Shadow Coaching

Shadow coaching is a powerful and effective tool used during coaching with executives, leaders and teams striving for excellence.

Shadow coaching is real-time coaching, observing work practices and communication flow at the place of work. It fundamentally means taking your coach to your work environment e.g. a (board) team or client meeting or presentation in real time and in a very real job environment. This greatly increases newfound awareness, which in turn enhances better work practices.

This coaching approach is a natural evolvement, reflecting parallel and constantly evolving work environments which leaders are expected to navigate through, with similar success expectations by different stakeholders to help transform business, people and processes. Shadow coaching supports particularly the understanding of the situation and helps in identifying what the real issues are. Do you want to be challenged and coached in real time?

Do you want to get unbiased, independent feedback, identify your strengths and areas for improvement in a 360degree environment? Do you want to close the gap between your actual and desired performance?

With shadow coaching we help you in real time, closing the gap between the actual and desired performance.

Benefits include:

  • Receiving independent, unbiased real-time feedback
  • Uncover hidden issues and challenges in real time
  • Accelerated learning
  • It's not theoretical, it's practical, it's real
  • Being part of the coachees’ environment (The coachee can tell me anything, I want to see it myself)
  • Raising blind spots
  • Increasing the importance and openness to learning – be a role model
  • Implementing real-time change
  • Increased alertness and awareness / time to reflect
  • Demonstrates your high commitment to the people you lead and to their development
  • Improving individual and team goals, targets and performance
  • Higher organisational performance/productivity
  • Gives quickly a wealth of data about the environment, organisational culture and the key people
  • See and hear both the verbal and non-verbal communication
  • It can significantly reduce the necessity of redoing the work
  • Identifying solutions to specific work-related issues in real time

What clients say about us

Mr. Roelofs is a great coach who not only has a great deal of knowledge and executive experience himself but excels of being perceptive and using various questioning techniques to help people develop through reaching their own conclusions and making their own decisions. He creates an environment in which coachees feel comfortable discussing difficult issues and is effective in helping people to unlock their full potential. I would recommend his services to anyone looking to develop their executive skills and remove any blocks that prevent them from operating at the maximum of their capabilities.

Head Business Development Europe, Finance, London, UK

Being coached by Rania has been very powerful for me. She coaches in a unique, insightful way, and helped me with the necessary tools and techniques for my challenges, which has proven successful. It was great to work with her. I would highly recommend Rania as an executive coach.

HR, Insurance, London, UK

Bernardus has been my coach for nearly 12 months during my career break where with his professional help I have been searching to decide my next career challenge which has proven successful. I have found him to be a good listener who plays back to me what he is hearing. He offers constructive feedback in a sensitive way. I always feel re-energised after one of my sessions with him. As a coach in the true sense of the word, he really does help keep me on my toes: following up on the actions we set and asking difficult questions which ultimately I benefit from as they push my thinking and ability on. I would highly recommend Bernardus as a professional coach both for individuals and corporates.

Business Development Europe, Finance, Geneva, Switzerland

Bernardus has actively coached me and my team for the last 6 months. With his experience in the European financial industry he managed to give us valuable insights in relationship management, institutional trading and operational excellence, enabling us to clearly stand out in this rapidly changing environment. Together with Bernardus we managed to identify our core strengths, made a plan to leverage on that and are executing it accordingly. I would recommend Bernardus to any young team of money earners to give each individual the tools he or she needs to raise output to a next level. Besides coaching my team, he has also been of great help on a personal level, advising me how to handle certain (sometimes very delicate) situations.

Head of Trading, Finance, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Executive Coach Rania Roelofs has greatly enhanced my learning. Instrumental to this were her challenging questions and observations.

Professional Athlete, UK

Being shadow-coached by Bernardus was instrumental in the improvement of my own coaching practice. It improved my focus and the reflection and feedback, being based on acute and knowledgeable observation, has accelerated my progress.

Executive Coach, Oxford, UK

I invited Bernardus for a sparring session to tap into his vast experience of the financial industry and share ideas around the next level for the product and team. Gained several valuable insights and had a productive afternoon in friendly and constructive manner.

Head European Sales, Finance, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Rania is a great coach who not only challenged me but also made me appreciate diversity and think differently about 'negatives'. Her coaching style is thought-provoking, warm, sharing, challenging, open, kind, generous, and insightful. As a sparring partner Rania creates an environment in which I felt comfortable to discuss a variety of topics, dive deep for meanings and reflect on the emotional as well as rational dimension.

Head of Sales, Media, London, UK

Executive Coach Bernardus Roelofs brings high levels of intuition when coaching professionals and senior leaders – his strengths of asking insightful questions and creating a space for reflection helps coachees get clearer on their perspectives and motivations, and the perspectives and motivations of others. Bernardus is strong at coaching senior leaders around their purpose and goals, and carefully facilitating feedback on their impact. His ability to tune in to, and understand what is happening in the broader system gives the coaching an edge. Finally, his strong belief in human potential naturally plays in these conversations, leaving leaders feeling supported and challenged, whether face-to-face or over Skype.

Director, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

I asked my colleagues afterwards how they felt about the experience of being shadow coached. Several of them shared my initial nervousness about being watched. None of them found it intrusive. Several asked if they could do it too!

Director, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK