BIOGRAPHIES

Margaret Hickman

I am dynamic, warm and effective. My strengths include personal and interpersonal development, team-building, and effective communication. I worked as a primary care manager for many years in dynamic, diverse doctors' practices, which included facilitating people to move beyond their comfort zone to achieve their dreams. I am an executive director of a GP out-of-hours provider in north London, Camidoc. I also am a business development manager for
NHSDirect. 

My purpose in life is to help people to tap into their passion and to support them as they take their first steps on their journey to a more fulfilling life. To achieve this I have trained as a counsellor, life coach, and Highlands Ability Battery (Highlands) affiliate, and I am embarking on Enneagram training. Providing coaching sessions with the Highlands test is a brilliant combination, empowering, motivating, and facilitating sustainable change for my clients.

When I took the Highlands test the results clarified aspects of myself - I become very passionate about things that interest me - that is the specialist part of my profile. I have a people profile, and my abilities lead me towards being the 'glue' in situations. This means that I have the ability to deal with conflict and can resolve it satisfactorily - and I do! I like being with people, and have the abilities to work and manage a team of people. The test also confirmed that I was not very observant and I certainly had no interest in structural things - at last, a real excuse for not wanting to carry out DIY!

For many years I have also been a parenting skills facilitator, running courses and providing coaching to support parents in their role. I have been trained by Sarah Newton, a leading UK teenage coach. I coach parents of teenagers to become coaches of their own teenagers, and in addition I train teenagers to become coaches in their schools. I am also a coach with the Strategic Attraction Coaches Academy and Training.

Paula Farrell

The essence of my work over the years is that I love to support people through change, by improving confidence and eliminating fear. That's what attracted me to coaching and for the past 5 years I have been developing my practice and expanding the service. Prior to that I worked for over 20 years in health care. Initially in nursing; then as a health visitor working with families both in the UK and in Germany; and then as a midwife practising in and around London. I have also taught yoga to small groups of people, and lead parent preparation classes.

The Highlands Ability Battery intrigued me from the outset. Prior to taking the assessment myself and receiving the feedback, I read everything I could about it. I wanted to know if it would reveal anything to me that I didn't already know, and was keen to make sure that my time and money were well spent. It didn't take long for me to realise that the assessment would do away with all the guesswork and help me to work to my strengths - be more focused.

Did it teach me anything new? Of course! And it also confirmed several things for me too. I learnt a lot about myself. For example, as an almost 50-50 introvert/extrovert, I now understand the impact of ensuring that my time around others is balanced with time alone.

Getting the balance right allows me to function really happily and successfully and keeps me inspired. On the other hand, spending all day sitting at a computer screen with no other contacts will make me stressed and grumpy! Highlands has helped me to structure my work and life balance in a way that complements my natural abilities and talents.

I gained many insights into why I chose the work I did, and I am delighted to find that I am strongly matched to experiential problem-solving, connecting with people, facilitating communication, motivating and inspiring others. These are some of my natural abilities and I do them automatically and easily - always have and always will!

I was so impressed by Highlands that I committed to training. I am qualified to provide the assessment and give feedback to individuals and groups. It's a great foundation for coaching and allows me to provide a unique approach by taking into consideration my clients' needs.