What clients say
Working with Jefferson has been immensely valuable to identify some of the reasons we can all act or respond in potentially detrimental ways. Through awareness of others and control of my own actions I have been able to connect more with others and build better relationships.
Jefferson was recommended to me at a time when I was looking to rebuild the culture and team spirit of an organisation which had been through a difficult period. Working with him helped me realise that bringing about change as a leader means starting with yourself and embracing the truth that as leader, you are the catalyst for change. That unless you fully understand and embrace what you want to achieve, and are completely authentic in presenting your whole self, your change risks becoming a hollow mantra that your organisation pays lip service to. How did Jefferson do this? Firstly, he helped myself and my leadership team form a collective vision and shared mission (and I don’t mean in the corporate speak sense, I mean in a true sense of purpose) He did this by putting us out of our comfort zone and he was comfortable to do so, he had the sense of purpose and belief that this was something that needed to happen. He overcame resistance and cynicism. Subsequently he helped me understand, really understand, that culture of an organisation has to be owned by everyone in the organisation. There were no cosy leadership retreats to decide our culture followed by a big reveal, just real techniques to bring about lasting change. The entire organisation took responsibility to create the culture we each wanted to experience when we came to work. For me, our work together made sure I lived and believed what I said, and got through the self-limiting beliefs about how much I could bring about change; I could challenge authentically; I adopted the behaviours that I wanted myself and my Leadership Team to role model, as I felt I couldn’t ask them to do something I wouldn’t. It became easier and then it became the norm. Overall, working with Jefferson gave the organisation a voice – a shared language and glossary to express the values we wanted to live. It allowed everyone to highlight positive behaviours to drive performance and reward those and to hold colleagues to account when they didn’t deliver what the team needed. Ultimately it improved performance and collective responsibility to deliver on goals, and it made the contrast much more stark between those who weren’t on board and perhaps whose path would therefore lead them in a different direction and those who were on board and wanted to help co-create the new future.
Working with Jefferson was transformational. I realised I'd been holding myself back, and not accepting parts of me I did not like, or judged to be 'wrong'. The programme taught me to be much more self-compassionate, to recognise 'what is', not just 'what's not', and to deepen my courage to make meaningful change. Years on, I still reflect on this time of change as profound.
I’m pretty grounded and can be sceptical of life coaching ‘jargon’, but Jefferson is also very down to earth. During the course of our sessions, he gently helped me to dig out a lot of ungrounded - and frankly, once examined in the cold light of day, quite ridiculous - self-limiting beliefs about my capabilities. Our work together was enlightening and liberating, both professionally and personally, and has really helped me to appreciate my strengths and get the most out of life. One thing that could have been better – I wish our paths had crossed earlier!
I’m an inquisitive person by nature and I found that working with Jefferson was a great fit for me, he was reassuring and able to answer and explain things clearly. On a personal level, it’s made a difference to my work/life balance, I’m more focussed and less stressed as I’m able to have a better work life balance, with the confidence my team is still delivering. Professionally, we worked together on some senior management and leadership coaching, concentrating on team building and emotional intelligence and forging relationships with colleagues. The strategies and alternative techniques I have learnt with Jefferson have empowered me in my career and I’ve been able to pass this down through all management levels. This has helped to create a stronger, more commutative and efficient team. I am more confident in my role and able to offer support and I’m not afraid to take action when needed. It has allowed me to see other perspectives and converse with others on an adult to adult basis. People feel comfortable talking to me, I am more approachable and understand people better.
Something I find very useful each time is the way (verbal and non verbal) Jeff talks, either in the videos or during the session. He is showing me the 3Ps (Presence; Purpose, Positive Intention) in actual action.
“Changing your role at work after many years can be a daunting thing. Your job title can so easily become part of your self-identity, affecting how you think about yourself and shaping how you interact with colleagues on a daily basis. Through his questioning approach, Jefferson encouraged me to view my new role as an opportunity to re-think how I want to be seen by others, to redefine what is important to me and think about what it is that I want to achieve both professionally and personally. The simple act of taking time to self-reflect, expertly guided with a focus on my values, approach to managing others and my ways of working helped me to realise that I could embrace the change and use it as a great opportunity to become the version of me that I want to be.
Jefferson’s perceptive insights have helped us to see fears simply as areas where greater clarity of thought is needed in order to identify problems. The act of identifying a problem is often half of the solution, enabling its removal, and preventing it from being a barrier to our growth.
Working with Jefferson helped me realise afresh what I already knew and was unhappy with, but could not always accept and action. Through the trust he generated, his good questioning, listening and judicious use of metaphors, Jefferson enabled me to develop a deeper emotional engagement with these issues, and with my self and other people. He raised insights for me both professionally and personally that enabled me to take positive action and move forward. Professionally, Jefferson has helped my team work its way out of grid lock and dysfunction.
What I will do differently? Use my growing capacity to clarify the size, shape, of the box in witch my fears have to fit. Challenge my habits of the way I am used to be in relation to fear by learning to identify more accurately the different ways of its influence. How will i do it differently? All the insights guidance and references shared by Jeff and the group are nourishing new capacities.
