Roxana Bacian Coaching
Relational Coaching for Sustainable
Change
Hi, I'm Roxana
Hello, I'm Roxana. I'm an ICF Associate Certified Coach. Originally from Romania, I’ve lived in the UK for 15 years. I'm based in SE London, UK and work in person and online. I bring coaching to the social impact leaders and organisations tackling our most urgent societal issues. I support them to navigate periods of change and transformation with presence, care and boldness. I approach coaching and change-work with a deep commitment to personal development and a strong relational focus.
'I've had several coaching chats with Roxana. Each one helped me feel clearer about what I wanted & energised to get moving.
She welcomes the difficult parts of our confidence to trying things that feel hard, with real compassion & trust.'
Aliyah Norrish
'I know the number of coaches in the world is growing, and it may seem overwhelming at times. However, there are coaches and there are coaches. If you're looking for a coach, look for one that walks their talk. Roxana is a social impact coach that does.'
Rashmir Balasubramaniam
'Roxana helped me discern possibility rather than fixed truths. With each question, reflection or intervention, I slowly retreated from 'all the outcomes will be bad' to a place of possibility and options.'
Kirsty Elderton
One of my biggest learnings in recent years has been that in the work of enabling societal change, 'use of self' is one of the most powerful tools there is. To me, that means that who we are and how we relate to others is the bedrock of wider change in the world. Someone who deploys her 'use of self' beautifully is Roxana Bacian in her work of relational coaching for change-makers.
Lydia Hascott
Podcasts
Hear me in conversations with leading coaches
and social impact entrepreneurs
Conscious Leadership
with The Breakout Room,
Tim Mart, Know You More
2024
Recorded w/ previous name, Iacob
Talking on leadership that brings people together.
In the Arena: Equity
with The Coaching Inn and Kirsty Elderton
2022
Recorded w/ previous name, Iacob
Exploring the power of equity in coaching and beyond.
Effective Coaching Relationships
with Kruti Shah
2021
Recorded w/ previous name, Iacob
How to best prepare for and get the most out of coaching.
Who it's for
Individuals and organisations in a process of transformation
Individuals working for Social Impact
I'm a leader in social impact going through a period of transition. I'm looking for a coach to support me to:
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Articulate what I want to be different in my role/career/leadership and identify options for moving forward
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Explore and develop a leadership style that enables me to operate at my best and be responsive to my business/organisation/role
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Increase self-awareness in work relationships in order to improve communication and effectiveness;
Experience:
In the last four years I've worked with people navigating career and role changes in the pursuit of a more purposeful application of their skills. I have worked with social entrepreneurs, creative freelancers, designers, climate specialists, researchers, creative arts practitioners, consultants. I supported them with changing careers, switching roles in the same company, setting up a sole trader business, setting up an NGO.
I have also worked with leaders new to the roles of ‘Director’ and ‘Head’ supporting them to define their leadership styles and work out how that fit with the organisations they were serving. Clients who get the most out of working with me are committed to being honest, accountable and ready for ongoing growth.
Social Impact Organisations
We are a small organisation in a period of transition. We are looking for a coach to support us to:
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Increase self-awareness in our work relationships in order to best navigate this transition;
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Make time for regular reflection so that we pause, learn and act anchored in strong strategy;
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Become an organisation that models life-affirming ways of working.
Experience:
Over the last year I coached on NEON's OrgBuilders programme and supported two organisations to navigate significant periods of transition.
I worked with a charity as they were moving to a co-directorship model and supported them to:
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Explore the challenges and opportunities in shifting power from one director to two and how this might impact the team, its relationships and power negotiation;
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Define clearer roles for each member of the team and identify areas of responsibility based on both organisational and personal development goals;
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Worked closely with the director to identify how their role and approach to leadership needed to shift in order to enable a healthy transition to co-leadership.
