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Silvia worked in multi-national organizations in the City of London and Dubai for over twenty years before founding bCoached in 2017, a coaching practice specialising in Executive, Leadership and Team Coaching.
Her work as an executive coach focuses on strengthening three core competencies: Leadership
Awareness, Impact, Effectiveness and Reputation. She coaches corporate as well as individual clients and supports them in their journey to authentic professional development and leadership excellence.
Hailing from Milan Silvia’s passion for supporting executives started when she began reading
coaching literature and learning from coaching books. She loved the content, understood that
focusing on possibilities and positive outcomes, rather than obstacles, could bring about lasting and constructive change in people’s lives and understood that structured support – coaching – would be the route to achieve it.
In 2012, after her family relocated to Dubai, she converted her calling and vocation for coaching into reality and obtained her certificates as an NLP Practitioner with the American Board of NLP(2017), Results Certified Coach with the Neuroleardership Institute (2018), Hogan Assessment Systems Assessor (2019), Certified Team Coach with International Business School (2021). And this is only the beginning. I am currently in the process of completing the masters in Executive Coaching with Ashridge Hult International Business School.
Today, as an executive coach Silvia empowers her clients to achieve fulfilling, authentic and successful lives as global business leaders. She works closely with them as their accountability partner supporting their transition to the next level by setting powerful goals, co-creating effective strategies and ultimately embracing a new and winning mindset.
You can watch our Coffee Chat on YouTube, just search for Donna Burfield Coaches Supporting Coaches or go to https://youtu.be/Zp14cC01FtE
Can you tell me a little bit about your coaching journey and what motivated you to become a coach?
My coaching journey started in my early twenties when I began reading coaching literature and learning from coaching books. I loved the content, I understood that focusing on solutions and positive outcomes, rather than problems, could bring about lasting and constructive change in people’s lives and I understood that structured support – coaching – would be the route to achieve it. At the time I was eager to increase my knowledge in the field of professional and personal development, and I couldn’t get enough of it.
I am not sure I always felt comfortable answering friends curious to know what I was reading. I had doubts about how these topics would be perceived or what they would think of my reading them. I often felt embarrassed to welcome them into my library and let them discover that I was into empowering each dimension of my life by reading what was then considered unusual titles. This was eventually proved wrong, as most of them ended up asking if they could borrow these titles.
Later in life, in my forties, I decided to go for a career change and began my education and training in the field of executive and team coaching.
Is there a particular moment or memory of your coach training that stands out for you?
Of course! When my coach supervisors commented on one of my coaching transcripts and suggested not sharing my opinions, since in the coaching relationship the person at the center and that drives the conversation is always the client and not the coach. Basically, the least I talk, the better I coach.
How would your friends and family describe you?
As a calm person not to mess with.
What opportunities has Dubai given you, personally and professionally?
The opportunity of a career change and of meeting people from all over the world. Priceless.
What would you like people to know about you?
If I ever say something that sounds challenging or confronting, it is because I very much desire that the person I am talking to actualizes her full potential. Tough love.
Imagine yourself in three years. What do you hope will be different about you compared to now?
For this profession, I am putting in hours of continuous study that take away most of my weekends. It’s because I love my profession that I sacrifice my weekends and late nights. In three years’ time, I would like to be more relaxed about my professional education.
Tell me about a time you took an unexpected initiative
I once took the initiative of talking to a young man who had just crashed into two cars in a car park, apparently for no reason. Everyone was calling him names and saying he was crazy. When I asked if he was ok, he told me that he had taken his father’s car with no permission and had not acquired his driving license at the time. He eventually calmed down and was able to admit his mistake when the police arrived.
Briefly tell me what have been the highlights of the past 5 years. What has been your biggest growth lesson?
My career change has been the biggest highlight. I moved from being an executive assistant within global organizations to an executive coach.
The biggest growth lesson: the fact that I always believed I could make it, despite the naysayers. They tried to discourage me from a career change because I was going to be “one of the new million coaches around the globe”. Today my actions speak for themselves.
What are you really good at?
Translating what the client wants to say and really means in a simple scheme/logic process.
Working with hypothesis during the coaching conversation. They help the client consider or discard what could be going on in his system/reality.
What would you like to get better at?
Reading faster so that I can finish all the books I have on my list
Tell me about your coaching practice
I am the founder of bCoached, an international coaching practice that provides highly customized one-on-one as well as team coaching programs for executives and their teams.
Alongside bCoached, I lead Valore Aggiunto, a network of consultants based in Italy delivering customized HR services, coaching and counseling programs within organizations which value human potential, in the form of the individual as well as teamwork.
Executive and Team coaching is my expertise.
As an Executive Coach, I specialize in one-on-one executive coaching for leaders who aspire to sharpen their soft skills and self-awareness with the aim to impact their Performance, Influence and Professional Reputation.
As a Team Coach, I help business teams establish their tasks, objectives, roles and responsibilities at the beginning and mid-point of their formation. My role is to ensure teams improve their performance, and the processes by which performance is achieved, through the strategic thinking, reflection and dialogue they often neglect during their day-to-day business.
How do you prepare for your coaching sessions?
I ensure I dedicate 20 minutes to get in the zone, breathe deeply and clear my mind from any distracting thoughts or objects. I also take 10 minutes to read the notes of previous coaching sessions.
When you started your coaching business what was the biggest challenge for you?
I started my coaching business in 2017 and the biggest challenge was to acquire my first corporate client.
Can you describe how you were feeling when you coached your first client and what did you learn from that experience?
As if for the first time I was doing the job I was born to do.
I learned that contracting with the client is a key element to establishing trust in the coaching relationship.
How did you feel when you got your first paying client?
Very excited and totally trusted.
Can you tell me of an achievement or contribution that you are most proud of?
When I worked as an executive assistant in London, I used to recruit junior assistants with the aim to retain and allow them to progress within the company. I remember that my HR director praised me for selecting young people who, on average, were promoted within less than one year due to the quality of their work and enthusiasm.
Best praise I ever received. I realized I was contributing to the professional development of my colleagues.
What attracted you to Coaches Supporting Coaches - Dubai?
The idea of being part of a community of professional coaches who can collaborate and support each other to increase the impact of coaching within Dubai and the UAE. The structured and organized approach used by Donna Burfield to create opportunities for the coaches to connect and collaborate was a key factor in my decision to join CSC.
If you would like to connect with Silvia, please click on these links
#coachessupportingcoaches #executivecoach #businesscoach #leadershipcoach #teamcoach #joyandpurposecoaching
If you are interested in finding out more about Coaches Supporting Coaches – Dubai then grab a coffee and book a FREE call with me, Donna Burfield (Founder), via my Calendly link below
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