{"id":15,"date":"2020-07-09T10:42:09","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T10:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-353908-1371027.cloudwaysapps.com\/?page_id=15"},"modified":"2023-02-10T10:36:55","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T10:36:55","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.carolinegourlay.co.uk\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"

About Caroline Gourlay.<\/h1>\n<\/div>
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> Potted Career History<\/a>
\n> Qualifications and Affiliations<\/a>
\n> About me as a Human<\/a>
\n> About me as a Writer<\/a>
\n> About me as a Speaker<\/a>
\n> Testimonials<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Potted Career History.<\/h2>\n<\/div>
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After graduating with a degree in psychology, I started my career working for British Gas in IT. I\u2019m no techie, but I’ve always been very analytical so programming and systems analysis suited me. I moved into team and project management and then change management, which brought me back to psychology.<\/p>\n

Redundancy offered me the chance to study full time for an Occupational Psychology Masters. When I graduated in 1997, I decided to go self-employed because I was enjoying the autonomy of life outside the corporate world. I worked on a freelance basis for a number of different consultancies, which gave me the wide-ranging experience I needed to become a Chartered Psychologist.<\/p>\n

My freelance work was with large corporates and public sector organisations but in the mid-2000s I got introduced to the mid-sized, privately owned business sector and I was hooked. I find the work so much more varied and I like having an impact on a whole business. I still occasionally do freelance work, generally at a very senior level in large organisations, but most of my work is in the mid-sized business sector.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Qualifications and affiliations.<\/h2>\n<\/div>
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I have a BSc in Psychology from the University of Wales (Swansea) and an MSc in Occupational Psychology from the University of Hertfordshire, for which I was awarded a distinction. I am Chartered Psychologist through the\u00a0British Psychological Society<\/a>, a\u00a0Registered Psychometric Test User<\/a> and a member of the BPS\u2019s\u00a0Division of Occupational Psychology<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Special Group in Coaching Psychology<\/span><\/a>. I am a Principal Member of the\u00a0<\/span>Association for Business Psychology<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and in 2014 my work with a family business was shortlisted in its\u00a0<\/span>Workforce Experience Awards<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a Level 7 Diploma in Executive Coaching from the\u00a0<\/span>Institute of Leadership and Management<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and a Counselling Skills certificate from the\u00a0<\/span>Spectrum Centre for Humanistic Psychotherapy<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I have coached on leadership programmes at\u00a0<\/span>Sa\u00efd Business School, Oxford University<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I take my professional development seriously, keep myself up to date and have regular professional supervision to help me reflect on my coaching practice. I also have a business coach to hold me accountable for my business performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am the first psychologist to become an associate member of the\u00a0<\/span>Institute for Turnaround<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and sit on its regional committee for Wales and the West. I work as a Leadership Expert for scale up businesses through\u00a0<\/span>Business West\/ Innovate UK<\/span><\/a>. I am an associate of\u00a0<\/span>Edgecumbe Consulting<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>whose Primary <\/span>Colours\u00ae<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>L<\/span>eadership\u00a0<\/span>M<\/span>odel<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is the starting point for a lot of my work.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

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About me as a human.<\/h2>\n<\/div>
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I grew up in Penarth, a small seaside town between Cardiff and Barry Island. I’m a comprehensive school kid with parents who wanted us to have better educational and career opportunities than they\u2019d had. After university, I lived in London for 16 years until I got married and we set off for a new life. I now live in beautiful Bath with my husband David, who\u2019s a curious hybrid of IT technical trainer<\/a> and landscape artist<\/a>, and our timid cat, Lula. I\u2019m a regular meditator, a rather inflexible yoga practitioner, a fair-weather runner and a member of Rock Choir, the choir for those of us who need to be certain our voices will be drowned out by everyone else. I make very nice cake.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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About me as a writer.<\/h2>\n<\/div>
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I’ve always enjoyed writing, so starting a blog in 2012 gave me a place to share my ideas. I\u2019m told that some managers and trainers use my articles as reference material. At the time of writing (the weird summer of 2020) I’m exploring the idea of compiling the articles into a book.<\/p>\n

I generally write one article a month. There\u2019s always something to write about, whether it\u2019s some management basics, like delegation<\/a> or listening<\/a>, snippets of interesting research<\/a>, an issue that seems to be coming up for a lot of my clients<\/a> or something topical, like the psychology of Brexit<\/a> or the impact of Coronavirus<\/a>. I am always rather relieved when I hit upon an idea for a series, such as workplace myths<\/a> or emotion at work<\/a>, as it means I don’t need to find inspiration for a while.<\/p>\n

What people have said about my blog:<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\u201cCaroline\u2019s monthly blog posts are unfailingly amongst the most interesting to land in my inbox. They offer stimulating intellectual insight but they\u2019re also intensely practical, routed in a wide range of common workplace and leadership challenges \u2013 they\u2019ve often helped me understand and deal with real situations in my own work. Each post conveys some substantive content in an accessible\u202fand concise format.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/blockquote>

Nic Pillow<\/strong>, <\/span>Ventures Manager, Blackfinch Ventures<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
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\u201cI found Caroline\u2019s blog immediately interesting, relevant, and a fresh perspective on a range of topical areas. I read her articles to challenge, confirm or deepen my understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/blockquote>

Greg Nixon<\/strong>, <\/span>HR Programme Manager, Renishaw<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
\u201cCaroline writes a remarkable and insightful blog on management and personal development issues, very appropriate to evolving 21st Century organisational and personal challenges.\u201d<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/blockquote>
Dr Liz Bell<\/strong>, <\/span>Research, Education and Innovation Consultant<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
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\u201cI\u2019ve been reading Caroline\u2019s blog for several years now and it\u2019s one of the few emails I almost always open straight away. She has a knack of finding an angle on a topic that makes you think about it in a different way\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/blockquote>

Cecilia Thirlway<\/strong>, <\/span>Strategic Communications Consultant and Writer<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
\u201cCaroline\u2019s blog has been an ongoing source of inspiration and is something that I now share with colleagues; one article formed the basis of a recent professional development session that was well-received by new team leaders.\u201d<\/div><\/div><\/span><\/blockquote>
Eilis O\u2019Donnell<\/strong>, <\/span>Regional Cluster Manager, IntoUniversity<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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I\u2019ve also written for other websites, notably TrainingZone<\/a> and HRZone<\/a>, for whom, I was a columnist for a while. I’ve been translated into Latvian<\/a> for an online magazine who call me Karol\u012bnas D\u017eorlejas. I\u2019m open to sharing content, writing guest blogs and co-creating content, as I did here with an employment lawyer for the thorny subject of discussing religion and politics at work<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Talk to me today about writing opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Contact Me<\/span><\/a><\/div>
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Sign up to my monthly blog mailing list.<\/h2>\n<\/div>