Finding Your Inner Warrior: A Christine Alexander-Smith Interview

Christine Alexander Smith
Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC)
London, England

Christine Alexander Smith, a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach^®, working in-house at one of the largest IT companies in the world, believes coaching makes a difference in-house, because it helps raise people’s expectations of what they are capable of doing.

“The coaching relationship creates a safe space which takes away the fear of failure and invites people to become more curious about what other directions are available to them, when things don’t work,” she says.

In addition, coaching can play a role in ensuring companies can honestly reflect the diversity of modern life. Christine says: “Historically, coaching has been used for executives when they’re going to the next rung. Today that’s not true. Coaching is now being introduced so that everybody gets a chance to contribute to their workplace in a meaningful manner and participate fully in the community of the corporate world; people who are disabled, women, people of ethnic minorities.”

"The impact a coach can have within an organization, can mean the difference between someone just showing up for work and working with purpose."

Christine has recently set up the Diversity Coaching Initiative. The prime directive is communicating to people of ethnic and minority community backgrounds about the value of coaching for mobilizing people to step up and engage at a deeper level.

“When I got my first Co-Active Coach^®, I realized for the first time in my life that I didn’t have to do everything on my own. Having a coach allows employees the comfort zone of knowing that there’s someone rooting for them, someone standing on the next hill saying, 'I know you can do this.' ”