He later transitioned to the clinical research environment of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Jeremy also served as an elected member of the Science Education and Industry Board of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and had international reach through his work promoting university science in South East Asia and managing a research placement scheme with 86 partners in 15 countries.
Jeremy is passionate about making coaching accessible, particularly in academia, where access has traditionally been limited. Over the past ten years, he has worked at all levels in higher education, witnessing the growing recognition of the benefits of coaching. He enjoys responding to his clients’ needs in the moment, drawing on his extensive experience and an eclectic mix of coaching models, as well as integrating leadership practice, change theory, and complex systems science.
Find out more about Advance HE One-to-One Executive Coaching services.
Coaching Experience: Senior Level
Jeremy has extensive experience coaching senior leaders in the public sector, specifically in universities. He has partnered with professorial staff in the positions of Department Head and Institute Director. His projects have included coaching staff approaching promotion to associate and full professor, as well as development coaching for experienced full professors. He has also coached research leaders from under-represented groups. In the charity sector, Jeremy has coached executives at the CEO and Director levels.
Coaching Experience: Sectors
Jeremy's work distribution is approximately 40% public sector, 40% third sector, and 20% private sector. His motivation lies in coaching within education and healthcare environments, where organizational needs align with his service offering. He also focuses on providing coaching support and challenges in the diverse charity sector landscape. In the private sector, Jeremy seeks out work with SMEs, particularly university research spin-out organizations, and occasionally works with larger companies whose needs align with his approach.
Coaching Approach and Influences
Jeremy adopts a phenomenological approach to coaching, responding to clients' needs with curiosity. He acts as a catalyst for clients to think about their thinking, ensuring that their partnership is intentional and aligned with their agenda. Building a space for co-creation and trust is crucial. Jeremy utilizes an eclectic mix of coaching models and frameworks, integrating leadership practice, change theory, and complex systems science based on the client's needs and the coaching issues they bring.
Examples of issues explored in coaching sessions
- Self-awareness: Often a thread across all coaching partnerships, occasionally a specific focus.
- Resilience: Dealing with difficult line managers.
- Confidence: Building confidence in new contexts or supporting against erosion when under-resourced.
- Motivation: Generating motivation in isolation.
- Influencing: Managing upwards, peer-to-peer, and inter- and extra-team relationships.
- Leadership: Evolving and adapting leadership styles.
- Wellbeing: Addressing various aspects of personal and professional wellbeing.
- Career Development: Promotion, career change, and reconnecting with purpose, values, and strengths.
- Creativity: Balancing big-picture thinking with evidence and emergence.
- Mindset Shift: Bringing limiting behaviors into consciousness.
- Breaking Habitual Behaviors: Overcoming ingrained patterns.
- Coping with Stress and Anxiety: Strategies for managing stress and anxiety.
- Dealing with Isolation: Addressing the isolation that can come with leadership roles.
- Challenging Beliefs: Distinguishing between fact and belief.
- Surfacing Bias: Exploring decision-making filters.
- Belonging and Mattering: Managing minority representation and harnessing diversity.
- Professional and Personal Relationships: Holistic coaching to enhance work performance.
- Performance Management: Addressing deficits identified through complaints or colleague feedback.
Jeremy Hinks is dedicated to helping his clients achieve their potential through tailored, responsive coaching.
