Who | Square Pegs Coaching

Who is Nick Smith?

About Nick Smith

Nick is the founder of Square Pegs Coaching and responsible for all the outdoor life coaching work done. After almost 20 years of coaching outdoor activities he is very experienced and well-qualified to take you on a real journey, wherever that might be. As a certified life coach and Outdoor NLP practitioner he is also more than able to work with you in a coaching capacity.

He has lived and worked on three continents and on no fewer than six occasions has moved to a new area where he knew no-one. Whether this was a deliberate choice or externally driven he has become adept at dealing with novelty, changing direction and making the future look brighter.

He has benefitted from, and passionately believes, in the power of coaching done well; in a professional, confidential and client-centred way. Click below to read more of his philosophy or to download his Promise Document of how he will behave.

Nick's Philosophy

Promise Document

Nick uses a combination of NLP tools, metaphoric outdoor experiences and indoor coaching tools licenced to him by xpand international and persolog GB. He is an Associate Member of the Association for Coaching.

Nick is based near Glasgow and is happy to organise an outdoor coaching experience for you in his local area. However, he will also travel to where you are if you would prefer. Given the often inclement weather in the west of Scotland, he has also been known to conduct coaching indoors.

As well as coaching, Nick helps people to grow through the articles he writes and the training sessions he runs.

His activity passions are sailing, biking, drumming and dance.

What Does ‘Outdoor Life Coach’ mean?

There are lots of different titles kicking around and everyone assigns their own meanings to them: Life Coach; Business Coach; Executive Coach; Career Coach. I’ve found that however hard we try to compartmentalise our work and life they often have crossover – people come for coaching in one area and it often trickles into a completely different are that was assumed to be unrelated.

Although I say ‘Life Coach’ I don’t avoid work issues, I just added ‘Life’ to avoid the assumption that I taught sailing and climbing as an outdoor coach (although I can and will fulfil this function if that’s what you want). And if life encompasses everything whilst we are still breathing, with work being a subset of that, then I feel it encapsualtes what I cover.
Hope that helps.

What He Says About Himself

What Others Say About Him

Nick as a coach was a great help. He’s a good listener, empathetic, asks questions that lead in the right direction, gives good feedback and sees a problem and develops steps for a solution.

Pascal

Student

I was able to push myself to do this because of the work we did together. Thank you for your help.

Clare

IT Specialist

The time I spent with Nick was very useful in clarifying the way I wanted to go forward. His coaching helped me to home in on the important things, instead of being overwhelmed by external influences which were just confusing the issue. His input was particularly helpful in giving me a specific way to deal with a problem which kept recurring at work. I used the technique, and I was able to deal with the problem quite easily. I would really recommend Nick as a coach who is helpful, friendly and approaches everything in a non-judgemental and solution focussed way.

Audrey

Mental Health Worker

Nick's probing questions and insightful comments quickly brought my thoughts to the heart of the issue, helped me break it down to its constituents and then construct an action plan to move forward.

Will

Engineer

Thank you for helping me realise who I am and providing me with the tools needed to develop & achieve my goals.

Mike

Procurement Officer

Coaching is helping me to develop a better understanding of myself as a school leader, to see more clearly how my vision and personality impact on those around me and the effectiveness of what we are trying to do. It is helping me particularly to focus on issues I need to address, to give me space and time for personal reflection on my role and the needs of our team. It is a gradual process of discovery, challenging and supportive - a really good way of learning. Thank you

Anne

Headteacher

As a result of our interactions my personal aspirations and life-visions are much clearer. Its been a real privilege to spend quality time with someone of such charisma, compassion and interpersonal capacity…the adventure was completely worthwhile

Henry

Student

Relevant Qualifications

SMLTB Summer Mountain Leader

BASP Outdoor Emergency First Aid

Newcastle College Certificate in Life Coaching

INLPTA Certified Outdoor Learning & Coaching Practitioner of NLP

BCU Level 2 Kayak/Canoe Coach

SMTBLA Trail Cycle Leader (biking)

MLTS Single Pitch Award (climbing)

RYA Senior Dinghy/Keelboat Instructor/Day Skipper

PVG Scheme Member: 1109296500130378

Insured through Royal & Sun Alliance

I’m happy to chat to you for free in the first instance, to see if coaching would benefit you and whether we ‘fit’ – I’d hate you to sign up for a series of sessions and decide after the first one that you don’t want any more (except in the unlikely event that we have dealt with all your topics in one go!)

Get in touch today