As a chartered geologist I specialise in mentoring, executive coaching and training to support vocational professionals, mainly (but not exclusively) in the exploration and mining industries internationally.In a career spanning the last 50 years I have travelled very widely, often living in remote places and meeting people of many different cultures. I have worked with mining and exploration companies, third level education and government geological surveys. Until official retirement in 2002, I was the Director of the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, the government’s chief advisor on earth science policy. Since then I have operated as a consulting geologist in Ireland, Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Romania.The resource industries have a pressing need, not only for technical skills, but also for specific personal qualities in their staff, the so-called “soft” skills. They include professionalism, communication, interpersonal skills and flexibility, resilience, initiative and creativity. The need for professional development is especially acute in developing countries. Since 2009, I have taken on more coaching and mentoring roles. My experience has enabled me to design and deliver a range of professional development training programmes. They have demonstrably improved the participants’ personal effectiveness, facilitated their transition to management roles and materially enhanced their professional contributions. I have helped international companies enhance the skills of locally recruited professional staff in Ghana, Burkina Faso and Zambia. In 2015, I began a series of workshops on mentor training for senior geologists, now accredited by The Geological Society.
Listed skills include Geological Mapping, Geology, Gold, Logging, and 12 others.