I am a leadership coach, business consultant and qualified organisational psychologist who works with both small and large organisations.
I specialise in leadership skills, employee engagement and the people dynamics of organisations, helping leaders and managers achieve their own potential, be more effective in their role, and lead motivated teams.
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6 customer reviews
Michael Clarke
Business & Career Coaching
I have worked with Rob, who has a true skill, being able to advise on how to navigate leadership in complex organisations as well as strategies to navigate challenging issues.
Rob is able to advise on organisational change. He could support and accelerate growth for many executives.
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Sam Thornton
I worked with Rob and Dave on a large, complex project looking at Student Records Systems. They did excellent work conducting a large number of individual and group interviews, collated and analysed lots of research data, and summarised the findings in a clear and informative report. They adapted quickly to changing requirements throughout the project, and were both readily available for informal discussions. More...
Paul Bailey
I have known Rob (and Dave) at Hapsis for many years and have worked with them on several projects and activities in the past. I have always found them reliable and ready to engage and suggest ideas to contribute to the project. I have most recently worked with them on a research project that involved them conducting interviews and analysing data from a survey. Their synthesis provided valuable insights and their extensive knowledge of the higher education sector enabled them to make useful contributions into the project recommendations and discussions. More...
Steve McKinlay
I have worked with Rob a number of times usually at one of the many "busy" times which occasionally come my way. Interested and relational, Rob takes time to understand the issue I feel stuck with, and then uses his coaching experience to help me identify and own my solution. A coach can be great value - give it a go! More...
Dr Joanne James
Robert worked with me to redesign a leadership and change academic module for MSc students. He understood the brief and brought fresh thinking to the approach. I felt he understood the needs of the group and took the time to understand the academic and practice requirements. Robert operates with high professional standards at all times and is a pleasure to collaborate with. More...
Jack Harvie-Clark
Robert Alen is a skilled and experienced business consultant who has helped Apex achieve significant growth and improvem in a competitive market.
From our experience, he clearly has a strong background and knowledge in helping entrepreneurial businesses like ours with their growth and people development, establishing new governance mechanisn support strategy in an expanding busines and improving staff commitment and motivation.
Robert has worked closely with us to understand our needs and challenges, an provide effective and practical solutions t. have enhanced our performance and governance. He has also been a valuable source of guidance and support to our team. He is always professional, dependable, and cooperative, and he has a genuine interest in helping businesses succeed.
I appreciate Robert Allen's contribution to our organization, andI would recommend him to any organisation that is looking for a reliable and competent partner who can help them achieve their goals and overcome their challenges. He is a great asset and a pleasure to work with. Thanks for your help, Rob!
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What do you love most about your job?
What I love most about my job is the independence, variety and flexibility of running your own business. I am also able to combine multiple skills and operate across a broad and diverse portfolio that would be hard to find in a larger organisation.
What inspired you to start your own business?
I initially started my business because I wanted a change - I wanted to move from being a manager of projects and services to being able to help people achieve their potential. Then I discovered I could do more than that - I could do anything I wanted! So don't be surprised by the variety of what I offer, it isn't lack of specialism, it's about using all of your talents!
Why should our clients choose you?
Like many Bark users, we are also a small business, which allows us to be flexible and responsive, dynamic and creative. With a wide range of skills covering business, psychology, technology, coaching, training and development.
We offer a bespoke service that provides a broad view of your business and is able to help you move forward by overcoming obstacles, establishing new strategies, developing your people and supporting you in doing what you do best. We don't make assumptions, but we do ask lots of questions so we can understand what you want and help you achieve it.
Can you provide your services online or remotely? If so, please add details.
Services can often be provided online, including online meetings and coaching, facilitating online group sessions. We can also share documents and collaborate online.
Coaching
Want to overcome challenges?
Or find a new perspective on a situation?
Looking to improve performance?
Want to be happier at work?
Performance coaching is often about behavioural change, even if these changes are subtle. Much of our behaviour is habitual – we develop patterns over time that are difficult to break out of, making it hard to take your performance to the next level.
Similarly we typically perceive situations from an established mindset, that can limit our understanding and options. A key aspect of our coaching is to help identify and disrupt these patterns and mindsets, and find alternative approaches to familiar situations and problems.
