Leadership can be learned in many different ways. Whether it be on-the-job, or through intensive training – one of the most effective ways of understanding how to be a leader is through one-to-one coaching support.
In our latest Business Leaders episode, we chat with Siobhan Kearney, a successful community and voluntary sector leader, who has devoted her expertise to wellness and life coaching. Throughout our interview, Siobhan reflects on her business, At One Wellbeing, and explains how individuals and organisations can achieve much more with specialist coaching support.
For more insights on wellness, coaching and leadership – check out our full Business Leaders interview with Siobhan below, or read on for the highlights.
At One Wellbeing: Siobhan’s Business Journey
At One Wellbeing, which is based in Ballymena, offers core services including life coaching, leadership and executive coaching. It also offers additional services such as Reiki, workshops and seminars focusing on wellbeing, confidence building, self esteem and personal resilience.
Speaking of her business, Siobhan outlines how she has grown her expertise in coaching and holistic therapies.
“I’ve been working in the community and voluntary sector, I made my way up to being Chief Executive of a charity within the sector.
“On that journey, I discovered an awful lot about myself and an awful lot about where my interest and passion lies. It has always been to help people.”
From this, Siobhan decided to explore more ways she could help people.
“That’s why I trained to become a life executive coach, I’m also a mentor and I did also dabble in holistic therapies. That was just out of interest, more than being about business, really.
After experimenting with different methods, Siobhan had acquired a broad knowledge of wellbeing techniques that would be invaluable for those who need help.
“Last year I began to think ‘you know what, you could run your own business’. I thought I’d like to do something that reaches out to people, people who are maybe struggling with making decisions about their lives, with making choices and changes, so I set the business up.”
Since setting up At One Wellbeing, Siobhan now offers extensive services, including team building days, managing change workshops, one-to-one coaching, group coaching, leadership coaching and wellbeing days. But what was the thinking behind the name ‘At One Wellbeing’?
“Wellbeing is at the core of the business, and I thought ‘at one with yourself, at one with the people around you, at one with your community’.
“It really was about that sense of peacefulness you get when things are going well, that sense of joy you get.”
Wellbeing: The Key to Unlocking Potential
There are plenty of times where we feel stuck in our lives, and just need the right push and direction to see things in a different, more productive way.
Siobhan points out that the right support can, in particular, help when someone feels trapped and uncertain about how to improve their life.
“My interest lies in getting people unstuck.
“I know in my own life, there have been periods when I have been really stuck. You can say ‘I’m not happy’ and you want to do this or that or the other – but really it all comes down to motivation.
“That’s what I enjoy doing, motivating people to make changes. From my own personal experience, and experiences of people I have spoken to – making changes isn’t easy.”
So, how does Siobhan do it?
“Coaching is all about getting people from where they are at, right here and right now, and moving them to where they want to be.”
Siobhan specialises in her ‘management to leadership’ coaching to help clients step up to the next stage in their career.
“My core service is around life and executive coaching. I have a lot of executive clients at the minute. It really is about them fulfilling their role within an organisation and preparing them for a leadership role.”
But what about that old saying ‘born leader’? Siobhan says that she believes anyone can be a leader, if they have the confidence to believe in themselves.
“Management to leadership is quite a big jump, people sometimes think ‘anyone can be a leader’ – but it’s addressing things like confidence.
“Sometimes people can do things, and do things really well, but they don’t believe in themselves. So it’s about building that confidence, that knowledge, and that attitude of ‘yes I can, I have the skills, I can do this’.”
What Makes a Great Leader?
Siobhan has helped many leaders on their journey, and seen them come and go through the help of her services. But what exactly makes a great leader?
“When it comes to leadership, I believe leaders have to have passion. I think it is fundamental to a leadership role.
“You need to have passion in what you are representing, to do what you need to do, day in and day out. You also need to have passion for others. If you aren’t compassionate, you don’t understand what motivates your team, or what causes difficulties within your teams. And that can lead to other issues.”
To discover more insights from Siobhan, see our full video interview. For more information about At One Wellbeing and its services, visit the official website.
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