Gerard De La Garde 

Executive Coach 

Gerard has over 20 years’ experience of assessing, developing and coaching executives across Europe, Asia and Africa.  His experience is underpinned by his master’s degree in occupational psychology and his formal training in psychometrics, counselling, assessment and coaching methodologies.

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His first career was in the police – rising to the rank of commander, heading a team of hundreds of police officers and civilian staff. His final police role was as executive director of the body which provided UK-wide training and development for the most senior police leaders. In 2000,  he transitioned into the private sector on joining YSC (now part of Accenture) as a business psychologist and leadership consultant.  In 2016 he became an independent executive coach and leadership consultant.

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Gerard specialises in helping executives to deal with significant transitions in their life or career, as well as in issues related to leadership, teamwork, interpersonal communication, and diversity.  His coaching approach is eclectic, drawing on different models as appropriate to the needs of the coachee and their leadership challenges.  The overriding approach is Co-Active Coaching – i.e. partnership in a shared journey towards an agreed goal.  In the context of a trusting but challenging relationship, he helps people identify and leverage under-utilised personal resources.  He is rigorously focused on helping clients achieve their objectives but this does not mean being didactic or humourless: even direct questions, challenges, and feedback can be an enjoyable way to gain useful insights about development areas.