Encourager

Michelle loves running. So much so that she created a business as a running coach for humans and humans with their dogs -- a canicross trainer. 

Michelle's passion is clear as she tells me about how she encourages and guides people to achieve their running goals. Fun is at the heart of it.

Her approach is truly holistic. She focuses on the person and their needs, helping them understand the things that they can do to be successful, eg/ lifestyle choices around diet, sleep and recovery.

You can read more about Michelle on her website, and follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Also check out DogFit and UKRunChat -- join the conversation by using #ukrunchat

Plus, We Are Run Things on Twitter and the website.

Katie Ledger is a Senior Practitioner at Complete, coaching executives, guiding teams and hosting international conferences. For 12 years Katie worked as a journalist and TV news presenter for the BBC, ITN, Channel 5 News and TVB in Hong Kong, followed by 9 years of running her own communications business. 

Katie now uses her skills in the business sector to help leaders shift from ‘turning up’ to ‘showing up’. She enables individuals to both increase their capabilities and capacity using practical tools to deliver desired results.

Katie coaches senior leaders in multiple markets and geographies. For the last 14 years, she has worked extensively with leaders and innovators in media and technology sectors in companies such as Xerox, Microsoft and Google helping them to unlock their potential and deliver results despite the pressure.

Katie is a qualified professional level coach, trained by Integral Coaching Canada in their Integral Coaching method. Ken Wilber has described this to be ‘the most complete and comprehensive coaching program available’. Katie is also a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

You can read more about Katie on LinkedIn and the Complete website.

Dani (or Miss Mugridge if you are one of her pupils...) epitomises both the modern director of sport and the positive coach, being an overt advocate for Girl's sport. She runs the department at LEH, a girls' school in Hampton, and is the Assistant Coach of Surrey Storm netball team. 

Life is full for Dani, so I was lucky to grab her for an hour during her break. It's been a busy time for all teachers over the past year or so as they have tried to help kids remain active at home and now guiding them back to school sports. 

Her passion, purpose and energy shine through as Dani talks about her career, being a Director of Sport and coaching in elite sport.

We talk about Covid, encouraging participation in sports at school, women in sport, TV coverage, being an assistant coach, offering opportunities to kids, coaching style, Spurs and more.

You can follow Surrey Storm on Twitter, the Netball superleague, and Dani on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Celine started the Wholy Me business in lockdown last year, the idea coming from caring for her mum who was suffering pain from rheumatoid arthritis. Wholy Me is all about natural solutions for health and wellness with a focus on the person and importance of self care to live your best life. Celine tells me about the products, the scrutiny and transparency that are driven by her values, and her desire to keep building a community around these values. 

Chronic pain is one of the largest global health burdens, affecting perhaps 20% of people, including children. Traditional medical approaches have not provided any sustainable ways forward, mainly because the treatments are passive or based on a quick fix. To overcome pain needs a proactive approach with the creation of new habits that are in line with long term improvements and wellness. We talk about this, habit formation, the need for recovery and recharge time to make a difference. 

Just taking a fe moments each day for yourself can start to create a difference as you build on this day by day. 

You can find information on the Wholy Me products on the website (use the code paincoach10 to get your discount), and follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

I am pleased to be an Ambassador for Wholy Me, using the products as part of my wellness routine and for recovery from ultrarunning. 

Evie Martin is a physiotherapist from Ireland, based in Norway where she lives and has her practice. 

During lockdown, Evie brought people (physios) together under the banner of Physios Online that she created with her wife Christine. It was just what was needed at a time when many therapists were unsure about their next steps, particularly those with practices. 

In this chat, Evie tells me about the idea of Physios Online coming to her before Covid but how it was parked for several reasons that she shares. With Covid and a boost in confidence from a conversation with a colleague, Evie took the plunge. Just shows what connections and encouragement can do!

Since then, the project has taken off with many physios on board and sharing messages about what we do to help people. We talk about the ups and downs, the challenges, measuring success, effective altruism, what is to come with Physios Online and more. 

If you are doing online sessions or thinking about it, you might like to listen.

