As part of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we’re introducing our fantastic career coaches. All our coaches have lived experience of disability, and an understanding of the setbacks we can face as disabled people in the workplace, along with the strengths we might not know we possess as disabled candidates. Meet Breandan, Caroline, and Chris.
Breandan Ward is a Career and Leadership Coach with 20 years of international cross-sector experience. He inspires professional and organisational development through coaching, education and advocacy. With an approach to leadership anchored in core values and the whole person, he seeks to stimulate individual, team and system success. As a partially sighted professional, Breandan believes that diversity and inclusion are essential acts needed for teams, leaders and organisations to shift their mindset and practice.
Caroline Dove has enjoyed a busy career whilst managing multiple sclerosis for over 30 years in large complex organisations. During this time, she has learned how to reinvent herself despite increasing physical disability, incorporating an MBA, advanced studies in coaching psychology and Buddhism along the way. Caroline provides a safe space for candidates to identify and build opportunities to find work they are suited to given disability, neurodiversity, or a long-term health condition. She may use coaching techniques to awaken your creativity and motivation and understand your core values or natural strengths.
Christopher Catt is an International Award-Winning Coach and was selected for the Powerlist 100 of the most influential Disabled People in the UK for two years in a row. Chris has been successfully helping people over the past 15 years to decide if going into business is right for them, how to turn their ideas into a viable business and what strategies are likely to achieve the best results. If you feel at a crossroads and are wondering if self-employment maybe the best way forward for you, Chris can help you to develop your ideas into a viable business that also enables you to live life on your terms.
We caught up with Caroline, Chris, and Breandan, who shared their experience and gave advice for candidates who may be interested in career coaching.
How does your lived experience of disability influence your role as a career coach?
Caroline: “My disability has required me to continually reinvent myself, focus on my strengths and see the bigger picture. The questions I have had to ask myself apply to us all”.
Chris: “I have a saying which I use which is: I believe that I am the difference that makes all the difference. It’s a saying I use because it just gets to the point of what the whole thing is; I’m making a difference so that other people can have a difference in their lives. That’s what really drives me forward in helping people with their choices, whether it’s self-employment, business start-up, or even career or leadership coaching, those are things that really matter to me. There’s nothing better than seeing somebody being able to turn around to other people who have written them off and say ‘I’m doing it, I’ve made it, I’m succeeding.’”
Breandan: “I work a lot with leaders and managers and senior and junior people in all sorts of different sectors, some might have a disability or health condition, many do not… One of the most common things I come across is the question of imposter syndrome, and I’m amazed how much it comes up for… (both) people with disabilities and for people who for now say they are not disabled.
So, what’s that about?
I have a feeling that we share a challenge with this thing called imposter syndrome because there is this narrative in popular society that perfection exists, and perfection is possible, and social media certainly backs that up. The reality is perfection does not exist, it is unnatural, it is impossible, and so once we get to that place in our mind where we understand that perfection is a fraud, it’s a lie, it’s an illusion, suddenly we’re all the same then, we’re all imperfect and all the same in that imperfection, so we all have the same task which is get rid of the illusion of perfection, get back in touch with reality, what can we do, in what ways can we grow, and in what ways can we work with others and make real impacts in our job. So, for me that’s the biggest thing; identifying perfection as an illusion and actually fighting back with a much more realistic and powerful way to show up in our jobs.”
What top tip would you give to a disabled candidate interested in career coaching?
Caroline: “Career coaching is a chance to dig into the treasures you may not be aware of and think about the best way to put yourself across for a positive impact. Your coach will support you where you may be feeling anxious, and the sessions are a safe place to test ideas out and practice the conversations you will need to have to progress your career”.
Breandan: “The opportunity to work with someone one-to-one is powerful because it means you have someone literally walking alongside you, whatever the challenges are that you’re encountering at present or that you foresee up ahead. Here’s the place where you can get to name those challenges, name those feelings, and start to explore how we might reframe them, and to reframe them in a way that aligns with our core values. When you get to do that with a career coach away from all those other people in your life it can be a very powerful way to unlock your potential and to deepen your insight and to move forward purposefully”.
Chris: “Go for it! Take all of the opportunities in front of you and just go for it.”
To find out more about our career coaches, or to sign up for our free career coaching, visit https://hive.evenbreak.co.uk/career-coaching-for-disabled-candidates/
