Coaches On The Couch

Colombian-born Natalia Uribe, Director of AFK Studios, chats to Louise and Rachel about how her placemaking work is informed by her own background and how this influences her leadership style. https://afkstudios.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Hanif Kara OBE joins Rachel and Louise to talk about how AKT II developed a reputation for design and innovation and how they inspire the next generation. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Rachel & Louise are joined by a panel of built environment leaders for a special COTC event to discuss social capital. What is it? And how do you build, or rebuild, it? Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Founders and next-gen leaders of ING Media and Bennetts Associates join Louise and Rachel to discuss what is often seen as the thorny topic of succession and the challenges and benefits of moving towards an employee-owned structure. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Damien Sharkey, Managing Director of build-to-rent developer HUB Residential, talks to Rachel and Louise about his transition from architecture to development and shares his thoughts on making space for future leaders. https://hubresidential.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Louise and Rachel are joined by Simon Henley and Gavin Hale Brown, directors of Henley Halebrown, to talk about the importance of consistency in their work, both as leaders and as architects. https://henleyhalebrown.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Rachel and Louise discuss some of the key themes made by guests at the Coaches On The Couch summer party, when they were asked “What do we need from leaders today” as well as which COTC pod they liked best, and why. https://stepuplondon.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Chris Williamson of Weston Williamson joins Rachel and Louise to talk about the practice’s new partnership with engineering company Egis and describes how the success of his long working relationship with Andrew Weston relies partly on playing to each others’ strengths. https://westonwilliamson.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Rachel and Louise chat with Oliver Lowrie and Jon Ackroyd of Ackroyd Lowrie about the power of teams and how to harness it; their use of external consultants; and why they think thought-leadership is an important part of their role. https://ackroydlowrie.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Karen Mosley of HLM Architects is Rachel and Louise’s guest. She tells the story of her 36-year journey with HLM, from fresh-faced school leaver to MD. There are many lessons here including about how the encouragement of life-long learning, which plays to people’s strengths and is linked to purpose, helps to create a culture of belonging. https://hlmarchitects.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Rachel and Louise talk to Emily Stupek of Buro Four about how she has carved out a niche for herself within Buro Four; developing her own career, leading the company’s activity in science and innovation and opening a new office in Oxford. https://burofour.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers, and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Andy Matthews, co-founder (with James Roach) of newly-established practice Roach Matthews, joins Rachel and Louise on the virtual couch to talk about setting up a studio, inclusive leadership, and what it was like to receive an ADHD diagnosis at the age of forty-two-and-a-half. https://www.roachmatthews.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers, and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Kristofer Adelaide of KA-A and Jenni Montgomery of Barton Willmore talk business development with Louise and Rachel. What is the legacy of the Pandemic and how can we open up conversations that may lead to new opportunities? https://ka-a.co.uk https://bartonwillmore.co.uk Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Carl Turner and Suzi Winstanley of Turner Works join Rachel and Louise to discuss what it takes to be ‘future fit’; which for them means being prepared for whatever problem they are going to solve next. https://turner.works Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Louise and Rachel chat with Timo Haedrich, Scott Grady and Geraldine Molia of Haptic Architects about culture, collaboration, communication and the Nordic influence on their ways of working. https://hapticarchitects.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

In this episode we talk with Annalie Riches, co-founder of Stirling Prize-winning architects Mikhail Riches, about purpose, morals and ethics, and how the decision to work only on net zero projects has impacted the studio. http://www.mikhailriches.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Welcome back! Series 5 of Coaches On The Couch kicks off with an edited version of our second ‘Made Visible’ web event, held on 13th January. Rachel and Louise check-in with a panel of built environment leaders to see how hybrid working is working, and the adaptations being made to ensure that new patterns deliver stronger and more resilient businesses. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

To close series four, Louise and Rachel reflect on the rich use of metaphor through these seven episodes and its importance in coaching. Also having been in conversation with leaders and future leaders from both EOTs and BCorps in this series, we discuss how these newer company structures seem to support a more emotional sense of ownership, enabling leadership at all levels. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

In the second of our two-part podcast on motivation to lead, we are joined by four younger professionals from the consultancies we featured last week - Fathom Architects and Stride Treglown, Core Five and LDA Design. What do they see, feel, experience and think about leadership, and what do they have to offer those that lead them? https://corefive.co.uk https://fathomarchitects.com https://lda-design.co.uk https://stridetreglown.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Four leaders from four different consultancies - architects Stride Treglown and Fathom, quantity surveyors Core Five, and landscape designers LDA - share their perspectives on leadership. The first of a two-parter on motivation to lead. How can we encourage more people to aspire to leadership roles? https://corefive.co.uk https://fathomarchitects.com https://lda-design.co.uk https://stridetreglown.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Neal Shasore, head of school and CEO at The London School of Architecture, takes his seat on the virtual couch to chat about his route to leadership, what it’s like taking over from a founder and the lessons he learned from his family role models. https://the-lsa.org Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

