Dr Jenny King

CPsychol, FRCGP(Hon), FRCP(Edin), EMCC Global Accredited Coach (Senior Practitioner)

How I help medical leaders through Executive Coaching

In the relentless pace and pressure of the NHS, doctors and leaders are under such pressure to focus on “doing” and delivering the service that they find little time to pause, reflect, or pay enough attention to crucial working relationships or to their own well-being. My coaching provides:

1. A safe and confidential space for medical leaders to reflect upon and find new ways to manage critical issues in their leadership role.
2. Practical skills and strategies to motivate teams, improve influencing and impact, and handle challenging working relationships. 
3. Where required, increased self-awareness through psychometric profiling and facilitated 360 feedback.
4. Support and challenge, both to a high degree, to enable coachees to make and sustain changes and further development as leaders

My background and experience

I am an occupational Psychologist and a co-Founder and former Director of Edgecumbe Health - a leading NHS consultancy where I was the Practice Lead led for 20 years before stepping down in June 2015 to focus on Executive coaching. In 2016 I was awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Executive Coaching from Ashridge, and am now an EMCC Global Accredited Coach. I am an Honorary Fellow of the RCGP and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh).

I specialise in working with medical leaders who want the benefit of working with a coach with experience of other sectors as well as the NHS. I have consulted, trained, assessed and coached in NHS organisations all over the UK, including Trusts, regulatory bodies, Deaneries and Medical Royal Colleges. I also have extensive experience of working with corporate organisations (UK and international). I have undertaken facilitation work with leadership teams in medical Royal Colleges. I am a Lay Reviewer for the Invited Review Mechanisms of the Royal College of Surgeons (England) and the Royal College of Physicians.  

Publications

Pendleton, D and King, J. (2021) How can I use the Primary Colours approach to support Leadership Development in coaching? In J.Passmore (ed) Succeeding as a Coach: Insights from the Experts. Pavilion Publishing and Media.

Testimonials

“As a leader in medical education and hospital consultant, I have built my career on hard work, dedication and learning. Jenny provided me with the opportunity and space to learn deeply about myself, in an extremely supportive, genuine and protected space – something that was new to me.

New to coaching, I will admit to having been a little unclear of the potential benefits of a coach. By finding in Jenny someone with the experience and insight into working lives and environments such as mine, I have been able to derive something very concrete and, I anticipate, long-lasting, from our sessions." Senior clinical leader

“Jenny has encouraged me to reflect on my impact as a leader and to consider how I can use my leadership position to more effectively influence and improve my organisation. She also recognises the impact leadership has on me and helped me to develop into a more resilient manager.” Academic Clinical Leader

“Jenny is an experienced, adaptable and enabling coach. I have benefitted both as an individual and through a team initiative that Jenny provided input to through development and launch. She inspires confidence and courage to move forward sensibly and securely to achieve short term goals and long-term ambitions. Her approach is flexible covering specific needs such as developing interview technique to understanding effective leadership approaches, styles and interactions to broader personal development needs and challenges. She is able to challenge and provokes reflection that is relevant and lasting and is kind and caring too. She understands the world of health care and is up-to-date on the challenges of organisational change and the impact on individuals and teams. I would not hesitate in recommending her to colleagues.”  Doctor who subsequently progressed to becoming a Postgraduate Dean

“Jenny was my coach for a period of about one year whilst I transitioned into a senior leadership position. I found working with Jenny incredibly beneficial. Through providing me with clear and sensitive feedback on my psychological profile I gained insight into how I approach difficult situations. Jenny helped me to identify strategies I can use to build on my strengths and address my weaknesses. As result of her coaching my confidence and effectiveness working at this level has increased significantly - so much so that I was recently promoted again. I can recommend Jenny unreservedly as a highly skilled coach capable of providing sufficient challenge in a supportive manner.” Senior Leader, NHS Health Education England

“Working with Jenny King has resulted in very significant change.  Jenny’s coaching provided me with the insight to truly understand what would develop me as a leader.  Jenny then provided some of the most skilful coaching I’ve ever had in order to make the changes I needed to make as a person as well as equipping me with more leadership tools.  As a result I have more skill, more ability, and more confidence in that ability.  I am seeing tangible positive results within the organisation which was the main aim.  A truly joyful outcome.” Fran McCloskey, Director of Finance & IT, St Peter’s Hospice

“I entered coaching with Jenny King at a time when I felt personally and professionally challenged on a number of fronts. I ended the programme with a renewed sense of energy and vocation. With her calmness and professionalism, twinned with humour, humility and kindness, Jenny helped me rediscover my deeply held values and see that many of my apparent limitations were self-imposed.” Robert Woolley, NHS Trust CEO

 “Dr King is an experienced and capable coach that I have personally interacted with three times over the last decade.  I have also had close working relationships with a number of her coachees who have told me what they thought.  She has mastered the coaching alchemy, encouraging coachees to be self-aware, facilitating interaction within and beyond teams and generally supporting coachees to reach their full potential.  On the most recent occasion over a number of sessions Dr King helped me through a most difficult and challenging episode.  She was kind and supportive but it is much more than that; after each session some of the problems just shrank, became manageable and a tendency to despair gave way to positivity.  I will always be grateful to her for that.  I would recommend her unreservedly.” David Wilkinson, Consultant Vascular Surgeon, Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust.

“I’ve greatly enjoyed working with you and in particular have valued:-

-          your flexibility, mostly inquiring and supportive, occasionally gently challenging as I have requested

-          your use of profiling tools to give new insights

-          your use of case study publications to broaden by reading and thinking (I’d like more of this)

-          your ability to ask the right questions to allow me to develop a better understanding of the challenges I face

-          your very non-judgemental approach (I know this is your job, but you do it well!)

“I feel a lot more positive about what I want to do in the future and how I will address the various challenges I face.” Senior leader at a Medical Royal College

“As an experienced Executive Director I sought Jenny’s help to help recognise areas for development such that I could make a more sustained and credible impact in my wider strategic and operational environment. Through a thorough technical framework and insightful dialogue I have better understood how I project in my work and personal life. Jenny quickly built a trusting and trusted relationship and I found our work truly transformative. Now CEO of a £100M+ successful health and care provider I feel the position is the result of our fruitful collaboration and a joint achievement” NHS CEO and former GP.