Gary Buxton admits he spends his life stuck in rabbitholes. As a psychologist and executive coach, he loves nothing more than to geek out about the evidence base for coaching, ensuring his own practice is built on the latest science.

While Gary is a firm believer that coaching is always a process and never a destination, in this episode of The Coach’s Journey Podcast he warns against the pitfalls of being overwhelmed by study, reminding us that it is through practice that we cultivate and nurture our own unique coaching stance.

Gary’s own journey has encompassed work as a director, CEO and head hunter in the private sector, as well as helping people back into work in the social impact sector, honing his coaching skills in diverse, challenging settings.

Awarded an MBE in 2014 for Services to the Young People of England, Gary now trains new coaches on the Barefoot Coaching postgraduate programme, He is a qualified coach mentor and coach supervisor with ICF, and is on his way to becoming a chartered coaching psychologist with the British Psychological Society.

In conversation with host Ruth Saville, Gary explores a vibrant array of concepts from psychology and coaching that centre around creating balance in our lives and having our value reflected in our work.

In this episode, Gary and host Ruth Saville also talk about:

·      The benefits of keeping a third of your time free for play

·      How to nurture your task-positive and default mode networks

·      What psychologists have to teach coaches...and vice versa!

·      How to turn your friends into your marketing department

Gary also speaks about how to hold onto the value of your work in a coaching landscape filling up with new tools, technology and solutions, and how to put enough of yourself out into the world to allow people to choose you.

Things and people we mentioned (that you might be interested in):

Academy of Executive Coaching https://www.aoec.com/

British Psychological Society https://www.bps.org.uk/

Lisa Feldman Barrett https://lisafeldmanbarrett.com/

Barefoot Coaching https://barefootcoaching.co.uk/

Robert Holden https://www.robertholden.com/

ICF https://coachingfederation.org/

Three Principles and Sydney Banks https://threeprinciplesfoundation.org/about-sydney-banks

Coaching Psychology Network https://www.thecoachingpsychologynetwork.com/

BetterUp https://www.betterup.com/en-gb

CoachHub https://www.coachhub.com/en/

Know You More https://www.knowyoumore.com/

Rich Litvin https://richlitvin.com/

The Little ACT Workbook by Michael Sinclair https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/michael-sinclair/the-little-act-workbook/9781780592435/

The Coach’s Casebook by Kim Morgan and Geoff Watts https://barefootcoaching.co.uk/product/the-coachs-casebook-kim-morgan-geoff-watts-2015/

Simplifying Coaching by Claire Pedrick https://www.3dcoaching.com/shop/simplifying-coaching/

Erik de Haan https://instituteofcoaching.org/erik-de-haan