Steph’s Journey to Confidence and Leadership in a Rapidly Expanding Organisation
Introduction
The RFS Career Academy Coaching and Mentoring Programme is free to join and provides military spouses and the Armed Forces Community with the confidence, focus, and clarity of direction to achieve personal working goals and create a sustainable future.
The programme recognises that every candidate is at different stages of their journey to finding career satisfaction; by applying a bespoke, person-centred approach, we offer the best possible service to our candidates.
The programme currently has 70 active coaches who generously volunteer their time. Demand for a place on the programme is high— in January 2023, we received over 40 enquiries, with 21 candidates being ‘matched’ with coaches/mentors.
We are now actively recruiting for new coaches/mentors to support the programme and reduce our waiting list times!
Background & Challenge
Steph is a military spouse married to a serving soldier in the Army. Steph is currently employed as the Operations Manager for the Forces Wives Challenge (FWC). The organisation has experienced rapid growth since it’s inception and Steph is keen to develop her skillset inline with the business.
CHALLENGE:
Steph has been working for FWC since 2021. FWC is a social enterprise that unites women whose partners are serving or veterans of the Armed Forces through adventure and challenge. Since its founding in 2019, the organisation has rapidly expanded and Steph is eager to further develop her skill set to keep pace. She aims to ensure that she
can continue to provide the best possible support and service to the community, helping to empower and uplift the women within it.
Steph applied for the coaching programme in March 2024, seeking guidance to build her confidence and establish clear career goals. She recognised that developing a stronger sense of self-belief and direction would enable her to grow both professionally and
personally ensuring her contributions to the organisation would be even more impactful. Steph was paired with Tracey Jones who has significant experience in Leadership and Development and has volunteered for RFS as a coach since 2020. Over the course of six months, they worked together through a series of six sessions, each one designed to
address key areas of personal and professional growth.
During their time together, Steph and Tracey focused on:
Building confidence: Through reflection and targeted exercises, Steph worked on recognising and internalising her previous successes. This process helped her to acknowledge her strengths and achievements, enabling her to believe more deeply in her own capabilities and value within the professional world.
Goal setting: One of the main areas of focus was helping Steph set clear, actionable goals that aligned with her professional ambitions. Together, they identified both short-term and long-term objectives, and established realistic timeframes for achieving them. This process not only gave Steph a clearer sense of direction but also provided her with the tools to track her progress and stay motivated.
The sessions with Tracey have been so useful. I really do feel like they have benefited me and were a good use of time. Our match
was perfect, and we found it very easy to talk from the start of the first session. Tracey is friendly, engaging and knew exactly what questions to ask, to enable me to progress through each session. Her understanding of my situation was brilliant, and she was very flexible to fit around my busy lifestyle. I feel my confidence has hugely improved, I have a clear focus now and am actively setting myself future goals. I am feeling much more
optimistic and have a new belief in myself. I cannot praise Tracey or the programme enough.
Steph
Outcome
The coaching sessions played a crucial role in helping Steph build her confidence and self- belief, which were key to her growth in her role at FWC. Through focused discussions and tailored strategies, Tracey worked with Steph to identify and overcome the barriers that had been limiting her potential. By addressing these challenges, she was able to adopt a
more positive and resilient mindset. Together, they set clear, achievable goals with realistic timeframes giving Steph a structured yet flexible plan to monitor her progress. As a result, Steph became more proactive in her role, embracing new responsibilities with greater confidence and consistently meeting her targets.
I think the programme can be hugely beneficial to so many people and am grateful to have had the opportunity to go through the
programme. The matching process between mentor and mentee is
brilliant and I felt fully informed by the RFS team the whole way through. There is very clear and open communication to ask questions and give feedback at all times and this enables the mentee to feel comfortable and enthusiastic whilst participating in the programme. Thank you to RFS for offering such a useful programme, one which I hope will continue
long into the future.
Steph
Purpose
The Coaching and Mentoring Programme is often utilised by candidates who are unemployed due to the transient nature of their partner's employment status in the Armed Forces. Mobility affects not only their employability but also their confidence and mental wellbeing.
Candidates seek support through the programme to evaluate their situation and regain the inner strength needed to achieve their career ambitions.