About Me

Personal Bio

I’m a believer in the connection of mind, body, spirit and our environment. I love the outdoors and sports – I play tennis, sea swim, walk and cycle. These activities serve more than a physical purpose for me…they also meet my needs for human connection and sense of well-being. I previously played football and ran - when injury forced me to stop, I replaced these activities with new ones - a lesson for me in letting go and moving on. I meditate at the start of the day to centre myself and close it with reflective thoughts.

I’m a football coach to an organisation that supports people with intellectual disabilities (Bray Lakers). I’m a member of the council of the Association for Coaching in Ireland and I host and facilitate Co-coaching sessions. And I’m Chairperson of the County Wicklow Lawn Tennis Club.

My wife, son and daughters are a key driving force in my life and I’m grateful to them for their unerring support every step of the way.

Early life experiences shaped my view of what coaching can be. As a young boy on the sports field, I experienced coaches that shouted and screamed and instilled fear. I found that the best coaches encouraged, sought hard work and excellence, were empathic, and had fun along the way. I experienced first-hand, the qualities required to help long term sustainable performance at an individual and team level…a moment of truth. ‘Treat people like human beings AND get the task done - better’. Years later, while coaching my son’s football team the seeds for ‘Tom Armstrong Executive Coaching’ were planted.

My Coaching Philosophy

Coaching facilitates awareness raising and it empowers the coachee to determine their own goals, plans and solutions. People develop and grow when their innate potential is released.

The key in coaching is awareness raising and developing the understanding that we have choices around the actions we take…or don’t take. At the front of my coaching philosophy is the paradox of change whereby recognising who we are, without striving to “be” someone else, gives the power to develop and grow. I believe that there is an unconscious part of our mental lives, in place from earlier life experiences, that influences us. We may be unaware of it - coaching connects with that place.

Authenticity is key. In my experience, coachees are much more likely to embrace coaching and experience real and lasting growth when they believe their authentic selves will not become a casualty of personal change and growth. We work together authentically.

I meet coachees where ‘they are’…taking a whole person, open-minded realistic and curious approach.

In an organisational context I believe that personal development and growth is a win / win opportunity where the coachee’s growth invariably benefits the coachee’s organisation.

My universal truth is that every coachee is unique and I adapt my approach to their needs. I understand that each of us is a colleague, a boss, a worker, a dad, a mother, a son, a daughter, a team-mate, a friend…a unique human being.