How the world has changed

It is 18 years this week since the foundations for The Performance Solution were laid by Sally Vanson and initially three business partners. We had big ideas – perhaps too big and certainly too diverse. Two partners left early on and Sally continued with one to develop the coaching and leadership side of the business, with HR solutions as a secondary stream. We immediately worked with large organisations; PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Ford Motor Company, Mazda Cars, Kia Cars, Johnson & Johnson, NHS and more. We learned as much, if not more, than our clients and we soon developed an international focus. We developed and gained accreditation for the first NLP based Masters degree in the world (and that continued until government cuts in 2015) with over 400 graduates, some of whom have gone on to gain  Doctorates and some of whom have become our associates. At one stage we had 5 full time support people in the office until technology kicked in and just about everything became automated.

In 2004 we experienced more challenges, Sally’s business partner left and Dr Allan Parker came into the business, managing the psychometrics, team coaching and some executive coaching. We became accredited to run ICF programmes and despite some pokies australia payid challenges, we realised that our critical success lay in being international and strategic, so we developed partner relationships in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Norway and UAE. Sally worked on several women’s leadership programmes in the Middle East and was lucky enough to enjoy time in Syria before the troubles started. ICF Coach training in Dubai was very successful and coach mentoring there still happens very regularly.

In 2005, we developed our work in professional service firms, building long term partnerships with clients with changing legislation in law firms providing fodder for Sally’s Doctoral thesis.

In 2006 we gained our first EU contract and those have expanded and continued, enabling the team work profile to become truly European and for TPS to be refined, grown-up and truly professional in our work and our commitment to the growth and learning of others.

We are often asked, by those just starting out,  for the secrets of our success. At the very core is our belief in people, that they can achieve anything they focus on. We have strong values of integrity, life long learning, resilience and continually refining and managing the big picture. We value and work hard at retaining consistant, long term relationships with our clients, who often become personal friends, and importantly we manage cash flow and working capital. Creativity and emotional intelligence underpin all that we offer. We build on previous professional experience (gained at senior level in large PLC organisations) and business management expertise. Most of our work now is by referral and we don’t need to advertise very often.

So here we are in 2018. Nessa Good is leaving us for pastures new. After a long illness the now Doctor Sally Vanson is handing the business over (from 1 April) to Flaminia Fazi, an associate since 2002. ICF accreditation has been successfully renewed and the team will carry on running open and in house courses as well as offering executive coaching and mentoring. You can contact Flaminia at flamini@theperformancesolution.com  No doubt there will be some changes but the core business will continue and grow.

Doctor Allan Parker is now providing Extended DISC, IWAM and other psychometrics through www.hanwellconsulting.com  Doctor Sally Vanson is providing Skype based Coaching, Coach Supervision and ICF Mentoring through www.sallyvanson.com

So here we are in our truly ‘grown up’ state, wishing our clients, partners, associates and friends every success in 2018 and beyond, and extending a huge thanks to Dr Sally Vanson for all she has achieved and shared in the last 18 years.