A man from Essex is blazing a trail in the highly competitive world of leadership coaching on a truly international scale.
Alec Jiggins, who grew up in Good Easter, is a former pupil of Helena Romanes School in Great Dunmow and Braintree College. The Covid pandemic prompted the 49-year-old to return to his native Essex in June 2020 after living in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Montenegro and Singapore. He is now based in Maldon where he runs Alec Jiggins Coaching, working with clients all over the globe.
Alec has been featured in global publications like USA Today and GlobalWomanCo. Alec said: "I’ve spent my life helping others to become the best version of themselves. I was a teacher and headteacher for over 20 years. I’ve always felt this passion for helping people. Covid has made many people reflect on what they really want in life, but sometimes they feel stuck, and that they can’t achieve their goals.
"I help people build themselves up in a purpose-driven way. I have worked with actors, lawyers, small business owners, and global c-suite executives. The common factor is they’ve decided that they’ve had enough of just getting by and they want to improve their business’ results, their leadership, their career, or their wider life and relationships.
“My clients talk of bouncing out of bed in the morning, ready to get on with their day. They get promoted, change careers, start businesses, have better relationships with their partners (and more sex – yes, that too).
"The only obstacles to our success are the negative things we say to ourselves. We create our reality through our language, what we say inside our heads, and then what we say out loud. Henry Ford said, “whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.
“Many people, from high achievers like Lewis Hamilton or Elon Musk through to you and me, we’re driven by fear. The difference between a high achiever and someone who feels stuck in their life is what they tell themselves about it. At heart, we’re all high achievers. Sometimes we just need someone to show us how.
“I coach people to look at things differently. Basically, everything you want is available. You just need to have the belief that you can achieve it. I work with people on building that belief.
“Lots of people will spend £20,000 on a car and thousands on phones, tablets and other gadgets but they wouldn't think themselves ‘worthy’ of investing £5000 on six months of coaching and training that could transform their lives, their relationships, their careers.”
Alec decided to make changes in his own life after feeling that he was “existing” rather than living. He was in his early 30s, had a good career at a prestigious international school in Colombia, was (and still is) happily married and with a loving family.
“Despite all the apparent success, I was completely shut off emotionally. I felt no connection, I was pretending to be something that I wasn’t. I was afraid of being myself.
“Everything felt “empty”. It’s the only way to describe it. I had a good job, a great wife and family, a nice house… but I didn’t feel satisfied. Success without fulfilment is the ultimate failure.
“I hired a coach, and in our first session, in two hours, he showed me a massive blind spot – I was afraid of pushing myself, of being successful, but also afraid of failure, of losing what I had. I went home, I cried, I had really honest conversations with the people in my life, the kind where everybody is crying and hugging because it’s so deep, so raw. I apologised to people, made changes to how I was treating myself and others.”
Alec had coaching for six months and made massive changes in his life. He got promoted, improved his relationships, and felt more confident in social situations. He found coaching so powerful that he certified as an executive, leadership and teams coach and has now helped hundreds of clients achieve their goals. Alec is an associate of Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centred Coaching, the Global Coach Group, and an active ICF member.
He concluded: “I’m happy, deeply fulfilled. I choose to do what I want when I want. That could be a round of golf with my dad, a trip to my beach hut in Mersea, or just hanging out with some. Life is a journey – you never arrive to the top of the mountain. I still have a coach, 12 years after that first session, as I know that I have still got more to discover about myself, more I want to achieve.”