On the first day of COP 26, Rachel and Louise talk to Pete Swift and Naomi Burl, Founding Director and Practice Manager of Planit-IE (Planit Intelligent Environments), landscape designers and architects, about their B Corp journey and how it has shaped not only what their business does, but how it is. https://planit-ie.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Alex Ely, principal of Mae Architects, reflects on 20 years in practice and explains how Mae’s commitment to architecture that contributes to the betterment of society and improves people’s quality of life, helped the practice to navigate public sector procurement methods. https://mae.co.uk Evolution of practice articles from RIBA Journal (by Rachel Birchmore and Emma Keyte referred to in this episode) Emerging https://www.ribaj.com/culture/thresholds-of-practice-growing-your-business-feilden-fowles-denizen-works-rkca Maturing https://www.ribaj.com/intelligence/thresholds-of-practice-consolidation-haptic-atomik-morris-company-s-ahmm Thinking on next gen https://www.ribaj.com/intelligence/practice-succession-planning-embedded-knowledge-fresh-blood Disruption https://www.ribaj.com/intelligence/thresholds-of-practice-evolution-revolution-disruption-bpd-morris-companys-alma-nac-gort-scott Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

We are joined by architectural story-tellers David West and Christophe Egret of Studio Egret West, to explore their beginnings and how they have navigated their relationship since founding the practice in 2004. https://studioegretwest.com Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Joining us from her charpoi, and kicking off the fourth series of Coaches On The Couch, is Pooja Agrawal CEO of Public Practice and co-founder of spatial equality platform Sound Advice https://www.publicpractice.org.uk https://nowyouknowshop.bigcartel.com. Among other things we discuss the intersection between strategic and provocative disruption and how to approach uncomfortable conversations. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

In this final episode of the current series, Louise and Rachel take time out to reflect on the lessons from the guests who have been on their virtual coach since January and what these mean for how we live, work and lead in the new post-pandemic reality. To mark our 12 month anniversary we created our first publication 'Learning from Lockdown'. This includes contributions from all 46 guests from all three seasons of the podcast.  More information and get your copy here https://stepuplondon.com/shop/cotc-the-book Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Adam Scott of FreeState talks to Louise and Rachel about the need to stop thinking of the workplace as a designed space, and start thinking of it as a curated space if we are to engender that sense of “belonging” that will bring people to the other side of the ‘soft line’ that will exist between home and office, post-Covid.

What happens when the client is also a designer? Rachel and Louise chat with Jacob Willson and Sarah Beth Riley of BeFirst and Luke Tozer of Pitman Tozer. We also touch on the difficulty of finding time to get “in the flow”, and discuss how learning partnerships may be a way to build strong client/architect relationships in a hybrid world.

On International Women’s Day, Louise and Rachel chatted with developer Landsec’s Angharad Palmer (design director) and Bernadette Keane (marketing director) about influence, celebrating diversity and the importance of having an overall vision.

A very full virtual coach as Rachel and Louise are joined by five young, emerging architects representing three practices featured in the AJ’s 40 under 40. We talk about the impetus to go it alone and what’s been important to them over the last year.

Rachel and Louise are joined on the virtual couch by Paul Monaghan of AHMM for a rich conversation about the importance of joining, belonging and leaving with grace and generosity, and how his own experiences have shaped his style of leadership.

Dan Whittingham is MD of the project management company, Opera. He joins Rachel and Louise to explore the differences between leading a project and leading a company, and to discuss how, at Opera, they leverage motivation by being attuned to the needs of the people who work for them.

Louise and Rachel are joined by Jo Bacon, managing partner of Allies and Morrison, who reflects on what the practice achieved during 2020 despite having to clear the 330 desks in their “mothership” London office and looks forward to a future of flexible working.

From our first ‘Made Visible’ event, Louise and Rachel explore, with their panel of speakers from Grimshaw, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Gbolade Design Studio, Hawkins\Brown and Place Careers, the new demands placed on leaders when uncertainty and agile working have been through a step change.

For this final episode of 2020, Louise and Rachel chat with Domi Oliver and Alexis Butterfield of architects Pollard Thomas Edwards, about how the practice has evolved and grown over five decades and in what ways it has changed forever as a result of this momentous year.

Rachel and Louise get back to the basics of good communication as they are joined on the virtual coach by Charlotte Morphet of Women In Planning and Catherine Greig of make:good, to discuss the role of listening and empathy in design, planning and leadership.

