Achieving authenticity and accepting responsibility with Polly Downes | AHDT S1#21

Polly Downes is a London-based Executive Coach who works with a variety of clients
across the globe, from Business Directors looking to achieve their goals & become inspirational leaders to groups of leaders within corporations looking to get the best out of their
people.

Polly’s passion for empowering others to become the best person that they can be, honouring their ability to come up with the best answer for themselves, drives her approach to
coaching. She quickly builds trust and rapport with her clients, allowing them to explore
their thoughts and their way of being; she encourages her clients to take risks and to think
differently. This gives senior leaders the courage to lead with their own, authentic style
which results in more productive and happier teams.
Polly is a challenging coach which can result in transformational and life changing moments for her clients. Through coaching her clients find clarity in their thinking, purpose
and happiness. Polly believes that one of the greatest benefits of coaching is self-reflection; she builds the safe, still place for her clients to be able to to self reflect:

“We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can
see”. (Taoist proverb).
Polly’s recent clients have included: LinkedIn, American Express, ITN news, Zone Digital,
The National Theatre, The British Film Institute and National Air Traffic Control.
Before becoming a coach, Polly worked in relationship and strategic solution roles for Dow
Jones and the Financial Times. She stood as Vice Chair of Governors in an inner-city London school for over ten years.

When Polly is not coaching she is often found swimming, she completed a relay of the
English Channel as a team of 4 this year and is training to swim it as a solo in 2020.

Polly's a half dozen things are;

Acceptance, Honesty, Responsibility, Authenticity, Simplicity and Fun.