MICHAEL BAPTISTA
Both a thinker and a doer, I’m here to listen with complete focus. I offer both support and challenge -- 'gently relentless', said one client. I can help you better understand your options in the light of your own goals -- which you may also want to re-articulate -- as well as your path to realizing them. As a coach, I succeed when I facilitate your achievements.
EDUCATION
I hold a Diploma in Advanced Executive Coaching from the Møller Institute at Churchill College, University of Cambridge. I am accredited as an Executive Coach by the Association of Coaching (AC).
My first degree was a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford. As a mature student, whilst in full-time employment, I got a Distinction in Philosophy (MA, Birkbeck College, University of London) and a First in Classics (BA, Birkbeck College, University of London).
INTEGRITY
“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”
— Mark Twain, speech 1901.
Attentiveness
An ability to listen to you with complete focus.
I ACCEPT YOUR GOALS
Unlike some coaches, I am not selling, either explicitly or implicitly, my own view of society, the environment, history or anything else. I am who I am. I have strong views and values -- but our sessions are about you.
A doer
Spin and slop have taken over. My counter is that I have a long track record of saying it as I see it, and getting things done, whether in global financial institutions, startups, or 1-1.
A thinker
My core skills are in strategic thinking and decision-making.
As a mature student, in full-time work and building a business, I did degrees in both Philosophy and Classics with excellent results.
Range
Hugely eclectic breadth of interests; wide life experience. Current affairs, entrepreneurship, business, tech, politics, philosophy, languages, history, psychology, opera, painting, rugby (watching), swimming (doing), Venice, China, Japan, Québec, cooking, wine.
Knowledge
Knowledge of places and people. Besides wide travel and reading, I have lived and worked in London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
GALLERY