I also worked with a non-hierarchical activist network as they were re-starting activity after the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. I supported them to:
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Design mechanisms to transfer experience and knowledge from older members to ongoing newcomers
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Explore decision-making models and discuss best options fit for their network;
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Using soft power, and influencing to embed anti-oppressive principles and collective care in how the network operated;
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Raise awareness of each others's working styles and manage areas of growth in communication and navigation of conflict.
Approach
How I coach has been shaped through a combination of personal work in therapy (7 years) and formal coach training (4 years). I see coaching as a highly personal process where measures of efficiency need to be designed in partnership by the coach and person coming to coaching.
The coach training I completed is based on the International Coach Federation’s coaching competencies. You can read these here as well as their ethics code. Below I describe the principles that shape how I coach, what these look like in practice and the training that supports them.
Credentials:
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Associate Certified Coach, Member of the International Coaching Federation;
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Professional indemnity insurance with Hiscox;
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100hrs live coach training, (~ equivalent of a Master's Degree in the UK) + 260+ coaching sessions;
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7+ years experience co-designing visuals, programmes and services for design studios and organisations such as Shift Design, Snook, FutureGov;
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4+ years experience coaching with organisations such as Learnest, She Leads Change, Know You More, Simply Coaching, NEON.
Relational
Coaching
Relational coaching involves a contract not only for the work we’ll be doing together in coaching but for the working relationship that develops between us. This means using our relationship as a learning vehicle, noticing relational patterns in yourself, myself and between us as we partner towards your goals. This provides you with a 'mirror' of your own relationship to self and others, putting you in a strong position to bring about improvements.
Supported by:
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Regular coaching supervision and private psychotherapy
Sustainable Change
A relational approach places emphasis not only on the cognitive conversation but on involving all aspects of ourselves such: minds, bodies, emotions, relationship. This type of coaching delivers deep transformation but also requires a readiness to learn, grow and change. In practice, this might mean naming an emotion or a bodily sensation to enable forward movement.
Continuously learning as:
- Monthly peer learning circles focused on organisational coaching with NEON's OrgBuilders Coaches
- Quarterly group supervision with Know You More supervisors and coaches
Working Together
About
I started my working life as a graphic designer determined not to design for Coca Cola. (though I drink it sometimes!) I knew I needed to do work that built the kind of world I wanted to live in. I've since been involved with 'change-making' across two different roles: as a designer, researching and implementing user-centred services in the public sector; and as a coach, supporting people to change careers and organisations to navigate relational and structural shifts.
I'm an Associate Coach with:
* NEON (New Economy Organisers Network) - coaching on their OrgBuilders programme supporting social change organisations to develop anti-oppressive ways of working in their culture, strategy and operational structure;
* Know You More - coaching on their Coaching for Wellbeing programmes supporting leaders in the education sector in Scotland to sustain their wellbeing and that of their teams.
FAQs
What does a coach do?
Do I need coaching or therapy?
A coach focuses on supporting people/teams to set goals and take practical action towards them. This process involves deepening awareness, identifying barriers and actionable next steps. The coach provides active listening, challenge, support, perspective, imagination, encouragement.
Supervision Experience
There are some overlapping aspects and methods between coaching and therapy. However, coaching is geared towards actioning tangible goals in the present/near future. Therapy is instead aimed at rewiring mind-body-affective functioning to enable emergence of healthier patterns of behaviour.
Coaching qualifications
2021 - 2022: Co-facilitated three Transforming Conversations courses with Simply Coaching. (30hrs over 3 months) On this course I co-taught coaching theory, ran coaching practice circles in groups of four and provided verbal and written feedback.
2021 - Current: Offering volunteer supervision to alumni coaches of the MOE Coaching Course.
I completed a 50hrs coaching course with the MOE Foundation in London (2019); a one day Mental Health Aware First Aid training with Mental Health First Aid England (2020); Transforming Conversations (30hrs coaching course - 2021); 10hrs of coach mentorhsip with Claire Pedrick MCC (2022); Associate Certified Coach (ACC) Accreditation with the International Coaching Federation (2023).