John Keary

The Practice

Keary Harper LLP was set up in 2000 to provide pragmatic coaching to senior executives in the private and public sectors. The partnership works one-to-one and with executive teams, including boards. Wherever we can, we engage with the sponsoring organisation to support their strategic or cultural objectives. All our coaches have extensive business backgrounds at senior level.

Coaching journey

I first encountered coaching in the early 1980s on a company development programme in the USA, where it was being promoted as part of the leadership style for senior executives. I continued to follow the growth of executive coaching in the UK and elsewhere in Europe and, after training with GHN, eventually took the plunge to establish a practice dedicated to business coaching. At that stage, it was still widely misunderstood and yet to become so fashionable as it is now. There were few 'rules' to follow and one had to rely on one's own ethical principles.

The APECS accreditation process in 2006-7 was a lighthouse in stormy seas: an opportunity to re-appraise everything one had done - and should do. The rigour and profound reflection was a necessary shock to the system - but also an opportunity to lay the foundations for continued professional development, and regular, expert supervision. Joining a community of like-minded professionals was invaluable.

Life before coaching

Began as a management trainee in ICI, then a start-up company and back to large organisations in Dunlop, Wilkinson Sword and Inchcape Group, working internationally and living abroad for a couple of years. Functional experience in marketing, sales, and human resources; worked at most levels including board.

The formal stuff

I have an MBA from the University of Aston, and am a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel & Development. I completed the Meyler Campbell Psychology for Coaches Programme. Psychometric qualifications include: MBTI Steps I & II; FIRO-B; MRG's Leadership Effectiveness Analysis; Worldwork's International Profiler and Trust in Teams instruments. I co-authored Managers and Mantras (John Wiley & Sons) with Charlotte Butler of INSEAD, as well as several papers on business history.

Where and how

I prefer to deliver my coaching in London and the southern counties of England, always face-to-face to start but video call when appropriate.

Style

I like to work on assignments at pace. Understanding each individual's personal and organizational context in full is critical to my approach. Then I encourage a rapid identification of core issues, before moving to practical, manageable steps for change and reinforcement. Clients' feedback includes: "transformational; challenging; searching questions; multicultural; impressive active listener; warm and supportive; bond of trust and respect; ability to link things to immediate action".