My initial objective was to improve my people management skills by developing a coaching approach. As a result of becoming more self-aware, I have been able to enhance my skills, manage my judgments and improve my communication and overall performance. I have a clear understanding of the importance of being non-judgmental and not making assumptions. I have stopped trying to be a ‘fixer’ and I have learnt to help my reports / clients to reach their own conclusions and come up with their own decisions and solutions. Learning to coach has improved my own performance and I am able to harvest this learning with the team of line managers who report into me. They in turn are developing a coaching approach. I have used my new coaching approach to enhance their self-awareness and their personal development has increased their levels of confidence and improved their competence as people managers. This has made us a strong Resource Team respected across the organisation. I have used my coaching skills to develop others across our function and this has enabled them to develop their potential and progress their careers. By developing internally, I am able to build a strong succession plan and as a result, we have high levels of job satisfaction and good attrition rates within our function. Understanding the coaching process and using a coaching model has helped me to structure my sessions effectively and I have really benefited through learning to use new tools and techniques e.g. the Values activity has helped my clients with better decision making. Overall, my two years of training as a Coach with i2l has been life changing and it has been so beneficial not only in my work but in my personal life. I have learnt so much about myself in the process and I have become a more understanding person as a result.