Helping mid-life professionals get unstuck, gain clarity and build meaningful careers

 

I’m Karen Munro — an accredited Coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) helping mid-life, mid-career professionals make transformational change, not just transactional ones, with clarity and confidence.

I bring together a unique mix of real-world experience and professional coaching:

 

• 20 years in corporate HR and recruitment at the BBC, understanding what employers are really looking for.

 

• 15+ years coaching mid-life, mid-career professionals through career change, redundancy and creating transformational career growth.

 

• 12+ years facilitating Career Transition Workshops for Military Officers across the UK’s Armed Forces helping them to transition from Military Service into Civilian careers.

 

• 3 years Outplacement and Executive Associate Coaching working with multi-national, global corporations, FTSE 100 corporate clients and Consultancies supporting candidates through Outplacement and settlement agreements.

 

• Over 1 year Coaching Learners studying 6m ‘Career Accelerators’ through the London School of Economics and Kings College London.

 

Work with me if you want to:

• Make transformational change in your career, not just transactional ones.
• Make sense of your career story and move forward with meaning and purpose.
• Ensure your CV and LinkedIn professional brand gets you noticed and brings results.
• Make a career pivot and need help pushing through the fear and procrastination that holds you back.
• Get that promotion which, so far, has been out of reach.
• Support someone in your team who wants that promotion but needs some help to get there.
• Change from a fixed or negative mindset to one that’s positive and brings you closer to your goals.
• Offer support to anyone in your team who’s at risk of redundancy or needs help to find suitable, alternative employment.

 

 

My Approach 

• Personal, practical and empowering.
• I won’t give you all the answers — but I will ask the right questions.
• I will challenge you, give you honest feedback and hold you to account.
• I’ll help you connect the dots between your skills, values strengths and aspirations.
• I offer flexible coaching shaped entirely around your goals and your agenda.
• My coaching is for people who want depth and clarity, not quick fixes or direction.

 

Professional Qualifications and Expertise

My journey to becoming a coach includes training with the award-winning Career Counselling Services and extensive qualifications from the World Class Coaching School, Barefoot Coaching.

Accredited by the International Coaching Federation, I adhere to their strict code of Ethics to the highest professional standards.  The ICF is considered the Gold Standard of the global coaching world.

I have the privilege of working with clients from a whole host of backgrounds, some seeking personal growth as well as businesses and corporate clients. No two clients are the same, but they often want to same thing – to get un-stuck, find a job they’ll love and succeed in rewarding careers.

So, let’s do this together!

Discover You!

Understanding who you are and building your career identity are the first steps towards personal and career growth. I’ll help you uncover your core values, qualities and strengths, honing your career goals and increasing your self-awareness.

 

Get Un-Stuck!

Together, we’ll identify what’s been getting in your way and holding you back from making meaningful change and develop strategies to move you forward.

 

Creating a Safe Space for You to Grow!

I’ll create a safe, nurturing space where you can explore your potential and step out of your comfort zone, knowing I am right there with you.  Here, you’ll find the confidence to overcome challenges, seize opportunities and make the changes necessary for your growth and fulfilment.

 

Showcase Your Talents

Confidence is key to showcasing your talents effectively.  I’ll empower you to elevate your performance, both professionally and personally. With tailored strategies, tools and techniques, I’ll help you make a lasting impact, whether it’s through networking, presentations or interviews, enabling you to elevate your career confidence.

If you’re looking for help with your career, it can be a bit confusing when you start going through your Google search.  So what exactly is Coaching?

 

A Coach – The International Coach Federation (ICF) defines Coaching as:

“Partnering with clients in a thought provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximise their personal and professional potential, which is particularly important in today’s uncertain and complex environment.  Coaches honour the client as the expert in his or her life and work and believe every client is creative, resourceful and whole.  Standing on this foundation, the coach’s responsibility is to:

• Discover, clarify and align with what the client wants to achieve
• Encourage client self discovery
• Elicit client generated solutions and strategies
• Hold the client responsible and accountable

This process helps clients dramatically improve their outlook on work and life, while improving their leadership skills and unlocking their potential”

 

Coaching is not Psychotherapy or Counselling; however, the origins of Coaching are all born out of Psychology, Psychiatry, Therapy, Philosophy and many more.

 

A Career Coach – takes a deeper look at your life as a whole, paying attention to your values, strengths and interests. Career Coaches also have the tools needed to help you build an outstanding CV/resume and impress hiring managers during a job interview. While similar in many ways, career coaching focuses more on your personal strengths, talents and values and helps you build your ideal career path based on these fundamental factors.

 

A Career Coach works with you to find your true calling in the workplace – the career that will give you true meaning and purpose. Career Coaching is based on the premise that if you are going to spend eight hours a day or more in your job, it might as well be something that you love.

 

A Career Coach will take the time to really listen to you.   A Career Coach uses a variety of tools, exercises and activities to help you identify your career goals and, critically, take action towards achieving them.   After around 6 sessions, you should have a much clearer sense of what type of career will give you the most joy and satisfaction, at which point you’ll be in the position to start developing an action plan to get there.

I continually undertake accredited training courses, supervision and personal development; taking part in webinars, reading the latest Coaching books and publications as well as regularly networking and sharing best practice with other great Coaches.