiness comes from cherishing the core of your life and taking action, whatever is happening on the surface…

What do you enjoy most about being a coach?

That excited flutter you get in your belly when someone is having a long-awaited light bulb moment and they realise that the ‘impossible’ is achievable after all... You can’t put a price on that… Also seeing someone become the person they need to become to achieve their goals, because who you become will always be more important than what you have.