Before embarking on a coaching career, Fátima Ribeiro worked in the banking industry in Portugal and Panama. She managed corporate, retail, and private clients, led commercial teams, developed business strategies and managed change processes. She also served as a teacher and researcher at universities in Portugal and Central America, with an academic focus on Leadership, Strategic Administration and Finance.
Having learned about executive coaching from leaders in the field, she began her career as a professional coach in 2016. In addition to being a certified Stakeholder Centered Coach (SCC), Fátima is an active member of the International Coaching Federation, including serving as a chapter board member. She has also led the Executive Education and Business Management Committee of the Panamanian Association of Business Executives.
Fatima was drawn to SCC by Marshall Goldsmith’s books, especially “What Got You Here Won´t Get You There,” “Triggers,” and more recently, “How Women Rise” (with Sally Helgesen.) “I was intrigued by a leading process with measurable results and the importance of involving the stakeholders,” she states. Since then, “SCC has enabled me to acquire new skills about leadership growth through long-lasting behavioral changes.”
Critical elements of this process include “involving relevant stakeholders, seeking monthly feedback and feedforward from them, focusing on the goals, and having a clear and shared action plan that creates accountability,” Fátima states. “The fact that the results are defined by the stakeholders, and not by the coach or the leader, is enormously powerful and brings trust and engagement to the process.”
Fátima’s advice for coaches? “There is no change in the comfort zone, and the coaching process is a challenging one that requires a genuine commitment from both parts.” She adds, “Be there for the client. It is always about the client and not about you. Be curious, invest in your continuous development as a person and a professional, and never stop learning.”
Fátima works in three languages: Spanish, Portuguese and English. Regardless of the language employed, “when, after the coaching process, a client recognizes the positive impact of the coaching process in his/her life, I feel grateful for being a professional coach.”
Fátima’s greatest professional reward? “When people become more self-aware, and I witness the impact of the coaching process in their careers, organizations, and personal lives.”