You can find out more on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the website. Evie also talks about GiveWell and Giving What We Can, being a fan of the Effective Altruism movement.

A really energising and positive conversation with Kevin Nicholson, who has spent most of his life in the world of football, initially as a player and now as a consultant and coach. Currently he works for Double Pass, helping clubs and players optimise their talent. 

Kevin steamed through the UEFA coaching badges to the top (Pro Licence), which he talks about. He is the youngest-ever English UEFA Pro Licence & FA Elite Coaching Award graduate, plus over 15 years of professional experience. Kevin talks about the importance of both qualifications and experiences -- you need both. He is obviously passionate about what he does and has clear purpose in helping others achieve success as a modern coach and consultant. Kevin's openness, thirst for learning and connecting with others come across as some of his many strengths. 

As ever with these Positive Encourager chats, we get into the nuts and bolts, with plenty of examples to illustrate. 

Kevin uses the person-first approach, whether he is working with players to develop their talent or coaches at different clubs. He has travelled the world plying his trade. He talks about the importance of adaptability, empathy and being present, noting that these strengths and skills are applicable in all forms of leadership. 

In my mind, Kevin encapsulates all the qualities of the positive modern coach. 

And as you would expect, we cover a lot more in this fantastic chat! Great for coaches, leaders, people in HR, learning and development as well as those who just love footy!  

You can find Kevin on LinkedIn and Twitter

Dr Cath, superb sports doctor and private practice mentor, joined me on the pod tonight. Cath's purpose is to help people achieve success, whether you are seeing her as a sports physician or to help develop your practice, which in turn helps patients and so on. With Cath's approach, everyone is a winner!

What did we chat about?

Italian greyhounds (Cath has two, soon to be three), online practices here to stay, being a sound engineer, dingy and cheap bars, taking the whole person approach to sports medicine, movement, exercise and cancer, pricing in private practice, psychiatry in North Wales, using normal language with patients, the importance of connections, coaching, running a practice, mentoring and more.

You can find Cath the Sports Doc here and Private Practice Ninja here. On social media, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.

8pm in the UK, 6am in Brisbane; great effort! 

Coffee in hand, Stan describes how his early influences and experiences shaped his approach to helping people.

Stan discovered listening at a young age. Viktor Frankl and Carl Rogers resonated -- he was given the books whilst at school. It was a natural path into psychology for Stan, and onwards into motivational interviewing (MI) and then compassion focussed therapy (CFT). 

Stan tells his story and talks about the important people on that journey. Listening to this, you'll come to know Stan's purpose: to be helpful. 

And this is perhaps the reason for his terrific book, The Gifts of Compassion. In there, Stan clearly defines compassion before offering simple, practical ways that we can cultivate our compassionate self and deal with the self-critic and shame. Highly recommended reading. 

Stan's book: The Gifts of Compassion

Stan on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Psychology Consultants.

Of course, there is so much more to Mick than pain, despite his mammoth on-going contribution to the field. 

Grab a drink, make yourself comfy. This one is a bit longer.

In this very personal conversation with someone I consider both a mentor and friend of almost 20 years, we hear about Mick's working class origins and the people who have shaped him. Listening to this, you will start to understand why he does what he does and how he goes about it.

Mick follows three principles: to work with the best people, to be prepared to 'look stupid' in front of those people and to always do his best. Mick illustrates these principles with fascinating and heartfelt personal stories.

Most poignant are Mick's recollections of his time with Louis Gifford, especially working on his books before his passing. Whilst Mick considers the legacy question I subtly put to him, he is also playing a promised role in shepherding Louis' work. 

We do get into a bit of the pain stuff and predictive processing. It is likely we will have a part 2, 3, 4 etc.

I loved this chat. Mick has taught me a huge amount over the years, both in terms of pain, but also ways to think and to always bring the humanness to what we do. I overtly blame him for my last 20 years and on-going obsession with understanding pain, society, people and how they fit together :) 

You can follow Mick on Twitter here and watch the TEDx Kingston talk here. He has a pre-print out that you can access on his Twitter feed.