Louise and Rachel talk succession with Allan Dunsmore, a director of award-winning civil and structural engineering design practice Conisbee. Conisbee’s approach ensures that technical and people skills have equal value, and we talk about how important it is to understand people’s individual motivations and play to their strengths.

Five key leadership myths are busted, as Rachel and Louise take time out and put their feet up on their respective virtual couches to reflect on some common assumptions made about leaders and leadership.

Hari Phillips, Tim Bell and Melissa Dowling of Bell Phillips Architects join Rachel and Louise on the virtual couch to discuss the Power of Three, and what it’s like to start a practice when you have barely finished your Part 3. They also reflect on what they would do differently if they were doing it all over again.

As we head into a new national lockdown, Matt Mason, a partner at real estate company Crosstree, joins Rachel and Louise on the virtual coach to reflect on the peak experience of leading the team on London’s Standard Hotel and talk about how celebrating small wins and finding new ways to create team camaraderie are going to be important this winter.

Louise and Rachel are joined by Upinder Bahra, an architectural assistant Part 1 and level 7 apprentice with Hawkins Brown, and Harbinder Birdi, head of infrastructure and transport sector at the practice. We discuss the apprenticeship approach to training architects, including balancing work, training and time to chill on the couch; and the challenges of remote working when “collectivism” is key to culture.

Joining Louise and Rachel on the virtual couch this week are Yemi Aladerun and David Ogunmuyiwa. We chat about what, and who, motivates and inspires them; the importance of reverse mentoring and why architecture remains the least diverse of the “old professions.” Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Welcome back to the second series of Coaches On The Coach with Rachel and Louise. In this first episode, they are joined on the virtual couch by Joe Morris of Morris+Company to explore the importance of meaning, purpose, and veganism; and how to create a studio environment where “the best idea wins”. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

In a departure from the usual format, co-hosts Rachel and Louise reflect on the themes that have emerged from their couch conversations with leaders from across the built environment sector during the first series of Coaches On The Couch. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

How do you open an office in a new city without either a business plan or a clear strategy? Coaches On The Couch goes international, as Louise and Rachel are joined by Hutchinson and Partner’s Ross Hutchinson in London, and Jorn Rabach in Berlin, to chat about curiosity, courage and organisational resilience. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

In this episode, Rachel and Louise explore leadership styles and the importance of flexing between them with Bradley Webster, equity partner of multidisciplinary consultancy Baily Garner. In two interviews, one recorded during lockdown and one just after, the conversation covers this, and also what’s required of leadership now that everyone’s lives are different. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

The good, the bad and the bonkers of everyday office life. Leanne Tritton, Managing Director of ING Media, joins Rachel and Louise from her office couch to discuss the challenges of getting her team out of their bedrooms and back into the office, and why it was so important to her (and for them), that she bit that bullet. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Nick Searl, Joint Managing Partner of Argent, joins Rachel and Louise from the couch in the reception area of the gasholder building in King’s Cross. They discuss how realistic optimism is a key  leadership quality which can gather people around a particular ambition or vision and encourage and inspire them to exceed even their own expectations. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Joining Rachel and Louise for this episode of Coaches On The Couch are Leah Stuart and Andrew Ruck of Civic Engineers. The conversation explores authentic leadership and its importance and impact within an organisation committed to environmentalism and tackling climate change. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Louise and Rachel are joined on their virtual coach by Kirsten Lees and Katie Atkinson of Grimshaw, to discuss soft-skills training, Grimshaw’s approach to diversity and how a practice used to working remotely and across time zones is using its most recent experience to rethink the role of the office. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

In this third episode of Coaches On The Couch, Rachel and Louise are joined by John McRae and Colin McColl of architectural practice Orms, to discuss the leadership challenges of becoming an EOT and explore how the business of architecture needs to reposition itself to thrive in the 'new normal'. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Welcome to the second episode of the Coaches on the Couch podcast, in which Louise and Rachel explore purpose, personal impact and unconscious bias with their guest Priya Shah, founder of BAME in Property. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Welcome to the first ever Coaches on the Couch podcast, in which Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore talk to Martyn Evans, Creative Director of development and investment company U+I, about the challenges of nurturing company culture and creativity during the time of Covid-19. Coaches On The Couch is co-hosted by Louise Rodgers and Rachel Birchmore who are exec and leadership coaches. They design and deliver bespoke leadership development programmes and coaching for architects, engineers and other consultancies across the built environment. For more information, please visit www.StepUpLondon.com

Coaches On The Couch is the podcast from the coaches behind Step Up (stepuplondon.com) the leadership development programme for architects and built environment consultancies. Co-hosts Rachel Birchmore and Louise Rodgers bring their experience and knowledge of the sector and coaching insights to explore the world of work and progressive leadership through conversations with special guests.