Carlos Lopez-Real

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Career & Leadership Coach, EMCC Senior Practitioner
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

Walthamstow, London, E17
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

Hi, I'm Carlos.

I specialise in career coaching and leadership style. Read on to find out whether I'm the right coach for you.

My particular specialisms are:

  • career change
  • career development
  • leadership style

I'm particularly passionate about enabling people to make changes in these areas, as I have personally gone through several shifts of career focus over the past 25 years, and have experienced many versions of what we might call a 'portfolio' career.

I also support people in a number of other related areas such as:

  • work-life balance
  • identifying and developing core strengths
  • communication, impact and interpersonal skills
  • people management
  • habits and lifestyle choices

HOW I WORK WITH YOU

My background as a professional musician has given me the flexibility that I apply to my coaching practice. I use a variety of approaches and techniques, and I very much respond to my clients rather than taking a more rigid approach. Improvising as a musician has developed my ability to think freely and quickly, to generate new ideas in response to those of others.

I am patient and positive, and I will often use a strengths-based approach in working with clients, which is based on positive psychology.

HOW MANY SESSIONS WILL I NEED?

Following our initial, free consultation, we will agree the number of sessions that best works for you and your needs. In each session we might be working on 1 or 2 individual issues, or we might be following through on larger issues from the previous session. This would particularly be the case with a structured programme around career change, for example.

HOW OFTEN WILL WE MEET / SPEAK?

The frequency of sessions is flexible, and very much depends on what areas you want the coaching to focus on, plus your own schedule. However, most people tend to have sessions somewhere between once a week through to once a month.

WHERE / HOW DO WE MEET?

I coach via Zoom and telephone by default. I have found that Zoom is excellent for coaching conversations, and I can screen share from my resource library when we need to. It's also convenient in terms of scheduling and location is no longer an issue.

I also occasionally offer in-person sessions where I live in Walthamstow, London. I use a range of venues and, if the weather is nice, we may also do part of the session while walking in a park. The physical act of walking while talking and thinking can often in itself bring new insights.

FREE 30-MINUTE CONSULTATION

Whether you'd like a brief initial chat or a free 30-minute consultation, having a conversation is a good way to help you think about / decide whether coaching is right for you, and whether we're a good fit for each other.

I offer a free 30-minute consultation session before we embark on a full coaching programme together. This conversation can via Zoom or phone. It's a chance for you to find out more about my approach to personal and professional coaching, and for me to find out more about what you want to achieve from coaching.

Email me your details and I'll be in touch to arrange a conversation.

Training, qualifications & experience

  • Senior Practitioner accreditation from the EMCC (European Mentoring and Coaching Council)
  • Masters level Diploma in Executive Coaching & Mentoring - Institute of Leadership and Management
  • MA in Psychology and Philosophy - Oxford University
  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Post-Graduate Certificate in Teaching & Learning in Higher & Professional Education - Institute of Education
  • Post-Graduate Diploma in jazz & studio music - Guildhall School of Music & Drama
  • Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts

Member organisations

EMCC
European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC)

EMCC UK is part of the Europe-wide European Mentoring & Coaching Council.

Together their aim is to promote good practice and the expectation of good practice in mentoring and coaching across Europe.

EMCC is an independent, impartial and non-profit making organisation.

Other areas of coaching I deal with

  • Career Change
  • Leadership Style
  • Collaborative Leadership
  • New Projects
  • Transition Through Change
  • Communication, Impact & Interpersonal Skills
  • Habits & Lifestyle Choices
  • Reducing Self-Limiting Beliefs

Photos & videos

Fees

£150.00 per session
Free initial telephone or online session

Additional information

Packages

Coaching works best when we're working together over a number of sessions towards some agreed goals. Isolated one-off sessions, by contrast, will tend to restrict your progress to a fairly superficial level, unless they are following on from a more substantial previous coaching engagement together. For example, we may have worked together for a series of sessions around your transition to a new job, and then follow this up a few months later with a single session to consolidate the transition once you're in the new role.

During our initial conversation we will agree how many sessions you will need, and tailor an appropriate package to enable you to make the changes you want. Below are three example packages to give you an idea. All packages are flexible, and you can have individual top-up sessions at a rate of £150 / hour.

