The business coach

Like the dog owners who resemble their pets, Dr Jo Perkins seems to have a lot in common with the executives she coaches. In her pictures, she looks steely and well groomed. On the phone, she’s intelligent, focused, and happy to talk from her summer holiday. She suits her job, basically, which is probably why her client list is so eye-catching. Dr Perkins has coached employees of market-leading companies across various sectors, from finance to advertising, from sportswear to oil and gas.

“I find people, and how we behave and are motivated, endlessly fascinating,” she tells me. Having trained as a chartered psychologist, she was “struck by how psychology could be applied to the business world”. Dr Perkins set up her practice in 2002, and at that point, she says, “there was a lot of embarrassment and secrecy about having a coach”.

She credits professional sport with normalising the concept of psychological coaching. People are less reluctant to talk about coaching now, Dr Perkins says, and many of her clients come privately and proactively rather than being sent by their employer. “It’s still a Wild West,” she says, in that “anyone can set up as a coach”, but “people are much more discerning now. If you’re not an effective coach, if you’re not ethical, people don’t refer you. And they know what questions to ask now.”

Dr Perkins turns away the individuals who come seeking a quick fix. But if they’re prepared to be honest, she will help them address problems, including stress, conflict at work, prioritisation of various kinds, stepping up to new roles, and the old riddle of the work-life balance.

“These individuals can be seriously lonely in their roles,” she says.

“It’s very demanding, it’s very pressured. We live in a 24/7 digital world.

“These individuals are very good at what

they do, but they’re inundated with competing demands.”

She sees more and more burnout, she says: “I try to catch it and avoid it.”

Many of her clients arrive unaware of how they’re feeling, so hard do they work, and have to be coaxed into noticing physical symptoms of fatigue.

Dr Perkins helps them perform but tells them to meditate, to eat healthily, and to spend time with friends and family – activities which, besides being, you know, nice, also contribute to good performance at work.

Perkins answers all my questions with thoroughness and candour. Once we’ve finished, she’s going windsurfing. She’s earned it.