” I feel that I’ve transitioned to the new role and am developing new norms of work wrt routine, approach and behaviour. I appreciate (and value) the support you’ve provided over the last 12-18 months; the time for reflection, discussion and space to find perspective has been truly valuable. “
“Rob taught me ways to think outside of the box and look at myself differently. The discussions helped me gain a fresh perspective on personal challenges and enabled me to define new goals. “
Business Consultancy
How would I like it to be?
What opportunities might I be missing?
What can I improve?
Our expert consultancy services help you find answers to these questions.
We specialise in helping entrepreneurial businesses with their growth and people development, establishing new governance mechanisms to support strategy in an expanding business, and improving staff commitment and motivation.
We aim to understand your organisational environment, its current capabilities and suitability of skills, processes and structures.
A number of tools and techniques can be used to assess the current organisational climate, create compelling visions for change, and implement the necessary adjustments.
Consultancy services are tailored to your organisational needs, but can include:
* Business reorganisation and structuring
* Leadership capability
* Employee engagement
* Process Review
* Strategy Development
* Skills Audit/Development Plan
* Implementation Plans
* Developing Visions
* Stakeholder analysis
Facilitation
Sometimes it helps to have someone objective and neutral to help things run effectively and produce fast results and action.
Whether you want to improve team culture or move projects and activities forward, having an expert facilitator can be an advantage.
Techniques include
* establishing visions for success
* setting ground rules for communication
* participation activities
* small group working using coaching models
* using different perspectives
* problem solving
* idea generation
* prioritising
* goal setting
Leadership and Management Development
What does it mean to be good at leadership?
What would you like to improve?
Can you flex your management style to suit different situations and people?
Are your teams motivated, inspired, focused?
Organisational psychology provides a strong basis from which to understand how individuals, teams and organisations think and behave, and how key aspects of leadership such as influence can be effectively exercised.
Leadership and management development is tailored to the situation, but some examples of topics are presented below.
LEADING TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS
Effective managerial conversations
Delegation, assertiveness and positive people management
Motivating in times of change
Managing personality and emotions
Leadership in teams and groups
Embedding real change and innovation
Vision and strategy in leadership
INDIVIDUAL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT SKILLS
Negotiation and conflict management
Communicating to influence
Performance coaching skills: cognitive behavioural coaching
Decision making and problem solving for managers
Emotional intelligence for leaders
Managing behavioural and conversational patterns
Developing a coaching culture
LEADERSHIP FUNDAMENTALS
Leadership characteristics – traits and behaviours
Leadership as a function, role and social process
Balancing leadership and management
Styles of leadership
Contemporary models of leadership
Leadership and Management development includes blending principles and models with practical guidance and opportunities to practise.
Management and leadership programmes are often designed to run over a period of months with a series of face to face workshops involving presentation, discussion, group exercises and individual activities. As such they are highly interactive and rely on a commitment of participation. However, depending on the size of your business, something smaller and selective, even one-to-one sessions can be arranged.
Drama based learning can also be incorporated to enhance skills transferability and embedding. Evaluation of the programme is integral to the design, as are mechanisms for individual and organisational action planning.
Development programmes can be complemented with a coaching service for individuals to identify, discuss and develop key areas of importance to the organisation and them personally.
Team and Individual Development
Want to improve team effectiveness?
Would you like an innovative, collaborative team?
Is your team highly motivated?
Want to resolve tensions?
Not just another team building session, we combine psychological principles with participatory exercises in a unique way that is fun, challenging and leads to lasting change.
Examples for teams include:
Effective team communications
Team collaboration and innovation
Understanding and resolving conflict
Creativity in teams and the entrepreneurial mindset
Problem solving and decision making in teams
Leadership within teams
Individual skills development topics include:
Influencing and assertiveness
Emotional intelligence and understanding
Resilience and positive psychology
Performance under pressure
Consultancy and diagnostic skills
The art of really listening
Decision making
Digital Technology Services
Our work in digital technology is typically looking at the organisational, cultural and people aspects, including how to use technology to maximum effect for the business. We don't provide technical development, coding, installation etc, but examples of work we've done in the past are:
1. Conducting surveys and interviews to understand usage and attitudes to systems
2. Exploring how business processes fit with existing systems and how this might change
3. Developing strategies for using IT effectively and consulting with employees to achieve optimal input and commitment
4. Looking at how data can enhance business decision making
5. Auditing existing IT provision and devising improvement plans
6. Analysis, reports and evaluation on current and future technologies
