ONE-ON-ONE MENTORING and coaching
A Program available for Faculty, Executive Managers and Presidents, we all need someone who can hold up a mirror to our performance and ask the tough questions that will lead to success. We need a trusted listener who can actively listen, question, and probe; a reliable teacher who can analyze your performance and be honest with us in a supportive and meaningful way; a supportive peer who can reassure you when your confidence is shaken in the wake of failure. You need a mentor who is empathetic, as well as objective to provide perspective and equilibrium at the most stressful times, and a coach who can contribute to sharpening much needed skills. Most of all you need someone who can help you navigate through the harsh times of a challenging environment.
My service is provided on a completely confidential basis in the form of regular, private meetings and discussions. This allows us to establish a strong bond and trust, leading to genuine and authentic interaction. Because we relate on a peer level, you have complete ownership of the agenda and can focus on your specific needs and goals. Executive Mentoring and Executive Coaching are complementary: mentoring is about thought and reflective practice and the need to assess your strengths and skills and how these can be enhanced still further, while coaching is about improving and refining specific skills with a view to professional development.
How the Program works
Executive Mentoring and Coaching can be in place for as long as you find it helpful and beneficial to your work. The intention, however, is not to create any form of dependency but rather to build a support service that is available to you as you identify your needs. We would meet for a general discussion in the form of getting to know one another and for you to outline your needs and ideas. I would then like to see you in action very much as the “fly on the wall’ to make some assessment of your skills and how these relate to your identified needs. Seeing you in action either with colleagues or in meetings or teaching will provide me with invaluable insights, which can inform our discussions. From this we can agree an agenda and a regular time for us to meet and discuss specifics. And the agenda can include anything that you feel is important to you. I have worked with previous mentees on many issues and the following are just a few examples:
- Feedback for new and inexperience teachers on their skills in the classroom providing support and constructive commentary which allow personal discovery and professional development
- Work with experienced teachers on new ideas and techniques that they can introduce into their thinking and eventually into their classes
- Working with managers to analyze management issues such as poor communications, problematic relationships, and personal priorities and focus.
- Critiquing projects with managers, faculty and musicians so that objectives can be better understood and articulated and delivery maximized
- Working at all levels with people who are feeling that they are near to burnout in their work and require support and reexamination
These meetings should be regularly scheduled, say every 2 – 3 weeks for the first few months, and can either be in person or through video chat, whichever is most convenient to you. You will articulate the agenda for all our meetings and send this to me with as much information as possible a day or two prior to our meeting.
Recommendations
"Tony has offered valuable advice to me and my team on our fundraising strategy, from experience gained from years working in both UK and the US. He has the ability to see the route of the problem quickly and offer a clear solution. His support of the RNCM extended beyond the development function and he was an excellent moderator at an Executive Team away day, supporting the organization to do some Big Thinking at a key time for us. His understanding of the conservatoire sector was invaluable in this regard. On a personal level I have found Tony to be a helpful mentor who offers useful perspective, even small suggestions Tony has made have made a big difference and I’m grateful for his ongoing support and guidance and positive and supportive nature. I would recommend Tony to anyone in need of a facilitator, strategic thinker, fundraising advisor or personal mentor."
Suzie Thompson MInstF (Dip): Director of Development at Royal Northern College of Music
"Tony has been especially instrumental in the development of our faculty mentorship program as well as in the areas of social entrepreneurship and professional development. His deep knowledge about the music education landscape in Europe and in the US provides a unique perspective about the role of a 21st century music education institution. "
Maria Martinez Iturriaga: Executive Director, Berklee Valencia Campus
"I had the tremendous pleasure of working with Tony Woodcock in Spring 2016, in the framework of a coaching program for teachers at Berklee College of Music. Tony came to my classes and gave me incredibly useful insight on my teaching, both on the things he thought I was doing right and those on which there was room for improvement. I feel very fortunate that I was able to benefit from his dedication and experience and I can say that my teaching has greatly improved thanks to his suggestions."
Victoriano Tano Darias: Music Industry Consultant, Professor and Lecturer
"Tony has a wealth of experience as a musician and administrator. His background working with orchestras and conservatoires has been invaluable in the sessions he has offered our Guildhall Creative Entrepreneurs. He has been both attentive and able to understand their situations and generous in sharing his knowledge and skills."
Helena Gaunt: Vice Principal and Director of Academic Affairs at Guildhall School of Music & Drama