Three reasons I can help you
I've been a hands-on developer
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I spent the first 10 years of my career in hands-on development roles. I know what it takes to build high-quality software at scale. I'm one of the few coaches in the world to have deep expertise in technology and psychology.
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I'm a fully qualified professional coach
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I'm a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation. You don't get this credential in a 2-day training course. I've completed over 162hrs of training and 500hrs coaching.
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I've coached thousands of leaders across the world
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CEOs, CTOs, Founders, Developers, Team Leaders, Project Managers. I've coached at all levels of organisations. I've been fortunate that my coaching has taken me all across the world.
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Backstory: Journey to Now
In the beginning​
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Helping others was a big part of Toby’s upbringing. His parents are long time change agents in the charity sector. As result from an early age, Toby would meet people from all walks of life; Homeless, Addicts, Low-income families and many others. Because of this, Toby learned from an early age how to build empathy and connect with people. He also learned the impact passionate change agents can have on social issues. As a result, Toby was naturally drawn to Coaching as a profession. Now a certified professional business and executive coach he is a change agent helping organisations and people achieve their full potential.
In his teenage years, Toby developed a fascination with technology. This started with building websites for local charities and community projects. This grew Toby’s passion and curiosity for the power of the internet. Because of this, Toby studied e-Business at the University of Liverpool, graduating with First Class Honours.
The first half​
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In the first 7 years of Toby’s career (2007 - 2014) he worked as a Software Testing Consultant across several industries. This variety helped Toby develop his ability to learn and build relationships quickly. Some of this learning was sparked by a book gifted to him in his first role “The 7 habits of highly effective people” by Stephen Covey. This book sparked a passion and interest in self-development which continues to this day. Reading over 100 books a year, Toby continues to learn new habits and routines to maximise his impact on the world.
A pivotal moment during these years was joining a consultancy start-up, RoqIT, as their third employee (2009). Toby worked directly with the founders to define business strategy, organisational values and the delivery approach. Many of Toby’s business and leadership skills were developed during these years. Now a larger company, the values Toby helped to build still remain.
The second half
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In the past 7 years, Toby has been working with an Investment Bank to transform their 8,000 person technology organisation (2014 - now). Toby’s transformation leadership has helped improve the effectiveness of many teams and leaders over this time. The impact created by Toby led him to be one of the quickest and youngest promotions to Executive Director within the department.
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Another pivotal moment was gaining a deeper experience in coaching. Toby had worked as an Agile “Coach” but over time he realised he knew little about professional coaching. This led to several years of self-discovery to understand the essence of professional coaching and the areas in which Toby needed to grow. Toby has shared this personal journey at several industry conferences to help inspire other coaches.
Toby is proud of the balance he’s found in his life - the size, scope and responsibility of Toby’s current role can bring a lot of pressure. Toby is proud that throughout he has been able to balance his mental, physical and spiritual health. This doesn’t come easy and crafting this balance is one of Toby’s ongoing personal development goals.
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The future
Today what excites Toby is working with organisations with inspiring leaders who want to create a positive impact in the world. He is excited to be working with business leaders who want real change beyond the buzzwords. He is inspired by leaders who embrace change at a personal level, often transforming many parts of their lives. He is optimistic about the impact future leaders will have in the world and how coaching can help them achieve their potential.
Toby believes that his purpose is to develop organisations and their change agents to solve the world's biggest challenges. By doing this he believes the world's biggest problems can be and will be solved.
My Values
LEARNING
EMPATHY
COMMUNITY
ADAPTABILITY
MEANING
Certified Professional
To become a certified professional coach takes many years of training and practice. I'm certified with the International Coaching Federation as a Professional Coach. To achieve this certificate required:
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162hrs of Accredited Training with Barefoot Coaching
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Completion of a Coach Competency Assessment
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500hrs of coaching conversations
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Regular Coach Supervision
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Demonstrate adherence coaching ethics and standards
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Conference Talks
A sampler of the conferences I have been invited to speak at:
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Agile 2019 (Washington DC) – Reflective Writing for your Self-Care toolkit
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Agile 2018 (San Diego) – Agile Coaching v Professional Coaching
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Test Bash 2017 (Brighton, UK) – Introduction to Professional Coaching Workshop
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Agile Testing Days 2015 (Berlin) – Experiments at Scale: How to test an idea