Name: Marc Lockley Age: 39 (only just!) My big leap: From senior sales manager in national press to executive coach with my own business.
What I have achieved since Making The Big Leap: I have retrained to become a coach and have got my certification. I have set up my coaching practice and developed it around leadership and negotiation (both in and out of work) supporting individuals to create the self-belief to be great at what they do. I am also used as a coaching expert in articles. Equally from a personal perspective I have spent double the amount of quality time with my family and enjoyed every second of it – I have become a coach to my son in Cricket and Football!!
My top tips for making the big leap: 1. Work out how much it’s going to cost you and how long it will take, then double both. It is best to be prepared for a long journey and this will give you time and leeway so as not to put you under undue pressure. 2. Surround yourself with positive people – I can’t emphasise this enough especially if you do not have a business partner to keep you going. Ensure you have a good coach and friends who will support and motivate you (‘well meaning’ can be as detrimental as negative people as it sounds more ‘realistic.’). 3. You are the decision maker and you make the rules. If you come from a corporate background this takes some getting used to. You decide and the success is down to you. 4. Keep the end result (not the goal) in mind: when you go through tough days it helps remind you of why you are doing it!!! Ensure you create a vivid picture of how your life will be when you have achieved your goal. Pin it up on the inside of your cupboard so that when you get dressed in the morning it’s there for you to see.
My scariest moment and how I overcame it:
Thinking I would fail. This is the scariest and still happens very occasionally (in the early days it was two or three times a day!!!) I overcame it by questioning myself is this fear ‘real?’ It’s real, as in I feel it. Then what is it based on? Emotion and I am in unknown territory. So is it fear of failure? No, it’s fear of the unknown. But equally that unknown is also in my hands and can be incredibly exciting, I can now create the life I want and I am responsible for it, I am good at what I do and have always made a success of things. I have passion about coaching and developing people as I know what its like to be both a leader and a negotiator and the difficult climb it can be – I enjoy seeing peoples faces when they ‘get it’. Excitement is now the feeling!
The highlight of the journey so far:
My first client. This made me really feel I made it. I was incredibly nervous (although apparently it didn’t show!), I coached several people (one to one) in a company and the feedback was great, both from the managers themselves and their boss – I was on cloud 9.
How Big Leap Coaching Company has helped me: Suzy kept me going in the nervy days of the ‘big leap’ I made. I went from twenty years working in National Press Media Sales and was a senior figure earning a six-figure salary. In my first 6 months setting up my business I earned only £3500 (I have a wife and two children as well!!). Suzy helped me clear my mind of negative thoughts, put an action plan together and also was fantastic at bouncing ideas off. She makes you work hard but the rewards are all yours and now I am enjoying a new life as an executive coach some 16 months later. My website/details: www.lockleyassociates.co.uk or telephone 0208 544 2644.
