Grief Awareness Week (2–8 December 2025) invites us to recognise something profoundly simple yet often overlooked: grief comes to work with us. Loss, whether personal or professional, affects how we think, feel, connect and perform. Yet many workplaces still lack the language, confidence or structures to acknowledge it. We believe

Power, Presence, and Self-Awareness in Coaching How often do you stop to reflect on the impact you have as a coach? Not just the outcomes or insights your clients gain, but the felt experience of being coached by you. Even with the best of intentions, it’s possible that the way

(A nod to Monty Python – and a considered look at the role of tools in coaching) When we train coaches, we are often asked what coaching tools bring to coaching and whether they exist for the benefit of the coach or the client. There isn’t an easy answer to

This month the ICF published its updated Core Competencies for the first time since 2019, and we wanted to share what these developments might mean for you. Importantly, the update involves incremental developments; it is not an overhaul. Here are some answers to questions you might be asking yourself: What

Validation is a practical and fun guide to one of the most overlooked interpersonal skills: making others feel seen and understood. Drawing from her skills as a clinical psychologist, and with a focus on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Caroline Fleck dismantles the misconception that validation is simply agreeing or comforting. Instead,

All of us at Barefoot keep learning. We regularly put ourselves in new learning situations – being coached, supervised, and attending courses as delegates. We do it because we believe you can’t facilitate someone else’s learning if you’ve stopped learning yourself. We are grateful to the International Coaching Federation (ICF),