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Coaching expert Professor Lionel Stapley to teach Birkbeck’s new postgraduate coaching programme

Professor Stapley – one of the leading authorities on group dynamics, consulting and coaching – joins Birkbeck

Professor Lionel Stapley – one of the leading authorities on group dynamics, consulting and coaching in the world – will be teaching students at Birkbeck this autumn. He has joined Birkbeck’s Department of Organizational Psychology as a Visiting Professor in Organizational Coaching, and will be one of the key scholars delivering the new one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Coaching.

For the past 20 years, Professor Stapley (pictured, right) has served as the chairman of the UK-based Organisation for Promoting Understanding of Society (OPUS) – a charity concerned with understanding society and organizations within society.

Professor Stapley said: “Coaching starts with the coach. We need to understand ourselves before we understand others, and appreciate the cultural context in which we all operate. I’m looking forward to bringing my years of study and practice in this field to Birkbeck’s students.”

Dr Andreas Liefooghe, Programme Director for the Postgraduate Certificate in Coaching, said: “It’s great to have someone of Lionel’s calibre on board to shape, deliver and evaluate our coaching programme.  He has coached from Accra to Rio, Melbourne to Warsaw and anything in between. He will be instrumental in emphasizing a plurality of views and pragmatic theory-grounded practice.”

Professor Pat Tissington, Head of the Department of Organizational Psychology, added: “Professor Stapley complements a confident and exciting programme, which will shape the future of coaching, and, indeed, the future of the Department. The Postgraduate Certificate in Coaching builds on the traditions of the Department, and makes them relevant to contemporary workplaces.  We are looking forward to the first cohort of students!”

Postgraduate Certificate in Coaching

The one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Coaching starts this October. The new programme is a comprehensive overview of the field of coaching and investigates pragmatically and critically how coaching works in organizations.  Emphasis is on the interplay between theory and practice, with relationships positioned as a central paradigm.

Watch a video of Dr Liefooghe describing the programme

Find out more by visiting Birkbeck’s course listings

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