CSM Directory

Biography:

Coach and consultant, Keith Watson Coaching - Southampton, Hampshire (05/20 to present)

Previously:
CEO, Portswood Primary Academy Trust – Southampton, Hampshire (04/2018 to 04/2020)
Strategic lead of primary trust including Chief Accounting Officer
Leadership of Teaching and Learning ensuring highest standards and outcomes for pupils
Strategic lead for Portswood Teaching School Alliance - School Direct, NQT Appropriate Body and training & School to school support, HISP sub regional Executive board, QTL board
Deputy CEO, Portswood Primary Academy Trust (01/2017 to 04/2018) having held a number of roles at Portswood for over 20 years.

I have vast experience of the educational sector, including as a CEO of a primary academy trust and the leader of a Teaching School that was at the forefront of innovation across the sector. Within education I studied coaching at masters and doctoral level, lectured on the Southampton MA course on ‘Coaching & Mentoring’ and have coached teachers and leaders for 20 years. I have published research on coaching culture in schools, including ‘How can an effective coaching culture be established across different schools in an Alliance?' (Watson & Kerrigan-Draper, NCTL, 2014. This included working with Robert Hill on the dissemination of this coaching research.

Working at a National Support School and leading a Teaching School meant I have over a decade of school-to-school work. In this work I often used a coaching approach to school improvement and coached many leaders on all aspects of school leadership. I now coach senior leaders across the country (in person and via zoom) as well as coach leadership teams.
I hold a Diploma in Transformational Coaching, from the Animas Coaching Centre, meaning I also coach people on personal development. This high-level training added to my twenty years of educational coaching has equipped me with a far wider range of coaching skills that I am able to apply with senior leaders. Coaching senior leaders on their development is rewarding and means I can continue my passion for education that is as strong as when I first entered the profession.

Building upon my school based coaching experience my style of coaching adapts to the needs of the leader. I am a qualified as both a Transformation coach and also a Mindset coach. This means I have a range of coaching skills and techniques that I can use depending upon the client. I see coaching as a conversation-based approach to moving someone from where they are to where they want to be. I help leaders create their own clarity of purpose and direction, get them to challenge their own limiting self-beliefs and find resolutions to the problems they face. If my leadership experience may be of use to them, I offer it but only at invitation and am more focused upon their reflection, self-discovery and growing self-awareness so that they are better equipped to solve problems in the future.
Therefore, my coaching is focused on the future, although it may visit the past for learning. It requires me to listen closely, be person centred and seek to build rapport with the leader. This rapport can create trust which in turn can make the coaching deeper and more meaningful. I work a lot on my questioning that is designed to help the leader learn. My listening well for things such as distortions, deletions, and generalisations I am able to use questions to reflect back to the leader and help them clarify their thinking and feelings. Whether using simple coaching techniques such as the GROW model or more advanced techniques such as 6Cs, TOOLKIT or borrowing from Transactional Analysis I can use the technique that is needed for the situation. This enables the leader to have clarity on what they want to achieve and helps them identify the practical steps they need to take to move forward.