When thinking about your own time commitment, you should also factor in a certain amount of engagement in between our sessions. This will include your own ongoing reflection on the issues plus any specific follow-up tasks and actions that we've agreed.

Focused 4 hours

  • Four one-hour sessions
  • This package is suitable for making progress with quite focused single issues. This could be a challenge at work or in your personal life, such as getting a new project off the ground.
  • As this is a very focused package, it may be more suitable for people who already have some experience in working with a coach.
  • £600

Standard 8 hours

  • An initial two-hour session (involving some preparatory work)
  • Six one-hour sessions.
  • This is a typical package for issues such as transitioning through a change (e.g. new job/role; maternity leave; retirement), or making changes when we feel blocked (e.g. work-life balance; leadership or managerial style). It can also be useful for focusing on specific areas of career development such as refining your 'personal brand', how you differentiate yourself, how you pitch yourself to others, or how you integrate different aspects of your 'portfolio career'.
  • £1,200

In-depth 12 hours

  • An initial two-hour session (involving some preparatory work)
  • Nine 60-minute sessions (or six 90-minute sessions)
  • One 60-minute follow-up session
  • This is a typical package for making significant changes in your career. This might involve a complete change of career direction, or a move within the same field. Either way, it offers the chance for a thorough review of how you see yourself and how you present this to others: your values, skills, strengths, your 'personal brand', your CV, 'elevator pitch', job search and networking. It may also involve tackling confidence issues, and working on personal impact.
  • £1,800

When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

Most appointments are during office hours, but I sometimes have availability in the evenings and on weekends, especially for telephone or Zoom sessions. Contact me to discuss options.

Further information

What my clients say:

"Working with Carlos was transformative for me. I gained greater confidence in my work and have since developed a clearer perspective on my career. I felt deeply heard, validated but also challenged. He is unbelievably kind and patient and very easy to speak to."
Charly (Artist & Educator)

"Carlos is an attentive and perceptive listener who asks great questions. He really helped me grow in my resilience by helping me identify how I could respond differently to the challenges of my role." 
Rob (Director of Homeless Services)

"You helped me to see some of the situations and feelings I had in new ways and from new perspectives, kind of like zooming out with a camera to see the bigger picture. I now have clear ideas, and this week I have been a lot more proactive and fearless with it all, and generally had more energy."
Jenny (Head Teacher)

"The sessions provided me with a much clearer idea of my key values and skill set, as well as allowing me to improve as a leader - for example, in developing skills in managing difficult conversations."
Jay (School Leader)

"You really set me at ease with your compassion and warmth. You helped me reflect on my own situation and made an overwhelming problem feel a lot more manageable."
Jo (Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion)

"The coaching sessions with Carlos have been extremely valuable. It was great to learn a range of practical tools around teamwork and leadership that our team and I could put into practise. I also gained a greater understanding and confidence in my own work."
Charlotte (Middle Leader)

"My coaching with Carlos was extremely beneficial to me as I was able to identify subconscious patterns within myself that I would not have been able to do alone."
Maria (Actor, Director, Educator)

"I found it very helpful indeed. I found that hearing what felt like ramblings, summarised and reflected back to be surprisingly powerful.  I came away from the session with a very strong sense of what my priorities are now"
Julian (Head of Department)

"I was able to reflect and recognise which areas I can control and those that others need to be responsible for.  This was quite a breakthrough for me, thank you!"
Anon. (Head of Safeguarding)

"I very much enjoyed having Carlos as a coach over a number of sessions. He is a skilled coach with a very open and friendly manner which allows for open, reflective responses. Carlos is an extremely attentive listener who was able to summarise effectively, some messy thinking at times."
Jay (School Leader)

Walthamstow, London, E17

Type of session

In person
Online
Phone

Types of client

Adults
Older adults
Groups
Organisations

Online platforms

Skype
Whatsapp
Zoom

Supervision

In person
Online
Phone

I offer 121 supervision for coaches. I have also run EMCC-accredited training courses for coaches since 2016, at Foundation & Practitioner level.

View supervision profile

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