From The Coaching Academy
"In order to be understood, we must first seek to understand." Steven Covey
At The Coaching Academy, we understand the importance of understanding people. What makes them do the things they do, say the things they say, act the way they act or even react? Unlocking the people puzzle is something we do and something we can help you do if you would like to become a more effective communicator, coach, leader, manager or parent/carer.
We understand that if a person communicates to you according to your behavioural preferences, you are more likely to be receptive and respond positively. When we appreciate both differences and similarities in people, we are more likely to lay aside "wrong" and "right" labels.
DISC opens the doorway to effective communication allowing you to modify your language and behaviour to manage people in any given environment. People respond better to people they like and understand. People are different but they are predictably different.
Meet our DISC team
Dave Pill
Adult Education, Health & Fitness, Professional Sports, Food & Beverage, Travel & Tourism, Coaching, Mentoring and Entrepreneurship are just some of the diverse worlds Dave has influenced.
A qualified Teacher, Lecturer, Coach, NLP Practitioner and DISC European Master trainer, Dave has amassed a phenomenal amount of hands-on experience including 8 years as a teacher and 4 years as a lecturer followed by 15 years as a business owner. Since 1993 Dave has developed an impressive reputation within the world of psychometric testing as a DISC Master trainer. He has worked with major organisations including First Leisure, The Esporta Group, Whitbread, David Lloyd Health Clubs, Bourne Leisure (Butlins, Warner Hotels & Haven Holidays) Universal Studios, Therekos Pharmaceuticals and number of Venture Capital brands.
Dave has helped organisations understand how to build, maintain and motivate powerful, high performing teams, helping leaders and managers develop the self awareness and emotional intelligence to become masters of communication through DISC.
Dave has delivered DISC training throughout the UK and around the world including Korea, Japan, Australia, The USA, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany to name but a few.
Those that have attended training with Dave have often commented on how he brings the DISC training to life, avoiding over complicating the detail and deliver not just information but understanding.
Kris Robertson
One of the leading Coach, Mentor, Trainers in the world of personal and professional development, Kris has been developing people and empowering people in the development of others since 2002.
Kris left University in 2000 with a degree in Psychology thinking that he may never use these skills again as he embarked on a career in Human Resources. 10 years later and Kris found himself a professional Coach, qualified NLP Practitioner and Director of The Coaching Academy - the world's largest coach-training provider, having amassed tens of thousands of hours of coaching, mentoring, supervision and training in coaching skills and DISC Personality Profiling.
Kris has delivered DISC throughout the UK and Europe, most recently for a branch of the United Nations. The ability to effectively interact with others, to modify ones behaviour to effectively manage communication is a life skill that Kris feels passionately that everyone would benefit from in all walks of life. This explains why Kris' clients include teams and individuals working in the private and public sector, small businesses and large multi-national organisations as well as people interested in their own personal/professional development.
Kris' high I preference usually comes as no surprised to delegates, delivering both interesting and useful content in an engaging, fun and humorous way.
Sarah Urquhart
Sarah has been part of the coaching & facilitation world since 2000 having come from the world of Corporate Marketing. Since then she has worked with clients within the corporate, sports and personal space.
Her work has seen her coach and facilitate organisations around the world in the UK, Europe, Russia, Asia, Africa, The USA and Canada. Much of her work is with the commercial/customer facing roles in the business who want to strengthen their communication and relationship building skills.
A sample of the clients that Sarah works and has worked for include: Biersdorf, Unilever, Ferrero, Diageo, Brown Forman, Pernod, Bacardi, Ofgem, EON, Shell, BP, Mentholatum, Umicore, Celestica, Grosvenor , Financial Ombudsman, RBS, Lloyds Bank, Money Supermarket, Bloomberg, Britannia BS, Kleinwort Hambros (when Dresdner Kleinwort), Co-Operative Bank, Abbey National, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Coloplast, Colgate, Gate One, Acumen CI, Byron Burgers, Andaz Hotel, Selfridges, Warner Bros & Disney. These pieces of work have been varied but all have included coaching and/or facilitation to help recipients develop their Emotional Intelligence, Relationship Building and & Communication Skills.
In addition to more than 30 years of business experience, Sarah has a Business Degree and post-graduate qualifications in Psychology, Marketing and Supervision. She is a Neuro Linguistic Programming Trainer (NLP) and an ICF Credentialled Coach. She is also accredited to use several psychometric tools including DISC, MBTI, Insights, CPI 260, Insights Full Circle and Benchmarks 360.
Sarah designed and continues to deliver many of The Coaching Academy's coaching training courses. She worked with the British Equestrian Federation to write their UKCC Coaching Levels learning resources. Sarah was part of the team that created an ILM Level 7 Coaching Programme that won the Training Journal's Best Coaching Programme. From 2016-2017 she served as a Board Director of the UK Chapter of the International Coaching Federation, one of the regulatory bodies for the coaching industry.
Sharon Lawton
Sharon Lawton is a parent and family lifestyle coach, NLP Practitioner and DISC trainer.
She has her own very successful coaching practice specialising in self-esteem, parenting skills, anger/conflict management, relationships skills, emotional wellbeing and managing stress both in the family and in the workplace. She coaches and supports parents, young people and staff working in the education sector.
In 2015 she won International Parent Coach of The Year in the Coaching Academy International Coaching Awards. An award she is extremely proud of.
Sharon has coached both in the private and public sector, with clients that include Shell UK, Aviva Insurance, Hertfordshire County Council and The Herfordshire Family Centre Service. She is also the resident family coach for The Chrissy B Show on Sky Channel 191
