Coach’s comment:
Lucy, 19, attended a one-day NEET training programme (for those ‘Not in Education Employment or Training’), one of six young clients in, Worthing, West Sussex.We met outside the railway station and walked through the town. We look at what makes a person – or a product – attractive to a buyer, how perception is all-important. We discussed what it is to value who you are, and add value to what you offer. The group was quiet to start with, a bit shell-shocked maybe, but warmed up as we went along. We treated them as adults.
At the hotel the eight of us, six clients, myself and a careers adviser, sat around a table and I coached the group. As Lucy describes, I am a bit of a ‘character’ at times, but at other times clients need a coach who is deeply personal and tender and can gently slip below the radar. Flexibility is the key, with each person being treated with the utmost dignity and respect. (They weren’t actually used to that.)
The day started at 9.30am and we wound the it up early at 3.00pm. (They were exhausted!) It was an amazing time, with people being very honest and trusting. Each person wholeheartedly expressed how much they had appreciated it. Within two weeks two had permanent jobs (one very intelligent and capable girl hadn’t got out of bed before midday for months). Within a month two lads, one a teenage father, had work and training. All six young people attending the day had exited NEET status within two months of the course.
Lucy’s original letter is on file in our office.
How Lucy discovered direction in her life
Lucy writes:
"On meeting with Andrew Sercombe I was very nervous, and on shaking his hand I realised he is quite a flamboyant character as well. But soon the group and Andrew warmed to each other. And by the end of the day he had nailed our personalities down to a ‘T’, even though each one of us had a very different type of character.
During the day he assessed each of us and what we were looking for in a job, and helped us to understand our own potential and how we can change our way of thinking and presentation in order to get the job or take the career we are looking for, without being frightened and with a whole handful of confidence.
I know what you’re thinking ‘Anyone can do this’, but believe me this man is a miracle. And once you have met him there is no turning back. However what shocked me most is that he taught us that no matter what actions you take you are all worth equal to what everyone else in the world is, even the queen – ten out of ten. And providing you take the right action, you have just as much right to be successful as anyone else in the world.
I never believed in myself, or the fact that anyone else did, until meeting him. He showed me a way of realising my own potential, without actually telling me what it was. He showed me how to realise all my assets and how to use them to the best of everyone else’s and my own advantage.
What I got from that day I did not realise until waking the next day. I realised I knew what I wanted to do with my life and exactly where I was heading, what career I wanted to take, and what kind of person I wanted to be.
That day changed the rest of my life, thanks to myself and Andrew Sercombe. I would recommend him to anyone, a true force to be reckoned with."
Lucy A. 10/10
Used with permission. If you would like to talk to Powerchange about how we can help you in this area, please call us on 01903 744399 or email andrew@powerchange.com