Qualifications and accreditations
In amongst a portfolio of continuous professional development activity that amounts to more than 1000 hours over the last eight years, some of the headline experiences are:
• Professionally Credentialled Coach with the International Coaching Federation (PCC, ICF)
• Level 7 Executive Coaching and Mentoring (Institute for Leadership and Management, ILM)
• Approved Practitioner with Lumina Learning (Lumina Spark and Lumina Emotion)
• Adaptive Action Coaching (Human System Dynamics Institute, ICF accredited)
• Ontological Coaching and Leadership in Practice (Ontological Coaching Institute, ICF accredited)
• Systemic and Developmental Coaching (UK ICF, ICF accredited)
• Positive Psychology and Brief Coaching (Canadian Centre for Brief Coaching)
• Team Coaching (Full Circle, ICF accredited)
• Neuroscience in Coaching (UK ICF, ICF accredited)
• Mindfulness in Coaching (Tim Segaller, ICF accredited))
• Thinking Environment Foundation Course (Kline)
Case Studies
- • Client title and institution: Professor, Head of Unit, University of Edinburgh
• Client issue: Coping of leadership in the middle where requirements and responsibilities conflicted with resources and priorities
• Outcome: Built confidence to take on challenging conversations leading to greater efficiency and effectiveness in post. - • Client title and institution: Professor, Research Institute Director, University of Edinburgh
• Client issue: Taking up leadership position from within the organisation and managing the sometimes competing priorities of funder and university
• Outcome: Gain the confidence to tackle some big challenges head on, and to consider other perspectives when needed. - • Client title and institution: Principal Research Fellow, STEM subject, University of Southampton
• Client issue: To grow as a researcher and a scholar
• Outcome: Shifting existing work patterns and behaviours to better achieve growth in scholarship and research. - • Client title and institution: Professor, STEM subject, University of Southampton
• Client issue: To be a better communicator while having a strong sense of people’s needs, and while keeping my personal characteristics and attitude
• Outcome: Unearthed some limiting assumptions which, once identified, allowed for a new way of using personal and professional resources.
Testimonials
Testimonial 1
My regular coaching sessions took place in 2022, with one final catch up after my return from a sabbatical in March 2023. As the Head of Group within an academic school, I often found myself in the middle, with requirements and responsibilities, but potentially conflicted with resources and priorities. One to one coaching, especially with an external coach, was valuable because it offered me personalized attention, and an opportunity to discuss and agree strategies in-depth with a genuinely independent coach. It was particularly valuable to consider, again, my own goals and how those align with the needs of my current role and of my current employer. Jeremy was patient, encouraging and challenging. It also helped that he has first-hand experience of working in HE, which he was able to bring productively to the coaching sessions. This allowed me to focus on my needs and goals, and has ultimately led to me being more effective and efficient. In particular, I built confidence and was able to have some challenging conversations (with both junior and more senior colleagues) which have significantly unblocked progress in a number of important areas. I am very grateful to Jeremy, and to my employer for arranging the coaching sessions, and recommend highly recommend coaching in general and Jeremy in particular.
Professor Chris Sangwin, University of Edinburgh
Testimonial 2
I had several months of coaching from Jeremy in 2021/22 and cannot recommend him enough. I initiated the coaching after an exceptionally busy and challenging period had left me unfocused, unconnected and feeling I was not utilising my strengths in a way that made me truly productive in my role. With Jeremy's help, I recalibrated my sense of purpose and perspective which has really benefited both my work and home lives.
Jeremy is a coach who thinks carefully about the connections between the practical and the emotional. He has a powerful yet subtle way of enabling better connections between issues you're currently facing, your known strengths, and the successes you've had in your past. I found this particularly valuable in both reconnecting with my purpose and finding confidence and energy to deal with challenging situations. I also appreciated Jeremy's adroit way of challenging me when the situation required it; he has a powerful yet non-confrontational knack for this, which I found resonated with me long after the session. The coaching has had a definite impact on my ability to ground myself and find perspective when faced with challenges, before I tackle them. This in turn has had a positive impact on my decision making.
In summary, please do consider engaging Jeremy - I found my time with him was extremely beneficial.
Mike Rogers MBE, Assistant Director Global Health Research at NIHR
Testimonial 3
Jeremy supported me when I took up my new post as company director during 2023. I had a lot of challenges to deal with in a short space of time from contracts that had ran into difficulty to staffing challenges. I didn’t really know where to turn to for support but Jeremy was able to help keep me on track through this difficult time. Jeremy’s coaching gave me the confidence to tackle some big challenges head on, and helped me consider other perspectives when needed. My coaching sessions with Jeremy also helped me to self-reflect, I am naturally quite self-critical, so it has been hard for me to stop, observe successes and pat myself on the back. Having this reflected back to me has helped me challenge this behaviour. I have taken this on board and now ensure that successes are recognised and celebrated both for myself and my team. A huge thanks to Jeremy for his support through these difficult times.
Dr Karen Smyth, Programme Director, University of Edinburgh